Matthew\n25:41: \u201cThen shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye\ncursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels;\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rob Bell, founder and pastor of\nthe well-known fellowship Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville,\n Michigan, has written a book\ntitled <\/em>Love Wins: A Book About\nHeaven, Hell and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived<\/em>. <\/em>The\nmajor premise of \u201cLove Wins,\u201d is that God is love, not an angry being that\npunishes people forever in hell. The controversy\nrelates particularly to Bell\u2019s representation of heaven and hell and who\nqualifies. In the book, he questions the traditional notion of hell as a place\nwhere people will suffer an everlasting punishment for their wrongdoings and\nsuggests that the loving nature of God means everyone will ultimately be\nforgiven and saved. True? For the Scriptural answer, we examine:<\/p>\n\n\n\n We hear it said often\nthat God is too tender, kind, and forgiving to allow men to suffer in Hell.\nPleading the love and pity of God, men insist that He would not allow His\ncreatures to perish. There are many beautiful and sentimental sayings about the\nlove of God that are quoted to support the view that He would not allow one soul\nto suffer torment everlastingly. But we\ndare never lose sight of the fact that one\u2019s escape from Hell is not dependent\nupon the love of God but upon the repentance and faith of each individual\nperson.<\/strong> God is love, to be certain, but man also has a free will. Men are not doomed and damned to Hell by\nGod, but they go there because they have willfully rejected God\u2019s only way of\nescape from sin\u2019s penalty, saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.<\/strong> God was\nlove in the Old Testament times, and yet the children of Israel were\npunished for their sins. God is love now, but He does not open the doors of\npenal institutions to deliver those who are being punished for their crimes. It\nis but the fair treatment of society to protect it against the persistent wrong\ndoings of the criminal, and certainly Heaven would not be safe nor desirable if\nthere were no protection against sin and crime. It would seem to the writer\nthat God owes it to the faithful believers that the wicked be separated from\nthem in Heaven. It would be an insult to the justice and honor of God were He\nto allow the unrighteous and unholy rejectors of Jesus Christ to share\neternally the abode and \u201cthe things which God hath prepared for them that love\nHim\u201d (1 Corinthians 2:9).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The natural and\ninevitable consequence of sin is punishment. Proper punishment of a child does\nnot derogate from the love of the parent. Sin condemns just as sure as fire\nburns, and God is justified in putting into effect the immortal law that\n\u201cwhatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap\u201d (Galatians 6:8).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some people engage\nthemselves in much wishful thinking about Hell. It has been said that the fires\nof Hell mean the torments of conscience. Others say that Hell is simply the\ngrave. We do not question that the torments of conscience will be included in\nthe eternal punishment of the lost, though Hell will not be the torments of\nconscience only. But we cannot agree at all with those who teach that Hell is\nsimply the grave. One must be either a deceiver or an illiterate to say that\nHell is the grave. When the unsaved rich man died he went to Hell, and cried:\n\u201cI am tormented in this flame\u201d (Luke 16:24). Certainly\nhe was not merely in the grave. He had five brothers whom he desired to be\nsaved lest they also should come to that place of torment. Now if his five\nbrothers would have repented and become saved, their conversion could not have\nkept them from the grave, for \u201cit is appointed unto men once to die\u201d (Hebrews 9:27). Repentance and conversion will keep one from\nHell but never from the grave. The bodies of all men, excepting those believers\nwho are alive when Christ comes, will return to the dust. Hell is not the\ngrave. The body of the rich man was dead, but that man knew that his soul was\nin a literal place and not merely in a spiritual state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Notice the use of the\nword \u201cfire,\u201d which denotes that the fire of Hell is as literal as the place\nitself. Repeatedly our Lord and the apostles spoke of the fire of Hell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But I say unto you,\nThat whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of\nthe judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger\nof the council; but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell\nfire (Matthew 5:22).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every tree that\nbringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire (Matthew 7:19).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Son of man shall\nsend forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that\noffend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire:\nthere shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:41, 42).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wherefore if thy hand\nor thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better\nfor thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two\nfeet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it\nout, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one\neye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire (Matthew 18:8, 9).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then shall he say also\nunto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,\nprepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Where their worm dieth\nnot, and the fire is not quenched (Mark 9:44).<\/p>\n\n\n\n And he cried and said,\nFather Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of\nhis finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame (Luke 16:24).<\/p>\n\n\n\n In flaming fire taking\nvengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of Our Lord\nJesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 1:8).<\/p>\n\n\n\n And the angels which\nkept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in\neverlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as\nSodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves\nover to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an\nexample, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire (Jude 6, 7).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The same shall drink of\nthe wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup\nof his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the\npresence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb (Revelation 14:10).