A very brief word on why people go to Hell...

You hear many these days say that people die and go to Hell because they don't know Christ.  There is definite truth in that statement... but it isn't the most accurate way to phrase the 'why' of why people go to Hell.  Let me make this statement which will at first make you recoil.  No one has ever gone to Hell because they didn't trust Christ.  No No No I am NOT a heretic... Please read on and let me explain.

John 3:16-18 (NASB) - “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  17 “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.  18 “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

In verse 17 it says that Jesus didn't come to judge the world but to save it.  If He came to save it then we can easily see the inference that the world stood condemned.  Not for a lack of belief in Christ but for something else.  Ephesians 2 makes it clear that we WERE dead in our sins.  We are dead in our sins but God in His goodness has sent Jesus Christ so that those who repent and trust in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 

What does it say there in verse 18.  He who does not believe has been judged already.  He who does not believe is ALREADY CONDEMNED.  The REASON people go to Hell is because they are dead in their sins.  If God sent people to Hell because they didn't trust Jesus then He would be a cruel God wouldn't He?  It seems that way to me.... in a way of thinking at least...

Verse 18 is explaining what was said in verse 16 and 17.  Verse 18 makes plain that those who are in Christ are saved from the judgment that once awaited them and that those who have rejected the Savior are still facing judgment as a result.

However, we are responsible for our own sin (Romans 3:23).  God does not cause us to sin.  We sin because we are sinful.  So we condemn ourselves to Hell.  However, Jesus Christ is the only One who can save us!  Those who don't believe on the Son are condemned already, yet those who trust in the Lord will be rescued!  Will be saved! 

That shows Him to be the good God that He is, the beautiful Savior that He is!

All Hail the Power of Jesus Name!

Doctrine of Hell

In the Bible, three specific terms are used for hell.  Hades/ Sheol and Gehenna.  Studying the words will help us compile a Biblical Doctrine of Hell.  Even though many don’t believe in hell… in fact a recent survey showed that only 65% of Americans who believe in God believe in Hell also. (staggering)

The first term: Hades/ Sheol is the Hebrew equivalent.

Hades is a Greek word.  Hades is the Greek word for Hell. Sheol is the Hebrew word and it means the unseen world.  Unknown world.  The place where disembodied souls reside.  It is used 10 times in the New Testament.  Four of those times it is used specifically from Jesus and 4 times in Revelation which is Christ speaking through John and then it is used twice in Acts.

It is always used to refer to the dwelling place of the dead and a place of torment.

There are a couple of ways that Hades/ Sheol and Gehenna are viewed Some scholars say that they are two separate places.  Hades is the place you go when you die in your sins and you await the Final Judgment there and after that you are thrown into Gehenna.

Others hold that they are the same place completely.  This view says that if you die in your sins you go to Hades/Gehenna where you remain apart from your body until the Final Judgment at which point you will be reunited with your body and both will be cast into Hades/Gehenna together.

I hold that second view personally.  That they are one in the same and that right now just the souls of the damned are there and after the Final Judgment of the entire world they will be reunited with their physical bodies and they will be both thrown into Hell once for eternity together suffering God’s wrath.

The other word used is Gehenna.  Used twelve times in the New Testament, it was used by Christ 11 of the 12 times in describing Hell.  Unlike the words Hades or Sheol, Gehenna is a more descriptive and more terrifying word for Hell than any other.

Turn over to Matthew 5 I want to specifically call your attention to verses 22;29;30.  Gehenna is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew word gehinnam.  It means “The Valley of Hinnom”. 

In the times of Jesus, the Valley of Hinnom was used as the garbage dump of Jerusalem.  Into it were thrown all filth and garbage of the city including dead animal carcasses and the bodies of executed criminals.

To consume all of this, fires were burned in this place constantly.  Maggots worked in the filth and when the wind blew across it in the direction of the city, it was AWFUL.  At night you could even hear wild dogs howling and fighting over the waste.

