Salvation in Christ is deliverance from something. We tend to dwell on the wonder of what we are saved unto—namely, God’s free grace and unwavering love and undeserved forgiveness, bringing new hope and new life and joy forever: eternal life in the radiant presence of Jesus! And it’s right to revel in this grand outcome of gospel grace. But it’s also absolutely crucial to remember what we’ve been spared (Ephesians 2:11-12).
In fact, if we always spotlight the saving grace of God but bypass his righteous wrath and the threat of hell, and if we only envision God’s mercy yet systematically avoid his majesty-justice-holiness, we’ll end up with a seriously warped theology. And if we carry on long enough with such defiance, we’re going to look up one day and find that the message of God’s wrath seems to be nothing more than a bad cartoon, and we’ll resent God for daring to be angry at anyone’s sin and rebellion—and we’ll put ourselves in God’s place and presume that we can remake him in our image. Pray that day would never come—not for you, not for Goshen.
The Bible teaches that all people are on one of two paths heading toward one of two eternal destinies: heaven and hell (e.g., Matthew 7:13-27; Romans 6:23; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10). Wishful thinking that “all paths lead to heaven” and that God will sweep our high treason under the rug and welcome all people into his heavenly presence, saying, “Well, my white-hot holiness and perfect justice aren’t really such a big deal after all—and I sure wouldn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings by leaving them out!”—that kind of notion crashes head-on into granite biblical truth.
Let’s not be like the liars who announced to God’s people, “Peace, peace,” when there was no peace (Jeremiah 6:14). Instead, let’s embrace “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27) and take to heart the warning and the hope spelled out in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
