24 Reasons Why Hell is Real
Some false teachers today would like us to think that everybody will eventually get to heaven. Don't believe them.
William
Booth, founder of the Salvation Army and a man who dedicated his life
to lifting the poor out of sin and poverty, reportedly made this
statement: "Most Christian organizations would like to send their
workers to Bible college for five years. I would like to send our
workers to hell for five minutes. That would prepare them for a lifetime
of compassionate ministry."
Booth never suggested that the
desperate people he served were "already in hell." He believed in a
real, eternal hell, and it drove him to rescue people from both their
current plight and future perdition.
Shortly before his death in
1912, Booth warned prophetically that he saw coming to the church
"forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration ... a
heaven without a hell."
In today's theological fog, his ominous
caveat is unfolding. Even some who claim to believe the Bible are having
second thoughts about eternal judgment, and others have rejected the
notion of judgment altogether. The name usually given this teaching is
Universalism.
Universalism basically is the belief that all people
will be saved. Jesus' death and resurrection will automatically, or at
least eventually, save the whole human race. Personal repentance and
faith in Christ are not necessary for going to heaven. The Christian
mission is reduced to announcing to people the "good news" that they are
already saved.
But does Scripture teach that everyone will be saved? There is overwhelming biblical evidence to the contrary.
I'd like to offer 24 reasons to reject Universalism. You may be able to add a few of your own.
1.
Jesus made both repentance and faith prerequisites for forgiveness.
"Unless you repent you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3, NKJV). "The
time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and
believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15).
2. The "water of life" is
offered to all, but not all receive it or even desire it. "Whoever
desires, let him take the water of life freely" (Rev. 22:17).
3.
Scripture teaches that there will be a judgment after death. "And as it
is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment" (Heb.
9:27).
4. Those who have not had a true conversion will experience
a judgment for sin that the Bible describes as "the second death." "But
the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral,
sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake
which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death" (Rev.
21:8).
5. Contrary to Universalist beliefs, Jesus' teaching
indicates that most of humanity is on a broad path that leads to
destruction. "'Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say
to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of
the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand
outside and knock at the door, saying, "Lord, Lord, open for us," and He
will answer and say to you, "I do not know you, where you are from. ...
Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity"'" (Luke 13:24-27).
6.
Jesus spoke often of a terrible place of judgment for those outside His
kingdom rule. "'The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will
gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice
lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be
wailing and gnashing of teeth'" (Matt. 13:41-42).
7. The Bible
teaches both the love of God and His sure judgment of sin. Trusting in
Christ's payment for our sins saves us from this coming judgment. "But
God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still
sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified
by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him" (Rom. 5:8-9).
8.
In one of the most loving verses in the Bible, Jesus issues eternal
options. "'For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten
Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting
life'" (John 3:16).
9. Scripture teaches that there is unending,
eternal judgment for those who do not know God and who do not respond in
faith to the gospel. "The Lord Jesus [will be] revealed from heaven
with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do
not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the
presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power" (2 Thess. 1:7-9).
10.
Jesus emphatically taught that a spiritual birth is essential to
entering the kingdom of heaven. "'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless
one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God'" (John 3:3).
11.
In answer to a very clear question about what is necessary for
salvation, Paul gave a very clear answer: "Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and you will be saved" (Acts. 16:31).
12. Jesus gave no
indication that many roads lead to God. He forcefully stated that He was
the only way. "'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to
the Father except through Me'" (John 14:6).
13. The early
preachers of the church clearly preached that Jesus is the only way to
salvation. "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other
name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12;
see also 1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 2:3-4; 1 Pet. 1:3-5).
14. According to
Scripture, only those who receive Jesus Christ and believe in Him are
children of God. "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right
to become children of God, to those who believe in His name" (John
1:12).
15. The gospel is the power of God for salvation for
everyone who believes. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,
for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes" (Rom.
1:16; see also 10:9).
16. Rather than teaching that those without
faith in Christ are already saved, the Bible teaches that they are
already under judgment. Faith in Christ brings us out of condemnation
and into right relationship with God. "'He who believes in Him is not
condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he
has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God'" (John
3:18).
