The Southern Baptist Convention officially voted on hell this past month.
The result: They are in favor of it.
WHEREAS, Rob Bell, in his 2011 book, Love Wins, has called into question the church’s historical teaching on the doctrine of eternal punishment of the unregenerate …
.. RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention … do hereby affirm our belief in the biblical teaching on eternal conscience punishment of the unregenerate in Hell …
RESOLVED, That out of our love for lost people and our deep desire that they will not suffer eternally in Hell, we implore Southern Baptists to proclaim faithfully the depth and gravity of sin against a holy God, the reality of Hell, and the salvation of sinners by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone, to the glory of God alone.
You have to love the line, “affirm our belief in the… eternal conscience punishment of the unregenerate in Hell.” In other words, “You are going to burn, you are going to know you are burning and you are going to know why you are burning.”
In other news, the Southern Baptists voted on a few other issues. Here’s what we learned:
1) Heterosexuals should have exclusive rights to the word marriage.
RESOLVED, That we once again call on the United States Congress to pass and the states to ratify a constitutional amendment defining marriage as exclusively between one man and one woman …
… RESOLVED, that we encourage pastors to speak strongly, prophetically, and redemptively concerning the sinful nature of homosexual behavior, the urgent need to protect biblical marriage, and the certainty that the blood of Christ can atone for any sin.
2) All people are free to follow whatever religion or non-religion they so choose. However this does not mean that the Southern Baptists have to tolerate it.
WHEREAS, The rapidly changing religious diversity in the United States makes it important to reassert what Baptists have affirmed historically about complete religious liberty for all persons and a free church in a free state …
WHEREAS, This conviction is grounded in the teaching of our Lord Jesus …
… WHEREAS, Efforts to confront spiritual matters with carnal, coercive means are both morally wrong and counter-productive …
… RESOLVED, That we affirm that this freedom entails the civil liberty to convert to another religion or to no religion, to seek to persuade others of the claims of one’s religion, and to worship without harassment or impediment from the state …
3. Southern Baptists aren’t sure what to do with all the Mexicans.
RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention … call on our churches to be the presence of Christ, in both proclamation and ministry, to all persons, regardless of country of origin or immigration status …
… RESOLVED, That we deplore any bigotry or harassment against any persons, regardless of their country of origin or legal status …
RESOLVED, That we ask our governing authorities to prioritize efforts to secure the borders and to hold businesses accountable for hiring practices as they relate to immigration status …
RESOLVED, That we ask our governing authorities to implement, with the borders secured, a just and compassionate path to legal status, with appropriate restitutionary measures, for those undocumented immigrants already living in our country …
I am so glad we have the Southern Baptists to help us navigate what we should think and do. Without them where would we be.
