Disclaimer: This is
not the end-all, be-all authority on the matter of Hell. Nor is this a direct
response to Rob Bell’s book, “Love Wins.” I would encourage you to read,
“Erasing Hell,” by Francis Chan and “God Wins,” by Mark Galli. I would also
recommend checking out Bible.org’s article, “What the Bible Says About Hell,”
by Sid Litke (my father-in-law), a great resource for looking up key passages
about hell. Remember to read what the Bible has to say about the matter because
what God’s Word says about it is the only thing that matters.
As Mark and I were discussing topics for Ground Zero this
fall and we talked about myth busters, the first myth that jumped to my mind
was the one that came to the surface in Rod Bell’s book, “Love Wins.” When the
book came onto the scene a few years ago, it caused quite the commotion within
conservative Christian communities. Bell raises big questions that people in
and out of the church have asked or even wonder about Hell: Of all the billions
of people who have ever lived, will only a select number “make it to a better
place” and every single other person suffer in torment and punishment forever?
Is this acceptable to God? Has God created millions of people over tens of
thousands of years who are going to spend eternity in anguish? Can God do this,
or even allow this, and still claim to be a loving God? Does God punish people
for thousands of years with infinite eternal torment for things they did in
their few years of life?
Those are some big questions, hard questions, and honest
questions. In the church we don’t talk about hell a whole lot because it’s
depressing, dark, and scares some of us.
But nonetheless it is something that should be discussed because it is a
reality, and God makes that clear in his Word.
After raising these big questions, Bell focuses on God’s
love for all humanity and that being the sole purpose of why Jesus came in the
first place. He fixates on this and his distaste for the traditional
understanding of hell and then leaves the reader with the understanding that
God wants to redeem all people, and therefore just as they had the opportunity
to choose Christ in this life but refused, they will have another opportunity
to do so in the next life. We call this
post-mortem salvation, to be saved after death.
The real question to ask is, what does God have to say about this? And to
answer that we go to His Word.
First we need to remember that’s God’s word is what he
says it is: 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is
God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in
righteousness, 17 so
that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work”; and Hebrews 4:12, For the word of God is
alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to
dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and
attitudes of the heart.”
Another thing we need to remember is
that God is God, and we are not. We are created, He is the Creator. As Isaiah
55:8-9 puts it, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares
the Lord. “As the
heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways
higher than your ways and my thoughts than your
thoughts.” We can’t even begin to think on the
same level He does, nor even do what He does. And there are some things as we
read His Word that make us uncomfortable because we wouldn’t have thought of
doing that. Just because God does something that we don’t agree with doesn’t
make Him less God. He is who is He is, and our opinions don’t change Him.
Now let’s talk about hell…
According to the Bible we only have one
life to live. Hebrews 9:27 says, “Just as people are
destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” We have one life
and when we die we are going to face the consequence for our decision to trust
in Christ for salvation or not. John 3:16-18 and 36 makes that point very
clear, “For
God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes
in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his
Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned,
but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not
believed in the name of God’s one and only Son… Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever
rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”
Next, there are no do-overs after this
life. There is no going to Hell and then realizing, “Oops, I should have chosen
to trust in Jesus and what he said, I would like to go to heaven now.” Sounds
harsh but it’s truth. Jesus himself tells the parable of the rich man and Lazarus
in Luke 16:19-31. In the parable Jesus tell about the life of two men, one a
rich man and the other a beggar named Lazarus. They both end up dying and the
rich man goes to hell and Lazarus up to Abraham’s side. The rich man cries out
in agony to Abraham asking for just a drop of water from Lazarus’ hand for a
moment of relief. However, Abraham tells him it’s impossible because there is
great chasm splitting the two eternities so that no one can cross from one to
the other. Then the rich man asks for Abraham to send Lazarus to his family so
that they don’t end up where he is at. Abraham makes it quite clear that can’t
happen either and that they have prophets and Moses to know the truth and they
have opportunities to respond to it.
Let’s recap, you have one life (Hebrews
9:27), depending on whether or not you put your faith and trust in Christ
decides your eternity (John 3:16-18, 36) and once you are there in either
Heaven or hell, that’s where you will be, no crossing between the two (Luke
16:26).
Next the word eternity means endless
amount of time, or simply put, forever. Again God makes it very clear in his
word that eternity is permanent and forever. In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus again
paints a clear picture of what is to come after we die. He uses the
illustration of separating sheep from the goats. The sheep are those who will
inherit the kingdom, people who are accredited righteousness from God. The
goats are those who ignore God while they were on earth. At the very end in
verse 46 Jesus says, “Then they
will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Both
heaven and hell are eternal, forever. And eternity in hell is not a pleasant
one. It’s one filled with suffering and punishment that last forever. Read
Matthew 13:36-43, Revelation 20:11-15, and Luke 16:19-31. It’s not pretty.
People might not like to hear this and
then question God’s character. “If He’s so loving, how could He do this?” Yes,
God is loving but He is also holy and just. We, as the created, need to be
humble in our understanding of our position before God. He is the Creator, the
giver of life, who in the beginning made all things, including us. Love is a
choice, and God before He ever created anything knew that we would reject Him
but He still did it. He didn’t create us to be robots, He gave us a choice: Him
or the world. Foolishly we chose the world and have been dealing with the effects
of that sin ever since the beginning. However, because God loves us, He sent
his one and only Son, to become sin for us so that we could be restored back to
Him. Again, though, God gave a choice, to repent and believe in His son Jesus
or not. God’s not forcing anyone who doesn’t want to be with Him to choose Him,
but you better believe God is giving us every opportunity to accept such a
wonderful gift. Read Romans 1:18-32, makes it very clear. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is
death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” That is some good news!
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