I received an email from a person in another
state asking my thoughts on hell. She went on to explain that many of her
Christian friends have dispensed with the idea of hell and have chided her for
being “stuck in religion” for believing in such “an old-fashioned doctrine.”
Indeed, many Evangelicals are giving up the doctrine
of hell as a place of eternal punishment, in spite of the fact that it is
mentioned numerous times by Jesus and NT writers who urge their readers to
avoid it at all costs. One of the starkest
examples is in Matthew 18:8 where Jesus said, If your hand or foot causes
you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into
life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into
the everlasting fire.
The argument commonly presented against hell is that
it is inconsistent with a God whose chief characteristic is love. This argument,
however, reveals a serious misunderstanding of love and the place of God’s
justice in the matter. In the following essay, I present 3 reasons I still
believe in hell: (1) God’s love made hell necessary; (2) Mankind’s freedom to
choose made hell necessary; and (3) the Holy Spirit has confirmed the doctrine
of hell throughout history.
Reason #1
God’s Love Made
Hell Necessary
Suppose
a serial child molester is released from prison by a progressive, liberal judge. He
immediately kidnaps an innocent child whom he abuses, rapes, and murders. The murderer/rapist
is arrested, tried before the same judge, and is found guilty. The judge then sentences
him to six months of community service, a $1,000.00 fine, and lets him go free.
Would
we say, “Oh, what a loving and kind man is that judge?” No! We would be
rightfully outraged because justice, you see, is a necessary component of love.
Love without justice is an empty, sugary-sweet niceness that refuses to protect
the righteous and do what is right and just in every situation. Such “love” is
worthless and dangerous.
A
parent who does not protect his/her children does not love them. Most parents will
fight tooth and nail to protect their children, and that is an expression of
their love. In a similar way, God will not allow the evil intentions of men and
devils to mar the eternal happiness of those who have put their trust in Him.
What
we are talking about here is the Biblical concept of love that is expressed by
the New Testament Greek word agape. Agape is not flaky or shallow
but is infinitely just and wise. Agape is not a fleeting feeling or
emotion but is sensible and rational. It was this agape love that
brought our Creator down from heaven to offer Himself as a sacrifice for our
sins, and the very nature of this love made hell necessary for those who would
reject such infinite love.
This
is made clear in John 3:16, the love verse of the Bible. It reads, For God
so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in
Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
This
verse says that those who reject this infinite love of our Creator, revealed in
Jesus Christ, will “perish.” The Greek word translated “perish” is apolumi.
Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon defines this word as meaning “to
destroy,” “to abolish,” and “to devote or give over to eternal misery.”
Those who reject God’s infinite love justly deserve
infinite punishment, for they have chosen their own selfish, temporal goals and
rejected God’s eternal, infinite plan for them and all mankind.
This
is the point Charles Finney made in his preaching on hell and eternal
punishment. In his Autobiography,
he tells of a great revival in Rochester, New York in which many lawyers and
judges were coming to Christ. Finney, who was a converted lawyer, tells of a
conversation he had with Judge Addison
Gardiner, who was a Supreme Court Justice for the State of New York.
The judge told
Finney that he had answered his questions thus far and cleared the way for him
to become a Christian. “But,” he said, “When
you come to the question of the endless punishment of the wicked you
will slip up—you will fail to convince us on that question.”
When the night came that Finney preached on the
endless punishment of the wicked in hell, he was careful to thoroughly present the Biblical and reasonable arguments. He showed how those who reject the infinite good of God and His
salvation in Christ for their own selfish ends, justly deserve infinite, or
endless, punishment.
As he neared the end of the sermon, Judge Gardiner could not wait for him to finish, but came to the front and with great emotion made known his desire to commit his life to Christ. This had a powerful impact on all present and many bowed their heads and wept. Finney said, "The lawyers arose almost en masse, and crowded into the aisles, and crowded around the open space in front, wherever they could get a place to kneel." Incredible revival swept over the city.
As he neared the end of the sermon, Judge Gardiner could not wait for him to finish, but came to the front and with great emotion made known his desire to commit his life to Christ. This had a powerful impact on all present and many bowed their heads and wept. Finney said, "The lawyers arose almost en masse, and crowded into the aisles, and crowded around the open space in front, wherever they could get a place to kneel." Incredible revival swept over the city.
Finney told what happened when he met Judge Gardiner
the next day. He said,
The next day I met him, and he
volunteered the remark at once, “Mr. Finney, I am convinced. Your dealing with
that subject was a success; nothing can be said against it” (Owen, The Eternal Fires: Why I Believe in Hell, 128).
Yes,
infinite Divine Love came down from heaven and provided an infinite sacrifice
for our sins. The just punishment for rejecting such infinite love is also
infinite, or eternal, in nature.
Finney
considered hell to be God’s eternal prison house where incorrigible rebels
against God and his kingdom will be confined and not allowed to spoil the
eternal bliss and happiness of those who have accepted the free mercy and grace
God has shown to us in Jesus Christ. This too is love!
Yes,
hell is a necessary expression of God’s amazing grace and love.
Reason #2
Mankind’s Freedom
to Choose Made Hell Necessary
I once read a romantic
piece in a newspaper about an old bridge that had been torn down to make way
for a new highway. The author ascribed
personal virtues to this bridge, speaking of how faithful it had been
for so many years, and how it had remained steadfast in the face of wind, rain,
snow, cold, and heat.
As I read this, I thought about how there
really were no virtues in this bridge, for it was just a heap of metal and
concrete. Virtue is found in personhood, and personhood is distinguished by the
ability and freedom to think and choose.
