Quote:
Originally Posted by OBW
... is it more important to take note and act positively with respect to what the negative implications might be than to figure out precisely what those negative implications really are. It may be that the whole idea was to drive us toward positive, righteous living in Christ rather than to provide a doctrine of outer darkness. Discovering a doctrine of outer darkness may be over-milking the metaphor.
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I think you are right: the NT parables and OT stories were to be an impetus to "take note and act positively", as you put it. That's why I wrote about the two drunkards in the bar: one lamented that he was doomed to eternal torment and the other, a lapsed Christian believer, said that he would only suffer for 1,000 years. How do we know the lapsed Christian won't be worse off? Jesus said that to those whom much was given, much would be required. Jesus also taught that the one who knew better and misbehaved would receive worse punishment than the one who didn't know any better.
If our "assurance" is based on our mental constructions rather than our steadfast obedience to God's will, we risk unpleasant surprise. Witness Lee's "1,000 years of darkness" idea makes sense on some level. But my chief complaint is that it's very crude and necessitates ignoring scripture and shoehorning other scripture into your conceptual scheme. To me it's like spreading butter on toast using the head of a axe; you might get the job done but the toast doesn't emerge unscathed from the process. Is that cutting straight the word?
Not that I have, either; I still ponder, and much of it may remain unresolved for the duration of my stay here. But I do know that the Bible is an invitation to repent and act positively for a change. And I don't like Lee's pat explanations: how do these teachings really help any Christian to "take positive action", versus helping Lee's ministry to sell books and fill seats at training centers? I am skeptical, to say the least.
I also dislike the simplistic alternative of "nominal/false Christians go to the lake of fire for eternity" idea. So Miriam and Aaron are going to the lake of fire for eternity because they didn't make it across the Jordan River? It should be warning enough, that the Exodus example was brought up repeatedly in epistles to Corinthians, Hebrews, and Jude, that God had mercy on some but eventually they fell in the wilderness. Out of the hundreds of thousands who left Egypt only two (Joshua and Caleb) made it into the promised land of rest. That should be incentive enough for us to struggle each day, while it is still called "today". Many are called but few are chosen. So press on, and endure, and continue in the hope to be found faithful in that day.
Constructing third-grade theology out of these parables and OT types is in my opinion a distraction and a waste of time. It just becomes something to beat each other over the head with, as if we didn't have enough arguments going on already.