Challenging Scripture and Concepts . . . that scare us to death and then set us free.

Over the years, I’ve heard people say things like, “Yeah sure—the Bible says that God is Love and Love will not fail etc. etc., but what about . . . “

And so, over the years, we’ve preached many of these “yeah but” Scriptures and concepts. In the list below I’ve attempted to catalog some of these Scriptures and the sermons in which they were addressed, as either the main text or an ancillary text. Many “problem” texts appear in all four Gospels, and in a variety of forms—I haven’t listed all of these, but primarily those found in Matthew.

  • Genesis 18 · Jesus Goes to Sodom
  • Genesis 19 · The Destruction of Sodom… Yikes!
  • Genesis 21 · The Unchosen · “Cast out this slave woman with her son.”
  • Genesis 22 · Child Sacrifice!? · “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
  • Deuteronomy 7:1-2 · Genocide? … And human sacrifice? · “When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you… seven nations more numerous and mightier than you, and when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them.”
  • Joshua 6:20-21 · Devoted to Destruction!?! · “So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city. Then they devoted all in the city to destruction, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys, with the edge of the sword.”
  • Joshua 24 · Salvation and Free Choice · “Choose this day whom you will serve… You are not able to serve the Lord.”
  • 2 Samuel 6:6-7, 1 Chronicles 13:9-10 · Why did God smite Uzza? · “Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzza, and he smote him.”
  • 2 Kings 3 · Is God a blood-thirsty god? · “When the king of Moab saw that the battle was going against him… he took his oldest son who was to reign in his place and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. And there came great wrath against Israel.”
  • Job 1:1-22 · Did God hand Job over to Satan? · “And the Lord said to Satan, ‘Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.’ So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.”
  • Psalm 22:1 · Did God forsake Jesus? · “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
  • Isaiah 61:2 · What is the day of vengeance of our God? · “The year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God.”
  • Isaiah 63:1-6 · What is “the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God?”
  • Isaiah 66:23-24, Mark 9:48 · A worm that doesn’t die… and a fire that is not quenched? · “And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”
  • Zephaniah 3:8-9 · Will God destroy the whole earth with His anger? · “For my decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them my indignation, all my burning anger; for in the fire of my jealousy all the earth shall be consumed.”
  • Malachi 3:1-4 · Why did God desire sacrifice and offering… and still does? “Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.”
  • Matthew 3:11-14 · Chaff and Unquenchable Fire · “…the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
  • Matthew 7:13 · The Narrow Gate and the Hard Way that few can find. · “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction… the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
  • Matthew 7:21-24 · Outer Darkness for people who call Jesus “Lord”? · “Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven… And then, will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you, depart form me, you workers of lawlessness.”
  • Matthew 8:11 · Sons of the Kingdom weeping and gnashing their teeth in outer darkness? · “…sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.”
  • Matthew 12:31 (Mark 3:28) · Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit—never forgiven?!? “Therefore, I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven either in this age or the age to come.”
  • Matthew 13:24-43 · Are some people wheat and some people tares—even “sons of the devil” to be tortured with fire?
  • Matthew 18:1-14 · Better to cut off my hand than to be thrown into the fire with it? · “And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.”
  • Matthew 18: 21-35 · The Unforgivable Sin?!? · “… And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”
  • Matthew 22:1-14 · Who is called and not chosen… or chosen for Hell? · “’Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”
  • Matthew 25:1-13 · Foolish Virgins in Outer Darkness? · “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’”
  • Matthew 25:31-26:2 · Good Judgement
  • Matthew 25:31-46 · Eternal punishment for goat people? · “Depart from me, you cursed (goats), into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”
  • Matthew 27:46 · Did God forsake Jesus? · “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
  • Mark 15:34 · Did God forsake Jesus? · “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
  • Luke 12:42-48 · Does God beat His servants? · “And that servant… will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating.”
  • Luke 12:49-50 · Jesus came to “cast fire upon the earth”? · “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished!”
  • Luke 13:18-30 · The Closed Door! · “…many will seek to enter and will not be able… I do not know where you are from. Depart from me you workers of iniquity.”
  • Luke 16:13-31 · Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom and the rich man, not so much! · “Between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that… none may cross…”
  • Luke 19:11-27 · Does God, who commands us to love our enemies, slaughter His own enemies? “’But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me.’”
  • John 5:29 · Are some raised just to be damned? · “… those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment (KJV-damnation).”
  • John 8:44 · What are “children of the devil?” · “You are of your father the devil”
  • John 17:12; Matthew 26:14-16, 27:3-10; Acts 1:15-25 · Judas, the son of lost-ness, and the Potter’s Field in the Valley of Gehenna “…not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction…”
  • Acts 5:1-11, · God Kills Ananias and Sapphira?!
  • Acts 13:1-12, · Why would Paul blind people in the name of Jesus?!
  • Romans 9:6-18, Malachi 1:2-3 · Predestination, Jacob, and Esau · “…in order that God’s purpose of election might continue… As it is written, ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
  • Romans 9:19-29 · Vessels of Wrath? “What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make know the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory?”
  • Romans 11:11-32 · Can We Go to Hell? ““For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the Kindness and Severity of God… Otherwise you too will be cut off.”
  • Romans 12:1 · Why Is God Calling For Sacrifice? “Present your bodies a sacrifice.”
  • 2 Thessalonians 1:9 · “Eternal destruction [away] from the presence of the Lord?”
  • Hebrews 3-4 (Psalm 95) · God’s Rest and Wrath · “…as I swore in my wrath, They shall not enter my rest.”
  • 2 Peter 2:1-3:10 · How can this be Relentless Love? · “Cast into hell” through “the heavens and earth are stored up for fire” and “the heavens will pass away with a roar and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved.”
  • 2 Peter 3:7-13 · Why does God kill everyone? · “The heavens and the earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment…”
  • Revelation 15 and 16 · Bowls of Wrath · “Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, ‘Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.’”
  • Revelation 18 · The Destruction of the Great Harlot · “Pay her back as she herself has paid back others, and repay her double for her deeds; mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed.”
  • Revelation 19:11-16 · What is “the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God?”
  • Revelation 19:17-21 · The Rider on the White Horse “Come gather… to eat the flesh of Kings… and all men.”
  • Revelation 19:20 · The Lake of Fire that Burns with Brimstone
  • Revelation 20:11-15 · The Great White Throne Judgment · “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
  • Revelation 22:15 · Are people left outside the city at the end of the Bible? · “Outside are the dogs… and everyone who loves and practices falsehood”