Beware Rob Bell, A False Teacher

Rob Bell has been a controversial figure in Christian circles for quite some time.  His most recent book, Love Wins, in particular, touched off heated discussions among Christians about heaven and hell.  In the book, Bell effectively says that God does not send people to hell, Biblical hell doesn’t exist, and that one does not need Jesus to be saved.  As a result, we thought it would be helpful to warn our brothers and sisters in Christ about this false teacher.

Bell is a man who rejects much of the fundamental beliefs that define a person as a Christian, and this is what makes him a false teacher.  As Jesus warned us, "15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits." (Matthew 7)  Bell’s “fruits” are his false teachings.  Furthermore, we read in 1 Timothy 6, "3 If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, 4 he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain."  Bell contradicts several of Jesus' teachings, which we consider below.

• In his book, Sex God, Bell says, “To the Jewish mind, heaven is not a fixed, unchanging geographical location somewhere other than this world. Heaven is the realm where things are as God intends them to be. . . . Now if there’s a realm where things are as God wants them to be, then there must be a realm where things are not as God wants them to be. Where things aren’t according to God’s will. Where people aren’t treated as fully human. It’s called hell.”

Scripture does not view hell this way at all.  This world will be gone one day (2 Peter 3:7).  Hell is a literal place, and Jesus spoke more often about hell than other subjects (Revelation 20:14-15).  This is a direct contradiction of Scripture, which makes Bell a false teacher as described above.  Furthermore, Bell demonstrates a superficial knowledge of God.  There is no realm where things are not as God wants them to be.  Even though this world is full of sin, it is all according to God’s will.  God is not the author of sin, yet Scripture makes clear that the Fall, Jesus’ atoning sacrifice on the cross, His resurrection and our justification and sanctification are all part of God’s plan.  Ephesians 1 says God chose believers in Christ before the foundation of the world, and predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself.  We learn through God’s word that God is a sovereign God, and nothing is able to happen anywhere apart from His will.

• Bell effectively teaches universalism, although he is careful not to be explicit about it.  In Jesus Wants to Save Christians, he says, "Jesus is the representative of the entire human family. His blood covers the entire created door. Jesus is saving everyone and everything."  In an interview, in response to the question do you believe in a literal hell that is defined simply as eternal separation from God, he said, "Well, there are people now who are seriously separated from God. So I would assume that God will leave room for people to say ‘no I don’t want any part of this.’ My question would be, does grace win or is the human heart stronger than God’s love or grace. Who wins, does darkness and sin and hardness of heart win or does God’s love and grace win?"

This teaching denies the Bible's explicit teaching that God will save some people, but not all.  It also denies that Christianity is the only way to salvation.  John 3:18 makes clear that if one does not believe in Jesus he is condemned already.  John 14:6 makes clear that one is saved solely by faith in Christ.  Again, Bell's teaching is shown to be false.  Note that this is not merely incorrect interpretation of Scripture.  This is much, much more serious.  This type of teaching denies the true gospel, and this makes Bell a heretic.  This may sound harsh, but read Galatians, where Paul says that anyone who preaches “another gospel” is to be accursed (Galatians 1:8-9).

• Bell effectively denies the gospel.  In his Love Wins promotional video, Bell says, "And then there is the question behind the questions, the real question:  What is God like?  Because millions and millions of people were taught that the primary message—the center of the Gospel of Jesus—is that God is going to send you to hell, unless you believe in Jesus.  And so, what gets, subtly, sort of caught and taught is that Jesus rescues you from God.  But what kind of God is that; that we would need to be rescued from this God?  How could that God ever be good; how could that God ever be trusted?  And how could that ever be good news."

This is blasphemy.  Scripture makes clear that if you do not believe in Jesus, you will go to hell.  Jesus explicitly stated in John 8:24, "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."  If one dies in sin, one will not be written in the Book of Life, and will be cast into the lake of fire (see Rev. 20 above).  Furthermore, Jesus does not rescue us from God, but He does rescue us from God's just and righteous wrath:  "Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him." (Romans 5:9)  That is why the gospel is good news, we are sinners saved by Jesus' atoning sacrifice on the cross and given His perfect righteousness.

• Bell teaches that people will have a second chance to believe after death.  In Love Wins, he states, "[There will be] endless opportunities in an endless amount of time for people to say yes to God.  At the heart of this perspective is the belief that, given enough time, everybody will turn to God and find themselves in the joy and peace of God’s presence.  The love of God will melt every hard heart, and even the most ‘depraved sinners’ will eventually give up their resistance and turn to God."

Again, this directly contradicts Scripture.  Hebrews 9:27 says, "And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment."

• Bell affirms homosexuality.  In a Christian Post article on Bell, he says, "I believe God [is] pulling us ahead into greater and greater affirmation and acceptance of our gay brothers and sisters and pastors and friends and neighbors and coworkers."  And then, "I am for fidelity.  I am for love, whether it's a man and a woman, a woman and a woman, a man and a man.  I think the ship has sailed and I think that the church needs to just … this is the world that we are living in and we need to affirm people wherever they are."

Again, this is clearly un-Biblical.  Bell obviously does not understand that marriage is a picture of our union with Christ, and to pair men with men and women with women is to pervert the symbol that God intended marriage to represent.  By making these statements, Bell proves himself to be the person described in Romans 1:32 (speaking about, among other sins, homosexuality):  "and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them."  In addition, Scripture makes clear that practicing homosexuals will not enter the kingdom of heaven:  "9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." (1 Corinthians 6)  Only Christians go to heaven.

As you can see, Bell has very serious false teachings.  Based on his rejection of God's very clear teaching in Scripture, I think it is plain that Bell is not a Christian.  He fits the false teacher warning that Jesus gives us.  Not only that, if he was truly a believer, he would not reject what God clearly teaches, as I have demonstrated above.  Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers." (John 10:1-5)  Jesus' voice is Scripture, and that is whom we should follow.  Bell's voice is a stranger, and believers should not follow him, since his voice leads us away from the truth.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org