By: General James Green
MAY I START OUT this study on “Heaven or Hell?” by stating that humans have only one or the other to choose from.
Contemplate, if you will, “Where have I come from?”; “Where will I go after death?” The Bible gives us the answers for the above. To put the questions another way: “What is the destiny of the soul of man?” Again, the Bible tells us of the origin, nature, and destiny of the souls of mankind! Frankly, we can trash the evolution theory, since this so-called “science” can’t truthfully and honestly explain our questions; there is TRUTH beyond the limited range of “scientific explanation.”
You see, the available evidence of several thousand manuscripts DOES ESTABLISH that there is TRUTH beyond the limited knowledge of so-called “scientific explanation.” So, when we search for truth concerning Heaven and Hell, we can indeed find our answers to our questions. John 17:17 tells us that “…Thy Word is Truth.” Psalms 119:160 also tells us, “The sum of thy Word is truth; and every one of Thy righteous ordinances endure forever.”
Soul in Heaven or Hell?
WHEN ONE searches to find the meaning of “soul” and “spirit,” one will find several meanings, different meanings, depending on the context and the progressive revelation we find in the Bible. When we search for the immaterial side of humanity, as opposed to the body, we can’t base just one pet scripture on its meaning, we must accept that a contextual analysis must be applied.
In this study it is not my intention to prove the existence of the soul and spirit of man—they exist! One thing I will tell you, and the Bible backs it up, is that the soul and spirit of man do not cease to exist at physical death….they live on forever—in Heaven or Hell! With this said and done, let us concentrate on the concepts of Heaven and Hell.
Strange Teachings!
I CAN ACCEPT, without shock, the teachings of agnostics, atheists, and all in-between infidels—their belief that the existence of the soul is false and that the Christian idea of “eternal punishment” is utterly repugnant. This I can accept, for these people are in darkness. But for a Bible believing “Christian” to deny the punishment of the wicked is beyond belief.
Annihilation of the Wicked?
NEVER! The Bible never, ever teaches this. Yet we find Bible “experts” teaching this. To further this false idea, the teaching of “universal salvation” is equally popular.
The very liberal theologian, Emil Brunner wrote the following: “That is the revealed will of God and the plan for the world which he discloses—a plan of ‘universal salvation,’ of gathering all things into Christ [he quotes Rom. 5:18, 11:25-26; 1 Cor. 15:22; 2 Cor. 5:14; etc.]. We hear not one word in the Bible of a dual plan, a plan of salvation and its polar opposite. The will of God has but one point, it is unambiguous and positive. It has one aim, not two” (Eternal Hope, 1954, p. 182, emph. added). HERE IS A BIBLE THEOLOGIAN THAT IS BLIND TO BIBLICAL TRUTH. He is not alone.
John A.T. Robinson—I have read lots of Robinson’s writings; some are good and sound Biblically. But he, like Brunner, is bias in his studies on Hell. He writes: “In a universe of love there can be no heaven which tolerates a chamber of horrors, no Hell for any which does not at the same time make it Hell for God. He cannot endure that- for that would be the final mockery of His nature—and He will not” (1949).
Space limits the examples of BAD Bible theology coming from many liberal scholars.
The Truth!
JESUS AND THE N.T. WRITERS taught that the gospel is universally available, they never taught that it would be universally accepted, never! A good scripture in opposition to this is 2 Thes. 1:8, look it up—this is but one. After looking that verse up, read the following verse: “Who shall be PUNISHED with EVERLASTING (no END!) destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power” (v. 9). This is not universal salvation nor annihilation.
To me, 2 Thes. 1:8-9 are the clearest statements in St. Paul’s epistles concerning the eternal/everlasting future punishment of the wicked (see Matt. 10:28 also).
Actually, verse 8 should be taken as part of verse 7. Almost the same apocalyptic imagery can be found in Rev. 1:13 and 14, as well as in the O.T., Daniel 7:13.
“Who Shall Be Punished”
VERSE 9 begins with “Who shall be punished…” The Literal Translation reads, “Who shall pay the penalty of eternal destruction…” In verse 11, it starts out with “Wherefore”; or better translated, “Unto this end”—Paul’s prayer is the encouragement he desires to impart to the believers. He said that Jesus is coming “to be glorified in His saints” (v. 10).
