"LET HIM BE ETERNALLY CONDEMNED!"
“You are a stiff-necked people,” the Lord often said to the Old Testament Israelites. Jesus speaking to the Pharisees called them “white-washed walls” and “hypocrites.” “Because you are lukewarm I am about to spit you out of my mouth,” Jesus warned the Laodicean congregation in the book of Revelation... God doesn’t mince words in Scripture. He doesn’t care if it might hurt someone’s feelings. It doesn’t concern him if people don’t want to hear the truth. He is determined not to let his gospel be tampered with or ignored. And when that does happen, he will use some very harsh words at times - much harsher than the language we use today.
Because we live in a country of political correctness. You could lose your job or get sued or be socially shunned for something that comes out of your mouth, after all! People, by and large, are much more cautious when they speak in this day and age, especially if they have something derogatory to bring up. Words like “toleration” and “acceptance” and “awareness” and “understanding” have begun to suppress words like “truth” and “faith” and “confession.” And that’s unfortunate because sometimes harsh words are needed.
And this is not political; it’s spiritual. Because when it comes to what God says in Scripture, sometimes harsh words are exactly what’s called for. Even today harsh words are needed. Especially today harsh words are needed! When sin runs rampant, when Christianity is equivalent with bigotry, when the gospel about our Savior and his sacrifice and our forgiveness and his Paradise are treated with contempt, harsh words are of the essence. Not in a prideful way or even in a defensive way, but harsh words are sometimes necessary in order to win souls.
The apostle Paul was in this very situation. He was writing to a group of Jewish believers who were falling back towards the work-righteousness - the “earn heaven on your own” idea - of Judaism. They had heard the gospel and they had believed the gospel, but now they were being influenced by others to trust in the ceremonies and the sacrifices of Old Testament worship life again. And Paul had some harsh words for his fellow believers and those who were leading them astray: “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel - which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned! Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
Paul doesn’t pull any punches! If anyone brings a gospel other than the one about faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, let him be eternally condemned! Paul was not being politically correct here. He was not being gentle. He was not trying to make friends. He was being harsh. But he was also being truthful and honest and heart-felt. He wanted the congregation of believers in Galatia to see the danger of what they were getting involved with and he wanted them to stay faithful to the gospel they had come to know. And anyone else who tried to sway them from these words of salvation, Paul, without apology, pronounces that they should be eternally condemned.
It is understandable why Paul was so harsh concerning those who perverted the gospel of Christ. Remember where Paul had been: he had once been on the other side. He had once been an enemy of Christ and a persecutor of Christians. He had hunted believers down, he had thrown them in jail, he had watched them murdered in front of his face. If anyone should have been eternally condemned it should have been Paul! But then Jesus intervened. He physically appeared to him, worked faith in his heart through the Word of God, and rescued him from the punishment that Paul rightly deserved. Paul was completely undeserving of any mercy or compassion - but he had received the full extent of God’s love nevertheless. Paul was saved by this gospel. Paul was given a new life because of this gospel. And now, the people that he had preached it to, the fellow believers whom he had shared it with, they were starting to abandon their only hope of salvation! They were beginning to throw away what Paul held so close to his heart. They were rejecting the very reason that Paul lived and breathed! And so of course Paul was a little upset! It’s no wonder he was a little bit harsh! He cared about these people in Galatia and he would not stand idly by, watching their faith be destroyed by gospel-bashers and anti-Christian teachings! And so in a passionate appeal to the hearts of his hearers, he says about those false teachers, “Let them be eternally condemned!”
If only we were so bold. If only we were so vehemently attached to the gospel that we were not afraid to say what needed to be said to anyone who opposed it. Of course, it’s easy to stand up for the gospel in here. It’s comfortable to speak about your faith and confess what you believe with those who agree with you inside these four walls. But to bring that same passion, to bring that same uncompromising attitude to the people of this world, is not so easy. Because we have the tendency to want to please those around us instead of pleasing the Lord who bought us.
