"If a game is played, it must be possible to lose it."  C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

When was the last time you heard a sermon on hell?  I do not think I would be wrong in stating that for many persons, they have never heard a sermon on hell.  Hell, like sin, has pretty much dropped off the radar scope in most churches.  Despite preachers' neglect of the doctrine, the subject of hell occupies a significant portion of Scripture.  I would venture to say that most people, if asked who spoke the most about hell, would name the apostle Paul.  But they would be wrong. It is not a prominent subject for Paul.  It is, however, a prominent subject for--and this is initially rather shocking--our Lord.  Jesus talks about hell and judgment far more than anyone in Scripture. This fact is less shocking if one considers the fact that hell is a real place, that human beings go there, and Jesus himself sends them there.  Jesus sends people to hell?  I would suspect that this too is a shock to most.  But consider Jesus' words:

"For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives live to whom He wishes.  For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, in order that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father.  He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him"(Jn. 5.21-23). 

Is this clear?  Jesus is the judge of humanity.  Since hell is real, for Jesus to neglect to warn human beings of it would be immoral--just as it would be immoral for us not to warn fellow travelers on a road that a bridge was out.  Such an explanation is logical as to why Jesus himself speaks so much about it.  The verses below demonstrate the consistent revelation of the doctrine of hell and judgment throughout Scripture.

In the New Testament three Greek words are used for hell: "Hades" Gk.  a(/|dhj, "Gehenna" Gk. ge/ena, and "Tartaros" Gk. ta/rtaroj.  Without going into specifics, each is a place of incarceration and torment.  According to Revelation 20, hell will be absorbed into a place called the Lake of Fire. What makes hell so terrifying is not only that it is a place of imprisonment and torment but that it is eternaland final. There is no escape.  It is a place without hope. 

But there is hope in this life.  God loves you.  God has done all that he can to spare us from the fate of hell.  He has provided a way of escape through his Son, Jesus Christ.  Jesus is the Judge but he is also the Savior.  Almost two thousand years ago Jesus went to the cross, died for every sin you have committed or ever will commit, and rose from the dead.  He did all the work necessary to allow you to escape the penalty of hell.  This is the good news!  This is the gospel! 

Most people believe people will go to hell because they have done bad things, i.e., because they have committed sins.  But this is not what the Bible says.  The biblical account of judgment gives a different story.  According to the account in Revelation 20, "books are opened".  There is the book of life and another book, which by inference is a book of works which records one's deeds in this lifetime.  Judgment is according to one "works", i.e. one's good deeds.   Furthermore, the account says that everyone who is not found in the book of life is cast into the lake of fire.  Notice that there is no mention of sin.  Why not?  The answer is that Jesus Christ's death on the cross paid the penalty for sin--for all human beings.  God was satisfied by the work of his Son.  Once a penalty is paid, it is not paid again.  Jesus solved the problem of sin and removed the barrier between us and God.

Those present at the judgment described in Revelation 20 are there because of one reason: they rejected Christ in their lifetime.  Because they rejected a savior, the only thing they have to depend upon is their own righteousness, their own good deeds for acceptance by God.  But the Scripture is clear that no one can earn righteousness nor meet the approval of God by one's efforts.  Paul said,

"Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due.  But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness" (Rom. 4.1-5).

Paul also wrote about Jesus as the Judge,

"For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus" (Rom. 2.14-16).

According to the Scriptures, men and women are judged on the basis of their works.  This must mean their good deeds rather than sins because Jesus paid the penalty for evil deeds, i.e., Jesus paid for the sins of the world.  No amount of good deeds a person does can satisfy the righteousness of God.  A person can do all the good deeds of a Mother Teresa or an Albert Schweitzer and go to the Lake of Fire.  We need to ask overselve the following: "If a person could make himself acceptable to God by his own works, why was it necessary for Christ to go to the cross?"  Does it make sense for God to send his Son to die for something we could do ourselves?  It is precisely because man cannot save himself that Christ came to die and make an atonement for sin.  Jesus warned of this very matter when he said,

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but 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 cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'   And then I will declare to them, 'I never know you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS'" (Mt. 7.21-23 cf. Lk. 13.24-30).

When Christ died on the cross, he died for the sins of every person who will ever live, past, present, and future.  He paid the penalty for every person's sin.  He was the "lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1.29).  Jesus died and paid the penalty for sin of every human being who has and ever will live.   The Scriptures are clear that Christ died for all, not for some.  Jesus died not only the "elect" but for everyone (Rom. 5.7-8; 1 Tim. 4.10; Heb. 2.9; 1 Pet. 3.18; 2 Pet. 2.1; 1 Jn. 2.2).

Christ's death on the cross was the fulfilment of hundreds of years of God's teaching Israel through the Levitical sacrifices.  These animal sacrifices typified the true and final sacrifice of Christ himself.  Those in the "book of life" are those who have rejected their own ability to justify themselves before God and have accepted God's free gift of salvation by trusting what God has said.  Jesus said in his conclusion to the parable of the lost sheep that there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over the ninety nine who need no repentance (Luke 15.3-7). Those present at the judgment of Revelation 20 are people who never repented nor thought they needed saving.  They made a decision that they did not need Jesus.

