"AFTER DEATH Part 1:  HELL"

     This is the first of two lessons concerning what becomes of man after death.  The Bible teaches that all men die and after death comes final judgment (2 Corinthians 5:10; Hebrews 9:27); after final judgment man will be consigned to either heaven or hell.  The second lesson will be on the subject of Heaven. 

1. Introduction                                             5. Are there degrees of punishment?

2. Demise of the concept of hell                     6. Does punishment of hell last for eternity?

3. Biblical terms of reference for hell               7. Is hell inconsistent with the nature of God?

4. What will hell be like?                                8. Conclusion

 Introduction

     Hell is a topic that is not often discussed in our modern society.  Many of us ask questions such as: Is there really a hell?  If there is a hell, what is it like?  Does hell last for eternity?  Is there a chance of escaping hell after death?  Is the doctrine of hell even important?  Sadly, we often are so uncomfortable with this topic that we avoid it altogether.  Let us all agree right now that hell is a very sad and uncomfortable topic; but does that mean we lock it away and attempt to dismiss it?  Jesus certainly did not.

     When the recorded teachings of Jesus Christ are examined, one finds that 13% of the verses quoting Jesus are in reference to final judgment and hell.  More than 50% of the parables spoken by Jesus deal with God’s eternal judgment of those who have not accepted His gift of salvation.  The theme of such parables was that one must prepare in this life for what happens afterward:  Final judgment in which souls will be consigned either to heaven or hell.  (See Matthew 25:14-30; 13:24-30, 36-43;  24:45-51;  22:2-14;  25:1-2;  Luke 16:19-31)

     The denial or avoidance of the doctrine of hell has never been as prevalent as it is today.  Until modern times, people did not need to be convinced of the existence of a place of punishment after death.  Daniel 12:2, Matthew 10:28, 2 Thessalonians 1:9, and Revelation 20:10 are just a sampling of scriptures in which it can be seen that the audience believed in the existence of hell.  So why do we, today, even question the very existence of hell?

 Demise of the Concept of Hell

     Numerous reasons have been put forth as to why the existence of hell is brought into question.  Individuals might say, “Well I can’t see hell or experience it through any of my senses” or “If hell is real we could prove it scientifically.”  Hell is of another type of realm or existence just as heaven is not of the things of this world.  If we can believe in a heaven that has no hardcore scientific proof of its existence then why cannot we believe in hell?

     Another basis for the waning of the acceptance of the actuality of hell is religious tolerance being distorted to the point that the “sincerity of belief is the only prerequisite to heaven.  Your worldview, religious convictions, moral stance…don’t matter as long as you really believe they are true…We’re all headed to the same place.  We just perceive the way to get there differently.  God will overlook that and accept us solely on the basis of our commitment to travel our path of choice.”[1]  If this view were correct then the teachings of Jesus Christ and the inspired word of God are irrelevant and incorrect.  Can one truly stand on the total authority of the scriptures and support this view?

     A further cause for avoidance of the absolute reality of hell is that it is not convenient to see hell as an absolute in this postmodern society that has little tolerance for absolutes…unless you absolutely agree with a postmodernist’s right to deny that there are any absolutes in this world.  Society, today, focuses on the virtues of love, mercy, and kindness to the almost total exclusion of the virtues of holiness, justice, and righteousness.  This leads to a morality centered on an individual’s rights and liberties and nearly rejects the roles of duty and obligation in morality.[2]  A Christian life is one that deals in absolutes and willingly surrenders self to the lordship of Jesus Christ (Galatians 2:20).  David Lipscomb once offered this thought:

Are the obligations of religion too binding, too restraining upon men, upon their passions, tastes, and evil desires that one of heaven’s means for enforcing restraints upon wickedness must be removed?  One of the ever threatening barriers to sin – the fear of future punishment – must be broken down.  What motive can prompt a good man to strip sin of its terrors and rebellion against God of its punishment, we cannot conceive.[3]

      What if hell is absolutely real?  Can we afford to deny it, to avoid teaching on it?  Can we afford not taking steps in this life to lead others and ourselves away from it?

