| |
- Destiny of the Righteous
- We believe that there is a basic and intrinsic difference between the righteous and the wicked as defined by Scripture;
- that the righteous are counted righteous by virtue of their faith (Rom. 4:5);
- that the righteous are those, who having believed God and repented of their sins are thus reconciled to God (II Cor. 5:18, 19), who also love, trust and obey Him with earnestness and therefore are perfectly compatible with the heavenly environment (Heb. 11:16) in the presence of God;
- that the righteous will dwell with Him forever (Rev. 21:3, 4).
| |
- Destiny of the Wicked
- We believe that all who do not repent of their sins and, in faith, trust in Jesus Christ are continually calling God a liar (I John 5:10) and are willfully in rejection of light, truth, and grace which have appeared to all men (John 3:19; Rom. 1:18-20; Titus 2:11);
- that it is this false and rebellious attitude of heart that the Bible knows as heinously wicked, irrespective of an outwardly moral life (Matt. 23:27-36);
- that when one thus despises the reality of the all-pervading principles of truth and righteousness that have emanated from God, he has placed himself at the focal point of disaster where these irrevocable principles will ultimately converge upon him with devastating consequences (Psalm 22:8; Hosea8:7; Gal. 6:7,8);
- that such a one, being at enmity with God, is thus totally incompatible with the environment in the presence of God (Psalm 5:4,5);
- that, therefore, God has no choice but to relegate an eternal being in eternal rebellion to eternal separation from Himself (Matt
- “they received not the love of the truth” (II Thess. 2:10) by the rebellious is the antithesis of faith in that the rejection of the evidence that points to reality, truth, and light is manifest enmity against God and is the most atrocious attitude of heart a created being may possess before his Creator (Rom. 1:25, 28; II Thess. 2:10-12), who would be less than perfect–who would be an accomplice–if he did not hate this attitude (Psalm 11:5), who must focus upon it the principle of retribution (Psalm 11:6); that the focusing of the principle of retribution on the wicked and impenitent is called hell, with all that is said or implied concerning it in the Scriptures (Luke 16:23-31; Mark 9:43-48; Matt. 8:12; 13:42, 50; Rev. 20:14, 15);
- that, while God has no pleasure in it (Ezekiel 33:11), this must be the eternal abode of the wicked with their chosen element: the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41).
|
|