Posted on 09/19/2015 6:13:19 PM PDT by SoFloFreeper
“There is one very serious defect to my mind in Christ’s moral character, and that is that He believed in hell.” So wrote the agnostic British philosopher Bertrand Russell in 1967. The idea of eternal punishment for sin, he further notes, is “a doctrine that put cruelty in the world and gave the world generations of cruel torture.”
His views are at least more consistent than religious philosopher John Hick, who refers to hell as a “grim fantasy” that is not only “morally revolting” but also “a serious perversion of the Christian Gospel.” Worse yet was theologian Clark Pinnock who, despite having regarded himself as an evangelical, dismissed hell with a rhetorical question: “How can one imagine for a moment that the God who gave His Son to die for sinners because of His great love for them would install a torture chamber somewhere in the new creation in order to subject those who reject Him to everlasting pain?”
So, what should we think of hell? Is the idea of it really responsible for all the cruelty and torture in the world? Is the doctrine of hell incompatible with the way of Jesus Christ? Hardly. In fact, the most prolific teacher of hell in the Bible is Jesus, and He spoke more about it than He did about heaven. In Matthew 25:41–46 He teaches us four truths about hell that should cause us to grieve over the prospect of anyone experiencing its horrors.
1. Hell is a state of separation from God.
On the day of judgment, Jesus will say to all unbelievers, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire” (v. 41). This is the same sort of language that Jesus uses elsewhere to describe the final judgment of unbelievers (see 7:23).
To be separated from God is to be separated from anything and everything good. That is hard to conceive because even the most miserable person enjoys some of God’s blessings. We breathe His air, are nourished by food that He supplies, and experience many other aspects of His common grace.
On earth even atheists enjoy the benefits of God’s goodness. But in hell, these blessings will be nonexistent. Those consigned there will remember God’s goodness, and will even have some awareness of the unending pleasures of heaven, but they will have no access to them.
This does not mean that God will be completely absent from hell. He is and will remain omnipresent (Ps. 139:7-8). To be separated from the Lord and cast into hell does not mean that a person will finally be free of God. That person will remain eternally accountable to Him. He will remain Lord over the person’s existence. But in hell, a person will be forever separated from God in His kindness, mercy, grace, and goodness. He will be consigned to deal with Him in His holy wrath.
2. Hell is a state of association.
Jesus says that the eternal fire of hell was “prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41). People were made for God. Hell was made for the Devil. Yet people who die in their sin, without Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, will spend eternity in hell with the one being who is most unlike God. It is a tragic irony that many who do not believe in the Devil in this life will wind up spending eternity being tormented with him in hell.
3. Hell is a state of punishment.
Jesus describes it as “fire” (v. 41) and a place of “punishment” (v. 46). Hell is a place of retribution where justice is served through the payment for crimes.
The punishment must fit the crime. The misery and torment of hell point to the wickedness and seriousness of sin. Those who protest the biblical doctrine of hell as being excessive betray their inadequate comprehension of the sinfulness of sin. For sinners to be consigned to anything less than the horrors of eternal punishment would be a miscarriage of justice.
4. Hell is an everlasting state.
Though some would like to shorten the duration of this state, Jesus’ words are very clear. He uses the same adjective to describe both punishment and life in verse 46. If hell is not eternal, neither is the new heaven and earth.
How can God exact infinite punishment for a finite sin? First, because the person against whom all sin is committed is infinite. Crimes against the infinitely holy, infinitely kind, infinitely good, and infinitely supreme Ruler of the world deserve unending punishment. In addition to that, those condemned to hell will go on sinning for eternity. There is no repentance in hell. So the punishment will continue as long as the sinning does.
The dreadfulness of hell deepens our grateful praise for the salvation we have in Jesus Christ. Hell is what we deserve. And hell is what He experienced on the cross in our place.
Believing the truth about hell also motivates us to persuade people to be reconciled to God. By God’s grace those of us who are trusting Christ have been rescued from this horrible destiny. How can we love people and refuse to speak plainly to them about the realities of eternal damnation and God’s gracious provision of salvation?
Clearer visions of hell will give us greater love for both God and people.
This post was originally published in Tabletalk magazine.
ping
And yet as Christ might put it today, you cannot drive with your eyes affixed to the rear view mirror. (He who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of heaven.)
Threats of damnation and punishment are not exclusive to Christianity. More details on it are, including the information that it is a place of enslavement. To say that the devil is “unlike God” is in one sense accurate, but in another sense naive. The devil apes God as best he can, but without any of the blessings, it is all to the devil’s glory.
In the only account we have of an individual soul in hell, that soul never asks to leave it. Ponder that for a while. That is exactly what you would expect out of an utter enslavement.
If indeed his soul never saw the contrast between Christ and vanity even on the way out of the earth.
People sometimes like to crow up Hell as if it was the final taunt they could deliver. That is, however, to briefly step to Satan’s side.
Who, according to Jesus, is EVERLASTING FIRE prepared for?
The devil and his angels.
It was a choice left up to people whether they would participate in that. As things currently are post-Fall, if people will not accept the rescue of Christ, they will. As slaves of Satan.
People should choose wisely.
Haha! I have heard various descriptions of the nature and function of Hell. My take is: Which defenition will inspire one to act right and not seek loopholes, and philosophic consolation for one’s crimes?
As Reverend E.V. Hill used to say....”Why am I a Christian? Because I I don’t want to go to hell! There are no exits. You can’t go just visit to see if you like it or not.”
It sure as hell should have been.
Do you take these literally? And are they related?
Mal 4:1 "For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up," Says the LORD of hosts, "That will leave them neither root nor branch.
Mat 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Really? Does anyone really think like that? Just curious. God made us, right? God made imperfect sinful creatures with free will. I can understand that we have no business spending eternity with God if we don't even accept that He exists. I get that. But I have never understood people that believe sinful people SHOULD be tortured (not just separated from God) but tortured for eternity.
I don't think any of us have a clue how any of this works and best leave the details in the hands of God.
You can believe in God and Jesus’ Sacrifice and read the Bible until hell won’t have it and claim born again and still end up in hell if you die with with your soul in a state of mortal sin. Hope this helps someone.
Needs to be on the Religion Forum, right?
This reminded me of Bill Weise’s 23 Minutes in Hell. It’s a harrowing experience.
http://www.amazon.com/23-Minutes-In-Hell-Torment/dp/1591858828
As a Catholic I am terrified of the prospect of winding up in Hell. Mortal sin is just what it means & can be committed by the merest thought, never mind the deed.
But no prayer that I have offered up to my Savior has gone unanswered. I know that my Redeemer liveth.
Good response.
That is False!
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