Season Two - 20. A Holy God and Hell

In his book 'Love Wins,' Rob Bell writes about how hell cannot be a place where God allows people to go to for forever, because how could a loving and good God ever do that? But to reduce hell to that notion shows that there is much missing in your belief of God. God cannot just snap His fingers and say that sin is fine; His holiness will not allow that.

In sharp contrast to the ideas that Bell presents, the New Testament has passages like Luke 13 where the author writes that Jesus commands for people to depart from Him and go to a place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. There are other passages where Jesus also talks about hell, such as the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, and Matthew's passage on the final judgment. So while some people say that the God of the Old Testament is harsh and unloving but the God (meaning Jesus) of the New Testament is only full of love and compassion, this is simply not true; Jesus talks about hell more than anyone else in the entire Bible.

While some people subscribe to Annihilationism, or the idea that the souls of the damned cease to exist, Jesus also shows in the Bible that because eternal life with Him exists, so must eternal punishment. Greg affirms this by discussing how the Holy Spirit is in us and is restraining us while we are on earth, but in hell, sin will become rampant because the presence of the Holy Spirit will be missing.

After examining texts that show that hell is real, Greg and RD move onto who is going to be in hell and why. They are both quick to mention that the defining thing that sends people to hell is not the idea of who is better than who, or if you committed more sins than others; the defining thing is God's holiness, and if you repent and rely on His salvation or not. With this in mind, it's important to remember that unlike John Milton's view of hell in 'Paradise Lost', hell does not belong to Satan. This idea of hell being Satan's might be an easier notion to swallow, but the truth is that the purpose of hell is to show God's holiness and righteousness. Both RD and Greg point to Dr. R. C. Sproul's book 'The Holiness of God' for a more in-depth look into this concept.

If we think that God will only send to hell those who commit repulsive sins, or someone who commits thousands and thousands of sins, then we are cheapening the love of God, because God is holy and His righteousness cannot tolerate even one "small" sin. The question really shouldn't be how can a loving God send people to hell, it should be how can a holy and righteous God send people to heaven. But as we read in 1 John, those of us who have put our faith in Jesus can be confident in the knowledge that we will be with Him in heaven.