A recent post got me thinking about the nature of hell and the question often posed: how can a loving God send someone to Hell? There are a few things we should get out of the way first:
1) It is not God's Will for anyone to perish (2Pe 3:9).
2) Hell was originally created for Satan and the fallen angels (Mat 25:41), not us (although it has become a destination for many since the fall of Adam).
If it's not God's Will to send someone to Hell, then whose is it? We cannot diminish the role our own free will plays in determining our final resting place. God has given us free will, which He will not violate, but with choices come consequences. He set before us a choice: life or death. The responsibility then falls on us, not God. What does God then do with those who reject His free gift of salvation? They cannot remain in heaven because, for one, God and sin cannot mix. It would be like trying to mix oil with water; it's impossible. You cannot have sin in the presence of a holy God.
Secondly, they would not be content in Heaven, as wonderful as it may be, just as it wasn't for Satan and the fallen angels. I once heard someone say, Your heaven is my Hell. I believe that's exactly how it would be for someone who wants nothing to do with God. Being forced to serve God for eternity would literally be Hell for them. Thirdly, those who choose to follow God and those who don’t could never coexist. There would always be dissension, rebellion, and hostility among those who chose not to serve God. There has to be a separation between the two.
So, what do you do with these people? You have to give them what they want: eternal separation from God. But here's the rub: when you reject God, you reject everything that He is. God is light, so hell is darkness. God is love, in Hell there is only hate. God is merciful, but in hell there is no mercy. God is good, so hell is devoid of anything good. Hell is the manifestation of everything that God is not. Hell is not terrible because God made it terrible; it's terrible because God is not there.
And what happens to someone in a place that’s totally devoid of God and anything good? The earth may not be perfect, but at least it is not devoid of God. There is still goodness in this world, even with all the bad things happening. So even the sinner who has rejected God is not devoid of good but can still retain decency and show compassion. But once in Hell, there is no longer that influence on their unredeemed nature. Whatever goodness they had will soon fade, and only the evil they repressed on earth remains.
I don't think there are many, if any, of us who can say we have come face to face with pure evil, devoid of any good, but it must be freighting. This is what it’s like for those who reside in Hell. Now, imagine beings of pure evil residing in resurrected bodies in a spiritual dimension where things that are impossible on earth are possible there. The evil that they could inflict on one another would be incompressible for us. It would be like being trapped in a prison for eternity, but without any prison guards to keep order. Only it would be infinity times worse than any prison on earth.
I believe this is one of the reasons there are flames to torment those in Hell. It's a means to distract and contain their evil. In a roundabout way, it's a form of mercy. As terrible as it might be, it’s not as bad as the horrors they could inflict on one another. However, it is reasonable to assume the torment will be proportional to their sins and capacity for evil. The average Joe, for example, would not receive the same degree of torment as someone like Hitler. In this way, it will be fair.
There’s no getting around the fact that the flames are also punishment. But is it fair for someone to suffer for eternity for their sins? I will argue that it is. For one, we can't assume that once they die, they will stop sinning. They will still have the capacity to sin. They can still curse God, do evil to one another, express their anger and hatred, and so on. Even their very thoughts will be consumed with sinning. They will be in a state of perpetual sin that requires perpetual atonement.
Jesus, in His divinity, was able to atone for our sins once and for all, but we don't have that ability. When we reject Jesus gift of salvation, we alone must atone for our own sins. In Hell, they can no longer accept Jesus' atonement, and there are no animals to sacrifice to atone for sin. The only thing left to sacrifice to make an atonement is themselves, except that atonement can never be met. That means they must atone for their sins for all eternity.
And what of those throughout history who have never heard the gospel? Are they all going to Hell? First, I believe we can conclude from the Scriptures that there is an age of accountability. Babies, for instance, are not going to Hell if they die. They have died in a state of innocence and are covered by God’s grace. We can only be held responsible for our actions once we fully understand right from wrong, good from evil. That age may differ from one person to the next. A person who is mentally retarded and can’t comprehend right from wrong may never reach accountability. They, too, are covered by grace.
For the rest of us, the age of accountability will come. But how can someone be judged if they’ve never heard the gospel? Romans 1:20 states: For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. There is an innate sense of right and wrong that God has etched into our hearts. Those who have never heard the gospel are still accountable for their actions. However, there may be grace and leniency involved. I believe that those who have heard the gospel will be held to a higher standard than those who haven’t.
It must be remembered that God is love, but He's also a judge. When it comes to justice, the scales must be balanced. If righteousness receives an eternal reward, then sin must receive an eternal punishment; otherwise, it wouldn’t be just. There would also be no real consequence for sin if it was temporary. I don’t believe we will fully understand God’s justice or the nature of Hell on this side of eternity. For now, we just have to trust that God, in His holiness and infinite wisdom, knows what’s best and that everything will be fair and just in the end.
