A Biblical Understanding of Hell
"For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that through Him the world might be saved. He who believes in Him is
not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already..." (John
3:17-18). The Bible teaches that
every person is guilty of sin. Sin is choosing our own way over God's;
it is rebellion against God; and in a real sense it is an attack on the
holiness of God. Because God is just and righteous, as well as loving,
He cannot merely overlook our sin.
Would God really be righteous if He did not do anything about attacks on His
holiness?
The Bible teaches that our sin earns a penalty of death. Since all
have sinned, this means that all are deserving of God's judgement in
hell. Because of His love, God sent His Son Jesus to save us from this
judgement. He died on the cross in our place to pay the penalty for our
sins. By being judged in our place, Jesus
satisfied the righteousness of God and made it possible for us to receive
forgiveness.
God has done everything necessary to rescue us from the penalty of
our sins. We have the responsibility to respond to God's free offer of
forgiveness by turning from our sin and relying on Jesus to forgive us
and give us eternal life. The penalty for our sins must be paid. Those
who do not accept Jesus and His work at
the cross must pay this penalty themselves in hell for all eternity.
The subject of hell is indeed very difficult and terrifying. Yet,
it is a clear teaching of the Bible and needs to be understood; we cannot
ignore the facts about something that God has revealed just because it is
uncomfortable. This has been written to encourage understanding and to
clear up much confusion on this important issue.
Hell is Real
Jesus repeatedly warns of hell. For
example, see Matt. 5:21-22, 27-30; 23:15, 33. To deny the existence of
hell is therefore to reject the authority of Jesus. It would be
strangely inconsistent to accept Jesus as Lord but reject an
aspect
of His teaching. Furthermore, this would place a huge moral flaw on the
character of Christ, if He taught of hell's reality when it really wasn't
a danger to anyone. It must be understood, however, that Jesus does not
want people to
go to hell--He came so that we could be rescued from it through faith in
Him. Hell is the necessary consequence of not accepting Christ's
invitation for salvation--if one refuses to be with Him in heaven, the
only other alternative is to be separated from Him in hell.
Hell is a Place
Hell is always referred to as a
place. The Greek word used for hell in the Gospels is gehenna, a
transliteration of the Hebrew expression, "Valley of Hinnom." In this
valley (which was located outside Jerusalem), human sacrifices were
offered to false gods at various points in Israel's history (2 Kings
16:3; 21:6; 2 Chron. 28:3; Jer. 32:35). It later became a "garbage dump"
of Jerusalem, with a fire that continually burned consuming its rubbish.
When Jesus used gehenna to refer to hell, this called attention in
his listeners mind to this
valley, and they understood the terrible suffering that the wicked would
undergo.
Hell is a Place of Punishment
At the conclusion of a parable, Jesus
spoke of the faithful servant as being rewarded, but said that the
unfaithful one would be "cut in pieces and assigned] a place with the
hypocrites, where there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 24:51). Both Testaments speak of "cutting in
pieces" as severe punishment (Deut. 32:41; Heb. 11:37). Jesus probably
does not mean that the lost will be literally "cut in pieces," but is
using the expression to say that they
will be punished. Some further passages on the terrible punishment of
hell are Hebrews 10:29; 2 Thessalonians 1:8, 9; Revelation 19:20; 20:10.
At this point it should also be noted that the images of fire in hell are
not to be taken with wooden
literalism, but are descriptions of the terror and pain of hell with
language from the present world.
There are two aspects to the punishment in hell--the pain of
loss
and the pain of sense. The pain of loss is the absence of all
that is
good; most significantly it is separation from God. This does not
mean that God is not in hell, it means that those in hell will have no
relationship with God and will not experience any His love, grace, or
blessing. In other words, they will be cut off from any enjoyment of
His spectaculor glory. This is the meaning of the image of darkness used to
describe the fate of the lost. Those in hell will experience God's wrath
and justice. The pain
of sense is the suffering of torment in the body and soul--the addition
of undesired punishment. Both of these aspects of hell are conveyed by
Jesus in Matthew 25:41, when He says to the lost "Depart from Me [the
punishment of loss], you cursed, into the everlasting fire [the
punishment of sense--torment] prepared for the devil and his
angels."
In summary, the punishment of loss is the subtraction of blessing and the
punishment of sense is the addition of physical and spiritual torment.
In this section, we will investigate the punishment of sense. Later we
will discuss the punishment of separation.
Punishment involves exposure to the wrath of God: Heb. 10:27, 31; Rom.
2:5; John 3:36
Punishment in hell will be a result of exposure to God's wrath.
