Steering Clear of ‘That Place.’

Weeping and gnashing my teeth is something I hope to avoid in the future.

Not just because it sounds like an unpleasant situation to me, but because Jesus Christ Himself warned His disciples [at least] seven times that this condition would be the plight of the wicked, the faithless and those who commit lawlessness. [see: Matt. 8:12, 13:42, 13:50, 22:13, 24:51, 25:30; Lk. 13:28]

However, these Gospel texts clearly illustrate that His warnings were spoken for the benefit of those who belonged to Him, not those who rejected Him.

Think about that.

Even as one who has been saved [or redeemed] by God’s grace, I’m not immune to suffering agonizing remorse one day for any of my unrepentant conduct in this age.

[What does it mean to be ‘redeemed?’ see: Different fruit, Same Good News.]

What’s interesting, though, is that the narrative in each of these passages listed above concludes with the translated adverbial phrase “in that place,” indicating a specific location where all the weeping and gnashing is destined to occur when Christ’s thousand year reign begins upon His return to the Earth.

[Greek: ἐκεῖ: (ê-kãy) there, in that place; there, to that place]

That means that, depending upon which of Jesus’ parables I’m reading, “in that place,” could be “outer darkness,” or “a furnace of fire,” or even “a place with the hypocrites.” But I can’t find any way to consolidate these places into a common venue.

On the other hand, there are some doctrinal conclusions I can draw from these texts:

1. First and foremost, my redeemed state doesn’t exempt me from accountable conduct before the Lord and other men.
2. The Biblical context of weeping and the gnashing of teeth implies self-imposed regret, not a direct response to pain inflicted externally.
3. None of these places Jesus talked about, either alone or in combination with the others, represent a setting some of Christ’s people choose to call “Hell.” The Bible itself reveals that a just, loving God will never torture perpetually, but He will allow us to perish.

Any sermon suggesting that there can be behavioral consequences for Christ’s people in the coming age is likely to be a hard sell for building and maintaining membership in our congregations. The financial risks seem to prohibit such candor when communicating the word of God.

So, if His disciple doesn’t want to find himself “in that place,” someday, maybe he should place himself around a table with other Gospel-hungry men now and start studying the Bible.

It’s never too late.

“Have you understood all these things?” They said to Him, “Yes.” [Matt. 13:51]