?WILL SOME PEOPLE REALLY
GO TO ?
There are those in the world who focus solely on God's love, to the exclusion of all other aspects of God. It is true that God is love (1John 4:16). In fact, God loves even the sinner who rejects and hates Him, and He is ever trying to bring into salvation the hearts of those who reject Him (Matthew 5:44-45; Matthew 24:37-39; Luke 5:31-32; Luke 13:6-9; Luke 15:3-7; Luke 15:11-32; John 3:16; John 6:40). God loves us and provides for us like a loving father (Luke 11:11-13; Luke 12:22-31). This is sound doctrine and is important to faith. However, to exclude, in one's own conception of God, all the other truths about God is to be in error and can lead to gross misconceptions of God's nature.
One problem that can result from focusing solely on God's love is that the believer is caught in a "Catch-22" of sorts. How can a God of love send someone to an eternity in hell? Some people conclude that a God of "love" would not send someone to hell, based on their own conception of what "love" is. If you think such a conclusion is impossible, I can assure you that I have met Christians who believe this. They are fine people who truly love Jesus Christ, but they are believing in a lie.
Let's look at the logical conclusions of the (false) belief that God would not send someone to hell.
Premise: God will not send any person to hell, because God is love.
Conclusion 1: If there is no hell then there is no need for a Savior.
Conclusion 2: Then God is cruel, because He sent Jesus to be tortured and to die on a cross when there is no need for Jesus to die for our sins (since no one is going to hell).
Conclusion 3: The Bible is false.
Conclusion 4: God is a liar since the Bible, as our only God given record of Himself, affirms the reality of hell.
You can see that the conclusions from such a belief are at odds with the original premise. In fact, both the premise and the conclusions are WRONG. The Bible (Scripture) is God's revelation of Himself to humanity, and it affirms the reality of hell.
What about those who say that all the references to hell are found in the Old Testament and not the New Testament (thereby implying that the Father changed His mind when he sent Jesus)? There are a couple responses to this. First, even if that were true, it wouldn't matter. Jesus Himself declared, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished" (Matthew 5:17-18). The Law and the Prophets are the Old Testament. So even if hell were not mentioned in the New Testament, it wouldn't matter. Jesus validated the Old Testament Scriptures. . . lock, stock, and barrel.
Second, Jesus Himself talked many times about God's wrath and the reality of hell. If, as Christians, we don't believe the words of our Savior, then why do we call ourselves Christians? If we don't believe the words of Jesus, then we most certainly are not His followers. Listed below are just some of the times that Jesus Himself spoke of the wrath of God, judgment, and hell. In fact, the quotes given below are from just one of the four Gospels – Matthew.
"But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell." (Matthew 5:22)
"If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell." (Matthew 5:29-30)
"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." (Matthew 6:14-15)
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (Matthew 7:1-2)
"Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!" (Matthew 7:21-23)
"But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 8:12)
"I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town." (Matthew 10:15)
"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matthew 10:28)
"Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven." (Matthew 10:32-33)
"But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths." (Matthew 11:22-23)
"And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come." (Matthew 12:31-32)
"At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn." (Matthew 13:30)
"As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 13:40-42)
"This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 13:49-50)
"And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea." (Matthew 18:3-6)
"Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart." (Matthew 18:32-35)
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are." (Matthew 23:15)
"You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?" (Matthew 23:33)
"The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 24:50-51)
"For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw the worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 25:29-30)
"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. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." (Matthew 25:41-46)
"The Son of Man will go just as it is written about Him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born." (Matthew 26:24)
So, to sum it up: there is a place called hell, and God will send there those who do not accept His offer of forgiveness. There can be only two reasons someone would believe otherwise. Either he hasn't read the Bible, or he believes the Bible is false. I, for one, choose to believe the Bible.
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