HELL,
or
"Pure from the blood of all men"
***
A word of explanation
This booklet has been written by special request, and we would explain that the beliefs herein criticized
were once tenaciously held by the writer. A closer and more extended study of the Scriptures, however,
proved the orthodox position on the subject to be untenable, not being supported by the general body of
Scripture.
The object of our writing is that many a heart, desiring to be honest with and loyal to the Scriptures and
the God of the Scriptures, should be delivered as we were from misrepresenting the character of God on
this vital subject.
If any remarks appear severe, the reader should bear in mind that they are of quite an impersonal
character.
The pattern of sound words
When the apostle Paul knew that his course was finished, and that Timothy, as his successor, must "do the
work of an evangelist", he gave to him, and to all who would follow, two guiding principles in the
ministry of the Word:
(1) "study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly
dividing the Word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15).
(2) "Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me" (2 Tim. 1:13).
It is not, therefore, possible to obey the command of 2 Timothy 4:2, which says "Preach the Word", if that
Word is not divided aright, and it is evident that the "sound doctrine" of 4:3 will adhere closely to the
"pattern (form) of sound words" of 1:13. Moreover, those who "turned away their ears from the truth"
(4:4) were but following those who had previously "turned away from" the apostle Paul (1:15). True
orthodoxy will teach all that the apostle was commissioned to teach, and will not use language entirely
contrary to that used by him.
What constitutes sound doctrine?
Paul was given by the ascended Christ to be "a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles"
(1 Tim. 2:7; 2 Tim. 1:11), and if we would express the truth as to: The inspiration of Scripture, we quote
2 Timothy 3:16; salvation by grace, we quote Ephesians 2:8,9; redemption by the blood of Christ, we
quote Ephesians 1:7 or Romans 3:24; the deity of Christ, we quote 1 Timothy 3:16, and so through the
whole range of doctrine and practice. The word "form" in 2 Timothy 1:13 means "a rough sketch before
the finished design", and however much subsequent ministry may fill out the teaching of the apostle, it is
not warranted to depart from the pattern, or to import into it teaching belonging to another dispensation.
It is clear that the question of the punishment of the wicked can be no exception to this rule, and true
orthodoxy will not depart in the smallest degree from the form of sound words that are found on this
subject in the recorded teaching of the apostle to the Gentiles.
5