How can 81% of people believe in heaven while only 69% believe in hell? Fundamentally, it’s because so many people believe that the loving God cannot send people to hell, that His love “trumps” their lack of obedience so that there is no reason to believe in hell. Ultimately, the love of God is going to save everyone anyway.
The word “hell” is used 13 times in the Bible, all in the New Testament. Do you know who spoke of hell more than anyone? Eleven of the 13 times the word is used in the NT, the word comes out of the mouth of Jesus Christ: Matt. 5:22, 29-30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15, 33; Mark 9:43, 45, 47; Luke 12:5.
So how can a loving God send people to hell? The question requires us to think about the nature of God. Let’s begin with the concept of God’s love.
GOD IS LOVE:
Yes, God is, in His essence, love: 1 John 4:8. He cannot be unloving because He is, by nature, love. He can never choose to do an unloving act. All that He does is consistent with His nature, His love. But…
GOD IS HOLY:
There is also another quality of God that too many people want to ignore. God is also holy. What does it mean to say that God is “holy”? It means, according to Webster, “spiritually perfect or pure; untainted by evil or sin.”
Spiritually speaking, God cannot approve of sin. It is outside of His nature (Habakkuk 1:13). God is love but God is holy and sin cannot be in God’s presence with His approval. God wants us to be in His presence, forever. That’s why He created us with spirits, different from animals; so we can be in His presence forever. But sin keeps us out of His presence.
WHY DIDN’T GOD MAKE MAN WITHOUT THE ABILITY TO SIN?
Ah – that is a big question, isn’t it? But the answer is quite simple. Love. God is love. And love allows choices, doesn’t it? Even if they are bad choices, love allows choices. Love allows growth. Growth involves choices. Love allows mistakes. Mistakes are how you learn to make better choices.
So…
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GOD IS JUST:
A corollary characteristic of God is that He is just. “Just” means “right or fair; equitable; impartial” (Webster).
We see that justness of God throughout the Bible (Gen. 18:25). God must do what is right and fair. God is just. He is pure justice. He is infinite justice. He is just by nature. He cannot not do what is just and fair.
Rather than asking, “How can a loving God send people to hell?”, a more appropriate question would be: “How can a holy God allow a sinner into heaven?” God allowed Jesus, His Son, to “stand in” for us. Jesus is our “HazMat” suit that protects us from the wrath of God on the day of judgment.
But what about those who refuse to follow Jesus? What about those who refuse to submit to Jesus in humility, refusing to obey the gospel of Jesus Christ? What about those? God is love. Love sent Jesus. God does not force people to love and submit to Jesus. What about those who freely choose not to submit to Jesus?
GOD IS HATRED:
If God is perfect and God is complete and God is infinite – then He is also perfect, complete and infinite in His hatred. There is only one thing that God hates: SIN! (Prov. 8:13; 6:16-19; Isa. 61:8; Amos 5:21; Jeremiah 12:8; Psalm 11:5.
How can a loving God send people to hell? Because the “default” direction is hell. If you choose to do something that God has commanded you not to do, that is sin and that choice forces you away from God’s presence. If you choose to do something that God has not commanded you to do, that is sin and that choice forces you away from God’s presence. The “default” direction is hell. If someone rejects the love of God in Jesus Christ, the only place left is a place where God’s love does not exist: hell.
That is why God sent Jesus. “How can a holy God allow a sinner in heaven?” By allowing Jesus, of His own free will, to accept the penalty for us. That’s why we need to obey Jesus Christ.
–Paul Holland
