There are two false assumptions prevalent in the modern church. These two false assumptions damage churches, damage ministries, and keeps souls from heaven.
The first false assumption is, “the essential goodness of man.” Not only is this not a Biblical teaching, but the Bible teaches the very opposite.
First, let’s consider the Bible teaching about the sin nature. Romans chapter 3 puts it this way: 21 “But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” This passage from Romans is crystal clear. No one is inherently good. We are sinners because we all have a sin nature. The sins we commit flow from our sin nature.
If you doubt this, merely observe a small child. No one has to teach them to be selfish, to lie, to steal, to hit their sibling, to deceive others, or to disrespect their parents. They have no need for a class called “Disobedience 101.” All these sinful acts come naturally because of the sin nature in all of us.
The second false assumption is that “God has endless patience and tolerance for sin.” This god of our own making is never judgmental. This false god has a constant sunny disposition and winks at our sins and failures. This god is completely loving and never judges. This god of our making is not the God of the Bible. The God of Scripture is indeed loving and merciful, but is also holy and just. One attribute of God can not be stressed to the exclusion of God’s other attributes.
A person once challenged me with the assertion that the “meek and lowly Jesus never spoke about hell.” In reality, Jesus spoke a great deal about hell as a place of eternal torment (Luke 16:23). Consider these references: hell is a place of unquenchable fire (Mark 9:43), a place where the worm does not die (Mark 9:48), a place where people will gnash their teeth in anguish and regret (Matt. 13:42), and from which there is no return, even to warn loved ones (Luke 16:19–31). Jesus called hell a place of “outer darkness” (Matt. 25:30), comparing it to “Gehenna” (Matt. 10:28), which was a trash dump outside the walls of Jerusalem where rubbish was burned, and maggots crawled in abundance. Fortunately, that is not the end of the story!
Praise God the Father that He sent His Son, Jesus, to take the punishment for ALL our sins on the cross. That sacrifice culminated in HIS glorious resurrection from the dead. Come to Jesus Christ in simple faith for forgiveness and salvation!
