Sound like anyone we know?????
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Universalism it isn't about love -but fear
Further, some of these people look at their personal sin as the cross they bear with Jesus Christ; thus their sins are just part of the faithful burden they willingly accept while they spread the "gospel" of universalism. Hence, the slandering of people or their intentional breaking of God's commandments is okay as long as it forwards the cause of universalism. Therefore, in the mindset of the deterministic universalist, might really does make right.
Fear is inline with the tactics employed by these universalists. The "I'm going to get you" mentality and the belief than the whole world is aligned in a cosmic "us" against "them" mindset. Every set-back they encounter only fuels a martyr complex that they hold to and often times witness because of their abrasive methods and manner. Fortunately within universalism this type of universalist is only a minority. But common to all universalists are their testimonies which all dictate their disbelief of Biblical texts being taught from the pulpit and their firm belief that guilt and hate were the only things the pastors preached. In reference to this misunderstanding, it should be noted that pastors do spend time on the problem of sin and evil in the world and good pastors will teach their congregation about the coming judgment of all men. It may well be that sermons such as these are striking too close to home or that the pastor
is just going over board on the subject matter.
The loss of a biblical understanding of the depravity of sin and the utter holiness of God results in a shift of judging morality not by what God says is true and righteous through holy writ, the absolute standard of faith and practice, but from what the individual assesses as righteous based upon their personal happiness--which is to say: the universalist assesses what is true by personal feeling. Faith and truth are determined by psychology and the Bible is then reinterpreted to suit personal morality. A loss of the ability to rightly determine what is truly evil and what is truly good is the result.
The problem universalist's have with orthodoxy is that the universalist's themselves have dispensed with their biblical foundation. This is the foundation that we are to trust in the Lord with all our heart, mind and soul, knowing that His judgments are righteous and true (Rev. 16:7; 19:2) and not lean upon our understanding (Prov. 3:5-7). We are to do this no matter how this justice may seem to our fallen and sinful condition. Because of this loss, the universalist is no longer able to see what is truly important and is unable to clearly define the way, the truth and the light of men. Indeed, by embracing universalism the adherent has been deceived into fully adopted Satan's lie, which Genesis 3:4 records as: "Ye shall not surely die." Mr. and Mrs. universalist, was this not a lie?
The universalist is guilty of what the prophet Ezekiel said of the prince of Tyrus: "thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason" (Ezek. 28:17). It is through this same fallen imagination, tainted by sin, that the universalist has forgotten his first love of Jesus and replaced it with a doctrine that comforts the wicked heart and imaginations of man (Gen. 8:21; Is. 44:20; Jer. 17:9; Eph. 2:3). Because of this the universalist feels fully justified in disagreeing with anything that Scripture contains that rubs their heart the wrong way, reinterpreting it from the perspective that universalism is the truth beforehand. Therefore, universalists stand guilty of having reasoned the Bible into nothing and trivializing both the mercy and the justice of the Lord. The universalist has not followed the ways of God as he has sought, but instead, the ways of manaccepting without rebuke or question teachers that make them
feel justified by their disagreement of what is right and what is wrong. It is a sad, sad thing to see with all their sincerity deceive themselves and wonder from sound doctrine. Thus, we ought to first pray for them as Elisha prayed for his servant, that their eyes be opened that they may see (2 Kings 6:17).
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