Jesus used this awful scene as a symbol of Hell.  In effect He said, “Do you want to know what hell is like?  Look at Gehenna.”  So you could say that hell is similar to this place only the fires in hell will burn but never consume their fuels fully.

Mark 9:47-48 - “If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell,  48 where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.

Essentially saying that life without one eye or hand would be better lived than going with both eyes or hands into a place worse than the Valley of Hinnom.   All that is unfit for heaven, which is anyone who has not been washed by the Blood of His Son, all without Christ are thrown into Hell.

So they would have understood very well what he meant by those words.

2 Thessalonians 1:7b-9 - when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire,  8 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.  9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,

Away from the presence of the Lord.  Presence of the Lord, there, also translates to face of the Lord.  Hell is where God’s face is turned away from those there.  Which is always a way of saying that God’s favorable presence is not on you. 


Luke 13:24-28 - “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.  25 “Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’  26 “Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’;  27 and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; depart from Me, all you evildoers.’  28 “In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out.

It says there that they will be able to see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob but they will not be let in to them. 


Revelation 14:9-10 - Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

Who is clearly doing the tormenting there?  God.


2.) Indescribable Suffering

Clearly taught in the Bible is the suffering, the horrible sufferings, of the wicked in Hell.  It isn’t that they are tormented out of God’s cruelty, because God is not cruel.  They are tormented justly for their sin.  He does not gleefully torture them.  In fact God’s chief pleasure is not in their demise.


Ezekiel 18:23;32 - Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord God, “rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?; 32 “For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord God. “Therefore, repent and live.”

God is a God of justice and Hell is the place where that justice is dispensed.  The wicked receives no less or no more punishment than they deserve.


In Luke 16:28 the rich man begs Abraham to send Lazarus or anyone to his living brothers to warn them not to die in their sins so that what?  They don’t end up in that place of torment.


Matthew 8:12, says it is a place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Indescribable pain is there.  Not the least of which is the full understanding of our sin.  Just as the believer will rejoice in that day because he will see the fullness of the sin he was saved from and what it cost Christ to redeem him, so the unbeliever will feel the fullness of the weight of their sins.


3.) Unending Punishment

Hell is eternal.  It is not a purgatory that purges us from our sin and then sends us on to Heaven.  By the way, have you considered this… that those religions who teach purgatory as a true doctrine, not only are they teaching a false doctrine but they are also implying that there are two ways to be saved.  One, through Jesus and two through purgatory.

So it is more than a small doctrine we can differ on, it’s heresy.  If it’s heresy, it isn’t Christianity.


Revelation 20:10 - And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Matthew 25:46 - “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

The wicked go to eternal punishment; the righteous go away into eternal life.  It would be inconsistent to give two contradictory meanings to the same word in the same sentence.  If “eternal” punishment doesn’t mean punishment forever then it would make sense that “eternal” life doesn’t mean that the righteous will enjoy heaven forever either.   So it is either that they are both eternal or both temporary.  The Bible insists that they are both eternal.

We are warned to avoid Hell at all costs and believers are told to warn others of hell at all costs.

Matthew 10:28 - Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

What is man’s only hope?


Scripture is clear that hell is the fate that awaits all mankind.  All of us stand condemned by default before God.  All of us are capable of all sorts of sin and perversion and all of us have violated God’s perfect standard of the righteousness needed to enter into Heaven.

We are in a great deal of trouble on our own, BUT there is a hope!  A singular hope!


Galatians 3:22-24 - But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.  23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed.  24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.

Jesus Christ is our Great High Priest, our Living Hope.  He has said that if you will turn from your sin and trust Him for forgiveness then He will forgive you and you will be able to enter into Heaven through that narrow gate.

Guest Blogger: Chris Bottoms - A Healthy Church

There is a lot of talk out there in the blogsphere relating to The Church. I'd like to throw in my two cents.

I think we have to start with the issue of sin. Before we can talk about The Church and what it is but could be or isn't and should be, we have to deal with the issue of sin.

Why is the church failing to fulfill its Christ-breathed mission?