 Biblical Terms of Reference for Hell

     The premise of this writing is that the inspired word of God unequivocally teaches the existence of hell.  So what is hell?  Again we turn to the holy scriptures.

     In the Old Testament the term Hebrew term Sheol  referred to the grave and, at times, to hell, a place of punishment.  (See Deuteronomy 32:22, Psalm 55:15, Proverbs 15:24)  

     Gehenna is used also in the New Testament as an expression for hell.  This reference would have been easily understood by the Jews as an awful place. Strong’s Dictionary of the Greek New Testament reveals that this term originally referred to the “alley of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem, where the filth and dead animals of the city were cast out and burned; a fit symbol of the wicked and their future destruction.”  Jeremiah 32:35 gives the reason for this use of the valley was due to its having been used as a site for idolatrous worship including the practice of child sacrifice.  Gehenna means “place of punishment” and was used by Jesus 11 times in his teachings regarding a place of punishment for the wicked.  (See Matthew 10:28; 5:22, 29; 18:9; 23:33;  Mark 9:43-45;  Luke 12:5)  Closely related to this concept is hell being referenced to as a place of fire.  (Matthew 18:8; 25:41; 3:12; 13:42, 50;  Jude 7;  Revelation 20:14-15; 14:10; 19:20; 20:10; 21:8).  Whether ‘fire’ is literally meant or is used figuratively referring to a place of God’s wrath is uncertain.  Fire is used to describe God’s wrath in the scriptures (Hebrews 12:29; Psalm 11:6; Malachi 4:1).

     Finally, on one occasion in 2 Peter 2:4, the term Tartarus is used in reference to hell.  Here the word is a verb that when translated into English is worded as “cast them down to hell” or “sent them to hell”.  Strong’s defines this term: “To incarcerate into eternal torment”.  Thayer’s Greek Dictionary defines tartarus as the “abode of the wicked dead where they will suffer for evil”.

     Sheol, Gehenna, lake of fire, tartarus.  All of these terms refer to hell as a final state or place of punishment after a final judgment.

 What will hell be like?

     It is not possible to know exactly what hell will be like.  To understand something for which we really have no point of reference in the realm we live in, is exceptionally challenging.  However, scripture does reveal some details about hell that we can grasp.

     First, we know from our discussion of terms which refer to hell that hell will be nightmarish at best.  Scripture also describes hell as a place of total darkness (Matthew 8:12; 22:13; 2 Peter 2:17; Jude 13).  Some will claim that the Bible is in error in its teaching on hell due to the fact that it describes hell as a place of fire and darkness; fire emits light, therefore the Bible contradicts itself and the entire teaching on hell is errant.  In answer to this:  Bible scholars mostly agree that the terms fire and darkness are used figuratively with God’s wrath being the fire and the darkness being the complete absence of the presence of God.  Also, our God is not bound by the laws of nature and if He chooses there to be fire without light…so be it.

     Second, scriptures teach that hell will be a place of conscious suffering (Matthew 8:12; 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30; Luke 13:28).  More than once Jesus uses the phrase “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” when he teaches regarding the final condition of the wicked.  Also, Matthew 10:28 says that we are to “be afraid of the one who can destroy both body and soul in hell” teaching that there will be some sort of post-resurrection body.  “Weeping and gnashing of teeth” are the means by which these bodies express the extreme anguish of the soul.  To express this anguish necessitates the presence of consciousness.

