But I will not – because Jesus did not – locate hell outside the realm of grace. All theologians who hold Scripture to be the Word of God must inevitably include in their work a tractate on hell. I take with utter seriousness everything that Jesus had to say about hell, including the eternal torment that such a foolish non-acceptance of his already-given acceptance must entail. “But I am not a universalist if you are talking about what people may do about accepting that happy-go-lucky gift of God’s grace. On the cross, he has shut up forever on the subject of guilt: “There is therefore now no condemnation.” All human beings, at all times and places, are home free whether they know it or not, feel it or not, believe it or not. He has taken away the sins of the world – of every last being in it – and he has dropped them down the black hole of Jesus’ death. The Lamb of God has not taken away the sins of some – of only the good, or the cooperative, or the select few who can manage to get their act together and die as perfect peaches. I am one if you are talking about what God in Christ has done to save the world. Best quote I’ve read to date on universalism, and beautifully sums up what I have been trying to describe for the last for years and usually get someone mad at me.
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