Not only is virtue not to be found in
inanimate materials such as wood, stone, concrete, and steel, neither is it to
be found in feeling. Virtue is ultimately
tied, not to our feelings, but to our choices. We are responsible, not
for how we feel, but for how we choose.
Love also is tied to the freedom to
choose. Where there is no choice, there is no love. Can you imagine being
married to a robot—even a very sophisticated one? Anytime you want to hear
words of affirmation and love, all you have to do is load the right software
and push the right buttons.
We know that would not be satisfying.
Love is real because the people involved have chosen to love.
When God created Adam
and Eve, He did not create robots or creatures that were programmed to love and
serve Him. Creating them in His own image and likeness meant that they would
have the ability and freedom to think, to choose, and to decide if they were
going to trust Him and love Him.
In this sense, it was a
risky move on God’s part to create such beings, for they might choose to rebel
against Him. But if there was going to be real love in the relationship, there
had to be real freedom to choose.
Yes, God knew beforehand that our first
parents would turn from Him. He also knew
that countless numbers of their offspring would reject His love and
truth. Nonetheless, He considered that the benefits and blessings of creating
them outweighed the pain and suffering that He knew would come.
Do you want to know why there is pain and
suffering in the world? It cannot be blamed on God. It is because human beings
have misused and abused their God-given freedom to choose. Instead of choosing
God and His ways, they have chosen to rebel against God and do their own thing,
create their own morals, and erect their own standards of truth and
righteousness.
It is self-evident that creatures with
such freedom to choose, must be held accountable for their choices, and the
Bible is clear in this regard. Throughout Scripture there are warnings and
exhortations concerning a Day of Judgment.
In Matthew 12:36, for example, Jesus
said, But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will
give account of it in the day of judgment. And in In II Corinthians
5:10-11, Paul speaks of the judgment of the righteous at the Judgment Seat of
Christ. This is not a judgment concerning our worthiness for heaven, but a
judgment concerning our motives and how we have lived our lives. Paul says,
For
we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we
deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body. Because we
understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others
(NLT).
The great American
statesman, Daniel Webster (1782 –1852), when asked what the most
sobering thought was to ever enter his mind,
replied, “My personal accountability to God.”
In Revelation 20:11-12 John describes
his vision of the great and final judgment, saying,
Then I saw a great white throne and Him
who sat upon it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away, And there was
found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before
God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of
Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which
were written in the books.
Yes,
mankind’s freedom to choose made hell necessary. That is why, in Deuteronomy 30:19,
God through Moses, urged the people of Israel to make the right decisions and
choose life.
I
call heaven and earth today as witnesses against you, that I have set before
you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life that both you
and your descendants may live.
Have
you chosen to make Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior?
Reason
#3
Hell
is Confirmed by the Holy Spirit
There
has never been any significant work of the Holy Spirit through the preaching of
universalism. I do not know of any example, past or present, in which the
preaching of universalism inspired men and women to a greater love for God and
a new determination to walk in His truth. On the other hand, preaching on
eternal punishment has been a part—even if a small part—of the great revivals
of Christian history.
In the First Great Awakening Jonathan Edwards’
sermon, Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God, captivated the minds and
hearts of the masses. The Holy Spirit fell like rain when he read this message from the pulpit. In the Second Great Awakening sermons
on hell and Divine retribution were preached along with messages on God’s
redeeming love and grace, and the masses were awakened. Finney’s pointed
preaching about the Divine justice of eternal punishment turned the hearts and
minds of many to Christ and lifted the Church to a new level of commitment and
effectiveness. Numerous such examples could be cited from the annals of
Christian history and revivalism.
One of the most somber examples comes from the pen of Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), pastor of the
Congregational Church in Northampton, Massachusetts. He was one of the
most prominent leaders in the First Great Awakening. He tells of a wicked and
intemperate man coming to him one day in a very solemn state of mind. This man
related to Edwards an alarming dream he had experienced the previous night. In
this dream, he had descended into hell and observed the horrors of that place.
He was told, however, that he was being allowed to
return to earth on a one-year probation, the condition being that he must
change his manner of life during this time or he would have to return at the
end of the year. Edwards was solemnly impressed with the man’s dream and
assured him that it was a warning from God. Before retiring for the night,
Edwards opened his journal and recorded the details of the dream and the date.
Edwards said the man seemed to be serious in his new
commitment, leaving off the bottle and faithfully attending church. However,
before the year had ended the man returned to his former manner of life. One
evening, in a drunken state, he turned to descend a set of stairs when he
stumbled and pitched headlong down the stairs breaking his neck and dying
instantly.
When Edwards was informed of the tragic news, he
opened his journal and somberly noted that that very evening was exactly one
year from the time the man had experienced the dream of his one-year probation
from hell.
Yes, the Holy Spirit has confirmed the doctrine of
hell throughout the history of the church, especially in those Spiritual
Awakenings that have revitalized Christendom again and again during times of
spiritual malaise and indifference.
How to Avoid Hell
Jesus and the NT writers treated hell as a very
serious matter, and so should we. You can avoid hell by praying this prayer
with sincerity of heart. “Lord Jesus, I confess that I am a sinner in need of
your mercy and grace. I turn to you now with all my heart. I believe that you
died and rose again for my salvation and from this day forth I confess you to
be my Lord and Savior."
For God so loved the world that He gave
His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
eternal life (John
3:16).
This article by Dr. Eddie Hyatt was derived from Chapter 10
of the book, The Eternal Fires: Why I Believe in Hell by Valarie Owen
and is available from Amazon. Dr. Hyatt contributed Chapter 10 to the book. His books are available from Amazon and his website at www.eddiehyatt.com.
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