     Third, God created man to live in a perfect, sinless, relationship with Him.  God is saddened that there must be a hell and desires that no one perish (2 Peter 3:9); but for those who choose to live in sin apart from Him during their earthly existence, a place has been prepared for them to live in their chosen state after death.  Hence we see hell as a total separation from God (Matthew 7:23; 25:41; 8:12; 22:13; 25:30; Luke 13:27-28).  Hell is the total removal from the presence of God and the impossibility of ever being reconciled to Him.  One author describes hell as the “end of the road away from God, love, and anything of real value.”[4]   Millard Erickson characterizes hell in these words: “If there is one basic characteristic of hell, it is, in contrast to heaven, the absence of God or banishment from His presence.  It is an experience of intense anguish, whether it involve physical suffering or mental distress or both.”[5]

     One thing is certain, hell is horrific and we can in our darkest imaginings of its horrors still fall short of the reality of the condition of those consigned there for eternity.

 Are there degrees of punishment?

     Will all those who did not accept the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ suffer the same degree of punishment?  Second Corinthians 5:10 states: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due for the things done while in this body, whether good or bad.”  In Matthew 10:15 and 11:22-24 Jesus tells us that the punishment for Sodom and Gomorrah would be “more tolerable than” that for those who reject the opportunity to hear his message and repent.  Luke 12:47-48 brings to light the concept that the degree of knowledge one has about what should be done, but fails to do it, will affect their punishment.  Along this same line 2 Peter 2:20 states that those who leave false teaching to become a Christian then returns to the false teaching will receive greater punishment.  Other scriptures supporting degrees of punishment are Matthew 23:23; James 3:1; Revelation 20:12-13.

     Genesis 18:25 and Psalm 9:8 assert that God is our Judge, His judgments will be righteous because He is righteous.  God cannot act contrary to His nature.  Degrees of punishment are consistent with God’s fairness and justice.

     “The more knowledge of divine law a man possesses, the more of his opportunities and inducements to avoid sin, the stronger the incentives to faith and holiness set before him, the greater will be his punishment if he fails to make a faithful use of those advantages.  In this conviction that God will, even in hell, justly proportion punishment to sin, we must rest satisfied.  We cannot know more; the precise degrees as well as the precise nature of such punishments are things belonging to another state of being, which in the present we are unable to understand.”[6]

 Does punishment in hell last for eternity?

     “Jesus Christ and the apostles certainly used language to make the impression of a punishment eternal in duration…the great leading truths of the gospel – the plan of salvation, the destiny of man , the conditions of that destiny…are expressed in clear and unequivocal language.”[7]

     Revelation 20:10, in reference to eternal punishment, states: “They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”  Matthew 25:41-46 references the “eternal fire” and “eternal punishment”.  The Greek word aionius is used in these passages to identify the duration of punishment.  Aionius is defined as eternal, everlasting, forever, without end, never to cease.  Seventy-one times this term is used in the New Testament; 64 are in reference to God.  In 7 passages it is used in reference to perdition (Matthew 18:18; Jude 6-7, 13; Revelation 14:11; 20:10).  If the Greek term used to define the eternal nature of God is used to define final punishment, would it not follow that the punishment is also eternal in duration?

     One view of hell referred to as annihilationism holds to the belief that the sentence of hell will not be an eternal one. After an appropriate time of punishment the soul would be annihilated, totally and completely exterminated.  This view is based on the premise that finite acts do not deserve infinite punishment.  Mark 9:47-48 uses Isaiah 66:24 to describe hell as the place where “their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched”.  This, along with 2 Thessalonians 1:9 and previously mentioned passages, points to the eternality of hell.  Another thought for consideration:  If the duration of punishment must be in line with the severity of the crime, then would not the same have to be true for the duration of reward?  We all agree that the reward is eternal and that this is biblical.  How does logic follow that the same words that verify the eternality of heaven do not apply when used in reference to hell?  It does not.  While the degrees of punishment do vary, the duration of the punishment does not.

 Is hell inconsistent with God’s nature?

      As one studies God’s word it is seen that His infinite love provides two responses, on His part, to sin:  1) infinite atoning sacrifice  2) infinite suffering.[8]  Many choose to view God as a calloused judge just waiting for one sin to be committed so that He might have the pleasure of condemning one to hell.  But where in that picture is the love that provides the infinite atoning sacrifice?

