November 27
Hosea 1-3
Psalm 132:11-18
Proverbs 28:13
2 Peter 2
Judgment
“For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to Hell, putting them in chains in darkness to be held for judgment; if He did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if He rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)—if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.” 2 Peter 2:4-9 NIV
This passage is an excellent argument against the popular idea that God loves everyone so much that He would not send anyone to Hell. There is a growing movement among churches that Hell is figurative and not a real place. They contend that God, in His mercy and grace will in the end save everyone and we will all eventually go to Heaven. This is heresy. If there is no Hell and no judgment, then there was no need for Jesus to come to Earth and die a horrible death on the cross and raise Himself from the dead. God is omniscient so He knows everything that will happen. If He knew that He was going to just let everyone go to Heaven, there would have been no need for Jesus to come at all. That teaching denies the gospel and it is a lie. Other teaching suggests that the God of the Old Testament is somehow different from the God of the New Testament and the wrath and punishment that we find in the Old Testament no longer exists. This teaching implies that God has changed His mind and He does not have the same divine revulsion to sin that He had in the Old Testament and that Jesus’ sacrifice did away with all punishment for sin. Both teachings are unbiblical. Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection did not take away the punishment for sin. In His grace and mercy, He took our punishment on Himself and provided a way for us to receive forgiveness for our sin. God’s holiness will not allow Him to overlook sin. He hasn’t gotten used to it so that He is willing to look the other way. In this passage in the New Testament, we are told that just as God judged the angels when they sinned and sent them to Hell, as He sent the flood to destroy everyone on the Earth in Noah’s day, and as He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, a day of judgment is coming when everyone will answer for their actions.
For those like Noah and Lot, who have placed their faith and trust in God and who have remained faithful, they will be rescued from destruction, but those who have not trusted in God will face punishment. One day we are going to stand before the Judgment Seat of God. On that day, we will either see our loving Savior and be welcomed into Heaven, or we will face the wrath of God that will send us to an eternity in Hell. Any teaching suggesting otherwise is not just inaccurate, it is dangerous. We are told that in the last days, there will be false teachers who will tell people what they want to hear. We must be discerning and diligently study His Word so that we will recognize the lies when we hear them and are ready to give an answer to the deception.
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