Isn’t that true? We don’t really want to ruffle any feathers. We don’t want to bring up anything controversial. We don’t want to get someone angry or make them uncomfortable. And so when we become aware of a sin that someone else is committing, when we hear of a false belief that someone we care about is clinging to, when we are surrounded by those who do not have contact with the Word of God on a regular basis, we might possibly broach the topic, but more often than not we tell ourselves, “He’s just going to get mad at me…” “I doubt they want to talk about it…” “She’ll be really embarrassed if I bring it up…” “It’ll be so much easier if I don’t say anything…” “It’s not worth the trouble it’ll cause by forcing them to confront the problem…” “I don’t want to cause friction in the relationship I have with this person…” When those thoughts because excuses are we trying to please the people around us or are we trying to please God? Are we trying to save their souls or just save face?
Let us be eternally condemned for not doing everything we can to save souls! Let us be eternally condemned for not doing everything we can to please our Lord. How could we? How could we know and believe this gospel about Jesus Christ, trust in it for our comfort, bank on it for our eternal life, and then let others openly ignore it or compromise it or desecrate it by their false beliefs and sinful actions without pointing out their error? Let us be eternally condemned for our ungratefulness to the Lord, for our spiritually weak dispositions, for our failures to boldly stand up for the truth and to even be a little harsh when needed. Let us be eternally condemned for how we have treated the gospel that has saved us.
But, of course, that’s exactly the reason why we’re Christians, isn’t it? Because we know that we deserve to be eternally condemned. There’s no hiding the fact that we have earned for ourselves a place in hell and nothing less. And so that’s why we are Christians: we know we need a Savior! We believe in what Jesus did for us so that we don’t have to go to hell. We trust that our Father will not eternally condemn us because he said about his Son, Jesus, “Let him be eternally condemned! Let him take the punishment! Let him suffer the unimaginable tortures of the penalty for sin! Let him be the ransom! Let him be the sacrifice! Let him be the criminal!” Our Father eternally condemned his Son instead of us. Yes, we deserved it; but Jesus took it. Yes, we are responsible; but Jesus paid it. And so the phrase, “Let him be eternally condemned” is not just harsh law when referring to a sinner, it is also sweet gospel when referring to our Savior. You will not be eternally condemned because Jesus already has been. Jesus took our place so that we could have a home in his. That is the gospel in its barest form. That is the gospel Paul so vehemently defended. And that is the gospel he died for.
Paul died for this gospel. Would you? Paul was martyred for the message about Christ because he wasn’t trying to please men, but to please God. And, in fact, Christ himself was also martyred because he wasn’t interested in pleasing men but only his Father in heaven. Is this gospel worth that much to you? Is this gospel worth standing up for at all cost? Is this gospel worth speaking harsh words at times to get someone’s attention? Is this gospel worth hurting someone’s feelings at the moment or worth causing someone to be uncomfortable for a few minutes or worth putting your relationship with that person on the line so that you might possibly save their soul? I hope so. I hope the gospel is worth that much to you. Jesus thought it was. He said some harsh words, he hurt some feelings, he felt some hatred, he took some punishment. But it was all worth it. The unpopularity and the hardships and the suffering Jesus experienced on this earth was all worth it - for you. It was all worth it to save your soul. And Jesus didn’t worry if no one else believed it. He didn’t stop because most of the people in this world would reject it. He did it to win you. He did it so that you would not be eternally condemned but rather eternally crowned. And he is happy that you are one of his. He wouldn’t have done anything differently even if he could do it all over again because you are worth that much to him.
So don’t let anyone pervert this gospel that saved you! Do not allow anyone to bad mouth your Savior or disagree with his clear words in Scripture or wander about in their own sinful oblivion. They could be eternally condemned. Let them know that! And let them know that it doesn’t have to be! Their punishment has been paid just like yours has. Their sins have been washed away just like yours has. But will they ever find that out? Will they ever find that out or will they die before they ever truly live? My fellow blood-bought children of God, say what needs to be said, harsh words or not. Say what needs to be said, not what they want to hear. Say what needs to be said, not to make them happy but to make them Christians. Say what needs to be said as if it were your last conversation with them. Because how much time do you think they really have left?
Amen.
“May the Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.” - 2 Thess. 2:16-17
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