Universalist Rob Bell: Love wins, or Love won

Rob Bell Patron Saint of the Homosexual Agenda

Here is a troubling video by one of the most popular self-proclaimed “real pastor of a real church..” His name is Rob Bell. He once led the megachurch Mars Hill Bible Church. Nice brand name. First, I would like to do something else with my time, but Rob is on MSNBC and many other media outlets, twisting the very words of Christ. And many of his contemporary New Liberals are leading many in his church onto the reefs of doctrinal destruction that challenges orthodox beliefs. Gee, the bible told us this would happen over and over. See our Kingdom Parables Series.

Come n See: Contents Table

Rob Bell Twisting the Scripture!

What is Scripture Twisting? How to read the Bible, Hermeneutics,

As also in all [his] epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as [they do] also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. 2 Peter 2:1

You will see below, and I will demonstrate in our upcoming video, how Rob Bell (Ephesians 5:11) is a false teacher (2 Peter 2:1) who denies the very words of Jesus (Matthew 24:4) and twists Scripture (2 Peter 3:16). WOW! This is arrogance or ignorance. I think the former…

Oh, where do you even begin with someone like this… I think, as you see in the video below, his reply isn’t based on sound Bible exegesis (a critical explanation of Scripture) using a consistent hermeneutic (a method of interpreting Scripture). This brings to mind the excellent sermon by the late Dr. Walter Martin, who gives us the formula for the liberal process of corrupting the Bible and then emptying the gospel of all its power. 1 Corinthians 1:17-18. See here for a must-hear audio. (Liberal Theology Lies)

This is hard to believe that he tries and is effective with those who are either ignorant of what the bible says, like me, an actual minister of the gospel with an actual ministry. I am far more concerned not with whether I sell books or am hip with postmodern culture. No! I am personally fearful of being held accountable before a righteous and holy God, who will hold us all accountable not only for our words, but for our thoughts. 1 Corinthians 4:5. Also, we should know that the bible also says, “Let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.” James 3:1.

Rob Bell’s universalistic false god

Rob’s fixation with his own rationale of a loving God cannot condemn billions & billions of people to hell. Indeed, it is repugnant to think of anyone consigned to hell forever. I agree. Rob Bell, however, is gravely misguided in not understanding the age-old question of “what happens to the poor little pygmy who never heard the gospel; will God send them to hell…” You’ve heard that one. It is a great question. Rookie pastors should be equipped to answer common skeptic objections like this.

We teach in such a manner as to equip the church as outlined in Ephesians 4:7-16 in love, but love that will not tell you the whole truth is not love. It is cowardice or deception. The answer is in the airtight argument the Apostle Paul puts forth in Romans. Romans 2:11-15 demonstrates that those who have not had the benefit of the gospel preached will, and I recommend reading Romans Ch. 1-3 to see Paul’s logic. It is the conscience that God has placed within every man so that none are without excuse, as also His creation Psalm 19:1-4.

So it is not as Rob Bell submits to our emotions or to the word of God. He appeals to a concept of a god (little g, god) that is the making of his own idol, and he breaks the commandment of “(for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God)” Exodus 30:14 . See, it is not the God we may wish He would be, but God is Holy, separated from sinners of whom all of us are. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it?” Jeremiah 147:9. Read that as no one! God, however, knows, and of His own great love for us, He went to hell (Ephesians 4:9, 1 Peter 3:19) on our behalf and tasted death for us (Hebrews 2:9). You see, Rob, God has already done everything for us. It is those who REJECT God’s indescribable gift who send themselves to a Christless eternity, whether in word or deed, that their conscience bears witness to.

Hell is real. Jesus spoke of it more often than anyone. The word “Hell,” as Rob noted in an interview, is Gehenna (Greek). Hell is the place of future punishment called “Gehenna” or “Gehenna of fire”. This was originally the valley of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem, where the filth and dead animals of the city were cast out and burned; a fitting symbol of the wicked and their future destruction.

Where is Rob Bell Leading? Video Quotes.