While God is not in hell in grace and blessing, He is there in holiness
and wrath. John 3:36 says "He who believes in the Son has everlasting
life; and he who does not believe the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." Revelation
14:9-11 says that "If anyone worships the beast and his image and
receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of
the wine of God's fury, which has been poured
full strength into the cup of God's wrath. He will be tormented with burning
sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke
of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night
for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives
the mark of his name."
God's wrath is the righteous assertion of His holiness against all
that is unholy; it results in retributive punishment. Drinking from the
"cup of God's wrath" means that the lost will directly endure this wrath
in hell. Exactly how God's wrath will be experienced, I do not know
(Romans 1:18-32 and Jude 7 perhaps give
some partial insight into this). What does seem clear is that those in
hell will be tormented because of God's wrath. John's use of the words
"fury" and "full strength" show the terror of falling into the hands of
the living God. We should note that God tolerates only so much sin until he
responds in wrath.
Punishment involves terrible pain: Matt. 13:30, 40-43, 49-50; 18:6-9;
24:51
In Matthew 13:42 Jesus says "They will throw them [unbelievers] into
the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Some hold that the imagery of fire signifies annihilation of the wicked.
But Jesus does not associate fire
with annihilation, but with pain--"gnashing of teeth." Five times in
Matthew Jesus describes those in hell as crying and grinding their teeth
in pain; the people are "gnashing their teeth" because of the terrible
pain (see Matt. 8:12; 13:42, 50; 22:13;
24:51). Jesus speaks of the fire causing pain, not consumption (also
see Matthew 13:49-50).
Punishment involves conscious torment: Rev. 14:10, 11; 20:10; Luke 16:
23, 28
We have seen the many Scriptures indicating the terrible pain and
torment of punishment in hell, which results from exposure to God's
wrath. It almost goes without saying that this will all be experienced
consciously by the person (otherwise it wouldn't be punishment), and this
is confirmed by Jesus' famous parable of
the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31 In this parable, Lazarus went
to paradise and experienced joy after death. The rich man, who had been
greedy and had never repented of his sin, went to Hades and experienced
torment after death. This man was aware
and conscious of the torment, at one point saying "I am tormented in this
flame."
Craig Blomberg, an expert in the study of parables, says that we
should derive one point for each major character in a parable. Taking
Blomberg's principles of interpretation, we can draw many significant
teachings from this parable. First, like Lazarus, there will be life
with God for God's people. Second, the unrepentant will experience
irreversible judgement like the rich man.
Notice that Jesus made it clear that there was no second chance after
death, but instead there was an unbridgeable gulf between heaven and hell
(16:26). Third, God adequately reveals Himself
through Scripture so that none who neglect it can legitimately protest
their fate.
Robert Stein, another scholar on parables, teaches "the rule of
end-stress." This means that Jesus saved the main idea of the parable
for last in order to leave it most significant in His readers minds. The
final point in this parable is that God's
word is necessary and sufficient for salvation--neglecting it is to
commit "spiritual suicide." The parable ends with the statement, "If they
do not believe Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded
though one rise from the dead" (16:31).
Jesus' main concern seems to be to draw attention to the severity of
ignoring the Bible's message.
Hell is a Place of Separation
Having examined the punishment of
sense in hell, we will examine the second aspect of hell's
horror--exclusion from God and others.
From God: Eph. 2:12; 5:8; Rom. 6:23; Matt. 7:23; 8:12; 2 Thes. 1:8, 9;
Jude 13
In Matthew 7:23 Jesus utters some of the most shocking words in the
Bible. Having just warned of false prophets who look good on the outside
but whose sin will ultimately give them away, Jesus addresses the topic
of false disciples: "Not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' will
enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he
who does the will of my Father. For on that day many will say to me,
`Lord, did we not prophecy in your name, and cast out demons in your name,
and do many great works in your name?` And I will tell them plainly, `I
never knew you. Away from Me, you
evildoers!'" How terrible that these people expected to gain entrance
into heaven on judgement day, only to find that they had never really
entered into a relationship with Jesus. This should be a call to
seriously examine ourselves and "see if we are of
the faith" (2 Cor. 13:5).
Matthew 25:30 says that the lost will be thrown "outside, into the
darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Being
thrown out into the darkness symbolizes being excluded from the glorious
light of God's presence, the absence of all good. The gnashing of teeth
symbolizes the extreme suffering and remorse.
Second Thessalonians 1:7-9 says, "This will happen when the Lord
Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.
He will punish those who do not know God and who do not obey the gospel
of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction
and shut out from the presence of the Lord
and from the majesty of his power..." Those who do not know God will be
excluded from His presence forever when Christ returns.
Again, it is important to note that when we speak of those in hell
as being "separated" from God, it does not mean that God is not in hell.
It means that the lost are separated from fellowship with Him--they are
not experiencing His glorious presence and love, but rather His anger and
displeasure.
