I was talking with someone recently about how society (and even the church) has a distorted comprehension of the LORD Christ Jesus, how we pick out the parts of His life and His words that we like and ignore the parts we do not like.
While we probably do not care for hell, fire, and brimstone messages (we are lovers of grace and mercy), still we cannot ignore the things Jesus said about hell and judgment.
“Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” [Matthew 10:28 HCSB]
God created us. As our Creator, He has the authority to determine the standards by which we live. He has been very clear about those standards and the consequences of not abiding by them.
God, however, in His gracious mercy, knew we would need His help. He sent His Son who brought grace and truth to us. He took our punishment and judgment and offered His righteousness to us. He provided us with a “great salvation.”
Now we have a choice, a choice that the author of Hebrews reminds us not to ignore. “How will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was first spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him.” [Hebrews 2:3 HCSB]
We cannot remove the pieces and parts of Jesus’ life and words that we do not like to hear. We cannot ignore the fact that He spoke about hell and the consequences of rejecting God’s provided salvation. We do harm to the Gospel if we do not speak the whole truth about God’s “great salvation.”