I find it interesting that so many people get upset when you say that not everyone will go to heaven, especially when you take it a step further and say that not all people who claim to be Christians will go to heaven. Generally, if you make a statement like that, people will call you judgmental or rude or arrogant or ‘in for a rude awakening on the day of judgment’. Question: would you call Jesus rude, judgmental, or arrogant? Do you think Jesus is in for a rude awakening on the day of judgment? Because here’s the thing, Jesus is the one who said that not everyone will go to heaven. Jesus is the one who said that not all those who call Him ‘lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven. Don’t take my word for it, though, look at these verses:

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”   – Matthew 7:13-14

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”  – Matthew 7:21

In the current climate in which we find ourselves, tolerance is forced down people’s throats. If you don’t accept every group and every lifestyle, you are intolerant and thus no one has to tolerate your opinion. Tolerance, after all, is loving and supporting and condoning everything that someone does. Actually, that’s not love at all, is it? Love does no harm to a neighbor (Rom. 13:10), and I find it extremely harmful to allow someone to go to hell, don’t you?

Now please understand that the following is intended for those in the Lord’s church. Why? Because if you are outside of Christ, you are still a bondservant of Satan, and thus will act any way in which you please. Yet, as members of the Lord’s body, we aren’t the ones who live any longer, it’s Christ (Gal. 2:20), and so why do we think that it’s ok to live any way in which we choose? Wasn’t that the downfall of the Israelites in the days of the judges (Judges 17:6, 21:25)?

As Christ’s body, we cannot be tolerant of sin. Jesus wasn’t! He didn’t tell the woman caught in adultery to just keep living the way she felt was right. No, He told her to ‘go and sin no more’ ( John 8:11). But wait a minute! Wasn’t she created as a sexual being? Why control those urges? Because to be a follower/disciple of Christ, you must deny self and whatever it is that your self wants that goes against God’s will (Matt. 16:24, Mark 8:34, Luke 9:23).

So what is love? If it isn’t tolerance, then what could it possibly be? Let’s see what the Bible has to say about it:

1: God is love (1 John 4:8). When we love, we are exhibiting a characteristic of our Father. Does God accept sin? Does God chalk up man’s sinful lifestyles as being ‘born that way’? Obviously those questions are rhetorical. God, in loving man, sent Jesus to rid man of the sin problem that he has. He did not send Jesus to die a cruel and painful death so that man could continue living in sin. What would be the point of Jesus’ sacrifice? Because God loves us, He gave us an escape from sin’s clutches. He gave us Jesus Christ, and He gave us His Holy Word–a guidebook for living in such a way that will give you eternal life.

2: Love is covering sins (1 Peter 4:8). Often, this is the go-to verse for why Christians should be tolerant of sin. If love covers sins, we can excuse people’s sins by loving them enough. James 5:20 clarifies the verse in 1 Peter, when James says that turning a sinner from the error of his ways is what covers the multitude of sin. If we put the two verses together, we can clearly see that James says turning someone from sins = covering a multitude of sins, and Peter says love = covering a multitude of sins, thus love = turning someone from sins. Love doesn’t mean sweeping sins under the rug. Love means telling someone to repent while they still have the chance!

Now, this post is running pretty long already, so tune in tomorrow for part two, where we’ll discuss two more points on what love is, and wrap this entire study up! Please join me tomorrow for the remainder of the study, and until then, pray that we will be more loving toward others, less tolerant of sin, and more open to what the truth of God’s word actually says.