Some Will Perish
They
perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
2 Thessalonians
2:10
Mindy’s
sense of guilt and shame deepened as the pastor continued his
message, “There is a Heaven to be sought and a Hell to be shunned!
The Bible says that once we’ve accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior
we must maintain good standing with God, so that on the day we see
Him face to face we will be acceptable in his sight."
To Mindy
it was just more proof that God was vengeful and unyielding. She’d
heard of God’s great love for her, yet the God this man preached
about sure didn’t sound like someone who cared about anything but
keeping track of her mistakes, so He could read the long list to her
on the day she stood before Him to be judged. All she could expect
from this God on that day was a sentence to Hell.
Where’s
this great love I keep hearing about? Mindy
wondered. How
could I ever hope to measure up to those standards? She
felt the grip of hopelessness tighten on her heart. There’s
no way I could ever meet his demands…Mindy
left the service feeling defeated.
†
My prayer
is that you understand we can no more maintain our salvation than we
can earn it. So when you hear a message of ‘sustaining our good
standing with God in order to be acceptable’, that message is not
accurate. We should want to honor our Creator out of our love for
Him. But to fall down and fail does not rob us of our right-standing
with God. His grace abounds in this world that so desperately needs
such love.
But as
real as this misconception of a vengeful God is, so is the danger of
presenting a God who will allow no one to perish; even to the extent
that He withholds judgment completely. Some say this is the meaning
of grace.
Here is
the truth: God’s holiness cannot abide the presence of
unrighteousness. Jesus’ death provided victory over all sin, with
one exception: We must personally accept God’s gift of Jesus’
atoning blood. Failing that, we sentence ourselves to Hell, by
rejecting such love. This is not the act of an angry, vengeful God.
It is the act of a selfish, petulant child refusing to be saved.
Prayer
“Lord,
help me to know You as the loving Father You are instead of the
vengeful bully some present You to be. In Jesus’ Name, amen.”
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