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore shall her\nplagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be\nutterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her (Revelation 18:8).<\/p>\n\n\n\n And the beast was\ntaken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with\nwhich he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that\nworshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning\nwith brimstone (Revelation 19:20).<\/p>\n\n\n\n And the devil that\ndeceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and\nthe false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever (Revelation 20:10).<\/p>\n\n\n\n And death and hell were\ncast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not\nfound written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14, 15).<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the fearful, and\nunbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and\nsorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake\nwhich burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death (Revelation 21:8).<\/p>\n\n\n\n You may study these\nstatements and believe them, or else you may pass them by. You may believe that\nthe Bible is for today, or else you may laugh at it as a bit of obsolete dogma.\nBut today you are face to face with eternal statements in the Word of God which\nwill survive the heavens and the earth. Your unbelief cannot disprove nor alter\nthem. When the resurrected physical bodies of the unbelievers of every age\nleave the Judgment of the Great White Throne, they will go into a literal Hell\nof fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And be sure that the\nbody will share with the soul in its suffering. Jesus said: \u201cMarvel not at\nthis: for the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves shall hear\nhis voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the\nresurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of\ndamnation\u201d (John 5:28, 29). May we ask what part of man is in the\ngrave? We all agree that it is his body. Therefore we can depend on Christ\u2019s\nstatement that that part of man that is buried in the grave will come forth to\nbe damned eternally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (1)\nEveryone will exist everlastingly either in heaven or hell<\/strong>\n(Daniel 12:2, 3; Matthew 25:46; John 5:28; Revelation 20:14, 15).<\/p>\n\n\n\n (2)\nEveryone has only one life in which to determine their destiny<\/strong>\n(Hebrews 9:27).<\/p>\n\n\n\n (3)\nHeaven or hell is determined by whether a person believes (puts their trust) in\nChrist alone to save them<\/strong> (John 3:16, 36, etc.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n (1)\nHell was designed originally for Satan and his demons<\/strong>\n(Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:10).<\/p>\n\n\n\n (2)\nHell will also punish the sin of those who reject Christ<\/strong>\n(Matthew 13:41, 50; Revelation 20:11-15; 21:8).<\/p>\n\n\n\n (3)\nHell is conscious torment.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n (4)\nHell is eternal and irreversible.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Answer:\n\u201cIt is appointed unto men once to die and after that the judgment\u201d (Hebrews 9:27).<\/p>\n\n\n\n (2)\nUniversalism<\/strong> \u2013 All are eternally saved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answer:\nIt denies the truth of salvation through Christ which means that a person\ndecides to either trust in Christ or else he\/she rejects Christ and goes to\nhell (John 3:16; 3:36).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Answer:\nIt denies the resurrection of the unsaved (John 5:28, etc. \u2013 see\nabove). It denies conscious torment (see above).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Response:\nGod is just (Romans 2:11).<\/p>\n\n\n\n (2)\nHell is too severe a punishment for man\u2019s sin.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Response:\nGod is holy-perfect (1 Peter 1:14, 15).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Matthew 25:41: \u201cThen shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels;\u201d Rob Bell, founder and pastor of the well-known fellowship Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, Michigan, has written a book titled Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[535],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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The punishment of the wicked dead in hell is described throughout Scripture as \u201ceverlasting fire\u201d (Matthew 25:41), \u201cunquenchable fire\u201d (Matthew 3:12), \u201cshame and everlasting contempt\u201d (Daniel 12:2), a place where \u201cthe fire is not quenched\u201d (Mark 9:44-49), a place of \u201ctorment\u201d and \u201cfire\u201d (Luke 16:23-24), \u201ceverlasting destruction\u201d (2 Thessalonians 1:9), a place where \u201cthe smoke of torment rises forever and ever\u201d (Revelation 14:10-11), and a \u201clake of burning sulfur\u201d where the wicked are \u201ctormented day and night forever and ever\u201d (Revelation 20:10).
The punishment of the wicked in hell is as never ending as the bliss of the righteous in heaven. Jesus Himself indicates that punishment in hell is just as everlasting as life in heaven (Matthew 25:46). The wicked are forever subject to the fury and the wrath of God. Those in hell will acknowledge the perfect justice of God (Psalm 76:10). Those who are in hell will know that their punishment is just and that they alone are to blame (Deuteronomy 32:3-5). Yes, hell is real. Yes, hell is a place of torment and punishment that lasts forever and ever, with no end. Praise God that, through Jesus, we can escape this eternal fate (John 3:16, 18, 36).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nArguing Against Hell from the Love of God<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Hell–A Literal Place of\nFuture Punishment<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Key Facts about the\nEverlasting<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Key Passages\nabout Hell<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Erroneous Views\nof Hell<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Objections to\nthe Biblical View of Hell<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\nGod does not want anyone to go to hell (2 Peter 3:9). That is why God made the\nultimate, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice on our behalf. If you want to not\ngo to hell, receive Jesus as your Savior. It is as simple as that. Tell God\nthat you recognize that you are a sinner and that you deserve to go to hell.\nDeclare to God that you are trusting in Jesus Christ as your Savior. Thank God\nfor providing for your salvation and deliverance from hell. Simple faith,\ntrusting in Jesus Christ as the Savior, is how you can avoid going to hell!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"