Senseless Reasoning
IF ALL WICKED finally get saved in the end, why did Jesus put forth the Great Commission (COMMAND!) in Matt. 28:19-20? I’m waiting for a good Biblical answer. If everyone will eventually be saved, Jesus’ Commission is senseless and pointless, for Heaven will be populated automatically.
According to Our Deeds!
WHAT SHALL WE do with Matt. 16:27? “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then He shall reward every man according to his works” (see 2 Cor. 5:10 too). Every human being will be judged and paid for their work/deeds, good and bad. There is just no way around this “payment” thing. “So then each one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:12).
Cut Off?
AND WHAT SHALL we do with Romans 11:22? It says: “Behold therefore the goodness and severity (wrath) of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, IF thou CONTINUE in His goodness: OTHERWISE THOU ALSO SHALT BE CUT OFF.” Paul was referring to the consequences of Israel’s failure to get and walk in Jesus’ salvation.
The apostle Paul in verse 22 directs a grave and pointed warning to all Gentile believers, i.e., to all N.T. Ekklesias then and now! “If” we fail to accept Jesus’ redeeming sacrifice (the way out of future Hellfire), and if we fail to walk in obedience and CONTINUE in salvation (if we did accept it to begin with), the truth of the matter is, there exists the reality of being “CUT OFF” and “CAST AWAY.” Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise! It’s Heaven or Hell—always depending on our choices!
If God did not spare old Israel, neither will He spare any of us if we live wickedly. Israel was “CUT OFF” because of unbelief (v.20); we believers are to be steadfast in our faith (v. 20), or it could happen to us too.
HELLFIRE!
A PLACE I DO NOT WANT TO GO!!…..a place of eternal punishment, burning with brimstone and stinking pitch, a horrible place full of sinful inhabitants who can NEVER escape- is this what you want?
The Damned
THE BIBLE tells us that the damned will never escape the abyss of Hell, where they will suffer endless torments in all their senses and bodily members; because the wicked had employed all their senses and their members in sinning—they reap what they sowed.
Another liberal “Bible scholar,” is John Stott, contends that we Christians should understand our Bibles literally when it uses words like “destruction”/“perishing” he wrongly assumes that these 2 words mean annihilation, He writes: “It would seem strange, therefore, if people who are said to ‘suffer destruction’ are in fact not destroyed” (The Righteous Judge).
Is Stott right? Does “perishing/destruction” mean annihilation? NO! Take Jesus’ word “destroy” in Matt. 10:28. This looks like Jesus taught annihilationism. Or we could use the word “destruction” in Matt. 7:13-14. Also John 3:16 could be taken to mean final obliteration, using the word “perish”. In fact, John 10:28, 17:12; Rom. 2:12; 9:22; Phil. 1:28; 3:19; 1 Thes. 5:3; Heb. 10:39; John 4:12; and 2 Peter 3:7 contain the vocabulary of destruction.
The above scriptures are not the only ones we have. R.A. Peterson in his book HELL ON TRIAL says, “…even some passages Stott cites are difficult to reconcile with annihilationism. Second Thes. 1:9 is one example. Paul says that the wicked will be punished with everlasting destruction…. ‘Everlasting annihilation’ is an unlikely meaning for the words ‘everlasting destruction.’” Annihilationists claim that (Gk) “aionios” in this and similar expressions refers to eternal results and not eternal existence. WOW! How do they come up with this?
May I ask, “Does it make any sense for the apostle Paul to depict unbelievers’ extinction/annihilation as them being, as the Scripture says, ‘shut out from the presence of the Lord’?” Now, let me see…does not the wicked being “shut out” from the Lord’s presence imply existence? In reality, this verse is an irreversible verdict of eternal/everlasting NON-FELLOWSHIP with God and His redeemed people. You see, a person exists but remains EXCLUDED from God’s personal and blessed presence.
Forgive me if I sound like a broken record (for I have written on this subject numerous times), but I can’t ever over-express the importance of missing Hell and gaining Heaven.
Destruction!
THIS WORD “destruction” as used by so many anti-Hell scholars and preachers can’t mean what they want it to mean. A good example is that of Rev. 17:8 and 11. Here “destruction” is prophesied for what the Bible calls the beast….just 2 chapters later we find both the Beast and False Prophet “thrown ALIVE into the fiery lake of burning sulfur” (Rev. 19:20).
