Watch out for Icebergs (part one) #1

On the night of April 14, 1912, the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank two hours and forty minutes later. To illustrate a spiritual point and using the sinking of the Titanic as our back drop, consider what would have happened  if the following hypothetical scenario took place. Imagine a man in a barge coming to the spot where the ship was sinking. He would be surrounded by more than two thousand desperate people from the Titanic frantically fighting for their lives. The people have no life jackets or life rafts and can only keep themselves afloat in the icy water for a few minutes. The man has the means of saving every one of them from their watery grave, and more than enough room with complete provisions on the barge for every person; however, of the 2,223 people, the man saves only 706 people from certain death, while leaving the other 1,517 to drown. The man in the barge could have saved everyone from drowning, but he didn't, and the reason why he didn't is because it pleased him to do so!

The next day, would the newspaper headlines praise this man for being kind, gracious, loving, and merciful  because he saved 706 people while leaving 1517 to die (or suppose he rescued 1517 and let only 706 people drown whom he could have saved?). Hardly. Because of the conscience God has given  us, even the "totally depraved" and the spiritually dead people of this world would condemn such despicable behavior. No one with any sense of the morals God has imprinted upon our conscience could praise such a man for leaving anyone to drown whom he could have saved.

Yet this is the view that many churches and pastors are teaching today. They teach and (believe!) that God forces His salvation on those He selects, and that He condemns those whom He has not selected to be accountable for something they cannot do (believe in Him), since God withholds the grace they need for salvation, and then punishes them eternally for failing to obey something He has made impossible for them to do. Then they go so far as to say that God takes pleasure in sending those people to hell. This belief is a mockery of God’s  mercy and love we find in the Bible, and it libels His character.

For me, the message of the Gospel is simple..."For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16). I believe this verse means that Jesus came to save the whole world, not just to those that He has randomly selected. I believe this because in 1 Timothy 2:14 it says that God "wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth".  On the other hand, some would argue that God did not die for all. They believe that God decides on no basis whatsoever, but by the "mystery" of His will to save some (called the elect) and to allow all others to go to hell (even though He could save them all if He so desired). In other words, God has a "master list" of those who will be saved and those who will go to hell before creation in Gen 1:1. This list is unchangeable. I would contend that those who espouse this view are twisting the scriptures to say something that really isn't there and they are in danger of preaching another gospel and defaming the character of God in the process. (Galatians 1:8-9).

The controversy of whether God died for "all" or only those that He chose has unfortunately been an ongoing debate among many Christians for years and still is today. I would challenge the reader of this blog to open God's Word and investigate these claims for yourself. Don't be like the passengers of the Titanic who put their trust in a faulty man made design. Also, don't just consult with other "like-minded" individuals who will tell you what you want to hear, or read only books that just support your position. instead, let the Bible be your compass (and your authority), and I can assure you, that you will avoid the deadly icebergs that are out there to destroy you.