From others: Matt. 8:12; 22:13; 25:30; Jude 13; Rev. 22:14
In Matthew 8:11-12 Jesus again declares that unbelievers "will be
thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth." This is in contrast to the many who "will come from
the east and west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven."
The lost will be cast into "utter darkness," indicating utter loneliness
and separation from all that is good. And as shown by their exclusion
from the feast, unbelievers will be excluded from the joys of heaven and
the presence other people. Matt.
22:13 and the verses listed above further describe hell as a place of
darkness and separation.
Hell is a Place of Deep Regret
Seven times it is said that "there
will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matt. 8:12; 13:42, 50; 22:13;
24:51; 25:30; and Luke 13:28). The weeping signifies deep crying in
terrible sorrow, which results from the deep regret.
Hell has Degrees of Punishment
All who are in hell do not receive
the same punishment. While all people there will be equally separated
from God (which is the punishment of loss), not everyone will
experience the same punishment of sense. The degrees
of punishment are based upon the amount of light received and upon the
works of the person.
According to light received
Greater knowledge of God brings with it greater responsibility.
This means that the greater the amount of light rejected, the greater the
judgement. This is evident in Matthew 11:21-24: "And you, Capernaum,
will you be lifted up the skies? No, you
will go down to the depths. If the miracles theat were performed in you
had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I
tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgement
than for you." Those in Capernaum
will have a stricter judgement because they had more light. This is
perhaps an unsettling concept to those of us in the United States, where
there are at least three times as many Bibles as people.
In Luke 12:42-48 Jesus is also clear that there are degrees of
punishment in hell. At the end of His parable, Jesus distinguishes the
punishments of "many blows" and "few blows" based upon the amount of
knowledge the unfaithful servants (who represent the lost) had of their
masters will. He says "And that servant
who knew his master's will, and did not prepare himself or do according
to his will, shall be beaten with many blows. But he who did not know,
yet committed things deserving of stripes,
shall be beaten with few" (Luke 12: 47-48). The basic principle is that
"for everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required" (v.
48).
According to works
Paul says in Romans 2:5 that unbelievers are "storing up wrath for
themselves." The word used for wrath in this passage is the same word
used when Jesus encourages believers to "store up treasure in heaven"
(Matthew 6:20). Just as some people have
more treasure "stored up in heaven" because of their obedience to God, so
also some people have more wrath "stored up" for themselves because of
their utter disobedience and rejection of God. Judgement according to
works guarantees that the punishment
will "fit the crime" and that the lost will be punished in proportion to
their sins.
Satan Does Not Rule in Hell
A common misunderstanding is that
Satan rules in hell. According to the Bible, this cannot be true because
Satan himself will be enduring terrible torment in the Lake of Fire. He
will not be able to torment anyone else
there, let alone rule, because of the terrible fate that he will be
experiencing.
Hell is Eternal
At the judgement, Jesus will say to
the unbelievers "Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal
fire prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matt. 25:41). This verse
shows that hell was not originally created
for humans, but for Satan and his demons. Because of mankind's rejection
of God, however, those who refuse to come to Christ will share in the
fate of the devil. Revelation 20:10 further elaborates on the fate of
devil: "The devil...was thrown into the
lake of burning sulfur and will be tormented day and night for ever and
ever." Since unbelievers are to share the fate of the devil, and the
devil will suffer torment in hell forever, unbelievers will also suffer
eternal torment. Also note that Jesus says that the fire is eternal,
which could not be said if hell was only temporary.
Matthew 24:46 is one of the clearest testimonies that people who
are in hell will suffer eternally: "Then they [the wicked] will go away
to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." Jesus is
drawing a parallel between the destinies of
the wicked and the righteous. Since both destinies are said to be
eternal, "it follows necessarily that either both are to be taken as
long-lasting but finite, or both as endless and perpetual. The phrases
`eternal punishment' and `eternal life' are
parallel and it would be absurd to use them in one and the same sentence to
mean: `Eternal life will be infinite, while eternal punishment will have
an end.' Hence, because the eternal life of the saint swill be endless,
the eternal punishment also..." [1]
Jesus asserts that in hell "the fire is not quenched" (Mark 9:48).
When a fire consumes its fuel, it goes out. The fire of hell never goes
out because its work is never done. Thus, the fire never goes out
because the wicked suffer eternal torment
in hell, not eventual extinction.
The apostle John's statement in Revelation 14:9-11 that the lost
will be tormented "with burning sulfur" refutes the annihilationists'
claim that the purpose of fire in judgement is to end one's existence.
(Annihilationism teaches that the lost one day are annihilated in hell
and cease to exist.) John is clear here that
the purpose of the sulfur is to torment, not annihilate.
That the "smoke of their torment rises forever and ever" (Rev.
