Rob Bell, Universalism, and the Atonement

It looks like Rob Bell, the popular emergent pastor and author, is moving farther away from the vague uncertainties and generalities of the emergent movement and toward theology that is more explicitly and openly un-Christian.  That's usually the road false teaching takes.

In his new book is "Love Wins: Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived," Rob Bell argues for universalism, the idea that everyone is saved.  Whole books can and have been written against this idea (see, for starters: The Bible), but I was most concerned by one statement he made in his promotional video (which can be viewed here).

In the video, Rob Bell says: "Millions and millions of people were taught that the primary message, the center of the gospel of Jesus, is that God is going to send you to hell unless you believe in Jesus.  And so what gets subtly caught and taught is that Jesus rescues you from God.  But what kind of God is that, that we would need to be rescued from this God?  How could that God ever be good?  How could that God ever be trusted?  And how could that ever be good news?"

It is tragic that Rob Bell misses the heart of the gospel here.  He casually questions, criticizes, and dismisses what Scripture holds out as the most precious reality in the universe: that Jesus really does rescue us from God.

We are in desperate need of rescue from many things.  We need to be saved from the stranglehold and slavery of sin.  We need to be saved from ourselves, from our bent toward wayward self-destruction.  We need to be saved from the tyranny of unjust social structures.  But over, above, and underneath all of these rescues is the foundational rescue that we need: we need to be saved from the wrath of God.

"Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come." ~1 Thessalonians 1:10
"Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God." ~Romans 5:9

John Piper says it this way.  It's a long quote, but worth reading and celebrating:
"Sin is not small, because it is not against a small Sovereign.  The seriousness of an insult rises with the dignity of the one insulted.  The Creator of the universe is infinitely worthy of respect and admiration and loyalty.  Therefore, failure to love him is not trivial-- it is treason.  It defames God and destroys human happiness.
Since God is just, he does not sweep these crimes under the rug of the universe.  He feels a holy wrath against them.  They deserve to be punished, and he has made this clear: 'For the wages of sin is death.' 'The soul who sins shall die.'
There is a holy curse hanging over all sin.  Not to punish would be unjust.  The demeaning of God would be endorsed.  A lie would reign at the core of reality.
But the love of God does not rest with the curse that hangs over all sinful humanity.  He is not content to show wrath, no matter how holy it is.  Therefore God sends his own Son to absorb his wrath and bear the curse for all who trust him. 'Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.'"

This is the most precious reality in the universe.  Sin must be answered, punished, and condemned.  So God answers, punishes, and condemns His Son in the place of sinners.  This is love so amazing, so divine.  This is breathtaking.  This is the gospel.

"In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (a sacrifice that absorbs and removes wrath) for our sins." ~1 John 4:10