- Aug 4, 2013
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So what you are saying is that we should choose Christ out of fear rather than love? That response is one of self-centeredness rather than self-giving, self-sacrificial love to which we are called. Do I really love Christ if my following along after Him is for what I can get out of it?
Since the Scriptures use marriage as an analogy, I feel appropriate to respond in that manner. When a man falls insanely in love with a woman, he sacrifices for her. We have heard stories where a man gave his very life to save the one he loved. We should be of the same mind and heart with our loving Savior.
You ask a very good question, however, which is this: if Universalism is true, then why not live as I please? Fornicate, do drugs, drink to unconsciousness, steal, lie, do whatever I want because I am going to end up in heaven anyway. Here is the last chapter from the book, A LAYMAN INVESTIGATES UNIVERSAL SALVATION. Let me know what you think, but I think the author makes an important point here regarding your question:
If This is True, Why Even Bother?
One of the more frequent objections to the teaching of universal salvation is that it gives no reason to people to repent. If everyone is going to heaven anyway–why bother? Just live life, do whatever you want to, and then at the end, you get the Pearly Gates and the streets of gold. As a Jewish friend of mine used to say, “Such a deal!”
Proponents of eternal conscious torment warn that teaching it sends souls to hell, believing that people will engage in sin without fear of punishment. This is an understandable concern, given mankind’s penchant for finding excuses to sin. Both our Lord and St. Paul warned that we shall receive rewards for both the good and the evil we have done in this life. My wish is that books on universal salvation would remind people of this fact and warn them that evil behavior will reap a bitter consequence in the next life. I have a great concern that as this teaching of God’s universal salvific love is becoming more openly taught, many sinners may use it as excuse to not turn to Christ and instead, live as their selfishness demands, then curse us in the next life as they inherit the painful chastening which they have earned by doing evil works.
Sin is not a thing to take lightly. There are many warnings in the Bible which point to great losses which will be experienced by those who turn from God’s gracious offer of salvation and instead indulge their passions.
The Consequences of Refusal–Why Evangelize?
To save people from torment in the next life.
What person is so cold-hearted that he can observe without pity the suffering of another human being? Do not all but the most hard-hearted and indifferent want to run to the aid of another human being who is suffering? If we could see the suffering of souls in the next life, how they cry out for mercy, how the reality of their sins torments them, we would strive to warn everyone that our sins carry a price to pay. I am sure that Hugh Hefner wishes now that he had listened to the voices which urged him to turn from his wickedness. I believe he is in despair, thinking that the torments he is suffering will never end. Do I really want that for even the worst of people? Or do I love them as God loves them, looking on them with pity and trying to warn them of the painful chastisement which lies ahead, so that hopefully they may avoid it?
In Orthodox eschatology, there is not a place called hell. All souls go to be in the presence of Christ. All experience His endless love as God. But those who have loved sin, who have turned from God and embraced sin and selfishness, will find His love is a dreadful torment, while those who have repented in this life will find His love to be a warm embrace. The condition of our souls at death determines how we experience God in the next life. It is a mercy to warn people of this fact because the torment the wicked will experience will seem endless. Even if it assuredly does end, who in their right mind would wish suffering upon another? Unlike the musings of St. Thomas Aquinas, who said that the righteous in heaven would look upon the suffering of the wicked and rejoice in it bringing glory to God, the Bible states that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Neither should we.
To give people joy in this life.
Many of the people who loudly proclaim how they enjoy their sin go home at night and weep in loneliness and misery. I have both seen this in others, when the imbibing of a sufficient amount of alcohol released true feelings, and I have personally experienced it myself. As a young man, I could not understand why I was depressed and having serious thoughts of suicide, which terrified me. I was having fun, at least, according to the world’s idea of fun. I did drugs, which made my body feel pleasure, engaged in free-wheeling sexual adventures, and lived a life totally for myself. How could I be unhappy?
But I was–desperately so–and I have met people who have expressed the same thing about their former lives of sin. Sin is a lie. It is the cheese in the mousetrap. That first bite is oh, so good! But there is a terrible price to pay when down the road the spring is triggered. There is a reason those who practice sexual perversity have suicide rates three times the national average. Our actions have consequences, despite the constant drumbeat of those propagandists who tell us that we can do whatever we want with no sorrow or regret. We were made for joy, for love, for peaceful lives. Sin ruins all this in this life and leads to torment in the next until the full debt is paid.
