“Members of the Church of Christ think they’re
the only ones going to Heaven”

by Keith Camp


Several years ago, during a Bible study I was conducting on how a person is saved, a denominational preacher blurted out: “You and your little group believe you’re the only ones going to Heaven, don’t you?! You think that everybody who doesn’t believe and practice your convictions is going to Hell. Well, let me tell you, the Bible doesn’t teach that! And I’ll never be a part of such a narrow circle”. Here is how I responded to him:

First, I drew on a chalk board a large circle to represent the 5.5 billion people on the earth at that time. I then wrote on the board and quoted Hebrews 11:6 and asked the preacher was it his conviction that people MUST believe in God in order to go to Heaven. He said, “Yes”.

I then turned to the circle I had drawn and as I shaded in about 45% of it I explained that with all the atheists, agnostics, Hindus, Buddhists, etc. in the world today, the preacher had just condemned some 2 billion plus people to Hell.

I then wrote on the board and quoted John 14:6 (see also John. 8:24; Acts 4:12). I then asked the denominational preacher was it his belief that a person MUST believe that Jesus was man’s only Savior in order to be received by the Father in Heaven. He replied, “absolutely”.

Turning again to the circle on the board, I colored another 20 percent and said that he had just condemned one billion Muslims and millions of Jews to Hell.

I then wrote on the board and quoted John 1:1, 14 and asked the denominational preacher if he believed a person MUST believe that Jesus was deity in order to go to Heaven. He confidently affirmed that he did. I then colored in another 3 percent of the circle and explained that the preacher had just condemned all the Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons to Hell.

I then asked the denominational preacher to look at the circle on the chalk board, noting particularly the shaded area, which represented over 60 percent of the world’s population – some 3 billion plus people – he said was going to Hell. I asked him, “Are these 3 billion plus people going to Hell because, to quote you, “they don’t believe and practice your convictions?”

The denominational preacher said, “Okay. You’ve made your point. You don’t have to say anymore.” I replied, “Yes, there is more to say. I want to see how narrow your circle is and where, if at all, you draw the line.”

I then wrote on the board and quoted Matthew 23:9 (see also Eph. 5:23). I then asked the denominational preacher did he believe it wassinful to call a man “Holy Father” and recognize him as the “Head” of the church? He said, “Yes”.

Turning again to the circle on the board,, and prepared to shade in another 15 percent, I then asked the denominational preacher: Then, is it your conviction that the Catholic church, with her 900 million plus members, are going to Hell? Silence…He refused to answer that question.

Let me stop here and ask you, the reader, this question: Is it Biblical – even logical – to believe and teach that people who disregard who Jesus is, are lost, but people who disregard what Jesus said are saved? The Lord’s answer to that question is “No” (see Luke 6:46; Matthew 7:21-23).

Well, finally since the Bible study was about how a person is saved, I turned again to the chalk board to write the Bible passage 1 Peter 3:21 (see also Mark 16: 15-16; Acts 22:16). As I was quoting that passage, the denominational preacher interrupted and said, “I don’t believe that!”

I stopped and said, “That, my friend, is the fundamental difference between you and me.” Then pointing to the Bible passages that I had written all around the circle on the board, I said, “I believe and teach ALL that is said by and about the Lord and His will….But you, like others in denominationalism, don’t.” I shaded in another 15 percent of the circle.

The denominational preacher left the Bible study angry, muttering, and complaining that I was “divisive”.” I wish now that I had thought to ask him if he thought Jesus, the apostles and the Christians in the Bible believed that their “little group were the only ones going to Heaven.” Do you suppose they thought “that everybody who didn’t believe and practice their convictions” were going to Hell? The following Bible passages tell me they did: John 8:24; Romans 10:1-4; Galatians 1:6-9; Acts 17:23-31. Is that circle too narrow for you?

Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in Heaven” (Matthew 7:21). That’s a little group to be sure, but it is the only group going to Heaven (cf., Matthew 7:13-14; Luke 13:23-24).

Is your faith and practice the will of the Father? Are you sure? “And the Bereans were more noble….searching the Scriptures daily to see whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11)

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May God help and keep us all,
Gregg A. Parker

Excellent!

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In Christ,
brother Sonnie

Thank you for posting that great article.

Jason Hilburn