Sin.

Why isn't the church ministering as it should?

Sin.

Let's just look at it the way Jesus does. Start in Matthew 5; Jesus is sitting on a mountainside, teaching the crowd of disciples, and leads with eight characteristics that Believers must embody to be "approved". First up, Jesus gives us the "poor in spirit". This speaks to the realization that we have nothing to offer God that we can redeem for our salvation...nothing to plead with...nothing of value to give Him in exchange for real, present and eternal life. That characteristic permeates our person and is lived out as an ongoing act of repentance. Consider the tax collector of Luke 18, who cries out for mercy realizing that he is bankrupt spiritually because of his sin and must depend on God's mercy and grace for salvation. Next Jesus offers us "those who mourn", speaking to those that are completely broken over their sin and the sin that permeates our humanity. Right out of the box, Jesus is dealing with a Believers' relationship to sin. Of course, the Beatitudes go on into other markers, but we'll stop there for brevity's sake.

Now, if the Church is the gathered body of Believers, then we, not "it", ought to have such an attitude toward sin...which would of course lead to repentance, humility, meekness, and utter dependancy on Almighty God for all things, not least of which is our redemption.

If that were the case, we'd see an exponentially more effective Church, actively growing in discipleship, serving the Lord, the Body, and the community for the sake of the Kingdom.

Shall we go on sinning? Part 4

v4a -Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, - Lastly this morning we will look at the object of our having been baptized into the death of Christ.  If we’ve died to sin, then sin is not the source of our joy.  Something else is.  We have become new creatures.  What then is our joy?  It is that though we were once reigned by death, now, through Christ, we have life!  Grace and life reign in us!  Christ is our joy!

And if we have died with Christ as Paul suggests, then we must also have been raised with Him and will be resurrected to a perfect life in eternity.

v4b - so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father,

For no other reason does God save us.  He saves us to give us new life and in that He demonstrates His love and grace and receives Glory and Honor.  Jesus was raised through the Glory of the Father, the demonstration of His incomparable, unexplainable Glory.

So, verse 1-3 unpacks the how and what of second birth.  And now the end of that… to what end… to what end have we died to sin and been born again through Christ?  v4c - so we too might walk in newness of life.

2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

Newness of life insinuates newness of heart because we know that the heart is vital to our life.  Proverbs 4:23 says that the heart is the well spring of life.  So how do we have a new life if not by receiving a new heart?  Not a new physical heart of course, but the spiritual heart…

Note the posture of the one who has been buried with Christ in the end of verse 4 there.  They are walking.  We WALK on a new path.  Life our life according to the will of God as revealed in His Word.  Old desires will fade and go away as we grow because those old desires no longer have power over us.

Our identification with Christ in His death results in our walking in ‘newness of life’.  What a profound thought.  What an amazing thing to happens to us when God saves us.  We can hardly even grasp it.  The person who responds to the call of the Gospel to repent and trust in Christ… that person is crucified, buried, and resurrected with His Savior so that when God looks at that person He no longer sees the guilty sinner but the sinless Savior.

You began life having violated God’s standards… His Law… Christian, you were enslaved to sin, owing God a debt you could never repay… But through Christ!  Through the merits of the Savior alone!  God cleansed you of all unrighteousness!

If God so loved us, how can we help but to so love Him, that we desire obedience to Him at all costs.  If you do return… or have returned… to the life you lived before coming to Christ and if you are able to continue on in it, then you are more than likely not saved.

Shall we go on sinning? Part 3

3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?

Is it possible they’ve missed the point of grace!?  What Paul intends to do here is draw a reminder for them.  He says, don’t you remember that when you were baptized… you were crucified with Christ!  We are not only dead to our former ways, but they are buried.  To return to our old ways would mean returning to that old self.  It is like a dog that returns to its own vomit and eats it… Proverbs 26:11 - Like a dog that returns to its vomit Is a fool who repeats his folly.