For the benefit of the community.
Jesus and St. Paul both made it abundantly clear that there are consequences to our actions in this life. If walking in the love of God, which is the goal of the Christian life, brings peace to nations and between people, walking in hatred and selfishness brings nothing but misery. Sin not only ruins your life; it ruins the lives of those with whom you come into contact. Look at any action which causes destruction and sorrow in this world: constant wars (caused by lies and political selfishness), poverty (caused by the insatiable greed of the rich), divorce (caused by selfishness in the marital relationship), sexual diseases and death (caused by immoral behavior), fights, thefts, rape, murder, etc.
These sins are caused by those who have no inner moral guidance such as the Christian faith provides, and they devastate individuals, communities, and nations. Our world from the beginning has been in an almost constant state of war between nations because of the lies of politicians, the greed of kings, and the lust for power and conquest. In war, families suffer the loss of loved ones and injuries that will last a lifetime. Young women live in a rape culture because of magazines like Playboy, spawned by the Sexual Revolution of the 1960’s, which taught us the lie that sex is not reserved for marriage alone, but is a fine sport for a weekend. inappropriate contentography inflames the lusts of men to seek an outlet. Rape is the result. A whole security industry has arisen because there are immoral people who will steal all your money if they can just access your personal information online.
I have read online testimonies of people who engaged in wickedness and hedonism, only to come to a place where the pleasure they found in sin had turned to dust in their mouths. Psychologists have said most people who are institutionalized for deep psychological problems are burdened with guilt for what they have done. Inappropriate or excessive guilt is listed as a symptom of depression by the American Psychiatric Association (1994).
To experience Christ, not just to know about Him, but to really experience Him, brings a deep change in the way a person lives. As one grows in Christ and in love, sin becomes less and less attractive. The good of others becomes increasingly important. Changed lives mean changed societies, and ultimately, a changed world. We as Christians need to tell people this, and more importantly, live it in front of them.
The Christian is to be a follower of Christ in a humility which prefers others to self. How would such thinking affect the behavior of people in the public venue? Would we see the hatred of racism, the grinding down of the poor, the political and theological lies we see which mold our lives to hate one another as enemies instead of looking to others in a spirit of love and friendship? Sin brings a terrible cost with it, and those who are not being transformed by the Holy Spirit into Christlikeness will in some way or the other fall into its trap.
In the first century Roman Empire, Christians stood out because of the love they had for others. In an empire in which women were chattel property, slaves were raped and beaten with impunity, war was common, and punishments for crimes were excessive, the Christian community was a beacon of light in a darkened world. In every country where the message of Christ went, pagan nations were turned from darkness and selfishness to self-giving love. Man in his natural state cannot achieve this. No number of political programs, wars, or coercion by violence can bring the internal and external peace the saints experienced and showed to the world by their lives. From the Roman Empire to the Aztec nation, the violent pagan nations which expanding Christianity encountered reflected the natural condition of man’s heart–violence and cruelty. Submission to Christ changes this violence by changing men’s hearts.
Look at the condition of the world today. Every misery you see has a foundation in the selfishness of sin. If this is what life should be, if this is what you want and enjoy, then, no, there is no need to convert. But if you believe we could have so much better, if the condition of the world distresses you because of the hatred and violence you see, then this is one very earthly reason for people to turn to Christ.
The Offer of Rewards
Matthew 16:27 “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.”
Matthew 5:12 “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”
Matthew 5:46 “For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?”
Matthew 6:1 “Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.”
Matthew 6:2 “Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.”
I have had people tell me that eternal life is the reward we get, and they are incensed to think someone who lives a life of repentance and sacrifice would get the same reward as a desperately evil man. Searching the Bible gives us no such idea. Quite to the contrary, Jesus says that every man will be rewarded according to his works. He also says that it is possible to lose one’s reward. Eternal life is the victory of Christ over death for all mankind. What we do with the offer determines what we receive in the ages of ages.
What is to be gained or lost? Here are my thoughts, which I hope you will consider.
(CONTINUE NEXT PAGE)
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