1) It is not God's Will for anyone to perish (2Pe 3:9).
2) Hell was originally created for Satan and the fallen angels (Mat 25:41), not us (although it has become a destination for many since the fall of Adam).
If it's not God's Will to send someone to Hell, then whose is it? We cannot diminish the role our own free will plays in determining our final resting place. God has given us free will, which He will not violate, but with choices come consequences. He set before us a choice: life or death. The responsibility then falls on us, not God. What does God then do with those who reject His free gift of salvation? They cannot remain in heaven because, for one, God and sin cannot mix. It would be like trying to mix oil with water; it's impossible. You cannot have sin in the presence of a holy God.
Secondly, they would not be content in Heaven, as wonderful as it may be, just as it wasn't for Satan and the fallen angels. I once heard someone say, Your heaven is my Hell. I believe that's exactly how it would be for someone who wants nothing to do with God. Being forced to serve God for eternity would literally be Hell for them. Thirdly, those who choose to follow God and those who don’t could never coexist. There would always be dissension, rebellion, and hostility among those who chose not to serve God. There has to be a separation between the two.
So, what do you do with these people? You have to give them what they want: eternal separation from God. But here's the rub: when you reject God, you reject everything that He is. God is light, so hell is darkness. God is love, in Hell there is only hate. God is merciful, but in hell there is no mercy. God is good, so hell is devoid of anything good. Hell is the manifestation of everything that God is not. Hell is not terrible because God made it terrible; it's terrible because God is not there.
And what happens to someone in a place that’s totally devoid of God and anything good? The earth may not be perfect, but at least it is not devoid of God. There is still goodness in this world, even with all the bad things happening. So even the sinner who has rejected God is not devoid of good but can still retain decency and show compassion. But once in Hell, there is no longer that influence on their unredeemed nature. Whatever goodness they had will soon fade, and only the evil they repressed on earth remains.
I don't think there are many, if any, of us who can say we have come face to face with pure evil, devoid of any good, but it must be freighting. This is what it’s like for those who reside in Hell. Now, imagine beings of pure evil residing in resurrected bodies in a spiritual dimension where things that are impossible on earth are possible there. The evil that they could inflict on one another would be incompressible for us. It would be like being trapped in a prison for eternity, but without any prison guards to keep order. Only it would be infinity times worse than any prison on earth.
I believe this is one of the reasons there are flames to torment those in Hell. It's a means to distract and contain their evil. In a roundabout way, it's a form of mercy. As terrible as it might be, it’s not as bad as the horrors they could inflict on one another. However, it is reasonable to assume the torment will be proportional to their sins and capacity for evil. The average Joe, for example, would not receive the same degree of torment as someone like Hitler. In this way, it will be fair.
There’s no getting around the fact that the flames are also punishment. But is it fair for someone to suffer for eternity for their sins? I will argue that it is. For one, we can't assume that once they die, they will stop sinning. They will still have the capacity to sin. They can still curse God, do evil to one another, express their anger and hatred, and so on. Even their very thoughts will be consumed with sinning. They will be in a state of perpetual sin that requires perpetual atonement.
Jesus, in His divinity, was able to atone for our sins once and for all, but we don't have that ability. When we reject Jesus gift of salvation, we alone must atone for our own sins. In Hell, they can no longer accept Jesus' atonement, and there are no animals to sacrifice to atone for sin. The only thing left to sacrifice to make an atonement is themselves, except that atonement can never be met. That means they must atone for their sins for all eternity.
And what of those throughout history who have never heard the gospel? Are they all going to Hell? First, I believe we can conclude from the Scriptures that there is an age of accountability. Babies, for instance, are not going to Hell if they die. They have died in a state of innocence and are covered by God’s grace. We can only be held responsible for our actions once we fully understand right from wrong, good from evil. That age may differ from one person to the next. A person who is mentally retarded and can’t comprehend right from wrong may never reach accountability. They, too, are covered by grace.
For the rest of us, the age of accountability will come. But how can someone be judged if they’ve never heard the gospel? Romans 1:20 states: For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. There is an innate sense of right and wrong that God has etched into our hearts. Those who have never heard the gospel are still accountable for their actions. However, there may be grace and leniency involved. I believe that those who have heard the gospel will be held to a higher standard than those who haven’t.
It must be remembered that God is love, but He's also a judge. When it comes to justice, the scales must be balanced. If righteousness receives an eternal reward, then sin must receive an eternal punishment; otherwise, it wouldn’t be just. There would also be no real consequence for sin if it was temporary. I don’t believe we will fully understand God’s justice or the nature of Hell on this side of eternity. For now, we just have to trust that God, in His holiness and infinite wisdom, knows what’s best and that everything will be fair and just in the end.