Edward Fudge wrote in his book The Fire that Consumes (1982) that “in the case of the beast and false prophet….the lake of fire stands for utter, absolute, irreversible annihilation” (p. 304). But in Rev. 20:7 and 10 they are still there “1000 years” later.
The author of Revelation teaches that the Beast, the False Prophet, and dear ‘ol Satan himself “will be TORMENTED day and night FOR EVER and EVER”. What can we conclude? The Beast’s destruction is never annihilation, but ETERNAL/EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT.
Really Now?
GET SERIOUS, “destruction”/”perish” and their synonyms DO NOT signify the final extinction of the wicked. There is no way to make the Word state this. There are other words used to depict Hell; punishment, death and destruction, weeping and gnashing of teeth, fire, separation, and darkness etc.
Look up Luke 13:25-27. Jesus in the above verses presupposes the existence of the wicked. They are ALIVE and SUFFER GREAT PAIN OF LOSS!
Jesus uses “weeping and gnashing of teeth” as an expression to explain the reality of darkness (of soul no doubt! See Matt. 8:12; 22:13: 25:30; and Luke 13:28).
R.A. Peterson, PhD, tells us that in each of its 7 occurrences “weeping and gnashing of teeth” is preceded by the adverb “ekei” (Gk) meaning “there, in that place,” indicating the suffering of the wicked in Hell itself. A person who has been annihilated does not weep nor gnash his teeth, we’re speaking of people who EXIST in Hell.
Some tell us that this expression speaks of conscious suffering which precedes final destruction. Really now? All texts cited are pictures not of suffering prior to final punishment, but of final punishment itself.
Matthew 25:46
“THEN THEY (wicked) will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life”. The word (Gk) “aionios” (English, “eternal”) modifies both punishment and life. If the righteous spend eternity in blissful Heaven, so will the wicked spend eternity in Hell in anguish. We’re speaking of the same quality and temporal connotation here; the durations are identical, Hell can’t be “temporal limitation (aeonial) as our dear liberal scholars tell us.
Just Because….
JUST BECAUSE we find certain passages that could be interpreted as teaching annihilation does in no wise prove it; ALL passages have to prove annihilation not just a few “proof texts” picked out. This is no way to form up Bible doctrine.
Hell: Born of Fear?
I GUESS some might believe this; I don’t! Robert Ingersoll, 19th Century American agnostic wrote: “The idea of hell was born of ignorance, brutality, fear, cowardice, and revenge….only from the lowest and most debased could come this cruel, heartless, and bestial of all dogmas….” Sorry Ingersoll, but you are the ignorant one, not the authors of our Bible.
Bertrand Russell wrote along these lines in his sick “Why I am Not a Christian” of course we can expect non-Christians to write such bunk, but Bible-believing (?) Christian scholars and educators?….like scholar Clark Pinnock, who tells us that souls of the wicked are annihilated upon physical death, written for Christianity Today (1987).
Purgatory?
NO MY DEAR READERS, there is no such thing. Our dear Roman Catholics have built upon what others have devised, who actually started this doctrine. According to my little research we find in A Concise Dictionary of Theology (Paulist, 2000), Edward Farrugia, S.J. and Gerald O’ Collins, S.J. note that Tertullian (died 225) and Clement of Alexandria (died 215) wrote “in various ways of purification after death (men still lived!) and our communion thru prayer with our dear departed”. Both of these scholars are considered Church fathers, Clement, a learned teacher in Egypt, who was in charge of the Catechetical school there, attempted to wrest the term “Gnostic” away from the heretics and give it a Christian meaning. Tertullian, a Christian writer from Carthage, N. Africa also wrote against heretics, who later came under the influence of the Montanist sect.
Jesus never spoke of Purgatory, He did have plenty to say about Hell and eternal punishments: “….depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels”…and these will be go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life (heaven)”!Matt. 25:34, 41, 46. In Mark 9:47, 48 we read (concerning Gehenna) “…where the worm dies not and the fire is never extinguished”.
On the other hand, Jesus spoke of many mansions in Heaven for the righteous, John 14:2 and Rev.22:4,5 we read what the redeemed being with the glorified Christ who “Will reign forever and ever”. But the wicked will be “Cast into the lake of fire”– Rev. 20:14, 15. In Rev. 21:7, 8 we read of a list of people who committed great sins, remained in a fallen state where they “Will have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (cursed, damned, yet still alive!).
