Craig Clouston

 

Some Will Perish

July 30

They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

2Thessalonians 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 accepted 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.

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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.”