Could Hitler be in heaven?
2 Peter 3:13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
Is Hitler in heaven today?.............
In baseball the object is for the hitter to arrive safely home when his time comes to bat. A Christian also hopes to arrive safely at home in heaven when his time is complete on this earth.
Millions of human beings have placed their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as the way to achieve this goal. Millions have already died and know the answer. Is Hitler there? This sounds absurd to ask such a question. But, let us suppose for a moment that Hitler professed a sincere heartfelt profession of faith in Jesus Christ when he was 20 years old. Let us further suppose that he gradually fell away and in fact became an atheist and never changed his mind. The rest of his life unfolded just as history tells us. Could this sincere belief and profession of faith have been enough for him to have arrived safely home in heaven? Orthodox Christianity would say emphatically no because his profession was a false profession as 1 John 2:19 and many other verses testify.
However, there is a group and a people teaching an antinomian view that holds that a person who makes a sincere mental assent profession of faith is at that moment eternally secure as a believer no matter what they do from that moment own. They claim that no amount of bad deeds or apostasy would negate heaven if they were sincere when they called out to Jesus in faith. This would mean that a sincere profession by Hitler at age twenty would have assured for him a home in heaven period.
The Grace Evangelical Society of Bob Wilkin and the teaching of Zane Hodges are promoting this theology. The following is taken directly from the Grace Evangelical Society website:
1. Faith is the conviction that something is true. To believe in Jesus is to be convinced that He guarantees everlasting life to all who simply believe in Him for it
2. No act of obedience, preceding or following faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, such as commitment to obey, sorrow for sin, turning from one’s sin, baptism or submission to the Lordship of Christ, may be added to, or considered part of, faith as a condition for receiving everlasting life
3. Good works, which can and should follow regeneration, are not necessary for a person to have assurance of everlasting life
4. Therefore, obedience to the Word of God, while not necessary for obtaining everlasting life, is the essential responsibility of each Christian. However, the Bible does not teach that this obedience will be manifested in all believers.
5 The aim of GES is to promote the clear proclamation of God's free salvation through faith alone in Christ alone, which is properly correlated with and yet distinguished from issues related to discipleship.
Mr. Zane Hodges has stated that someone that has professed faith and become an unbeliever and in fact a mocker of Christianity is eternally saved even if he never becomes a believer again......
I would urge everyone to be discerning when it comes to evaluating exactly what is being espoused in blogosphere.
12 comments:
It is true that the Bible teaches eternal security. But what people sometimes forget is that the Bible ALSO teaches that if we are truly saved, then God has promised to chasten us for our sins when we stray - even to the point of taking us out (the sin unto death). So a discerning Christian can observe someone who claims they are saved living a sinful unrepentant lifestyle, and if that person is not receiving chastening from their heavenly Father, then their salvation is very questionable.
Like your site.
ms.green,
Thanks for the comment. It is extremely difficult for a believer to tell about such matters. However, a theology that allows in theory an unrepentant apostate monster like Hitler the possibility of having eternal life is seriously defective.
When the free grace advocates get through forcing Biblical revelation through their template it is sometimes barely recognizable.
Jazzycat
I agree that Zane Hodges position turns a blind eye to the solid truths proclaimed in the book of 1 John and things dealing with murder as a practice and pattern in the heart. This is why I believe in repentance flowing out of faith in Christ. He that loveth not knoweth not God.
But brother don't you think Joseph has a strong argument here concerning Calvin as well?
Good post by the way.
BTW,
Please forgive me for not knowing as I have seen some refer to you as sister...but aren't you a brother?
Brian,
Jazzy is a female, but I her humble human servant am a brother.
Thanks for the visit. I was not concerned or interested in his views of Calvin as person. I am somewhat aware of his charge, but I have not read about it very much. My interest was 100% about the doctrinal principal being discussed and not any defense of or allegience to John Calvin.
Scripture alone is my belief and while Calvin was one of many who helped recover Biblical theology from Rome, I do not place him or anyone else above Scripture. Interestingly, it seems that a lot of the free grace people are quite willing to adopt everything Zane Hodges says as gospel truth.
I told one of them in a thread one time that every commentary that I could find (8 or 10) supported my view on a certain point. I asked them to give me the commentaries that supported their view. The answer was one..... Zane Hodges.
Jazzycat
Brian,
Very good points on 1 John, love and repentance.
Jazzycat
Hey Jazzy,
You said>it seems that a lot of the free grace people are quite willing to adopt everything Zane Hodges says as gospel truth.<
Amen, this concerns me as well. It seems as though some have transfered their hope in the Pope to a hope in another man. Zane Hodges may be right in some areas, but he does wonder of into others and it seems some buy it hook, line and sinker.
Hey it looks like you may have gotten a visit from Phil Vaz's group and Catholic Answers maybe.
You must be doing something right.
Amen on Sola Scriptura
Oh and thanks for clarifying the sister application...brother.
Jazzycat,
I have noticed that many of the fg are quick to run to Bible dictionaries and Greek lexicons. These are helpfull, but...
..You can see W.E.Vine come under fire for some of his definitions.
..You can see that not all authors of these works are in agreement on certain definitions
..Notice that there are Doctors of the original languages on both sides of the LS debate.
In the end, we must look to the Bible to define its own words and concepts. If you want the definition of faith or believing, you must look to the Bible. There you will see that faith is always accompanied by repentance and obedience. There's simply no way around that.
Let's keep looking to the WHOLE of the Bible in order to inform our position; not just John 4 or 20:31 or Romans or Galatians, the whole Bible.
So how is one saved then, Jazzy?
If faith in Jesus' promise to guarantee eternal life to the believer is not sufficient, what is?
Antonio,
In the famous verse of John 3:16 we see the total package. It is not just faith in a promise, it is grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.
In that one verse we are told about God's grace (for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son). We are told about the person of Jesus Christ and the fact that he is God. We are told that belief (faith) in what Christ accomplished (gave his only begotten son referring to the atonement) secures eternal life.
Earlier in verse 3 of John 3 we are told that before a sinful, depraved sinner can exercise belief, he must be born again by the Holy Spirit. In many other places we are told how this regeneration changes a person so drastically that it is like removing a heart of stone and replacing it with flesh.
IMO at the point of the power of regeneration is where we have a totally different understanding of soteriology. I can fully understand your conclusions based on your view of regeneration (assuming they are similar to Matthew DF). I would ask that you consider my (reformed) view not to change your opinion, but to understand how my view leads to a different thinking on sanctification and dicipleship.
I may be wrong, but I believe our differences in the power, order, results, cause, etc. of regeneration is the foundational point where the disagreement lies.
Justification, adoption, and sanctification are all downstream from regeneration. I sincerely believe that regeneration preceded my coming to faith in Christ at around age 50.
BTW, I am male and my cat Jazzycat is female.
Jazzycat
"Sieg Meow"
http://beepbeepitsme.blogspot.com/
By the way, hitler hated cats. Further proof of his evil nature.
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