Search the Scriptures

Search the Scriptures – The rich man and Lazarus
Hosted by Ricky Morgan and Justus Dixon

Much argument has taken place over whether the words of Jesus in Luke 16:19-31 were intended to be understood literally or as a parable. Some Christians feel that in this story, Jesus was offering His hearers a glimpse of what existence in the afterlife is like. Others, citing numerous passages of Scripture that seem to contradict the portrayal of heaven and hell contained in this passage, feel that Jesus was teaching an altogether different kind of lesson.

Unfortunately, many modern religious teachers have isolated the story from its original context and used it as a device for scaring people. Religious “conversions” resulting from a fear of hell as it is depicted in this passage have indeed occurred, but are based on a foundation sorely in need of the strength that comes only from a genuine appreciation of God’s character and a proper understanding of Scripture.

To begin this study, we’ll take a closer look at just what a parable really is, and then examine the setting in which Jesus told this story.
Perhaps then we will better understand what lessons there are for us in the story of the rich man and Lazarus.

Search the Scriptures – Hell Fire
Hosted by Ricky Morgan and Justus Dixon

Jesus warns of everlasting punishment in the age to come, and he also explains the
nature of that punishment, as do Paul and John among others. It is the second death, the
wages of sin. It is everlasting destruction, at the hands of God who is able to destroy both
soul and body. To undergo this punishment is to perish—eternally and entirely, fully and
forever—and to forfeit eternal life, the gift of God that throughout the New Testament
always stands as the blessed alternative to death, destruction and perishing.

These details, and scores of others from both Testaments, provide a clearer view of
the biblical hell than does the majority tradition of unending conscious torment. They
represent an understanding of the divine character more fully in accord with the revela-
tion of God revealed in Scripture and in Jesus Christ, including both his goodness and
his severity. They furnish a place to stand with confidence, a position grounded firmly in
Scripture, an incentive to forego timidity based on uncertainty, a boldness to declare the
whole counsel of God on this important subject.

“But,” someone asks, “if the traditional doctrine of hell does not come entirely from
the Bible, how did it originate and why is it almost universally held? And what exactly
does the Bible teach, if not what we have always heard? These are very important ques-
tions that deserve answers. With these questions clearly in mind, let us journey together
through the Scriptures and through centuries of Christian history.

Search the Scriptures – What is hell? Part2 9th May 2019
Hosted by Ricky Morgan and Justus Dixon

The Bible pictures God, however, as “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). It says that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

On the day of Pentecost, Peter said to the people: “Repent, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38). It’s the “goodness of God [that leads] . . . to repentance” (Rom. 2:4), not the fear of the fires of hell.

We would make much more progress in our spiritual lives if, instead of accepting Christ as a fire escape from hell, we were to recognise the fact that it was our sins that sent Jesus to the cross so as to bring about our forgiveness, and that every repetition of sin, in a sense, is “crucify[ing to ourselves] the Son of God afresh, and put[ting] him to an open shame” (Heb. 6:6).

Search the Scriptures – What is hell? Part1
Hosted by Ricky Morgan and Justus Dixon

The Bible pictures God, however, as “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).* It says that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

On the day of Pentecost, Peter said to the people: “Repent, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38). It’s the “goodness of God [that leads] . . . to repentance” (Rom. 2:4), not the fear of the fires of hell.

We would make much more progress in our spiritual lives if, instead of accepting Christ as a fire escape from hell, we were to recognise the fact that it was our sins that sent Jesus to the cross so as to bring about our forgiveness, and that every repetition of sin, in a sense, is “crucify[ing to ourselves] the Son of God afresh, and put[ting] him to an open shame” (Heb. 6:6).