Doubt 4 - Love Me But Send Me to Hell?
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“I have a problem with the doctrine of hell. The only god that makes sense to me would be a god of love. Because of hell it appears the Bible’s god must be a god appeased by pain and suffering” said an art gallery worker being interviewed. So, we ask, “How can God send people to this place called hell?
Eighty percent of Americans agree with the statement, “an individual should arrive at his or her own religious beliefs independent of any church or synagogue teaching.” And we see it a lot in this current age, people who have some type of superficial “faith” in God, but who make up their own rules about him and reject whatever doesn’t make sense to them on the surface. Hell is one of those things.
How can a God of love also be a God of judgment who will express his wrath one day? If he is loving and good, shouldn’t he forgive and accept everyone? In the book The Reason for God by Timothy Keller, he states that when this is asked of him, he starts by reminding the person that all loving people are sometimes filled with wrath, not just despite their love, but because of their love. If you have a child, for example, who is kidnapped, beaten, sexually abused, and left for dead, will you just wink at those who commit this crime, forgive them without consequences, and accept them with open arms? Probably not. And it is the same with God. He loves all people, but he hates sin and the abuses sin cause, and although he provides forgiveness, he holds people accountable for their sins. If they refuse to repent of them, there will be consequences caused by their choices. All God asks for is their repentance as they turn to him in faith, and he will forgive. How is that not reasonable? And if they never repent, they are choosing their ultimate destination. God is not forcing them there.
It has also been said that if God were not angry at injustice, deception, and sin, and did not deal with it, that God would not be worth worshipping. In the end we want a God who rights the wrongs, and the God of the Bible does.
Another point is that people often seek to right the wrongs of the world on their own by taking up swords and weapons and fighting. Christians understand that government has a role in making temporal judgments against wrongs, but individual followers of God turn the other cheek, and don’t seek vengeance, leaving ultimate vengeance to God (Romans 12:19). Only knowing that God will eventually do so allows us to be patient and seek peaceful resolutions to issues.
Part of the complaint about hell is related to the concept of eternal punishment, being in this bad place forever while experiencing worms that never die where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. How can a loving God condemn sometimes generally good people, who simply haven’t made Jesus Lord, to such an eternity? There are differing opinions on this, but for me personally, based on my study, I do not believe such an eternity awaits the non-Christian. Oh, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Hell is not a good place, but I believe that although hell may last forever, the soul that suffers there may not, and while there they will only receive punishment in accordance to how they have lived. This is a topic for another time, but worth mentioning here (see next week’s Cross Point on Final Punishment).
C.S. Lewis said that hell is the greatest monument to human freedom. Romans 1:24 says God gave the lost up to their desires. Lewis goes on, “There are only two kinds of people, those who say to God ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God will say, ‘Thy will be done.’” We go to hell by our choice.
Cross Point: “And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire” (Mark 9:43). Whatever hell is you don’t want to go there.
Eighty percent of Americans agree with the statement, “an individual should arrive at his or her own religious beliefs independent of any church or synagogue teaching.” And we see it a lot in this current age, people who have some type of superficial “faith” in God, but who make up their own rules about him and reject whatever doesn’t make sense to them on the surface. Hell is one of those things.
How can a God of love also be a God of judgment who will express his wrath one day? If he is loving and good, shouldn’t he forgive and accept everyone? In the book The Reason for God by Timothy Keller, he states that when this is asked of him, he starts by reminding the person that all loving people are sometimes filled with wrath, not just despite their love, but because of their love. If you have a child, for example, who is kidnapped, beaten, sexually abused, and left for dead, will you just wink at those who commit this crime, forgive them without consequences, and accept them with open arms? Probably not. And it is the same with God. He loves all people, but he hates sin and the abuses sin cause, and although he provides forgiveness, he holds people accountable for their sins. If they refuse to repent of them, there will be consequences caused by their choices. All God asks for is their repentance as they turn to him in faith, and he will forgive. How is that not reasonable? And if they never repent, they are choosing their ultimate destination. God is not forcing them there.
It has also been said that if God were not angry at injustice, deception, and sin, and did not deal with it, that God would not be worth worshipping. In the end we want a God who rights the wrongs, and the God of the Bible does.
Another point is that people often seek to right the wrongs of the world on their own by taking up swords and weapons and fighting. Christians understand that government has a role in making temporal judgments against wrongs, but individual followers of God turn the other cheek, and don’t seek vengeance, leaving ultimate vengeance to God (Romans 12:19). Only knowing that God will eventually do so allows us to be patient and seek peaceful resolutions to issues.
Part of the complaint about hell is related to the concept of eternal punishment, being in this bad place forever while experiencing worms that never die where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. How can a loving God condemn sometimes generally good people, who simply haven’t made Jesus Lord, to such an eternity? There are differing opinions on this, but for me personally, based on my study, I do not believe such an eternity awaits the non-Christian. Oh, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Hell is not a good place, but I believe that although hell may last forever, the soul that suffers there may not, and while there they will only receive punishment in accordance to how they have lived. This is a topic for another time, but worth mentioning here (see next week’s Cross Point on Final Punishment).
C.S. Lewis said that hell is the greatest monument to human freedom. Romans 1:24 says God gave the lost up to their desires. Lewis goes on, “There are only two kinds of people, those who say to God ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God will say, ‘Thy will be done.’” We go to hell by our choice.
Cross Point: “And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire” (Mark 9:43). Whatever hell is you don’t want to go there.
Posted in Cross Points