17. Only those whose names are in the Lamb's Book of Life
are granted access into the eternal city of God. "And anyone not found
written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire" (Rev. 20:15;
see also 21:27).
18. People are not automatically righteous. Only
when we declare faith in Jesus Christ does God declare us righteous in
His sight. "But to him who does not work but believes on Him who
justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness" (Rom.
4:5).
19. Eternal life comes only through a relationship with God.
We cannot know the Father unless we know the Son. "'And this is eternal
life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom
You have sent'" (John 17:3).
20. The cross of Christ is where
payment for our sins was made. Only when we believe this are we saved.
"'And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the
Son of Man be lifted up [on a cross], that whoever believes in Him
should not perish but have eternal life'" (John 3:14-15).
21. Only
those who have the Son of God have eternal life. "And this is the
testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His
Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God
does not have life" (1 John 5:11-12).
In addition to these verses,
the story of Cornelius in Acts 10 and 11 provides hard evidence against
Universalism. Cornelius was devout, prayed often, gave generously to
the poor and even received an angelic visitation. Yet God went to great
lengths to get the gospel to him so he could come to know Jesus and be
saved.
22. Added to the avalanche of scriptural evidence, there
are also practical reasons for rejecting Universalism. History teaches
that acceding to Universalism sets the church on a slippery slide toward
theological liberalism. Soon all confidence in Scripture is lost and
the uniqueness of the Christian gospel evaporates.
23. If we
embrace Universalism, there is no urgency to evangelize or imperative to
do missions. In fact, evangelism and missions would have to be
redefined. We need look no further than most of the mainline
denominations to see what happens to evangelism when Universalism is
prevalent.
24. If Universalism is finally proved right, nothing
will have been lost by our continued urgency in winning people to faith
in Christ. But if it is false and we embrace it, then everything will be
forever lost--including people who do not know Christ.
Unbroken Hearts
It
needs to be said clearly that God's character is not on trial. The
judge of all the earth will do what is right (see Gen. 18:25). Our faith
is on trial. Our hearts are on trial. But God is not on trial. Whatever
judgment He makes regarding those who have not responded to the gospel
will be executed according to His standards of equally perfect
righteousness and love.
When we ponder God's mercy, this whole
issue is inverted. Because God is perfectly holy, the wonder is not that
some will be lost. The greater wonder is that anyone from rebellious
humanity will be saved! Only Christ's work on the cross could reconcile
us to God.
God has put down the most massive roadblock possible to
stop humanity's mad rush toward hell. He sent His Son. God intervened
personally through Christ. His sacrifice on the cross paid the penalty
for our sins. This is the good news for all who will believe and receive
Him.
Espousing Universalism is sad. But rejecting it with no
impact on our hearts or change in our priorities is sinister. If we
believe that people are lost outside of Christ (and they are), and that
faith in Christ is the only way of salvation (and it is), what could
possibly be a higher priority than getting the gospel as far as we can
as fast as we can?
To pronounce people "saved" who are obviously
enslaved by darkness, deception and the devil is surely the cruelest of
jokes. We are sent to a lost world with a gospel of power. Our message
gives the spiritually blind their sight and liberates those who are
chained by Satan. We do not preach that people are forgiven but that
they can be forgiven.
I would not want to stand before Jesus
Christ as a Universalist. But neither would I want to stand before the
Lord as an evangelical who was not evangelistic. What a serious
accounting must await us if we believe in eternal torment for those
without faith in Christ--and yet do nothing! A recovery of biblical
truth and compassionate evangelism are the twin screaming needs of the
American church.
The apostle Paul said he would be willing to give
up his place in Christ if by such a sacrifice others would be saved
(see Rom. 9:2-3). He believed all people outside Christ were lost, and
it left him with a broken heart.
More than encroaching
Universalism, it is our unbroken hearts that often impede evangelism.
Many Christians today have never even heard of "a burden for the lost."
The harvest is huge and ready to be reaped by those who are willing to
sow first in tears (see Ps. 126:5-6).
Right theology will only
indict us if we do not recapture the evangelistic imperative. We must
believe the truth, and we must act on what we believe. Let's not just
reject faulty theology; let's embrace those who need Jesus.
David Shibley is president of Global Advance, a ministry that provides training and resources for thousands of pastors in developing nations.
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