Tag Archives: hell

Who’s going to hell?

Grace and Judgment Posted on by

Some people seem to think they know who’s going to hell. For instance, they’ll write a letter to the editor proclaiming that some columnist or some other letter writer will sizzle in hell for what they wrote. What makes them think they know?

For centuries, some preachers and Christian writers have distinguished between believers and professors. Professors in this sense profess Christianity, maybe show up in church regularly, but don’t believe it enough to live it. Many of these church leaders at least imply that the believers go to heaven and the professors to hell. But can they really know?

Nowadays some people deny there is a hell.… Read the rest

Hell, grace, and the secret things of God

Grace and Judgment Posted on by

No one likes to talk about hell any more, although some people have an unhealthy confidence that they know who’s going there.

God reserves that judgment for himself. He deliberately hides all aspects of his plans. Some scriptures make it seem like nearly everyone will be saved. Others make it seem like hardly anyone will be saved.

The Bible speaks with crystal clarity on one point, though. People stand or fall before God as individuals. Not as members of a group. Not because of association with anyone else.

… Read the rest

The justice of heaven and hell

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I recently came across a Christian teenager who posed this theoretical situation: a person who never sinned, did everything perfectly according to the Bible, but didn’t believe in God. Why, he asked, would God want to send anyone to hell just for that?

Once upon a time, churched and unchurched people alike recognized God as the judge of mankind. They recognized that he stood against a category of behavior called “sin.”

Much of discourse within the church centered on how to be good enough to avoid going to hell.

Nowadays, churched and unchurched people alike are more likely to regard God as the defendant who must justify his opposition to sin.… Read the rest

The kingdom of God: What does it mean to inherit, or not inherit it

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In a recent post, I commented that not inheriting the kingdom of God does not necessarily mean the same thing as going to hell. I was writing about gay marriage and couldn’t follow up on that thought. Many readers may have wondered about it, and one explicitly asked.

In one well-known passage, Jesus spoke of the separation of sheep and goats.

Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come you how are blessed of my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the earth” (Matthew 25:34).

Then he will also say to those on his left, “Depart from me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41).

… Read the rest

Osama bin Laden and the love of God

Grace and Judgment Posted on by

Most everyone in America rejoiced at the death of Osama bin Laden. So did many elsewhere in the world. After all, he was a mass murderer and spent the past few years actively plotting to murder more people. What does God,  who is love, have to say about him?

One thing that immediately came to mind is this: “Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? . . . The One enthroned in heaven laughs: the Lord scoffs at them” (Psalm 2:1, 4). But Scripture also reminds us, “Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles do not let your heart rejoice” (Proverbs 24:17).… Read the rest