The Horrible Truth — Hell: Part 3 66-Book Consistency

The Horrible Truth — Hell: Part 366-Book ConsistencySo far, we've challenged one of the most deeply ingrained assumptions about Hell: that the biblical word hell automatically means the eternal destination of the damned.We've also begun following the warnings of Jesus in Matthew, where servants—servants of the Master—are warned about the consequences of unfaithfulness. Outer darkness. Weeping and gnashing of teeth. A portion with the hypocrites. And even a period of punishment described in terms of a debt being paid.But perhaps someone could object:“That's Matthew. Those are the words of Jesus. Maybe these are merely parables. Maybe we're building an entire doctrine on prophetic imagery and difficult sayings.”That's exactly why we need to go further.In this third episode of The Horrible Truth: Hell, we're going to step outside the parables and prophetic passages and examine the testimony of Scripture as a whole.Sixty-six books. One Bible. One consistent testimony.The question before us is not whether we can find an isolated verse that seems to support an unusual interpretation. The question is whether the broader testimony of Scripture supports the possibility that a believer—one who possesses eternal life—can nevertheless experience divine discipline and exclusion during the coming thousand-year kingdom because of disobedience.And that distinction is absolutely critical.If eternal life is truly eternal, then losing it cannot be the answer.But Scripture repeatedly warns believers about judgment according to their works, loss of reward, exclusion from the kingdom, shame, discipline, and suffering consequences for unfaithfulness.So what exactly are those warnings telling us?As we move beyond Matthew, we'll examine passages from different books and different contexts—passages that aren't dependent upon a single parable or a single prophetic symbol. We'll look for the same basic pattern appearing again and again:Salvation is one thing. Faithfulness is another. Eternal life is one thing. Kingdom inheritance and reward are another.And if that distinction is biblical, then we have to take seriously the possibility that a believer can be secure in eternal life while still facing very real consequences for disobedience.That brings us back to Hell.Not the Lake of Fire.Not the final eternal destiny of the lost.But Hell as the realm of the dead, and the possibility that Scripture associates that realm with temporary judgment and exclusion during the coming kingdom age.This is where the doctrine becomes particularly uncomfortable.Because it means the warnings of Scripture may not primarily be directed toward some hypothetical group of people who were never saved in the first place.Some of those warnings may be directed straight at us—God's people.The Bible doesn't merely say, “Believe, and everything else is irrelevant.”It calls believers to watchfulness.It calls us to obedience.It calls us to faithfulness.And it repeatedly tells us that our conduct will matter when we stand before our Lord.So in this episode, we're going to test the idea against the whole counsel of Scripture.Not one verse.Not one parable.Not one theological tradition.Sixty-six books.And if the same distinction between eternal salvation and temporal kingdom consequences can be found throughout Scripture, then perhaps what we've called a strange or fringe interpretation isn't strange at all.Perhaps it is simply what the Bible has been saying all along.And that leads us one step closer to The Horrible Truth about Hell.Hell: Where in the World is it?