A question I often hear is, “How can a loving God send people to hell?” To many people, it doesn’t seem fair that we can be punished for eternity in torment because of how we lived our lives in what is a blip compared to eternity. Does the punishment really fit the crime, or are we at the mercy of an intolerant God whose anger is out of control when He doesn’t get His way or when people cross Him?
How is it fair that a powerful God can punish the “good” people who may not be perfect but don’t commit sins against others like stealing, murder, or committing predatory acts of all kinds? How can this be the way that God determines the eternal destiny of people?
I understand how we can look at punishment this way. Depending on how we frame it, we can easily conclude that God really won’t punish people for eternity or if He will, then He is not the kind of God that we would want to worship. Isn’t this the conclusion many arrive at when considering heaven and hell?
May I suggest that this isn’t how we should frame the discussion of heaven and hell, reward and punishment? The way we just laid out doesn’t represent the reality of what the Bible teaches. Heaven and hell isn’t about a grossly unfair form of justice and reward. In fact, I put forth for your consideration that what the Bible teaches about hell and our judgment magnifies God’s great love for us and how He will literally sacrifice the most precious thing He has to keep us from going there.
First things first… The Bible indeed teaches that many will be sentenced to hell for an eternity on the Day of Judgment. In fact, Jesus spends much more time teaching about hell than He does about heaven. Consider these verses:
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ...
And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:41, 46 ESV).
And
“And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.” (Matthew 11:23-24 ESV).
And
“while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 8:12 ESV).
So, Jesus indeed teaches that many will be condemned to an eternal hell. In fact, He says that there will be many “religious” people who will end up there as well”
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’
And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” (Matthew 7:21-23 ESV).
So, what are we to make of this? Can a loving, good God really send people to hell for eternity?
May I reframe the question and circumstance in a way I believe more accurately presents the situation we all face? I don’t think asking, “How can a loving God send people to hell?” accurately reflect the reality of our perilous condition. You see, God isn’t waiting as an angry, jilted supreme being Who is ready to enact His vengeance and ensure we get what’s coming to us. Rather, God is a loving being who earnestly desires that not one of us perish.
“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9 ESV).
And
“This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:3-4 ESV).
And
“Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?” (Ezekiel 33:11 ESV).
All of these passages tell us that God is not a mean, vindictive supreme Being who is waiting to fling mortals into hell if they step out of line or cross Him. These passages, and more, paint the picture of a God who truly loves us and wants us all to be saved and that no one be condemned to eternal hellfire as punishment.
But here is our reality. Here is the proper way to frame our current condition.
“as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; ... for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:10, 23 ESV).
And
“I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died.” (Romans 7:9 ESV).
These verses and others teach us that we are all under the condemnation of spiritual death because we all have sinned. It’s not that Jesus will judge good people as unworthy and send them to hell. We are already under that condemnation because of our sins.
In fact, if it were not for the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross, we all would be staring at a death sentence on the Day of Judgment. But the Father loved us so much that He was not willing to give up on us and resign us to the condemnation that we deserve.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 ESV).
You see, the question isn’t, “How can a loving God send people to hell?”
We are all already headed there because of our sins and the choices we made. We are dead men walking.
The question is, “How can a loving God condemn men to hell with no way, no choice, no possibility of breaking free of the condemnation we deserve?”
The answer: “He didn’t.”
“but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8 ESV).
If Jesus sentences us to hell on the Day of Judgement, it’s not because He doesn’t love us or because He is being unfair or overly harsh. He is simply proclaiming the condemnation we are already under because of our sins.
Jesus has given us everything we need to avoid the judgment we deserve and the condemnation we are already under. He longs for us, He pleads with us, and He knocks at the door, begging us to accept His salvation.
Where we spend eternity will depend on our choice to receive Him and His way of escape. But if we reject Him and choose to stay in our condemned state, that is on us, not God.
In my daily Bible reading, I’m in Acts. An interesting and comforting observation is in reading the messages that Paul preached about Jesus.
His messages were not deep word studies or a dive into theological ideas.
They were simple messages of Jesus and what He did.