The town dump, which the Lord continued to say, and Rob deceitfully omits from his explanation, which pastors of real churches call context, so as not to twist or isolate the meaning. The context in Matthew 5:21-30 & 9:40-50 is frightfully clear… If the Lord Himself went to Hell for the sins of men, then we ought to teach the love of Christ who gave His soul and offering for sin, and not change the very context of what the Lord described as a place where “Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.” & “the whole body,” and we see this in its fearsome ending in Revelation at the Great White Throne Judgment, will be cast into the Lake of Fire with the Antichrist, False Prophet, and all those who love not the truth. Revelation 19:20, 20:10-15.

See, Rob Bell does not have the most basic understanding of the love of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Notice that false teachers like Rob Bell DO NOT read Scripture verse by verse. They do not talk about the prophecy that would indict them as the false teachers whom our Lord and His apostles warned us would come. Matthew 7:15, 24:4,24, Luke 21:8, Acts 20:29-33, 2 Peter 2, Jude, Galatians 1:6-9, 2 John 1:9 and much more! We are, as true Christians, to lovingly rebuke the sheep, but the wolves are not to get such treatment; they are perverse in their pandering to draw men unto themselves for their own gain.

They sadly are a sign post along the sin-riddled history of the man who tries to come to God their own way like Cain and will bring on themselves the destruction. When they should be telling the love of Christ who gave Himself for us so we DO NOT HAVE TO GO TO HELL. Repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and not the little god of your imagination, for God is love; that’s what the cross is all about. Think about it. No, Rob, you are a false teacher and a poor Bible teacher. What gain is there if a man sells millions of books on the New York Times Bestseller list and loses his soul?

You may call me unloving, but I must warn those who are under the spell of this man. Rob Bell and many other liberal emergent leaders like Brian McLaren are to be exposed (Ephesians 5:11; 2 Timothy 3:17). Because I like David, love the sheep, and am prepared to be mocked and marginalized like the typical cultural Marxism of the modern liberals who deny the very foundations of the faith and pass themselves off as tolerant of people’s sin. Not knowing the power of the cross or the great exchange of true love. Love won! It is an act in the past on Calvary, and it is a gift to all who will believe. Rob, Brian, and the others are poster children for why not many should be teachers… “My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.” James 3:1

Shalom, Keith; additional article below.

The sad fact is that mainstream evangelicalism embraced the sinfully ecumenical neo-liberal cult of the Emergent Church, aka the Emerging Church—with its “big tent” Progressive Christianity aka Emergence Christianity—and, e.g., began using warped and toxic teachings of EC leaders like Emerging Church rock star pastor Rob Bell, and has been poisoning its own young.

So Apprising Ministries has been giving you peeks at its bleak future of division and compromise of God’s Word; and for nearly six years now, in articles like Is Rob Bell Evangelical? and Rob Bell Is Definitely Not Like Jesus, I’ve been warning you that Bell’s doctrine is not at all in line with the historic orthodox Christian faith. Take, for example, his use of the Virgin Birth of Christ as a “spring,” which could simply be removed with no effect upon the Christian faith.

Rob Bell’s book Velvet Elvis

You may recall in his book Velvet Elvis (VE), Bell mused that even if someone found “definitive proof that Jesus had a real, earthly, biological father named Larry,” the Christian faith would not be affected. This should have been your first clue that, while he is certainly an engaging communicator, he does not grasp the critical nature of this cardinal doctrine of the Christian faith.

Obviously, if Mary was not found to be with child from the Holy Spirit (cf. Matthew 1:18), but rather became pregnant by a mere human man, then Jesus would no longer be the only Son from the Father(monogenes para Patros, cf. John 1:14); nor would He be — God; the only God (Theon monogenes theos, cf. John 1:18). And if Jesus of Nazareth is not fully God and fully Man by means of Mary having conceived a child from the Holy Spirit (cf. Matthew 1:20) then we only have a human man with a sinful human nature just the same as everyone else.

Not only that, but Jesus wouldn’t have been able to die for the sins of anyone else because another Jesus (cf. 2 Corinthians 11:4) would only have been a human sinner himself. In addition to all of this, a human man could not possibly die for the sins of another because, by definition, sin is committed against God; so only God Himself could die for the forgiveness of trespasses having been committed against Him.

