Hell Yes It’s Real, Conclusion

ItisuptoyouCONCLUSION

The Whole Counsel of God

The thought that God will punish eternally in Hell the lost sinners that do not repent and turn to Him is certainly not in style these days.  All Christians should be teaching the truth about Hell.  Hell holds a special place in the Biblical worldview and Hell stands for the opposite of what the contemporary secular worldview stands for. Hell is connected directly to the doctrine of God, and Jesus Christ the Son, the atonement for sin. Hell serves to give humanity a gauge of morality and points to the responsibility we have as God’s creatures to live in His image.  Hell is real and Hell is there for the punishment of the sins of mankind. It is understandable that so many people want to avoid the subject of Hell and to soften it.  Hell should be offensive to our moral senses. It should literally scare the “Hell” out of us. We should be sorrowful that someone we know will suffer the horror and our hearts should break.  Our hearts should be breaking because of the awfulness of sin that sends people to Hell. The very thought of sin should repulse us and help to keep us from that awful place.  Christians need to seek and to proclaim the whole counsel of God.  The whole counsel of God includes the doctrine of Hell and this doctrine needs to be proclaimed to all people, godly or worldly and both Christian and non-Christian.  The truth will set you free.[1]

The lost and unbelievers have a lot to fear and tremble about according to the words of Jesus Christ.  They may die now, in this age in great honor and leaving their family with great wealth. What about eternity?  It would be good to ponder what God can see because God looks upon the heart.  There will be the day when God will raise up the wicked, the lost, and the unbelievers to face Him in judgment.  When he completes the judgment and renders the sentence He will banish them out of His presence forever and to a place that Jesus compares to fire and to deep darkness like has never been experienced. Those lost unbelievers will watch as the saved go with God to their eternal reward. Those lost unbelievers will suffer with “weeping and gnashing of teeth” but it is too late then.  It is done.[2] The choice was made and the life that was lived was no trial run. It was the real deal.  And Hell is for real. 

Because death is real we can be sure Hell is real.  The only reason death comes to humans is because of sin. If Adam hadn’t fallen and there were no sin in the world there would not be any death. The testimony of the presence of physical death should be a testimony to all of us that the unseen reality of a “second death” as the Bible calls it in revelation 20:14, is a reality.  This reality is not going to disappear simply because our culture today wants to ignore it.  As Evans states, “Hell is the expression of God’s settled, external, unchanging wrath against sin. (Revelation 21:8; 22; 15)[3]

Thinking of Hell has the reaction of paralyzing some people.  I suppose that is why so many deny, ignore or oppose its existence.  They don’t want to carry on with life being constantly reminded of fire and brimstone and torment.  But, take notice; we really aren’t supposed to carry on as normal and like the rest of the world.  The reality of Hell and the urgency to do something so we won’t end up there is supposed to impassion us for the gospel.  “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences” (2 Corinthians 5:11) Hell could paralyze us or it can energize us and magnify the beautiful cross of Christ. Believe and live![4]

The Great Gulf between Heaven and Hell

There is a point in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus that should not be missed.  It is the vast amount of space (the gulf) between Heaven and Hell. Every person will go to one place or the other and once you are at your destination all the bridges are burned behind you.  There is no way then to go back.  No road or bridge between Heaven and hell.[5]  From the depths of Hell the condemned can see those in heaven and know the separation but not the other way around.  The Bible says in Heb. 9:27, “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.”  As said before, this life is not a trial run and there will be no second chance. An exhortation is appropriate to not procrastinate. Tomorrow may never come for you.

Francis Chan wrote, “We have become dangerously comfortable- believers ooze with wealth and let their addictions to comfort and security numb the radical urgency of the gospel.  What is encouraging is that there seems to be a growing number of American believers who recognize this and are making changes. I would love for Jesus to grace me with those words: You are worthy.  Wouldn’t you?”[6]

We cannot reject a clear teaching of Hell that Jesus so emphatically repeated in the scriptures. All Christians should be embracing the doctrine of Hell with the place it has in the biblical worldview.  The horror of hell should offend our moral senses. It is a tragedy that sin entered into the world and that we humans are continuously rebelling from God and the lost are rejecting the Savior.[7]

Derek Smith wrote, “As for me, I know for a fact that Hell is real. As if the Bible’s depiction of the existence of Hell weren’t enough to convince me (and it is), I also see incontrovertible proof of Hell’s existence all around me every day.”[8]

There is a place being prepared for the righteous called heaven.  It is real.  God is preparing the place.  There is place already made and reserved for the ungodly.  It is called Hell.  Hell is for real! TheEnd

Follow Christ, Believe and live, Hell is for real… 
 
Click to go to back to  Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5
Have a Godly day,
“The Tubthumper”

 


[1] Morgan and Peterson, Hell under Fire: Modern Scholarship Reinvents Eternal Punishment, 239-40.

[2] Edward William Fudge, and Peterson, Two Views of Hell, 80.

[3] Evans, Tony Evans Speaks Out on Heaven and Hell, 16.

[4] Chan and Sprinkle, Erasing Hell: What God Said about Eternity, and the Things We Made Up, 148.

[5] Sproul, Unseen Realities, 84.

[6] Chan and Sprinkle, Erasing Hell: What God Said about Eternity, and the Things We Made Up, 124.

[7] Velarde, Is Hell Real?

[8] Smith, Hell Is Not as Hot as You Think: Why Everything You’ve Been Taught about Hell Is Likely Wrong, 538.

2 thoughts on “Hell Yes It’s Real, Conclusion”

  1. How come apostle paul who was commissioned to preach the ENTIRE counsel of God says NOTHING of eternal hell? Maybe God told you something he did not tell Paul!

    1. How can you say “NOTHING” Mike? It is true that Paul rarely addressed Hell directly. Paul does, however, tech the reality and eternality of a punishment for the wicked in the afterlife. The position you are taken has often been posted by those who believe in UNIVERSALISM which I oppose. Universalists hope that in the end everyone will be miraculously saved.
      Paul never uses the Greek words that are usually translated as Hell and He does not teach as explicitly about Hell as do some other New Testament writers. (Did you check out the other Apostles?) Much evidence shows that Paul agrees with the larger New Testament witness in portraying Hell as an unending state of punishment and exclusion from the presence of the LORD. He repeatedly stresses its justification (Romans 1:18- 2:11 and 2 Thess. 1:8-9) because human beings have spurned God and merits His wrath and condemnation.
      Paul presents the judgment that comes on the wicked as the necessary response of a Holy and Just God. Paul sees the doctrine of Hell as a necessary corollary of the divine nature. Paul only uses Hell in one way… to warn believers to respond to the Grace of God manifested in our lives. (ie- Romans 8:12-13).
      Thank you so much for your comment Mike. Please allow me to point you to a great source: “Paul on Hell”, by Douglas J. Moo. Pages 96 to 109 cover the Eternality of Hell. God Bless You!

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