Reflections on the Gospel, #5: Fulfillment in Jeopardy

Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

Luke 13:24 RSVCE

Let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.

Hebrews 12:28-29 RSVCE

Just as the Cross of Jesus Christ shows us the loving character of God and reveals our authentic fulfillment, so too does it constitute, for us, a promise: “God is light and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). God is wholly good; there is not the slightest shadow of evil in him. In Jesus Christ, God is fulfilling his promises: he is “drawing all people to himself,” forgiving their sins, pouring his love in their hearts, making them sons and daughters of God, and giving them firm hope for eternal life. “God is love” (1 John 4:16): this is the promise of the Gospel.

We ought to be very comforted by these truths. But the Christian message is not a message of only comfort. God is love; but in a world where evil reigns, the truest, most real love entails suffering: for both the lover, and the beloved. God the Lover shows his love in his Son Jesus: by entering into the world of evil, and suffering that evil as his own creatures reject and kill him. And then, in God’s love for his beloved—wayward creatures that we are—he calls us to a high standard, disciplines us, and purifies us. This can feel very demanding and painful to us. As the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky put it, “Love in practice is a harsh and dreadful thing, compared to love in dreams.” God is love, but love is “a consuming fire” (Hb 12:29). And as Jesus taught, “Everyone will be salted with fire” (Mk 9:49).

But who among us wants to be burned? For this reason, we tend to resist God’s love. This is true even for Christians, and God shows great patience and gentleness for us as we muddle our way through our half-hearted attempts to love God and neighbor. But at the same time, we’re hurting ourselves and others, so he cannot let us stray indefinitely. All of us, to one degree or another, are morally and spiritually blind, deaf, and lame. God must heal us and call us to something greater. For our part, we need to continually use our freedom to respond to God’s love and gradually become better than we currently are; but too often, we resist it and stagnate or become worse.

What, then, does God do with those who do not want to let themselves be purified? Well, what does a good father do when his son or daughter firmly insists on choosing a destructive path of life? … He lets him do it! God does not force us or get “preachy” with us, but respects our freedom. He ‘gives us over’ to the consequences of our foolishness and waits patiently in the hopes that through the pain and emptiness we experience, we will eventually come to our senses (see Romans 1-2). This is the way that the father behaves in Jesus’ famous “Parable of the Prodigal Son” (Luke 15:11-32), and the son, in this parable, does come to his senses.

But will everyone come to their senses? Apparently not. According to the teaching of Jesus, it is possible that a person completely rejects and loses the gift of divine life (see Mark 3:28-29). “Strive to enter by the narrow door,” he says; “for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able” (Luke 13:24). Accordingly, in addition to a promise, the Gospel also contains a warning: Do not let the divine gift be in vain for you! (see 2 Corinthians 6:1).

How can we understand this? Jesus taught, “Everyone will be salted with fire” (Mk 9:49), and then asks the rhetorical question, “If salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it?” (Mk 9:50). In context, Jesus is teaching that it is impossible to grant divine life to the person who repeatedly, obstinately rejects God’s efforts; who, to the very end, refuses to be purified. God’s gift of divine life is offered to everyone; and his mercy has no end. Nevertheless, our freedom to yield to God’s love entails a corresponding freedom to resist it. Resistance, as it becomes more intentional and malicious, can harden into final rejection — and Jesus calls this “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.” This is the basis for the Christian teaching on hell, the eternal state of punishment for those who are excluded from the benefits of the promised Kingdom after death.

God makes himself manifest in some way to each person in their lifetime, and out of his merciful love, gives everyone abundant grace to draw them to himself. After the death of each person, he or she will be judged. And again, ultimately, at a time known only to God, Jesus Christ will return publicly to the earth to judge the living and the dead; he will separate the good from the evil, so that those who in life obstinately refused purification will no longer be allowed to oppress the innocent and poison the world. This is part of his saving love, his work of making things right and fulfilling all of his promises.

Those who decide that they do not need God (by their actions more than their words, see Matthew 21:28-30) will be blind to the message of the Gospel. As long as they continue to cling to their own self-sufficiency, they will not see the truth. But God is patient, and his arm is not short; he is not weak or unwilling to save (see Isaiah 59:1). In his love, he will seek each person until the very end, like a shepherd seeking out a lost sheep, rejoicing when he finds him (see Luke 15:1-7). When he finds him, he begins or continues the process of purification — “for our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29). For this reason, we should not despair of the salvation of any person. The promise is firm. Nevertheless, the warning remains, and so we all must “strive to enter by the narrow door” (Luke 13:24).

See the rest of the “Reflections on the Gospel” series:

#1 Promises Hidden / #2 Promises Fulfilled / #3 Fulfillment Extending / #4 Fulfillment’s Meaning / #5 Fulfillment in Jeopardy