For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

I fear that in the evangelical church (or parts of it) we are in danger of losing our grip on a robust doctrine of Final Judgment. Do we really believe it is possible for some people, by rejecting Christ, to perish? If we lose this fundamental conviction we will also massively leak zeal and momentum in evangelism. If you find you are becoming woolly about the whole notion of “perishing”, I urge you to read through the gospels again and listen to Jesus on the subject. He clearly believed it possible, and that it is the ultimate tragedy.

I accept, of course, that there are mysteries about eternal realities we cannot fully grasp or articulate, and there are different interpretations and understandings of what “perishing” actually means. But a plain reading of Scripture will surely inform us that to reject Christ and the gospel leads to unspeakable loss.