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I believe what Jesus is teaching in the story of the narrow gate, and other such stories about how difficult it is to attain true salvation, is not that most souls will spend eternity in hell, but simply that most souls are not ready yet for heaven. Jesus is warning people that if they do not try as hard as possible to follow the path of the Spirit during their life, they will not be ready to enter heaven when they die. Instead, they will have to endure the purgatorial "fires" of hell for a time, in order to be perfected. If we do not submit to these purifying fires of spiritual tests and challenges during our life on earth, we will still have to face them eventually -- which means after death -- for it is God's plan for all souls to be saved in the end. People who refuse to walk in the way of God, choosing for themselves a life of materialistic riches, gluttonous pleasure and self-absorbtion, rather than faithfulness to the Lord and selfless service to their fellow man, will indeed find themselves on the outside of heaven looking in after they die. Their ego will be deflated and destroyed. They will feel the burning fires of regret and loss within their consciousness, knowing that they wasted a chance on earth to strive to grow closer to God and to live in a godly way. They will have to endure difficult lessons prepared for them by God to help their soul rise above the things of the flesh which they had so enthusiastically embraced in their disdain for the things of the Spirit. After death, in the spiritual world, the flesh is nothing, for it has rotted away in the grave. Therefore, just imagine the suffering of a soul that has spent its entire life dwelling in the things of the flesh, when these things are no longer available in the afterlife! Surely such a soul would be lost and despondent, waiting anxiously for God to provide an alternative purpose for its existence -- while at the same time fearing the great difficulty of adapting to a purpose it has never chosen to nurture. But the soul that has spent its life on earth already dwelling in the Spirit will feel right at home in the spiritual world beyond. Such a soul will be ready to reap the bountiful harvest of a heavenly life on earth, by enjoying the things of heaven in the life hereafter. I believe Jesus emphasized the difficulty of attaining heaven because he wanted to push people to their spiritual limit. His aim was to challenge people's souls to rise to heights they never before imagined they could achieve. So he talked about a narrow gate, and he warned that some people will die and think they are going straight to heaven but instead will be told by God, "I never knew you." The meaning of these stories is not to terrorize people with a threat of eternal rejection by their Maker and a never-ending torture after death; it is simply a warning that we must try our hardest if we truly seek to walk the path of Christ and become worthy of standing beside him in the Kingdom. Fundamentalists who want to promote belief in eternal damnation often like to say that Jesus spoke more about hell than about heaven, so that must mean most people are going to spend eternity in hell. Not so! Jesus spoke a lot about the danger of having to face divine punishment after death because so many of the people he was talking to, such as the Pharisees, were arrogant religious fundamentalists who thought they were exclusively in God's favor. They erroneously believed they were the only ones going to heaven, when in fact they were the most at risk for hell because of their unloving, dogmatic religious attitude that is not of the Holy Spirit. Jesus wanted to warn them that they were dead wrong if they thought their self-righteous religiosity would grant them a free pass into paradise. I bet if Jesus were speaking among fundamentalist Christians today, visiting their churches and debating with their leaders as he did with the fundamentalist Jews of his time and culture, he would be just as critical and would warn them that they might face the wrath of God in the afterlife that they are so eager to assign to others. It is important to remember that even though Jesus spoke about punishment for the wicked, that does not mean the punishment is eternal torment as fundamentalists claim. A just and appropriate punishment is temporary and limited, and is imposed by God for purposes of reform rather than vindictive retribution. In the Bible, Jesus is reported to have spoken of aionios kolasis -- a Greek phrase meaning a period of reformative chastisement, not the false translation "eternal damnation" -- for souls who are not worthy to enter through the narrow gate to heaven immediately. Jesus never said that hell is eternal. Such a revolting idea is completely at odds with his vision of a Fatherly God of tough love, forgiveness and mercy, who desires that all His children be saved and raised up to spiritual maturity. God prefers that we voluntarily choose to turn away from corruption and evil, and start walking the path that leads directly to heaven. But if we fail to make this choice during our lifetime, then God will find it necessary to teach us through the difficult consequences of a more painful path we have chosen, which temporarily leads away from heaven and into a hellish state. For those who take the broad road to destruction, they will face the firm discipline of God, their Father, who will see that they learn their lessons the hard way -- so that they, too, will one day take their place in the Heavenly Kingdom alongside Jesus and the saints. Praise God that even those who initially resist His call will be given additional opportunities to choose the right path, until in the end, the gates of heaven will be flung wide open and all shall enter in! For as Jesus prophesied, "I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." (John 12:32). God is almighty, and cannot forever fail in His purposes. Though most people are not ready yet for heaven, we can rest assured that Jesus will continue to draw them until they will be, whether in this life or the next. Peace in Christ,
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Christian Universalist FAQ -- Frequently Asked Questions
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Heavenly Father, please bless this ministry, lead multitudes to this website, and help them see the truth of Your love and forgiveness for all people through the power of Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the whole world. Open their eyes to Your true nature, take away their fears, and fill their hearts with the Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. |