Now, Paul references literal water baptism here to remind them of the statement they were making when they were baptized.  While not mandatory for salvation, baptism is important of course because we are commanded to do it.  But in baptism we are making the public announcement that we are renouncing our past life and professing to have a new identity.  As I said, the significance of it gets lost sometimes in our day because we are safe in the church when we baptize…

In Paul’s day and in many foreign countries still today, baptism was done in a public place.  No baptisteries in the church or anything like that.  You got baptized in the nearest river or lake or whatnot… Baptism in the Bible exclusively declared that your loyalty was to Christ.  This was a risky declaration.  It often put the believer’s life in jeopardy… as well as their families’ lives. 

A Romans Christian faced death because you were only to be loyal to Caesar.  Not anyone else.  But being a Christian meant Christ over Caesar and that meant immediate death for treason.  Paul reminds them that being a Christian means that you are dead to your sin and are resolved to never go back to it.

Galatians 3:27 - For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
The message being sent is this.  RESPOND TO YOUR CALLING CHRISTIANS!  Or else in your continued disobedience you prove that you are in fact alive to sin and if alive to sin, you are dead to Christ.  The emphasis in this passage is not on the act of baptism but rather what it stands for.

But what if I do sin?  Because obviously Christians at some time sin don’t they?  As a Christian you cannot return to sin in the same was as you once did.  An adult can act like a child at times, but an adult cannot BE a child.  He can never go back to being a child.

In the same way, if you are truly born again you cannot return to a lifestyle of sin.  Well you might be thinking… well how do I know the difference?  How do I know if I am a stumbling in sin or living in it?  Well, ask yourself, if when you sin… what comes to mind first?  How you can hide what you’ve done or do your thoughts immediately go to the Gospel.  Remembering what Christ has done for you on the cross?  Do your think about how what you are doing is not only wrong or shameful… but not God honoring behavior?

You may not like to hear it, that God will make a Christian’s life harder if there is persistent sin struggles, but you know it is true… Have you not had times when life was difficult and you could trace it back to being a direct result of something sinful you did?  And that increased difficulty… that corrective discipline… it is intended to further sanctify you and put you back squarely on the path God has set for you. 

To send you BACK to the Savior.  Trusting in Him more and more.  1 John 4:4 - You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

Shall we go on sinning? Part 2

v2b - How shall we who died to sin still live in it? – This theme is THROUGHOUT Scripture. 

Colossians 3:3 - For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. - Died… and now when you see me… everything you see is Christ.  I’m hidden with Him in God and God no longer looks at me with wrath but as His child.  His beloved child.

But as His child, I’m called to obedience.  1 Peter 2:21-25 - For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps,  22 who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth;  23 and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;  24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.  25 For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

He died on the cross so that we would die to sin.  We were helpless against sin remember?  Captive to it.  But Christ died.  What’s the focus?  CHRIST!  Not a Christ that enables sinning…  Peter says that He is the Shepherd and Guardian of our soul! 

Paul asks his first question and then answers it … How shall we who died to sin live in it?  Look at it like this… The opposite of someone who has died to sin is someone who LIVES in it.

John Calvin said “He who [lives in] sin certainly lives TO sin.”  So how can we keep living in that which we’ve died to?  The answer is simple.  We can’t.  Grace is not just a subduing force over sin, grace is a conqueror of sin!

God does not justify someone (He doesn’t save them) with out also regenerating their heart.  So that after He saves us we can serve Him in holiness.  We are partakers of His Spirit.  It would be a contradiction of God’s grace if sin were to be the reason that grace was made stronger.

We died to sin. It points to a one time act when God convicted us of our sin.  Our conscience screamed at us that we were guilty before a Holy God.  He drew us to Him and we responded in obedience by repenting of our sins and forsook them to trust instead in Christ. 

Now, let’s make some things clear before moving to verse 3.  Being dead to sin does not mean we are unresponsive to sin.  If we were unresponsive to sin then we would not have to be told, in Scripture, to avoid sin and fight it, putting it to death by the Spirit.

