Why Would a Loving God Send Anyone to Hell?
Over 90% of people in the world believe in heaven, while fewer than 50% believe in hell. Hell is not a popular topic. In today’s churches, preaching about hell has almost disappeared. This may be a reaction, in part, against the fire and brimstone preacher who seemed to delight in hell. However, preaching about hell is offensive to people, and some pastors are more concerned about drawing a crowed than telling people the truth.
When I hear this question, I want to ask, “Where did you get the idea that God is loving?” This idea doesn’t come from nature or from other religions; the only place we’re told that “God is love” is in the Bible (1 John 4:16). This same Bible also warns us of the reality of hell, so there is no logical contradiction between these two ideas. The apparent contradiction stems from elevating one attribute of God to the exclusion of others. The Bible does teach us about God’s love, but it also teaches us that God is just and that He must judge sin. He is no more loving than He is just.
We understand this even from our own nature; we love others and yet we know that a criminal must be punished. Our sense of justice is offended if a guilty criminal goes free. This understanding of love and justice comes from God.
Jesus taught that the punishment of hell is eternal. In Matthew 25:46, Jesus said, “And these [wicked] will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Some object to hell being eternal and suggest that seventy to eighty years of sin and rebellion against God on earth should not be punished forever; such punishment is deemed too severe. However, when we consider that God is infinitely holy and our sin is against God (Psalm 51:4), then our sin is an infinite sin and requires and infinite punishment.
Jesus warns us time and again about the reality of hell. However, Jesus also provided a way of deliverance. At the cross where Jesus died, the perfect love of God and the perfect justice of God are both demonstrated. God so loved us that He punished Jesus for our sins. Christ was both God and man, so the punishment upon Jesus appeased God’s infinite justice on behalf of humanity. John 3:18 says, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” Faith in Christ is the difference between heaven and hell. In John 3:16, Jesus says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Through Jesus Christ, God has provided a way for us to escape the horrors of hell. Many still reject God’s way of salvation; they do not want God ruling over them. In the end, hell is God merely giving people what they want: an eternity without Him.
a pdf version of this entry is available here
When I hear this question, I want to ask, “Where did you get the idea that God is loving?” This idea doesn’t come from nature or from other religions; the only place we’re told that “God is love” is in the Bible (1 John 4:16). This same Bible also warns us of the reality of hell, so there is no logical contradiction between these two ideas. The apparent contradiction stems from elevating one attribute of God to the exclusion of others. The Bible does teach us about God’s love, but it also teaches us that God is just and that He must judge sin. He is no more loving than He is just.
We understand this even from our own nature; we love others and yet we know that a criminal must be punished. Our sense of justice is offended if a guilty criminal goes free. This understanding of love and justice comes from God.
Jesus taught that the punishment of hell is eternal. In Matthew 25:46, Jesus said, “And these [wicked] will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Some object to hell being eternal and suggest that seventy to eighty years of sin and rebellion against God on earth should not be punished forever; such punishment is deemed too severe. However, when we consider that God is infinitely holy and our sin is against God (Psalm 51:4), then our sin is an infinite sin and requires and infinite punishment.
Jesus warns us time and again about the reality of hell. However, Jesus also provided a way of deliverance. At the cross where Jesus died, the perfect love of God and the perfect justice of God are both demonstrated. God so loved us that He punished Jesus for our sins. Christ was both God and man, so the punishment upon Jesus appeased God’s infinite justice on behalf of humanity. John 3:18 says, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” Faith in Christ is the difference between heaven and hell. In John 3:16, Jesus says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Through Jesus Christ, God has provided a way for us to escape the horrors of hell. Many still reject God’s way of salvation; they do not want God ruling over them. In the end, hell is God merely giving people what they want: an eternity without Him.
a pdf version of this entry is available here
Labels: justice
posted on Thursday, November 08, 2007 |
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