Questions? Comments?

HOW CAN A LOVING GOD SEND ANYONE TO HELL?

A very popular faith many people have adopted is that of universalism. It is the idea that because God is love, He will not send anyone to hell. They believe that a loving God would never sentence one of His creatures to eternal destruction. Everyone, according to this view, will ultimately spend eternity with God.

This theory sounds nice but it leaves out a key component of God’s character. The Bible does teach that God is love (1 John 4:8,18). No one can deny that. But God is also a God of holiness. God says in Leviticus 11:44, "I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy." Also see Leviticus 16:2, 20:7 and 1 Peter 1:16. Because He is holy, He cannot ignore sin. He must judge it and bring punishment to the sinner. The Bible teaches that the one who sins will die (Ezekiel 18:4), and that the wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23 tell us that "the wages of sin of death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." The issue of our sin must therefore be settled. It is not loving to allow murderers to run loose on the streets, nor is it just to arrest an innocent person. But it is both loving and just to protect the innocent and punish the guilty. It is loving and just to uphold the law while executing that law fairly. That's why God, in love, provided a way of salvation for us thus “settling the score” for all have placed their faith and trust in Him.

What does the Bible say? There are many verses in the Bible that shows that faith in universalism is wrong faith. Revelation 20:12-15 says, "I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God's throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to the things written in the books, according to what they had done....And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire." Also see Daniel 12:2; Matthew 7:22-23, 13:38-42,49-50 and 25:41-46.

God is loving (2 Corinthians 13:11 and 1 John 4:8-16) and just (Psalm 89:14 and Revelation 16:7). We must not forget that God's justice does not contradict His love; it coexists with His love. Therefore we should expect to see both characteristics in how He treats us.