In Salvation, we are regenerated.  Sin loses its appeal to us.  It loses its controlling grip on our lives.  Furthermore we are forgiven of our sin.  The Holy Spirit comes then to enable us to turn from sin continually (Revelation 12:10).

Does that make sense?  It would be a lie to say that Christians aren’t tempted to sin.  We are.  Satan tempts us on all fronts.  He knows what sin you are most prone to stumble in and so that is what he comes at you with… CONSTANTLY. 

So Paul is NOT saying that you aren’t a Christian if you are tempted.  He’s talking about living in sin and just flat not caring that Jesus died to save you from those sins.

A brief word on burning the Qur'an

Well let's begin with the obvious question.  Before we answer the question from a Christian perspective we have to first ask from a legal perspective. 

Can this Florida Pastor burn the Qur'an.  Sure.  You could easily make the argument that it is within his first amendment rights to do so and exercise his belief in this way.  So that's the easy answer... although perhaps not so easy?  Now, the more important question and ultimately the question all Christians must ask about anything they do.  Should he burn the Qur'an?  No.  Emphatically no.

Is the Qur'an an evil book that depicts a malicious and false god? Yes.  Then again so are all other 'religious' books that aren't the Holy Bible.  Even still, that does not make it proper for him to burn these books.  What's the benefit of doing this?  Well, I can't judge his motives, however, just from what he has revealed about himself he is doing this in response to the plans for a Mosque to be built near Ground Zero in New York.  Should our motivation, as Christians, EVER be a retaliation response?  Nope.  What is our ultimate goal as a Christian?  To Glorify God.

1 Corinthians 10:31 - Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

We are to do ALL THINGS to His Glory.  A cruel act such as this is not God Glorifying.  While you could make the argument that destroying these books glorifies God in a sense (although that's shaky ground) you cannot escape that it is NOT the behavior of a Christian.  We are to glorify God and love one another.  Now before you begin to think that I am being soft here.  I maintain that the most loving thing we can do as Christians is preach the Gospel.  Preach it.  Not just demonstrate Christlike behavior through our works, but PREACH the message of the Gospel.  That mankind is sinful from birth, show them their sin using the Law, and then give them the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Burning a Qur'an will not convert one single Muslim.  All it will do is cause them to say, 'See the Christians are just as violent as we are accused of being.'

Burning the Qur'an WILL NOT save any of them from the terrible fate that awaits them on Judgment Day.  And if that is the case, and I firmly believe it is, then what can save them?  The Gospel.  Why?  Because Romans 1:16-18 says that Gospel is the very POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION!  So who saves anyone from anything?  God does.  God does, and He has chosen in His Sovereignty to do so using the means of the Gospel message.

I hesitate to assert this as I do not want to overstep into judging this man's motives.  However, if his actions are any indication, could it be that he doesn't understand that before God saved Him, He deserved no less hell than the most cruel Muslim?  As did I... and so did any Christian reading this.

We were no less a child of hell than ANY lost person on this planet before God saved us.  But thanks be to God that He has saved us from our sins.  Brought to us 'newness of life' (Romans 6:4).

Lastly, let's not forget.  Romans 12:17-21 - Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men.  18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.  19 Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.  20 “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”  21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

I urge you, brethren, do not engage in such activity as this and do not align yourselves with such acts.  Instead, spend that time and energy hitting the streets of your community and preaching the Gospel.  Dare I say that a more obedient approach for this man, if he truly wants to be God-Glorifying, would be for him to find the nearest Muslim Mosque and wait outside to approach any exiting Muslim willing to talk to him and given them the Gospel.  

Just my thoughts off the cuff, sorry it seems scattered... I have received several emails asking what my position is so I thought this might be easier.  Bottom line:  Burning the Qur'an will never convert any Muslim to Christianity, it will only provoke violence against Christians. However, preaching the Gospel to them and using the Law to awaken their conscience to their sin, THAT, God will use to convert Muslims, Atheists, Agnostics, Mormons, etc...