How Could a Loving God Send Anyone to Hell?

Hell turns people off. "How could a God of love allow Hell to exist? How come God just does not forgive everyone? A forgiving and loving God would surely never condemn someone for his/her sincerely held beliefs." For many Hell makes God seem petty, vindictive and cruel. It is interesting how opposed we are to God's judgment. Our "live and let live" culture today says, "I will not judge you, so don't judge me." Final and ultimate accountability is offensive to many.

Maybe this is because we do not understand love in our culture. When we love someone we hate what ruins their lives. We hate the cancer that ravages our loved ones bodies. We do not tolerate it, we desperately try to eliminate it. Its presence is absolutely unacceptable. We pump them full of the harshest chemicals, burn it with radiation and cut it out in surgery because its presence is detestable in the one we love. Love is like that. Love judges harshly anything that threatens the one loved. Hate, wrath and anger often have their roots in love. Love actually necessitates anger. It is because I love, I will oppose anything that hurts the object of my love.

God is like that. He loves everyone, but hates what threatens us. Sin is the cancer. He knows that sin is what is ruining our lives, robbing us of joy, peace, love, purpose and yes, a relationship with our maker. He has acted in extraordinary ways to wipe it out of our lives and give us the necessary treatment, to give us new life and restore what is broken. He hates sin, it disgusts Him, because it threaten us.

Cancer is nothing to toy with, it is serous business. God takes it seriously, He sent His son to die to offer us the cure. Yet amazingly there are many who even deny they are sick. "That mass on my neck, don't judge me. I am just fine. I don't want your treatment, I like this tumor. It makes me happy." God pleads and begs them to let go of the disease but many refuse, opting for death rather than life. God, in His love, honors free will so highly, He never forces the cure on those who reject it. It pains Him to see His loved one so cursed with disease but is honor-bound not to make them do anything they do not wish to do. Eventually, He reluctantly gives them their way. It pains Him, but it is their choice.

The rejection is actually a rejection of Him. He, in the form of His Son, is the cure. So when we deny that we are sick, embrace the disease and turn from the treatment, we are in fact turning away from God. We are in a sense saying, "I do not want you telling me how to live my life. Leave me alone. Stopping trying to tell me what to do." Hell is just a continuation of our choice on Earth. Hell is where we finally get our way. It is the absence of His presence, where we can finally be free of Him. He made it for the Devil, but when we are so desperate to live our lives without God, He eventually and reluctantly says, "Okay. Have it you way."

Love necessitates Hell. It is our choice.


Share your thoughts,

Mike





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How can Christianity claim to be the only way to God?

This a thorny one. There is no politically correct way to answer this question. It is true, Jesus claimed to be the only way to God (John 14:6) and later Peter the new appointed leader of the Church echoed the idea (Acts 4:12). Yet people struggle with the claim. Many think it is arrogant, divisive and cruel.

As I think through these concerns I find it interesting that people accuse Jesus of being arrogant, usually people speak positively about Him. As I said, it is not us Christians that came up with the principle of exclusivity, but Jesus did. He made the claim and we Christians actually do the opposite thing from arrogance when we humbly submit to the One who taught and did all those amazing things. We just realize that we cannot claim to see how things really are in the spiritual realm on our own. But the Guy who raises Himself from the grave and proves Himself to be God, well that's a different story. When He speaks, we humbly listen. So really, the detractors need to take the complaint of arrogance up with Him. Good luck!

The claim that Jesus was being divisive is absolutely true. Jesus told us He would divide (Luke 12:51-53). So, it is not now surprising to find that He actually does. But let me also point out that truth divides, truth is exclusive truth. For example if we say two plus two equals four. We have now excluded all other possible answers and they are infinite. We are saying the answer is not five or three and so on. Many claims are exclusive... "We are eating at Moes." Moes excludes all other restaurantes and those who do not want to go to Moes (It is hard to believe but they are out there!). This means everyone is exclusive to a degree. Those who claim that all roads lead to heaven actually exclude Bible believing Christians who cannot embrace the concept. So we could make the same counter claim, that they are divisive, they will not let us, who believe the Bible, join their club. The great thing about Jesus though is all are welcome. The actual division is not of His choosing but ours. He has invited everyone to come and find forgiveness in Him. What is interesting is when people choose not to come to Him, they then turn around and act like it was not their choice to begin with, and accuse Him of being exclusive.

The claim of cruelty is truly a perspective issue. If Jesus is not the only way, then it is cruel to act like He is, and tell everyone else that they are doomed. If, however, Jesus is the only way, then it is not cruel to proclaim it and do so passionately because everyone's eternity is at stake. In the same way, if I had the cure for cancer the cruelty would be in holding it back rather than giving it away. When we look at it this way, proclaiming Jesus is anything but cruel, it is actually the loving thing to do.

But let me also point out that when people claim Jesus is not the only way they are unwittingly disparaging God, the cross and Jesus. Remember, Jesus begged God to take the cross away, if there was any other possible way of getting the job done (Matthew 26:42). So, if there really are other ways, and God still made Jesus go through with the cross, then He is not a good God and father. And likewise, the cross becomes unnecessary. We cannot even claim that it was a demonstration of love, because what kind of person throws oneself in front of bus right there in front of their loved ones to demonstrate love? "Hey kids watch this, see how much Daddy loves you!" SMACK! The only way this kind of act could ever be construed as loving would be if the loved one's lives were at stake. Which, in fact, mine was.

Share your thoughts,

Mike




If you want to learn more about this topic check out this podcast.