Of Jesus and what He offers to us.
They were messages that gave simple instructions to believe and be baptized.
Perhaps, sometimes we make evangelism much more difficult than it needs to be.
Perhaps we fear evangelism because we have greater expectations of ourselves than Jesus has of us.
Can I tell people the story of Jesus?
Can I let the Word do its job and find the good and honest hearts?
Can I let go of my expectations and trust in the power of God’s word?
This changes our experience with evangelism and frees us from unrealistic expectations, doesn’t it?
Let’s just tell people the story of Jesus, just like Paul did.
If a man who writes difficult things preaches in such a simplistic manner when he shares the good news of Jesus,
Then why would we want to put an undue burden on ourselves when we share the gospel?
“I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,” (Matthew 12:36 ESV).
I fear that this most likely also refers to every word we post on social media and every comment we author.
Life is too short to hold grudges.
Don’t carry them with you into Judgement Day.
It will come when we least expect it, as a thief in the night.
Job made a covenant with his eyes not to look upon a woman to prevent him from lusting and sinning against God.
“I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?” (Job 31:1 ESV).
What other covenants could we make as well? Perhaps...
A covenant with our hands not to remain idle so we can use them for useful things instead of vain things that produce no value and waste the time God has given us?
A covenant with our feet not to walk to places that Christians shouldn’t be instead of places where God is worshiped and honored and places where we can help those in need?
A covenant with our mind to think on things that will make us spiritually stronger rather than things that let blasphemies and the garbage of the world into our hearts?
A covenant with our mouths to say things that encourage and edify rather than things that tear down and discourage?
What other covenants would we be wise in making today?
I finished the book of Acts in my daily Bible reading. This time through, I had an observation I had never considered before.
In Acts, we see Paul’s conversion account on the Road to Damascus recited three times...
1. When Luke recounts the event to Theophilus in Acts 9.
2. When Paul defends himself to the people in Jerusalem after being arrested in the Temple in Acts 22.
3. And before king Agrippa in Acts 26.
In each case, the account of the conversion is to set up the authority by which Paul will preach. The things he teaches are based on Jesus and He being the Messiah and the resurrected and exalted King.
When we teach the Word to others, this must be the basis of our appeal. It must start with Jesus.
We don’t make our appeal based on church doctrine.
We don’t make our appeal based on family religion.
We don’t make our appeal based on human reasoning.
When I read Acts, it seems to me that our appeal should start with Jesus, who He is, and what He has done.
Maybe I need to make a better point of mentioning what Jesus has done for me in my conversion to Him... my “testimony,” if you will, as Paul did.
It all begins and ends with Jesus. That is the basis on which people should accept or reject my testimony and evangelism.
Just like it was with Paul in the book of Acts.
I’m in Romans in my Daily Bible reading. It’s not an easy book, but it is not an overly complicated one, either. Reading it brings hope and encouragement.
For example, in Romans 5, we see that through one man, death entered the world, and through one man, life came to all men.
“For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:17 ESV).
And because of this, men were made sinners through Adam’s disobedience, and men were made righteous through Jesus’ obedience.
“For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:19 ESV).
So, what is the wonderful message Paul is preaching?
Because Adam sinned, the consequences of sin passed into the world. The paradise in Eden, where man and God walked together, was destroyed. The world that was made to serve man was corrupted because of sin and was cursed by God.
Access to the Tree of Life of taken away from man. Creation was broken because of the sin of one man, and because of one man, Adam, sin entered the world, and all of his descendants would live in a world where sinned dwelled.
But the good news is that God did not leave us at the mercy of a sin-stained world. Just as sin entered the world through one man, One man would also bring justification from sin.
“Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.” (Romans 5:18 ESV).
Through Jesus, God has fixed what man broke. God made that terrible sacrifice by sending His Son to be the propitiation for sin.
We now have a hope and an avenue by which to pursue life and to pursue God. Even in a world where sin still reigns, through one Man who conquered sin, we find victory and life through Jesus.
Sin can no longer keep us from God. Fellowship with the Creator has been restored.
Praise God for His unspeakable love!