II Council of Lyons
ACCORDING TO the 2nd Council of Lyons (1274) and the Council of Florence (1438-45) taught “the cleansing suffering endured after death (by those not yet fit for the beatific vision) and the value of prayers and pious works offered for their behalf”. Just where do we find any N. T. teaching like this?
Clement of Alexandria wrote: “It leads us to the eternal and perfect end, teaching us beforehand the future life that we will lead, according to God and with gods. This is after we are freed from all punishment and penalty that we undergo in consequence of our sin for the purpose of salutary discipline. After the redemption, the reward and the honors are assigned to those who have become perfect. This is when they have completed purification and closed from all service- even though it is holy service and among saints. Then, becoming pure in heart and near the Lord, restoration to everlasting contemplation awaits them” (c. 195, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 2, p. 539).
In another portion of his writing (p. 580) from a fragment in a post Nicene manuscript) Clement wrote: “All souls are immortal, even those of the wicked. Yet, it would be better for them if they were not deathless. For they are punished with the endless vengeance of quenchless fire. Since they do not die, it is impossible for them to have an end to their misery.”
Tertullian
“WE RECEIVE our awards under the judgment of an all-seeing God, and we Christians anticipate eternal punishment from Him for sin. Therefore, we alone make a real effort to attain a blameless life. We do this under the influences of the magnitude of the threatened torment. For it is not merely long-enduring; rather, it is everlasting” (c. 197, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 3, p. 50).
“By the sentence of the judgment, we say that the wicked will have to spend an eternity in endless fire, the godly and innocent will spend it in a region of bliss” (c.197, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 3, p. 127).
“We however, so understand the souls’ immortality as to believe it to be ‘lost’—not in the sense of destruction—but of punishment, that is, in Gehenna” (c. 210, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 3, p. 569).
“If, therefore, anyone will violently suppose that the destruction of the soul and the flesh in Gehenna amounts to a final annihilation of the two substances—and not to their penal treatment—let him recollect that the fire of Gehenna is eternal” (c. 210, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 3, p. 570).
O’Collins/Farrugia Continue
“THE COUNCIL OF TRENT (1545-63) maintained the doctrine of purgatory, said nothing about the nature and duration of purgatory, and reiterated the value of offering prayers and the Eucharist for those in purgatory….The state of Purgatory can be understood as a final process of loving but painful maturation before we meet God face to face. With the last judgment, purgatory will come to an end.”
Prayers for the Dead?
FIRST OFF, did Jesus even teach this? Did the N.T. authors teach this?
In Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas (c. 205, probably Montanistic, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 3, p. 701) we read about prayers for the dead: “….and I was aroused and knew that my brother was in suffering (in purgatory). But I trusted that my prayer would bring help to his suffering, and I prayed for him every day….and Dinocrates—with a clean body well clad—was finding refreshment….Then I understood that he was transported from the place of punishment.”
In 2 Macc. 12:40-42 we read about certain Jews who had been slain for idolatry: “…Turning to supplication (prayer), they prayed that the sinful deed might be fully blotted out.”
Following is a clear statement from Tertullian: “As often as the anniversary comes around, we make oblations for the dead…” (c. 211, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 3, p. 94; you might want to look up vol. 4, p. 56 as well). Again, Tertullian writes: “Indeed, she prays for the soul (of her deceased husband) and requests refreshment for him in the meanwhile—and fellowship with him in the first resurrection. She also offers on the anniversaries of his falling asleep….” (c. 217, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 4, p. 67).
Cyprian (died AD 258)
ON THE OTHER hand, Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage wrote: “….you are not permitted to make any offering for his (Geminius Faustinus) repose (death). Nor should any prayers be made in the church in his name” (c.250, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 5, p. 367).
Arnobius (died AD 330)
ARNOBIUS was a noted pagan teacher of rhetoric at Sicca, N. Africa who converted to Christianity, who never grasped Christian doctrine: “….(prayers of pardon) are asked for…. those still in life and for those who are freed from the bondage of the flesh (dead)” (c. 305, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 6, p. 488).
Apostolic Constitutions (complied c. AD 390)
“LET US PRAY for our brethren who are at rest in Christ….Let us pray that God…who has received his soul, may forgive him every sin—both voluntary and involuntary. Let us pray that He may be merciful and gracious to him and give him his lot in the land of the righteous, who are sent into the bosom of Abraham….” (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 7, p. 497).
Fiery Zone!
