My Forum Posts: Dittytalk.com & Miogate

Preaching About Hell And the Ultimate Message of Love

"no problem
When I posted this topic, I actually was hoping that more than just the few of us would give input.  DO YOU think hell is the ultimate message of love, or do you think it's too harsh to preach to people, that it just turns them off?  I'm really not trying to open up a heated debate, I'm really curious to get a feel of how the Dittytalk section of the church world believes about this subject- kind of a personal study I guess you'd say.  This subject has been on my mind a lot lately, and I'm just interested to know is anyone out there feeling the same seriousness of the hour that I and my husband are feeling?  Do YOU have a "no-matter-what-it-takes" approach to reaching the lost and waking the sleeping in the church pew?"


I agree with what you've said here.  As far as your question, "DO YOU think hell is the ultimate message of love, or do you think it's too harsh to preach to people, that it just turns them off," the only thing I'll say about the wording of the question is that hell is PART of the ultimate message of love.  I believe obviously we must take Jesus' lead as far as what to preach to people first (by the way, from what I've seen chronologically in the Gospels, the first record having Jesus preaching specifically about hell didn't occur until the Sermon on the Mount, after the Beatitudes), which is the following in a chronological look at His life when He first entered public ministry.  From my study, His first general preaching happened in Galilee after John the Baptist was imprisoned, and it was about repentance and believing the Gospel since the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Mark 1:14-15, Matthew 4:12-17)

The reality of hell is undeniable and should be preached openly and without hesitation to the world, but Jesus preached on hell (in conjunction with God's judgment) AFTER first preaching REPENTANCE and BELIEVING the Gospel (and later, according to Acts 20:21, "Testifying...repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ).  As believers in God's Kingdom, we must preach repentance and BELIEVING IN FAITH toward our Lord Jesus Christ and the Gospel FIRST to the unbeliever since those conditions must take place in a person's heart to prepare them for when an unbeliever asks "why"; THEN we should preach the fall of sinful man, God's judgment, and hell in relation to His salvation.  Then after salvation, the Great Commission would apply.  Praise the Lord!

Blessings,
Shaun


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"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that  which is good, and acceptable, and perfect." -Romans 12:2

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