Rob Bell gets the gospel right…

…unfortunately, it is what he is arguing against, not for.

Musing on the thought that someone said Ghandi was in hell, Bell says, “Will only a few select people make it to heaven?…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…converted, born again? How does one become one of these few?”

Not bad really. I’d give an affirmative to most all of that statement (Matt 7.21-23 and John 3.3 among others).

Then discussing the traditional explanation of the gospel he suggests that believing this message distorts who God is “What is God like?…God is going to send you to hell unless you believe in Jesus…Jesus rescues you from God.” His point, who would want to believe in a God like that?

It’s interesting, if I remember correctly one of the studies that put Rob Bell on the map was his series/tour on Leviticus. I think that one of the most frequent words in that book is ‘holy’. Maybe that tells us something about what God is like and why Jesus does need to rescue us from God’s holy wrath.

His book is called Love Wins. I wonder how Bell defines love. Suppose someone has had a spouse murdered. The widow is in the room with the killer. How do I show love towards the widow? Do I treat the killer that same as the widow? Is that truly loving?

Love wins, but justice is exterminated. If there is anything people want in the world today, it is justice. And rightly so, because we are made in God’s image. If Bell’s video preview accurately reflects the message of his book, then there is no such thing as justice, and Jesus is not returning to judge the quick and the dead, and there is no need to repent, and, oddly enough, in his attempt to be generous and get everyone in, Bell will most likely offer some system of works righteousness and requirements instead of the gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation.

You can read more about this HERE, HERE, and HERE.