“But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish’” (Luke 16:25).
We see here that not everyone is saved. Some are eternally tormented in hell, as is this rich glutton “who feasted sumptuously every day” (Luke 16:19), for “between us and you,” said Abraham, “a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us” (Luke 16:26). We see the same thing in Jesus’s teaching about the final judgment—those who have not lived rightly will go to eternal fire. “Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels’ … And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matt. 25:41, 46). This does not mean that Christ’s sacrifice was not perfect or that it lacked the power to save everyone. It was fully successful and powerful to save all the elect—that is, all those whom God had predestined for salvation, which are those who respond with faith.
But why was this rich glutton tormented in eternal fire? Jesus tells us that he
“feasted sumptuously every day” (Luke 16:19). And Abraham tells him that he already received his reward in his lifetime, and now he is in anguish (Luke 16:25). He lived a self-indulgent life, centered in worldly delights, feasting sumptuously every day. So he has already had his reward. Jesus says the same thing in the beatitudes. “Woe to you that are rich, for you have received your consolation” (Luke 6:24). On the contrary, he said, “Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God” (Luke 6:20).
nd the false god of the unnecessary pleasures of this world on the other hand. It is a life that has a divided heart, that does not live only for God with all its love (Mark 12:30). Those who divide themselves like this are like a camel trying to get through the eye of a needle (Matt. 19:24). Therefore Jesus said, “It will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 19:23). They do not serve only one master (Matt. 6:24). They do not have but one treasure only (Matt. 6:19-21). They are like seeds among thorns that “are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature” (Luke 8:14).
How much better to live only for God, completely for him.
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