“Do not be afraid of those who kill
the body and after that can do no more….
Fear Him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell.
Yes, I tell you, fear Him.”
Fear Him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell.
Yes, I tell you, fear Him.”
– Luke 12:4-5
A 2014 Pew Research Poll revealed that 72% of Americans
believe in Heaven, but only 58% believe in Hell. Surprisingly, the survey
indicated that—even among those who claim to be “Christian”—there is much doubt
about Hell. Thirty-seven percent of Catholics don’t believe in Hell. Neither do
40% of those who associate with a traditional denomination (e.g., Lutheran,
Methodist or Episcopal). Even among self-proclaimed “evangelicals,” there is
much reluctance to believe in Hell.
Suffice it to say: It’s much easier for us to wrap our minds
around the idea of an eternity of bliss in Heaven than it is to embrace the
notion of an eternity of torture in Hell. Even for those of us who believe in
Hell, most of us aren’t comfortable with it. How can we be? If Hell is half as
bad as we’ve been told, we wouldn’t wish it on our worst enemy. Even the
respected author and theologian C.S. Lewis said of Hell, “There is no doctrine
which I would more willingly remove from Christianity than this, if it lay in
my power. But it has the full support of Scripture and, specially, of our
Lord’s own words.”
Let’s do our best to push aside our preconceived ideas about
Hell and examine the New Testament’s answers to three questions. Question #1: Is Hell a real place? In a
word, yes. There are several dozen references to Hell in the New Testament, and
most of these are made by Jesus himself. The most common Greek word used by
Christ for Hell is “gehenna.” Gehenna was the name of a valley located south of
Jerusalem where Molech worshipers had once practiced infant sacrifice. In the
days of King Josiah, the pagan altars were demolished and desecrated. And by
the time Jesus came onto the scene, gehenna was used as the town dump, where
the smell of burning refuse constantly rose from the valley. Since this was
common knowledge to the people of Israel, Jesus adopted this word “gehenna” as
the name for the place of eternal punishment.
Question #2: What is
Hell like? Although
Jesus doesn’t give an exhaustive description of Hell, he tells us enough to
make the hair on the back of our necks stand up. In Matthew 13:40-42, he
describes Hell as a “fiery furnace” where there will be “weeping and gnashing
of teeth.” In Matthew 25:41, he adds that it is a place of complete separation
from God, a place of “eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” And
according to Christ’s words in Mark 9:47-49, in Hell the fire is never quenched
and “their worm does not die.” I don’t know what an eternal worm looks like or
does, but its purpose in Hell doesn’t sound pleasant. And just like everything
else in Hell (the punishment, the flames, the hopelessness and the misery), it
is eternal.
Question #3: Who will
go to Hell?
Throughout the New Testament we are reminded that Jesus Christ is the only way
to Heaven. Therefore, he is the only one who can offer us a “Get out of Hell
Free” card. So, ultimately, whether or not we end up in Hell depends on what we
choose to do with Jesus. The one who chooses to reject God’s laws—including the
law to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ—will be condemned by God’s laws. The
one who rejects God’s offer of eternal grace through Christ will have only one
alternative: eternal condemnation for his/her sins in Hell.
Most of us don’t put up a fuss about mass murderers like
Hitler, Osama bin Laden, Charles Manson or Jeffrey Dahmer being condemned to
Hell. But when we read passages like 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and Galatians 5:19-21,
we quickly come to realize that there is a laundry list of sins that condemn us
to the eternal flames: premarital sex, adultery, homosexuality, drunkenness,
greed, hatred, witchcraft, jealousy and fits of rage—just to name a few. Sadly,
all of us have fallen short of God’s standards. Each of us has broken God’s
commands. We’ve all turned our backs on God and gone our own way. Therefore,
according to Scripture, the just punishment for each of us is eternal
separation from God in Hell.
But thankfully, there is good news! Jesus Christ offers us
the marvelous gift of grace instead of justice. We learn in Romans 6:23 that
“the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ
Jesus our Lord.” We discover in Ephesians 2:8-9 that “it is by grace we have
been saved, through faith. And this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.
Not by works, so that no one can boast.”
So, according to the Bible, is Hell a real place? Yes, it
is. It is an actual place of eternal punishment that is unimaginably horrible.
It will be the eternal home of Satan, the demons and every person who has
sinned against God and refused to humbly accept the free gift of grace and
forgiveness offered by Jesus Christ. It boils down to this: In eternity you
will receive either justice or grace. So, for Christ’s sake, choose grace.
Dane Davis is the Lead Pastor of
First Christian Church in Victorville. For more information,
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