Recently, I read Francis Chan’s newest book, Erasing Hell. It took me all of one day to read the whole thing, because I could not put the book down. Except for when I was working, of course.

The book is a refutation of sorts to Rob Bell’s book, Love Wins. Francis Chan and Preston Sprinkle do an effective job of presenting what the Bible really says about hell, not what we want it to say. It may not be popular to believe in hell, but it is biblical, and that’s what matters in the end.

I had two takeaways from this book (other than hell is real, of course). One is that I need to approach any doctrine or Bible passage with deep humility. I need to realize that unless the Spirit of God illuminates my mind, I can’t understand the things of God. Furthermore, these are not abstract doctrines written down for the sole purpose of debate and knowledge.

These truths, especially the ones about hell, concern real people made in the image of God and their eternal destiny. To be arrogant in my beliefs and to gloat over those who will spend a Christ-less eternity in hell is not only blatantly unloving, it is far removed from what God is like.

Also, God is God. His ways are much higher and better than my ways. He’s the potter and I am the clay. How could I scrutinize God’s words and actions as revealed in Scripture and subject them to my own standard? Does the clay tell the Potter whether or not He does well?

As Francis Chan states in the book, there are several parts of the Bible (especially in the Old Testament), where God does and says things I would never do or say. To say in my heart that a loving God could never do what I wouldn’t do is to put myself above God. God is loving not by our standards, but by His own standard, which is perfect.

I strongly urge you to read this book. But I also urge you to consider how you have possibly judged God by your own ideas of what is right and wrong and fair. Maybe you and I will need to repent and to acknowledge that God doesn’t ask for us to figure out if what He is doing is right in our eyes, but to submit to Him and trust that whatever He does is good and right by Heaven’s standards.

Last of all, any doctrine or belief or conviction shouldn’t be used to condemn or beat up other people. It should lead us to a place of deep humility. It should cause us to thank the God Who made it possible for us to know Truth. After all, what matters isn’t how you’ve got every doctrine systemized and categorized and everything and everyone figured out, but that you know that you are a broken sinner whom God so loved that He gave everything to win your heart.

The reality of hell shouldn’t make you or me want to gloat. It should make us weep that so many we know and love are headed there. It should make us want to do everything in our power to ensure that those we love won’t have to go there. And most of all, it should make us thankful above all things for the Cross where the mercy and the justice of God melded perfectly and God’s wrath was perfectly satisfied and we were saved, not just from hell but to an eternity with Him.

Amen.

Secondly,