14:11) also signifies that hell's suffering are without end.
Annihilationism teaches that John intended a distinction between the fire
and smoke when he wrote this, and thus he is not saying that the
punishment will be eternal. It is said that while the
smoke will last forever, the fire does not last forever (but only until
the wicked are extinguished and cease to exist). This is serious
distortion of the text. The smoke could not rise eternally if their was
no fire to cause it. Plus, there is no
indication that John intends to distinguish between the smoke rising
forever, but not the fire lasting forever.
Revelation 20:10 is clear that the Devil, the Beast, and the False
Prophet will endure eternal torment: "They will be tormented day and
night for ever and ever." Since Jesus taught that unbelievers will share
the fate of the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41), unbelievers will also
be tormented forever. Also, Rev.
20:15 is clear that unbelievers will be thrown into the Lake of Fire just
as the Devil was.
Jude 7 says, "In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the
surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and
perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment
of eternal fire." First, note that the fire is a punishment. Next, note
that it is eternal. Since the fire denotes
punishment, and it is eternal, then the punishment must be eternal. For
those who hold that the fire indicates that the wicked will be
obliterated, we should note that Jude clearly defines the
fire as being a punishment for the wicked, not as an agent to extinguish
them from existence. One needs to exist to be punished.
British church historian Richard J. Bauckham elaborates on Jude's
use of Sodom and Gomorrah as an earthy, temporal example of the fate of
those in hell: "The idea is that the site of the cities...a scene of
sulfurous devastation, provided ever-present evidence of the reality of
divine judgement...According to
Philo [a first-century Jewish writer] `even to this day the visible
tokens of the indescribable disaster are pointed out in Syria--ruins,
cinders, brimstone, smoke and murky flames which
continue to rise from the ground as from a fire still smoldering
beneath.' ...Jude means that the still burning site of the cities is a
warning picture of the eternal fires of hell." [2]
Jude 13 says "They [false teachers] are wild waves of the sea,
foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has
been reserved forever." The blackness, denoting complete separation and
loneliness, is "reserved forever," so it
will never end. This statement is very clear.
Jesus expels evildoers to "the eternal fire prepared for the devil
and his angels" (Matt. 25:41). John says that this involves being
tormented day and night for ever and ever (Rev. 20:10). The Bible is
clear--hell is eternal.
The Intermediate and Final States
One last thing that should be noted is that the Bible
distinguishes between the intermediate state and the final state. The
intermediate state is a person's disembodied existence after death
but
before the resurrection of their body (the Bible teaches that both
believers and unbelievers will experience a resurrection of the body).
This "intermediate state" is not purgatory, but is existence either in
heaven with God (for believers) or in Hades excluded from God (for
unbelievers). The final state is the
believers existence on the new earth and in the new
heavens after their resurrection, and the nonbelievers existence in the
Lake of Fire (Hell) after their resurrection.
The main difference between the intermediate and final states is
that during the intermediate state the person does not yet have their
resurrected body, and in the final state everyone will have their
resurrected body. The intermediate state for the
lost is not technically hell. Hell is the Lake of Fire after Christ's
return and the Last judgement. However, the aspects of hell which we
previously discussed are true of both the intermediate and final states
for the lost.
Conscious suffering (for unbelievers) and blessing (for believers)
in the intermediate states is taught in Jesus' parable of the rich man
and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31. 2 Peter 2:9 also teaches conscious
existence after death but before the final jud
gement and resurrection: "The Lord knows how to rescue godly men from
trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgement, while
continuing their punishment."
Conclusion
Robert Peterson sums up the matter when he says that the
images of hell "shock our sensibilities. They present a fate involving
utter ruin and loss (death and destruction), the eternal wrath of God
(punishment), unspeakable sorrow and pain
(crying and grinding of teeth), terrible suffering (fire), and rejection
by God and exclusion from his blessed presence (darkness and
separation)." [3]
Jesus died to save us from hell and bring us into the
everlasting enjoyment of His glory. All we need to do is turn to
Him in repentance and faith and He will give us eternal life. There is
no question of more importance in this life than where we will spend
eternity.
Notes
1. Augustine, The City of God, 1001-2 (21.23). Quoted in Robert
Peterson, Hell on Trial: The Case for Eternal Punishment.
2. Richard J. Bauckham, Jude, 2 Peter, Word Biblical Commentary
(Waco, TX: Word, 1983), p. 55. Quoted in Peterson.
3. Robert A. Peterson, Hell on Trial: The Case for Eternal
Punishment (Philipsburg, New Jersey: PR Press), p. 195. Peterson's
book was a main resource for this paper. It is an excellent book,
saturated with Scripture, and very clearly written.
All Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, copyright1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1977, by the Lockman Foundation.
MP
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