This video is a short commentary from pastor David Platt in response to Rob Bell’s book titled, “Love Wins” in which he believes that all will ultimately be reconciled to God. David Platt serves as pastor at McLean Bible Church in Washington, D.C. and he is also the founder and president of Radical.

According to their website, this is the purpose of Radical;

The end goal of God is His glory known and enjoyed among all the nations. Therefore, the end goal of every Christian and every local church is the spread of God’s glory among all the nations. The plan Jesus has given for accomplishing this goal is the Great Commission: making disciples and multiplying churches among all the nations. And the nations are filled with urgent spiritual and physical needs. Billions of people in thousands of people groups are unreached by the gospel, and many of them are suffering in unimaginable ways.

Therefore, Radical seeks to help train and equip Christians and churches to spread gospel hope on the front lines of urgent need among the nations.

Christianity has longed believed that the “Great Commission” is a commandment for believers to make disciples and to multiply churches among all nations and while Jesus did give that instruction, this is not the so called “Great Commission”. So what is the “Great Commission”?  Can you think of any greater commission than making disciples and multiplying churches? Let’s let the scriptures speak for us;

1 John 4:14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.

This is the “Great Commission”! God the Father sent the Son “to be” the Savior of the world. I put quotes around “to be” because “to be” is not in the original Greek. Those words were added to make the passage read better but it takes a little away from the true meaning. Jesus is the Christ, the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world. He is already the Savior. Saving is what He does. The Father didn’t send the Son “to be” the Savior the Father sent the Son because He is the Savior. If you’ve watched the video, Mr. Platt is going to try to convince you that Jesus Christ will fail the Father in saving the world. Mr. Platt is in Northern India where there is an estimated 600 million people. He states that about .05 percent of that population are evangelical Christians thus leading him to conclude that the 597 million people who aren’t evangelical Christians are doomed to an eternal hell. So Mr. Platt believes that the only way to avoid being cosigned to an eternal hell is to become an evangelical Christian.

Mr. Platt speaks for a little over 4 minutes with a smug arrogance as he walks around seemingly feeling special for having escaped God’s wrath while having no quarrels with believing in a god that could cosign sinners to such an abominable fate. Jesus Christ DIED for the sins of the world. He paid the price for sin. If a person “rejects” Christ then by sheer contrast, they would only have to spend 3 nights in the grave. That’s right… Jesus wasn’t sentenced to eternal punishment for taking on the sins of the world. Jesus bore the sins of all humanity and He died because death is the penalty for sin not eternal life in hell. In the beginning of the video, Mr. Platt begins his initial premise on this idea that people can or cannot put their trust in Christ for salvation. How does a person put their trust in Christ for salvation? How does one come to Christ?

John 6:44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

This scripture tells us that NO ONE can come to Christ “unless” they are drawn by the Father. If a person hasn’t been drawn by the Father then how can they come to Christ? How do the 597 million people in Northern India that Mr. Platt believes are doomed to an eternal hell come to Christ if they aren’t being drawn by the Father? Mr. Platt and the entire institution of evangelical Christianity believes that they represent the Father’s will and commission by making disciples and multiplying churches all over the world. Imagine going to a foreign nation trying to talk to people about a God that saves but if you refuse to accept or heed to the message of Christianity, then the god of Christianity is going to send you to an eternal hell where you will be barbecued alive for all eternity. Can you think of any earthly love relationship that is good and healthy when its founded on a “love me or suffer the consequences” paradigm? That is an abusive relationship where there is no love at all. Any relationship that is motivated by fear is not a relationship that comes from love. Do we really believe that God who is the Creator of all who is love could seriously cosign His own creation to a fate so horrible that it would make Hitler’s Auschwitz look like Disneyland? I don’t mean to be crass or to make light of the horrors of the Holocaust and the people that suffered under his regime. I am making a comparison of evils. The Holocaust is an example of one of the worst and most evil crimes committed against humanity. It is in the same category with the evil of American slavery. A person can live a long life on earth and experience a life of misery and sorrow however, there is always reassurance that a persons suffering ends in death. Now imagine that this person hadn’t put their trust in Christ for salvation. According to Evangelical Christianity, this same person would then be cosigned to an eternal hell even after going through hell on earth during their lifetime. What kind of a “god” would do that to his own creation? Would any earthly parent cosign their child to an eternal hell? Do you think Jeffrey Dahmer’s parents would send him to an eternal hell? It is documented that Dahmer confessed his sins, believed in Christ, then was baptized. Wouldn’t this indicate that Dahmer would be in heaven according to Christianity? Does anyone really believe that Dahmer was regenerated and a member of God’s elect? Did he overcome the world? There is more to salvation that just repeating a 10 second prayer and participating in Christian religious ceremonies.

So how does one get saved? Well, that’s a good question but I can tell you that it has nothing to do with being a Christian. Salvation is God’s work and God declares that He is the Savior of all then who are we to second guess what God says He will do?

