Go To Hell (I Didn't Say It...Paul Did)

I don't think the Apostle Paul would do well in the climate of today's church world. The most popular preachers these days are those who make everybody love them by their winsome personalities and gentle words. That wouldn't fly with Paul. He made it clear that the goal of causing people to like him wasn't on his radar anywhere. (See Galatians 1:10)

He was on a mission to spread a message and his passion sometimes overran a proper protocol of what most would consider good manners. In fact, most church folks today might develop a nervous tick around him. To tell the truth, I would have been nervous about asking him to be a guest speaker in the churches where I served as pastor. He's the kind of guy about whom I used to say, "You have to put out fires after he speaks at your church." The things that man would say took more nerve than I have, that's for sure.

For instance, what would you think if you heard a preacher today say, "If somebody else tells you something different about the gospel than what I've told you, he can go to hell."? I suppose that even the fact that I raise this question may cause you to wince. It sounds wrong even to ask such a thing, doesn't it? That's because you've been conditioned by the politically correct world you live in today. The fact is that the Apostle Paul said exactly that. Where? Galatians 1:8. Here's how various translations put it:

NASV: But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!

NIV: But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!

KJV: But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

Good News Translation: But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel that is different from the one we preached to you, may he be condemned to hell!

The translators in this list who had the nerve to give the closest literal meaning was the last one. May he be "condemned to hell" they rightly say.

The word "accursed" is the Greek word anathema. It means to be set aside and doomed for destruction. The commonly understood meaning was to be sentenced to hell. So Paul knew exactly what he was saying.

In fact, to make sure people knew it wasn't a slip of the tongue due to a momentary surge of emotion and lapse in judgment, he repeats in verse nine: "As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed."

Whew, Paul you make me nervous. Go ahead and talk that way if you want to, but don't expect me to follow you on that one.

Whatever you think about his approach, one thing is for sure. He felt so passionate about the subject of grace that he was willing to say that anybody could go to hell who taught something different.

They're hard words, but they are in the Bible, spoken by one that most people might call the greatest Christian who ever lived. I'm not asking you to follow suit with your terminology, but I do think it's time that those of us who love the message of grace step up to the plate and speak boldly about what we know is true.

A grace revolution is underway and it won't be carried forward by people who are too afraid to plainly speak the truth. Be bold. What's at risk in the modern church is too important for us to be tentative about what we're doing.