Is My Dad in Heaven?

Before celebrating Mass at St. Paul of the Cross parish in Rome April 15, Pope Francis answered questions from some young Catholics. The boy, known only as Emanuele, broke down in tears during a Q&A session with the Pope. During a private chat he revealed to the Pope he was worried his father wasn't in heaven as he didn't believe in God, but the Pontiff offered reassurance. The father was not Catholic, but he baptized all of his four children. The boy told Pope Francis he was worried his father wasn't in heaven. A video of the interaction is here: https://youtu.be/_U4NqZjn4ZQ .

The Pontiff referred the question to the crowd:  “Does God abandon His children?” he pressed further. “Does God abandon His children when they are good?”

Those in attendance again called out no.

“There, Emanuele, that is the answer, surely God was proud of your father because it is easier as a believer to baptize your children than to baptize them when you are not a believer. Surely this pleased God very much,” said the Pope.

We cannot overlook the obvious compassion and empathy Bergoglio had for this child.  Nor can it escape our notice that a spontaneous question like this would be difficult to answer and ought to be handled with great care.  In our modern world the opinion of the crowd would not go disregarded, nor the highly regarded opinion of the head of the Roman Catholic Church. The problem for Bible-believing evangelicals is also obvious:  the response of the Pope was unbiblical.  Albeit, we cannot pass judgment on the young boy’s father, we can affirm the clear teaching of the Bible.

• “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”” (Acts 4:12, ESV)
• “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” (John 3:36, ESV)
• “I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”” (John 8:24, ESV)

Of course the plain and consistent reading of Scripture affirms the necessity of faith in the person of Jesus Christ in order to be saved. “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6, ESV).  That is the uncomfortable, exclusive, yet absolutely accurate and unswerving teaching of God’s Word.

But for us, so-called evangelicals, there’s a deeper problem that is illustrated by the pontiff’s politically correct handling of the precious boy’s enquiry.  It is this: the false illusion has not only moved the Church of Rome away from their own dogma, there has been (and are) prominent evangelicals that have embraced the same so-called misrepresentation of the Gospel.

In a subsequent post, we will examine what some evangelicals have embraced, known as the ‘WIDER MERCY’ doctrine; and who is promoting it?  If this is new to you, you will be surprised.