TERTULLIAN wrote: “We speak of paradise, the place of divine bliss appointed to receive the spirits of the saints. There, the saints are cut off from the knowledge of this world by that fiery zone, as by a sort of enclosure” (c. 197, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 3, p. 52).
Lactantius (died AD 325)
LACTANTIUS was a Roman teacher of rhetoric who later converted to Christianity, he wrote: “It is clear that those who make prayers to the dead….do not act as become men. They will suffer punishment for their impiety and guilt…they have violated every sacred law” (c. 304-313, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 7, p. 67).
The Roman Catholic Church (RCC) boldly states that II Maccabees and six other O.T. books were rejected because Martin Luther (their hated enemy!) accepted the later rabbinic tradition of recognizing as divinely inspired only books originally written in Hebrew, therefore 7 books, O.T. books, are not found in the Protestant Bible. However, the RCC tells us that for over 1,000 years, Christians had recognized those books as belonging in the Bible. This misses the point. The point is, as already stated, Judas Maccabees wrote about temporal punishment due to sin, the basis for the teaching on Purgatory (see 2 Macc. 12:38-46).
After all, dear readers, haven’t the RCs made tons and tons of $$ offering prayers to the dead!! You can see why they hate the idea I put forth.
Catechism of the Catholic Church:
“ALL WHO DIE in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are in deed abased of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification; so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of Heaven. The Church gives the name ‘purgatory’ to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned” (#1030-31). This is begging the question! They still have not shown us in the Bible (besides the unauthorized books in their RC Bible) where Jesus or any N.T. writers spoke of Purgatory. I read nowhere where Jesus or the N.T. authors mentions punishment for the sinners and punishment for the saints.
For sure, not every RC believes the same about purgatory. One RC correctly stated, “An exaggeration however, is a caricature that does not faintly represent the original teaching.”
Father Leonard Faley,
O.F.M, IN HIS BOOK, Believing in Jesus, wrote: “Being saved is being cleansed, liberated, raised up to the life of Jesus daily. Purification is the daily dying…and daily being raised by Him to a deeper sharing in his own life. We are called to be like persons in purgatory in one crucial way: we are trying to learn to say the lost words of the Bible as they say them….To say them with no lingering strains of selfishness….‘Come, Lord Jesus!’”
Purgatory: Real or Imagined?
ACCORDING to RCC doctrine, purgatory does not afford the chance for salvation after death, it enables Catholics to purge sin not atoned for in this life. One RC text book reads: “The souls of the just which, in the moment of death, are burdened with venial sins, or temporal punishment due to sins, enter Purgatory. The cleansing fire (purgatorium) is a place and state of temporal penal purification” (Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma).
Just what does the word “Venial” mean? According to RC teaching, “Venial is distinguished from ‘Mortal’ sins—Venial sins differ from Mortal sins in the punishment due to it; it merits a temporal rather than an eternal penalty” (see The New Catholic Encyclopedia).
Catholic Theology
WHILE MANY RCs have abandoned the false idea of purgatory, nevertheless, the RCC still hangs onto it….probably for $$ sake. But discarding purgatory puts the RC at variance with its teaching.
One RC theologian admitted that RC exegetes and theologians at the present would be inclined to say that there is no clear Biblical text for purgatory, neither is there any clear text contrary to that doctrine. But “finding nothing in our Bible against a view is not an adequate basis for making it an article of faith,” says one theologian. For instance, smoking can’t be found in the Bible, but I don’t think Christ would have approved it, do you?
Purgatory Texts?
WHAT TEXTS do the RCs use to support purgatory? Second Maccabees 12:42-46; Matt. 12:32; 1 Cor. 3:15. How in the world can RCs find purgatory in Matt. 12:32? Jesus does not say that sins will be forgiven blasphemers (against the Holy Ghost) after death, as RCs imply, He says the exact opposite! Some RC scholars admit Matt. 12:32 has little if nothing to do with purgatory.
What about 1 Cor. 3:15?, Where it states, “If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping thru the flames (fire).” The RCC assures us that this is a “sure text” for purgatory. This text is dealing, not with one’s final abode or purgatory, but with the return of Christ at the last judgment that follows: “the Day” (v. 13) is speaking about “man’s works” that will be tested, if failing the test, “shall be burned” (v. 15). There is absolutely nothing said here about sins being purged after death or a people moving from purgatory to Heaven.