A couple of years ago, in Rob Bell and Christian Universalism, I talked about this issue—sometimes referred to as Universal Reconciliation—that many Christian Universalists do believe in a literal Hell, as you can see in the AM article Spencer Burke: I’m A Universalist Who Believes In Hell. The key point for you to keep in mind right now would be what the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology enlightens us to here: “A universalist believes that the efficacy of the Atonement is not limited and therefore extends to all.”[1]

In other words, in CU/UR we’re not far from what those involved with New Age spirituality would call: At-one-ment; and pretty much what Rob Bell himself wrote in VE some five years ago:

So this is reality, this forgiveness, this reconciliation, is true for everybody. Paul insisted that when Jesus died on the cross, he was reconciling “all things, in heaven and on earth, to God.” All things, everywhere. This reality then isn’t something we make come true about ourselves by doing something. It is already true. Our choice is to live in this new reality or cling to a reality of our own making.[2]

This brings me to Rob Bell Teaching Universalism, where I brought to your attention the video below, where Rob Bell is plugging his new book, Love Wins. Those under the spell of Bell can’t/won’t see the universalism inherent in what he says in this video; however, let’s consider that Zondervan isn’t publishing this book; HarperCollins is. They tell us that Bell “argues that the church’s traditional understanding of heaven and hell is actually not taught by the Bible.”[3]

Silly us; O, whatever did the church do until Rob Bell and this emerging neo-liberal cult of neo-Gnostics showed up to teach us what the Bible really says. That aside, I happen to pretty much agree with what Tevix Wax brings out in his post Rob Bell and the Judgmentless “Gospel”: Holy Love Wins:

The promo video is classic Bell: provocative, edgy, designed to start the discussion. Until the book comes out, I don’t think we can accurately label Rob a “universalist.” Based on Rob’s tendency to ask edgy questions and then pull back, I expect that somewhere in the book, Rob will affirm that people who don’t want to be part of God’s kingdom won’t be forced to. In the end, Rob will land somewhere between optimistic inclusivism (most everyone will be saved) and universalism (all will be saved). (Online source)

Like I’ve said before, this is a type of Christian universalism à la Spencer Burke where everyone is already reconciled to God but may “opt out” of grace if they so wish; however, the key question was asked by Chris Rosebrough: Did God Send Rob Bell to Correct Jesus’ False Teaching RE: Hell & the Afterlife? In closing this, for now, here’s a transcription of the audio to assist your evaluation of the postmodern deconstructing questions that Bell, who, in my view, is most prominent among The New Downgrade And Its Apostles Of Unbelief, is asking:

Several years ago we had an art show at our church, and people brought in all kinds of sculptures, and paintings, and we put them on display. One piece had a quote from Gandhi, and lots of people found it compelling. They’d stop and sort of stare at it, and take it in, and reflect on it—but not everybody found it that compelling. Somewhere in the course of the art show, somebody attached a handwritten note to the piece, and on the note they had written: “Reality Check—He’s In Hell.”

Gandhi’s in hell? He is? And someone knows this for sure and felt the need to tell the rest of us? Will only a few select people make it to heaven? And will billions and billions of people burn forever in hell? And, if that’s the case, how do you become one of the few? Is it what you believe, or what you say, or what you do, or who you know—or something that happens in your heart? Or do you need to be initiated, or baptized, or take a class, or converted, or be born again—how does one become one of these few?

And then there is the question behind the questions, the real question: What is God like? Because 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. 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?

This is why lots of people want nothing to do with the Christian faith. They see it as an endless list of absurdities and inconsistencies, and they say: “Why would I ever want to be part of that?” See, what we believe about heaven and hell is incredibly important because it exposes what we believe about who God is and what God is like. What you discover in the Bible is so surprising, unexpected, and beautiful that whatever we’ve been told or taught, the good news is actually better than that; better than we could ever imagine.

The good news is that love wins. (:06-2:34)

End notes:

[1] Walter A. Elwell, Ed., Evangelical Dictionary of Theology [Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 2001], 1232.

[2] Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005], 146, emphasis mine.

[3] http://tiny.cc/uclxm, accessed 2/28/11.

Aricle Source. TRANSCRIPT OF LOVE WINS VIDEO OF ROB BELL: Apprising Ministries