1 Timothy 2:3-4 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

This scripture tells us that God desires all men to be saved so the question, will God get what He desires? What can stop God from getting what He desires? Christianity would have you believe that one must activate his or her own free will to choose God but man cannot and does not choose God. Many people choose Christianity and religion as a substitute for God.

John 15:16 You have not chosen Me, I have chosen you….

God does the calling, the choosing, the gifting of faith, and the will to do of His good pleasure. All is of God. The problem with most people is that we do not understand how God accomplishes His will or desire. It is blasphemy to suggest that God won’t get what He desires.

Isaiah 46:9-10 Remember the former things, those long ago: I am God, there is no other; I am God, there is none like me. At the beginning I declare the outcome; from of old, things not yet done. I say that my plan shall stand, I ACCOMPLISH MY EVERY DESIRE.

God tells us that He will accomplish His EVERY desire. If God desires all men to be saved and He declares that He will accomplish His every desire, how can then surmise that God will not get what He desires? If one does not believe these words then they do not believe in God therefore concluding that the majority of Christianity is following after and worshipping a false god. The god of religion – Christianity. As believers we must believe that God can do what He says He will do and the we must believe that He will do it!

Isaiah 46:11 I summon from the east a bird of prey, from a distant land, one to carry out my plan. Yes, I have spoken, I WILL ACCOMPLISH IT; I HAVE PLANNED IT, AND I WILL DO IT.

How does God do it? How does God accomplish His every desire? Well, God has a plan… He’s planned it! There will be a resurrection of the dead for the just and the unjust. The purpose of Christ was to defeat death and to deliver mankind from the condemnation of the death sentence due to sin.

John 5:28-29 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

There will be a resurrection to life and a resurrection to “damnation” according to good ole King James Bible but is this accurate? Does God resurrect people from the dead to damn them? Let’s investigate… The Greek word “krisis” is the word that the King James Bible translates as the word damnation but this word is also translated as condemnation, accusation, and judgment. The Greek word “krisis” is found 48 times in the New Testament and 41 times it is translated as the word judgment. Does judgment and damnation have the same meaning? Judgment has to do with correction in regards to sitting things right whereas, damnation is a term derived from religion. It is literally defined as the act of sending someone to hell. What kind of definition for any word would include a religions theme? This is an improper rendering of the Greek word “krisis”. Any honest bible study of this word and how it is used in scripture one can only deduce that the proper meaning of “krisis” is judgment. So is judgment a bad thing? Christianity has influenced the minds of so many and when people think about God’s judgment, the immediate thought is to think about hell or some other scary doomsday judgment with real fire and no mercy. This is not the character of the Creator of the universe. God judges in righteousness.

Isaiah 26:9 With my soul I have desired You in the night, Yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early; For when Your JUDGMENTS are in the earth, THE INHABITANTS OF THE WORLD WILL LEARN RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

So if God is going to save all of mankind, then what is the point in all of this? Why preach the gospel? Why try to live a righteous life? Why not just party all day and live it up since God is going to save us anyway… These are the kind of things that I hear from Orthodox Christians all the time and it saddens me because they just don’t know. God is only saving a remnant in this lifetime and the scriptures refer to this remnant as the few chosen or God’s elect.

Matthew 22:14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

In 1 Peter 3:19-21, the scriptures tell us that ONLY 8 souls were saved during the days of Noah when the world was destroyed by water. This is a figure for how the world will be destroyed by fire at the presence of Christ on the Day of the Lord and only the few chosen or elect will remain. The destruction of the world is age-lasting and not everlasting as it is written in 2 Thessalonians 1:8-10. There will be a resurrection of the unjust in the second resurrection to judgment. The point is that these worldwide campaigns to will souls for Christ instead of just letting them go to heel is a Christian multi-level marketing scam. God is not saving the whole world in this life because He has given authority for the devil to deceive the world (Revelation 12:9). When the world is under judgment the masses will rise to age-lasting shame and contempt. It will be a very uncomfortable and painful experience for humanity to die to their sinful wicked selves because we are who we are. We like what we like. Think of the hardest thing it is for you to give up…. Maybe you have anger issues or you have a vice you can’t shake – but in the judgment, all of the dross in our lives will be burned out by the fire of God’s judgment for us to be presented to Him as a refined and purified creation of God complete in His image.

Daniel 12:3 Those who are wise (God’s elect) shall shine Like the brightness of the firmament, And those (God’s elect) who TURN MANY TO RIGHTEOUSNESS (the inhabitants of the world learning righteousness Isaiah 26:9) Like the stars forever (for the age) and ever (and beyond). (Emphasis Mine)

Read Daniel 12:2 and you will see that this occurs AFTER the resurrection events;

Daniel 12:2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting (not everlasting, age-abiding) life, Some to shame and everlasting (not everlasting, age-during) contempt.

God will be ALL IN ALL! (1 Corinthians 15:28)