Jesus Christ is our only hope.  No amount of good works you can do can satisfy the righteous demands of God.  The only work that is satisfactory to God is the work on the cross of his Son on our behalf.  To believe that Christ has died and was raised from the dead, to trust in him and his work, ensures that you will never face hell.  Consider the testimony of Jesus:

"Jesus therefore answered and was saying to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.   For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and greater works than these will He show Him, that you may marvel.  For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes.  For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, in order that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father.  He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.  Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life'" (Jn. 5.19-24).

There is a future divine judgment and this judgment will be done by Jesus himself.  This judgment is described in Revelation 20.  But Jesus also promises that all who believe in him do not have to face that judgment.  Paul affirms to same truth when he says,

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8.1).

Everyone who is in hell or will be in hell is there because of his own volition.  He rejected God's grace and the gift of his Son.  God is all merciful but he will not force himself upon anyone.  God has provided the revelation and gift of his Son.  He provided a way of escape through the death and resurrection of his Son.  This is the good news, the gospel. 

Do you wish to avoid the judgment of God?  Do you wish to have eternal life?  Will you respond to God's love for you?  Christ died on the cross for your sins.  By trusting in the work of Christ on your behalf that he has died for you and was raised from the dead for you insures that you have life and that you will never come into the judgment of God.  How can one move from death to life and out of judgment?  By believing the gospel.  The gospel is that Christ died for you and rose from the dead (1 Cor. 15.1-5).  The forgiveness of sins and eternal life are free gifts.  You can be saved by taking God at his word and trusting Christ as your Savior from sin.  It is that simple.

One matter that seems to always come up in a discussion of hell is the matter of "those who have never heard".  How many times has the objection been voiced, "I don't believe God would send anyone to hell, especially those who have never heard".  What about this objection?  The Bible teaches that God is self-evident.  Everything that a person perceives declares that God exists (see Psalm 19 and Romans 1.18-2.16).  Furthermore, God has given each person an innate capability of perceiving him.  Every person who has ever lived knows there is a God.  Some persons suppress this knowledge but it is there.  The first and second chapters of Romans is the classic statement of God's existence and of man's rejection and denial of God.  No one has ever gone to hell who has not had a fair chance of accepting Christ as Savior.  God knows each heart and every circumstance.  He is smarter, more loving, and more merciful than we.  Those who say that God will send no one to hell have concluded that they are smarter, more loving, and more merciful than God.  Whenever, anyone says this, we can know that we are hearing an opinion from someone who is ignorant of God or someone consumed by arrogance.

C. S. Lewis has written as clearly as anyone on the matter of hell and judgment.  In his book The Problem of Pain, Lewis wrote "the doors of hell are locked on the inside".  It is precisely because men will not have God that they go to hell.  They have refused to lay down their arms and end their rebellion again God.  Jesus will pronounce judgment and sentence them to the Lake of Fire but it is they themselves who have made the choice out of their own volition.  Jesus, in a real sense, honors their rebellion and God "loses" because he has made the provision of salvation available for everyone.  I also commend to the reader Lewis' work The Great Divorce. In this fiction, Lewis attempted to explain the choices individuals make which lead them to hell.

In the final analysis, all who are in hell are there because they have chosen this fate for themselves.  They go to hell because they have rejected Christ and his mercy. No reality is more sobering than this.

Below are passages which deal with the reality of hell and God's judgment.  Hell is a real place and God's judgment is certain. 

Matt. 5.21-30

"You have heard that the ancients were told, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.'  But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.  Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.  Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.  Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.  You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY';  but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.  If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell."

Matt. 7.13-23

"Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.  For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.  Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.  You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?  So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  So then, you will know them by their fruits.  Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.  Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'  And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS'".

Matt. 10.28

"Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell".

Matt. 11.20-24

"Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent.'Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.  Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.  And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day.   Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you'".

Matt. 13.36-42

"Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, 'Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field'.   And He said, 'The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels.  So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age.  The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father.  He who has ears, let him hear.  The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away. So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth'".

Matt. 18.5-9

"And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.  Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!  If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire.  If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell".

Matt. 23.29-39

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.'  So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.  Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers.  You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?  Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.  Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.  Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!  For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, 'BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!'"

Mark 9.43-48

"If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, [where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.]  If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell, where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED. If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell, where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.

Luke 12.4-5

"I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do.  But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him"!

Luke 16.19-31

"Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man's table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom.  And he cried out and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.'   But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.  And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.'  And he said, 'Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father's house -- for I have five brothers -- in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'   But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.'  But he said, "No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!'  But he said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead'".

John 5.28-29

"Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment".

John 15.6-6

"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.   If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned".

2 Pet. 2.1-11

"But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.  Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.  For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter; and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds), then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority.  Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties, whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord".

2 Pet. 3.3-7

"Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, 'Where is the promise of His coming?  For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation'.  For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.  But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men".

Jude 5-7

"Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.  And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire".

Rev. 1.17-18

"When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, 'Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades'".

Rev. 14.9-11

"Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, 'If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name'".

Rev. 19.19-21

"And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.  And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.  And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh".

Rev. 20.10-15

"And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.  Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.  And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.  Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.  And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire".

Rev. 21.5-6

"And He who sits on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.'  And He said, 'Write, for these words are faithful and true'.  Then He said to me, 'It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.  He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.  But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death'".

tw~| a)gapw~nti h(ma~j kai\ lu/santi h(ma~j e)k tw~n a(martiw~n h(mw~n e)n tw|~ a(i/mati au)tou~.

©1998 Don Samdahl.  Anyone is free to reproduce this material and distribute it, but it may not be sold.

Updated April 19, 2007