Does God send people to hell forever?

[MatthewG]

Yes= Gospel= the good news.

“Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.”

God did not start this thing in Eden to end up losing 95% of humanity.

GOD WINS!

We are all in the spiritual eden now, and there are people who have faith, and people who do not have faith.

To be saved to the Kingdom of God one must have faith in this life. In the apostolic record people died without having faith went to the prison part of Sheol, or had faith went to the paradise part of Sheol.

I believe now today that all people go before God and are judged, those with faith go into the kingdom, and those without faith go outside of the kingdom however the gates surrounding the spiritual city never close.

 

[PinSeeker]

They are bearing the consequences of their sin in not accepting Jesus - I suppose as a last resort they have been 'sent' there.

As a result of the Judgment, they are sent by God, away from the new heaven and new earth, into a place of outer darkness (which means much more than just no light) and gnashing of teeth (great anguish). The Old Testament "type" of this is His banishment of Adam and Eve from Eden in Genesis 3. As hard as is may be to accept, according to Romans 9, God has prepared these "vessels of wrath" for this destruction. He "loses" no one. He has mercy on those whom He will have mercy, and compassion on those on whom He will have compassion; these are "vessels of mercy," His elect. He has made us all for a specific purpose, His purpose, and His purposes cannot be thwarted.

Grace and peace to you, Pearl.

 

[Pearl]

As a result of the Judgment, they are sent by God, away from the new heaven and new earth, into a place of outer darkness (which means much more than just no light) and gnashing of teeth (great anguish). The Old Testament "type" of this is His banishment of Adam and Eve from Eden in Genesis 3. As hard as is may be to accept, according to Romans 9, God has prepared these "vessels of wrath" for this destruction. He "loses" no one. He has mercy on those whom He will have mercy, and compassion on those on whom He will have compassion; these are "vessels of mercy," His elect. He has made us all for a specific purpose, His purpose, and His purposes cannot be thwarted.

Grace and peace to you, Pearl.

Maybe you're right but it all sounds a bit 'heavy' to me. And Jesus said His 'yoke' wasn't heavy.

 

[PinSeeker]

Maybe you're right but it all sounds a bit 'heavy' to me. And Jesus said His 'yoke' wasn't heavy.

That's a good point, Pearl, but that's really about something quite different than our discussion here concerning God and His holiness, His sovereignty, His justice, and how all that will be exercised by God in the Judgment.

Yes, in Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus says:

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

He's talking about the heavy burden of the system of works that the Pharisees were preaching was the only way to earn/merit salvation. We know that keeping the Law perfectly is not humanly possible, right? So, conversely, Jesus here is offering to relieve this insurmountable burden by resting in Him alone for salvation. This, of course, is the true Way; Jesus, in John 14:6, proclaims Himself as the way, the truth, and the life and says that no one can come to the Father except through Him. Ultimately, Jesus bears this burden for us on the cross. So yes, His yoke is indeed easy and burden is indeed light (on us). And later on in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus will rebuke the Pharisees for laying heavy burdens on the shoulders of the people (Matthew 23:4).

Grace and peace to you, sister!

 

[Pearl]

That's a good point, Pearl, but that's really about something quite different than our discussion here concerning God and His holiness, His sovereignty, His justice, and how all that will be exercised by God in the Judgment.

Yes, in Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus says:

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

He's talking about the heavy burden of the system of works that the Pharisees were preaching was the only way to earn/merit salvation. We know that keeping the Law perfectly is not humanly possible, right? So, conversely, Jesus here is offering to relieve this insurmountable burden by resting in Him alone for salvation. This, of course, is the true Way; Jesus, in John 14:6, proclaims Himself as the way, the truth, and the life and says that no one can come to the Father except through Him. Ultimately, Jesus bears this burden for us on the cross. So yes, His yoke is indeed easy and burden is indeed light (on us). And later on in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus will rebuke the Pharisees for laying heavy burdens on the shoulders of the people (Matthew 23:4).

Grace and peace to you, sister!

I just think the whole subject of hell is a bit heavy. It's much nicer and more encouraging to read posts which show God's love and presence in our every-day lives. Those sort of posts are a blessing and an inspiration.

 

[PinSeeker]

I just think the whole subject of hell is a bit heavy. It's much nicer and more encouraging to read posts which show God's love and presence in our every-day lives. Those sort of posts are a blessing and an inspiration.

I absolutely agree.

Consider this, though: In the opening of Revelation, John said that all of us who read it -- all of it, not just the parts we consider wonderful -- will be blessed. So I'd say there's blessing in the subject of hell, too; we know we will not be on the wrong side of the Judgment, and will be with the Lord forever, for one thing. Even in times of trial and tribulation, we can rest assured that Jesus wins in the end, and thus we along with Him. So it's along the same lines as James wrote, that we can consider even our trials joy, and the writer of Hebrews, who wrote that since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, we can lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Right?

Grace and peace to you.

 

[rockytopva]

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