The reality of hell and eternal punishment is not a popular topic, even among true believers. Part of the problem is that the nature of hell has been horribly distorted in our culture and portrayed as an experience that is far what we read in the New Testament.
I have unshakable and robust confidence in the inerrant truth of every word in the Bible that the matter of hell has already been settled. I believe as Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:16, that “all scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.”
It is by God’s grace that I have come to understand, at least to some degree, the immeasurable magnitude and majesty of God’s holiness and beauty and authority and honor that is due to Him from all creatures, including you and me.
It is also by God’s grace that I have come to understand the immeasurable horror, ugliness, and self-centeredness of humanity’s sin and depravity and wickedness.
If hell strikes you are unreasonable or unfair or disproportionate, it can only be due to the fact that either you don’t believe the Bible is inspired or true, or you don’t believe that mankind is morally depraved and has committed treason in the cosmic and is deserving of eternal condemnation.
Contributing to the problem of hell there are numerous false beliefs that surround it.
Here are a few:
#1. Hell is a place to be united with unbelievers.
I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard people say they will be united with their unbelieving friends and family for the biggest party of all time. When hell in fact is a place of utter isolation, loneliness, and deprivation,
#2. Hell is a place where Satan and his demons reign.
Hell is not a place where Satan and his demons exercise their authority to rule and reign. The fact is that hell is the place where Satan and his demons suffer eternal punishment. Satan and his demons are inmates in hell, not it’s warden or guards. In Matthew 25:41 is one clear statement to that effect:
“Then he will say to those on his left, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.“
#3. Satan and his demons will torment humans being in hell.
This is directly related to the previous false belief, there is a notion among many people that in hell Satan and his demons torment human beings who are also there. There is not one place in the Bible that suggests Satan and his demons afflict or torture human beings. They themselves are the object of God’s punishment,
There have been many books written by people who claim to have visited hell in which they describe a scene where demons are tormenting humans who have been consigned there. This should be the first indication to all careful, Bible-believing reader that such an experience is fabricated.
#4. There are people in hell who want to reconcile with God.
The misconception is that there are people in hell crying out for mercy who want to reconcile with God. There is nothing in scripture that indicates this is so. Instead, those in hell are eternally defiant of God and hate Him all the more with each passing moment.
#5. There are people in hell who don’t deserve to be there.
This is one of the more blasphemous notions about hell. Nothing could be farther from the truth. God’s justice is impeccable and He never consigns anyone to punishment in hell who does not fully deserve to suffer there.
#6. There are people in hell who wanted to go to heaven.
This notion that there are people in hell who wanted to go to heaven while they were still alive, but God wouldn’t let them. The fact is that God made it perfectly clear when He said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst…whoever comes to me I will never cast out… For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:35, John 6:37, John 6:40).
#7. Hell holds people who will one day be released.
As much as we wish this false belief were true, it isn’t. The Bible does not teach universalism, the idea that everyone will eventually be saved and given eternal life in the new heaven and new earth is false.
As much as I wish my brother and a few other family members would end up in heaven. It cannot be so, the choices they made in their life will not lead them to heaven one day.
# 8. In hell, people will be rid of God.
The false belief that people in hell will be rid of God and will have no experience of him is not true. What is true is that they will have no experience of God’s loving and gracious presence, but they will most assuredly experience His justice and wrath. In fact in Revelation 14:10 we read that they will be tormented “in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb,” John Piper said that this scripture is not saying that “those in hell have the priviof seeing what they enjoy, but that they have the remorse of seeing what they rejected.”
Hell should provoke anguish and urgency in all of us. I can not read the biblical portrayals of hell and eternal punishment or think about it without feeling a deep and unrelenting agony in my heart.
Hell should not be talked about without crying. It is a real place and real people are going there. This is not a subject for joking or being taken light-heartedly. It is an issue that should provoke anguish and an urgent commitment to share the gospel of Christ with those who remain in unbelief.
For true believers, God had shown us mercy and had poured out His wrath on Jesus in our place. The wrath and judgment that Jesus lovingly and willingly embraced and endured for us that deserve damnation. God owes us nothing but injustice. The fact that Hebhad given us mercy instead, and forgiveness instead of condemnation, ought to awaken in us the most heartfelt and passionate gratitude and praise.
From Pity to Praise 