As far as 2 Maccabees goes, from the RC Bible, the apocrypha, the Jews never accepted the apocryphal books as a part of Holy Scripture, neither do most Protestants. The main problem for the RCC is that it, as most Protestant scholars know, holds dual authority of both tradition and scripture, this won’t work. In fact, it was not until 1274 A.D. that purgatory became RC official teaching; today many disbelieve in it.
RC Tradition
FATHER ROBERT GLEASON writes in his book, The World to Come: “The early Church was fully aware that there were many who had passed into the next world….with….venial sins, and for these she (RCC) prayed….” So, the RCC, then, claims to be following a tradition passed down from earliest Christian times.
Early Church Fathers, such as I’ve already mentioned, who believed in praying for the dead, certainly had no scriptural backing.
St. Augustine (AD 354-430) wrote in one of his sermons: “For the universal (Catholic) Church carries on the ‘tradition’ which has been handed on by our fathers, that of praying for those who have departed hence in the communion of the body and blood of Christ, by commemorating them at a particular place is the sacrifice (man) itself, and by remembering also to offer it for them…” (Christian Readings, vol. 2, p. 305). The “fathers” mentioned represent both the Western and Eastern Church.
There is much more that could be covered here but I think I’ve said enough to let my reader know that Purgatory is a Tradition, not a Biblical fact.
Terrify Your Soul
ONE RC BISHOP writes: “Terrify your soul with the Words of the prophet Isaiah: ‘O my soul, art thou able to dwell with this devouring fire? Canst thou endure to dwell with everlasting burning? Canst thou think of parting with thy God for ever?” Here is a RC Bishop who believes in Hellfire everlastingly.
You Say….
YOU SAY, “Gen. Jim, why do you dwell on Hell so much and not on Heaven?” I say, Heaven is ours, if we finish our course in right standing with our God. But Hell awaits any and all who refuse Christ as Savior and Lord and those who neglect their Christian duties and live carelessly.
So few reproach their hearts with true Courage of Spirit, but give way to the pusillanimous spirit of the flesh (lacking courage and resolution) I personally keep myself in the frame of mind that Hell is real and that I need to be vigilant at all times. It is easy to fall prey to deceiving spirits that whisper in the ear “take thy ease, eat, drink and be merry!”—This can bring any soul to ruin. IT IS EASY TO REBEL AGAINST GOD’S WILL. Finite humans we all are, “Everyone that doeth sin doeth also lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4).
Church Today
CHURCH FOLKS today have very little fear of God, have basically extinguished the flames of Hellfire. It is not my fancy to “dwell on Hell” but as a soldier of Christ, we must mark our enemies….the lack of reverence for God’s Word is one of those enemies. And the modern Church laughs at the concept of SIN- yet the reality of sin is all about us, like polluted foul air! If you want to die and go to Hell, that is your prerogative, not mine.
One Argument
MANY OBJECT to use Christianity to “scare” people into believing in Jesus. Better to “turn” than “burn”! They argue that what is right and wrong in one culture may be different in another culture. (like vegetarians and cannibals). This misses the point—GOD IS!, GOD CREATED!, GOD RULES!, GOD HAS RULES!….whether men believe this or not…God put within man a conscience of right and wrong coupled with a free-will choice—man has the right to obey or disobey. Can you explain this better?
Therefore, punishment is part of God’s plan as well as blessing. There are three active forms we can choose from: 1. preventative, 2. remedial, 3. retributive. Look up the definition of these words. Hell will be God’s last choice, i.e., retributive punishment. (vengeance is God’s, Rom. 12:19 and Heb 10:31)
In Conclusion—
I WOULD LIKE to quote Leslie Woodson who wrote: “The reference to man’s hard lot in life as ‘going through hell’ has become so commonplace that the modern mind has satisfied itself with the assumption that hell is nothing more” (Hell and Salvation). Grant you, men do suffer like Hell on this earth, but the Bible graphically describes Hell, it has nothing to do with earthly sufferings etc.
Men in this age have, as 2 Tim. 4:2 tells us “seared his conscience as with a hot iron”—men can become so gospel-hardened that they can burn the concept of Hell right out of their thoughts!
Does It Matter?
I THINK SO! Any teaching, belief, theory or what have you, that undermines the full consequences of rebelling against our Maker is most dangerous. IF YOU LAUGH AT THE CONCEPT OF HELL, BETTER “TURN THAN BURN”!