Skip to main content

Book Review: Who Really Goes to Hell (Part 2)

Some of you may know that I blog for books. It connects me with books and authors I might not otherwise read. In the case of David Rudel's book Who Really Goes to Hell, I received two copies. I passed one on to my good friend Bryon. What follows are his very astute observations.

The following is my review of Who Really Goes to Hell? by David Rudel. I’ll say up front that I did enjoy the challenge of a different perspective on this subject. This book definitely made me open my Bible and ponder some serious questions. However, although the underlying question of “Who really goes to hell?” is a good one, and worthy of discussion, I believe Rudel’s reasoning is erroneous and I warn those who desire to read this book to read it with caution.

At the core of Rudel’s message is a system of works. He interprets the emphasis of what Jesus did as having an effect in this life only, breaking the shackels of slavery to sin off of the believer by taking away the dominating power of sin. He presents the work of God in Christ as something that makes a believer stronger and more able to combat sin in this life, but not sufficient to rescue the believer from hell. Being rescued from hell, according to Rudel, is based upon obedience to Jesus’ commands. He states that a person who believes that Jesus is the Christ, who repents and who even receives the Holy Spirit, can lose their inheritance in God through disobedience.

I am not at all diminishing the importance of obedience, for I wholeheartedly believe that if a believer loves Jesus, then that believer will obey his commands (John 14:15). But I also believe 2 Corinthians 5:21, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” The question to me is, did Jesus pay for our sins or not? If indeed Jesus was made sin for us, was crucified and died, and was raised by God as victorious over sin, then what charge is against the believer who places their faith in that work? The sin is gone, paid for, and separated from the believer as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). And if that sin is gone, than I am saved from eternal damnation as much or more as I am saved from sin’s power in this temporary life.

I in no way mean to be disrespectful to Rudel, but I believe false teaching should be called as such. In my opinion, Rudel did not back up his presentation with correct interpretation of scripture. I believe Rudel’s reasoning is erroneous because it diminishes Christ and what he accomplished. It strips God of the power to save his children from his own judgement and places that power in the will of human beings. That should make any honest person very uncomfortable. I agree with the Apostle Paul when he says “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25a) If Christ cannot save me from eternal damnation, then I am doomed. I am thankful to God that Rudel’s interpretation is wrong.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Accountable

I recently officiated a wedding. The ceremony was simple, lovely, and ended with another couple professing to keep the covenant of marriage. But it all started with a clarification...from me. At our first premarital counseling session, as I have done with every couple I have agreed to marry, I clarified a couple of matters. First, I officiate Christian weddings, where both spouses-to-be are professing Christians. I firmly believe that marriage is difficult enough, without adding disagreements about God into the mix. Second, as a minister of Jesus Christ, I believe the pastor’s role in a wedding is to represent the blessing of God on that union. So we have several sessions of premarital counseling where we discuss married life. It’s not that I have this imaginary card in my head, with a picture of me on the front and my stats on the back. (You know, like a baseball card.) Ok, I do picture cards. Pastor cards! And being a competitive guy, I want my stats to look good. The number of coupl

Patience

I am more than halfway through the last year of dropping one of my children off at school. It's my eighth grade daughter, for anyone keeping track of my family.  See, next year she will be at the high school, and her brother will drive her. He says that it's not cool for seniors to drive their freshman sister to school, but I bet it's cooler than being dropped off by your mom in a minivan.  So rather than groan about this daily responsibility, I've been reminiscing about what the drop-off line used to look like, way back in elementary school. Once our children were about halfway through their elementary years, the drop-off line became a test of patience.  Do you know which group you do not want to get caught behind in the parent drop-off line at an elementary school? The kindergartners. These little ones are barely able to walk, but now we put them in the high-pressure situation of trying to unbuckle their seat-belt, grab their backpack (which might be as tall as they a

Jury Duty

I was recently summoned to jury duty. I know, groan. Except I didn't. I had never experienced it before and was curious to see what it was like.   When the day to report arrives, they separate you into groups, asking various questions to decide if you will be selected to serve. Do you know the accused? Do you have conflicts that would keep you from serving? Can you stay focused?  I wanted to answer well, if only because my kids kept wishing me luck the day before, telling me they hoped I made the team. After all, who wants to be rejected? It occurred to me that there are things you probably shouldn’t say right away if you’re wanting to serve on a jury. I know, I know, people don’t typically want to serve on a jury. But that list didn’t seem nearly as humorous to me. Here are the things you probably shouldn’t say if you want to be selected for jury. I hold myself in contempt. You can’t handle the truth. We find the defendant guilty. I believe the judge looks pretty in his robe. I’d