LEARNING DAILY

 

John 14:6, Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

 

I have been reading the autobiography of Charles Finney. It is quite remarkable to read about this man’s evangelistic work for the Lord. He lived in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. I have been impressed with a major lie of the devil that was being taught in universities to preachers who would then fill pulpits and preach the lie they learned in their classrooms. Things do not change, do they! As Finney was invited to preach in areas where this lie was being taught, he continually had to counter this lie. It is a lie being perpetuated in churches around our country today. It is the lie of Universalism.

 

Universalism is the belief that eventually all people will be saved; in other words, there is no need to believe in Jesus Christ as one’s Savior. The argument is that a good and holy God would not send people to hell. There are several arguments that Universalist use to justify their beliefs. One is that there will be a period of time where those in hell will be cleansed and God will reunite them to Himself. Another belief is that after death, people will have the opportunity to ask Jesus to be their Savior. This belief is that there are many different ways to heaven.

 

This lie of the devil wants people to focus on the love and mercy of God. It does not want people to focus on the holiness and justice of God. God does not change. Again, when one reads and studies His Word, it is not difficult to know that God is certainly a loving God. But there is a demand to live holy and righteous lives after one confesses Jesus Christ to be their Savior. The focus of the Universalist is on being able to live the way one wants to because God wants everyone to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4). They fail to understand that does not mean God will save everyone. “People must accept the Gospel of Christ to enter the kingdom of God or they will reject it and spend eternity in eternal torment separated from God. Only One who was both man and God could represent God to humanity and reconcile humanity to God” (DJSB). That One is Jesus Christ and the choice is offered every individual during their lifetime.

 

Universalism offers a broad way to get into heaven and many are on it. Jesus said it leads to heaven. It offers people a way to get to heaven where they do not need to deny themselves anything they desire. They can do anything, say anything, see anything they want because they believe they will be able to get into heaven. Christians who desire to walk on the narrow way need to understand  this important thought. You and I do not have a license to live anyway we want because we think we can just ask for forgiveness when we sin. You and I, as Christians, must strive to live the life that Jesus desires us to live. We do not have the freedom to live any way that we want after Christ becomes our Savior. He must become our Lord as well! Sin has consequences! So we live our lives as best we can to please the Father as we walk on the narrow way to His Kingdom. When we mess up, we confess to Him, ask for His forgiveness and continue to walk in the light of Christ (1 John 1:9). This is the only way for Christians to be strong in their relationship with Him. “No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

 

From now on DJSB will be used to note information or quotes from the David Jeremiah Study Bible and LSSB will refer to information and quotes from the Life in the Spirit Study Bible.  I have added Jimmy Swaggart’s Expositor’s Study Bible to be referred to from now on as JSESB.