By now, most of you have heard the news that the US Military has killed Osama bin Laden. His identity was verified, and then he was “buried at sea” in accordance with Islamic tradition.
First, I’ve got a confession to make. I have not been diligent in his case to honor Matthew 5:44 and pray for my enemy. I have, on occasion, prayed that a Bible find its way to him before the bullet did, but I haven’t prayed for his health, wealth, or prosperity. I certainly have prayed that no missionary lose their life trying to carry the Gospel to him and his cohorts.
Why?
To be honest, after that morning the phone rang at church and I turned on a TV just in time to see the second tower be hit, I’ve personally wanted all those responsible to face the same fiery fate as their victims. Except I wanted it to be eternal instead of temporary.
I wanted them to see hell for the 3000 lives lost that day. For justice to happen on behalf of the orphans, the widows, the parents. I would have them punished for stealing away the futures of young people, the twilight years of older people, and the heroism of firefighters. Judgment should come for robbing some on those aircraft of the chance to hear the Gospel and maybe, this time, repent.
I would have Bin Laden and his minions punished for the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines that have given their lives in the ten years since to attempt to destroy his terror network. To have him punished for the marriages that have been destroyed by repeated deployments, PTSD, and the continual strain of not knowing if your spouse is coming home.
I would punish al-Qaeda for terrorists they have inspired. For London. For Madrid. For Amman. For Bombay.
After all, he deserves it.
If I had my way, he’d have gotten it.
Yet none of that will send him to hell.
None of that rates the eternal punishment he (based on his expressed religious faith) will receive.
What matters?
Scripture is clear that the book of life is what controls:
“And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. ” (Revelation 20:15, NASB95)
That book? Filled with the names of the believers in Christ:
“‘He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. ” (Revelation 3:5, NASB95)
Bin Laden faces eternity based on his name being in, or not being in, that book.
Like it or not, that’s actually a good thing. Why?
Should he not be punished for his murders? As much as I should for my anger. (Matthew 5:22)
Should he not be punished for his lies? (Revelation 21:27) What about my lies?
Yet was he not worse? Did he not kill more? In my hatred, have I not killed him 3000 times? Is it that I am not as wicked or that I have just not had the opportunity?
This is why I’m not in charge. I am unrighteous to make eternal decisions. I am not the one to determine who goes where. Rather, “I AM” makes those decisions. He makes them based on His own standards that He established.
What has He said? All have sinned….all have earned death….there is a free gift for all how believe, confess, repent, and are His. (Romans)
I rejoice this morning. Not because “Public Enemy #1 is dead,” because there’s someone to take his place there. Don’t kid yourself: you will still take your shoes off at the airport, walk through metal detectors at major public places, and cringe at low-flying aircraft. The ‘War on Terror’ is not over.
I rejoice because in that fountain, filled with blood drawn from Immanuel’s veins, sinners can wash all their sins away.
And that there may I, though vile as he, wash all my sins away.
This post is terribly unbiblical.
I’ll point you here for further explanation, as I don’t see the need to restate arguments that have been made better than I could make them. Denny Burke links to two articles, by Doug Wilson and Kevin DeYoung that deal with this issue:
http://www.dennyburk.com/moral-equivalence-and-bin-laden/
If you are going to come and post here your criticism of me, then post your criticism of me. Not drive-by linkage to someone else’s opinions.
And I’ve read DeYoung. He’s making a different point. Unless you see him saying that some sin will send you to hell but other sin won’t.
I’m not criticizing you, but the point you’re making that people are not punished in hell for their own sins. That is absolutely wrong.
Romans 2:5-6 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God “will give to each person according to what he has done.”
Rev. 20:13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done.
See Luke 12:47-48 – some will receive a severe beating, others a light beating.
Luke 20:47 – on the scribes: They will receive the greater condemnation.
People are not sent to hell only because their names are not written in the book of life. And some are punished more severely than others as a result.
“Terribly unbiblical” does not equal “criticism”? Stating that I am “absolutely wrong”?
I’ve looked back—where do I say that he won’t be punished for his sins? I say that I won’t be punished for mine. Reread the post. Then own the fact that you have accused me of denying Scripture. That is what calling me “terribly unbiblical” is doing.
So, whether he had accepted Christ or not, he would have gone to hell?
Please, express how admitting my own sinfulness and being grateful for the grace of God is unbiblical.
Of course, admitting your sinful is not unbiblical. But making a comparison between yourself and bin Laden can easily stray into unhelpful and wrong areas – as DeYoung and Wilson point out.
The larger point has to do with why God sends lost people to hell – (1) for their sins or (2) exclusively for rejecting Christ (not having name in book of life). The Bible is clear that the answer is #1 (which includes also the sin of rejecting Christ). The whole premise of your post is that #2 is correct.
People go to hell because their names are not in the book of life. People do not go to hell if their names are in the book of life.
Or is it possible to not go to hell if your sins aren’t too bad or for your sins to be so bad that the presence of your name in the book isn’t enough?
Whether or not hell is worse for those whose names are not there is a different discussion.
Last sentence should be “Whether or not hell is worse for different people whose names are not there is a different discussion.”
I think this is one of these cases where people are nuancing too much w/ the “moral equivalence” idea.
We can ask two seemingly opposite questions: 1) In our sin are we just as wretched as Bin-Laden, Hitler, etc.? And 2) Is there a difference in the level/types of sin?
The answer to the two together is: yes.
The not-so-bad person who lives their life apart from Jesus but doesn’t really harm anybody is equivalent to the one who murders thousands, b/c their sin (singular intended) against a Holy God is worthy of eternal judgment.
Yet they’re also not equivalent b/c how they play out and the impact they have on others is completely different. One may have sinned by hating their neighbor in their heart. It is still murder, according to Jesus, but it doesn’t have the same loss of life.
So will the one who kills be judged more harshly than the one who does not kill–absolutely… God will judge them by their works, and in judgment it will be more bearable for some than for others…
But, even if it is at different “levels” of judgment–it is still eternal condemnation in the place where their is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
So in the moral equivalence argument it is both/and. Both what Doug has written here and what Burk posted are correct. They’re just nuanced and focused differently.
Thanks, Mike. To be honest the first time I heard the term ‘moral equivalence’ was when I read DeYoung’s blog this morning after I had written this yesterday. My point is not that I’m as bad as a terrorist. My point is that I’m not righteous enough to determine anyone’s eternity. God is and does.