     God desires that no one ever taste of hell.  Scriptures bear this out.  In 2 Peter 3:9 the writer declares that God is patient, “not wanting any to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”  First Timothy 2:3-4 calls God our Savior and states that He wants “all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”  In verse 6 he tells us of Christ Jesus “who gave himself as a ransom for all men.”  Is this a God who takes joy in knowing some will be eternally condemned?

     Why is Jesus considered our Savior, our Ransom?  From what are we ransomed?  We must acknowledge the reality of hell if we are ever to grasp the concept of Jesus as Savior.  As a matter of fact, if there is no hell, there is no need for a Savior for there is nothing from which to save us!  If there is no hell, the grace of God and the immense love shown in the propitiatory sacrifice of His son are both petty and meaningless.  Hell is real and horrific.  Jesus Christ died to save us from hell.  Gregory Tidwell sums it thusly: “Faithful Christians, themselves must fear God.  Not a fearful expectation of an eternity in hell, but a fearful realization of what would come were we not in Christ.  Without such fear, there can be no appreciation for God’s love and grace given in Christ.”[9]

     Part of God’s nature is His awesome love.  Not only does He love us enough to provide the sacrifice for our sins; He loves us enough to create us as creatures of freewill.  Free will is the power of choice.  Every choice bears consequences.  “When considering the biblical teaching on hell, we are reminded of how serious the business of living really is…Our choices really matter.  They affect us and others in this life and beyond.  With great dignity comes great responsibility and the real possibility of gain or loss, partnership with God or alienation from Him.  Freedom is a serious and awesome gift.”[10]

     “Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name?  For you alone are holy.” (Revelation 15:4)  “And they were calling to one another:  “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory.” (Isaiah 6:3)  Holiness: just, pure, spotless, perfect, undefiled.  Holiness is another aspect of the nature of God.  It is God’s holiness that provides the standard by which we measure and define sin.  Sin is defined as missing the mark; the mark is God’s holiness.  We all fall short (Romans 3:23).  In acknowledging that we sin, we acknowledge His holiness.

     God’s holiness and justice demands the existence of hell and punishment of sin.  That which is absolutely just and pure cannot, by its nature, tolerate anything but justice and purity.  In 2 Thessalonians 1:5-8 God’s judgment is revealed as just and that punishment must be distributed as well as reward.  (See Genesis 2:17; Romans 6:23; Luke 10:7; Hebrews 2:2)To say that sin does not deserve punishment insults the holiness of God and contradicts His nature.  The enormity of the punishment is shown in the enormity of the sacrifice required to atone for the sins committed – the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  The holiness of God expressed in the sacrifice of His son clarifies the immense “spiritual purity that refuses to accept or ignore sin, choosing instead to pay its debt and forgive its wrong.”[11]  Jack Cottrell describes the relationship between the holiness of God and hell:  “Heaven is the final outworking of His love; hell is the final outworking of His holiness.  The response of holiness to sin is wrath, and hell is the just and righteous expression of God’s wrath toward unrepentant sinners.”[12]  Paul declares in 2 Corinthians 5:11 that we must know what it is to fear God if we are to understand the need to share the gospel.

     Some of those who argue that hell is contrary to God’s nature adhere to a view called universalism.  This view states that God will eventually bring all to heaven, even if after being sent to hell.  For punishment to be eternal would be immoral, unjust and incompatible with His nature.  In response, let it be said that God is fair and just.  One must see that if we have the opportunity for real, eternal gains then there must also be an opportunity for real, eternal loss.  As far as incompatibility with God’s nature, we have answered that in our previous discussion.  Other arguments against the concept of universalism, or second chance, are simply stated:

• 2 Peter 3:9 and 1 Timothy 2:4 states that God gives man time enough to obey the gospel.
• The longer one lives outside of Christ the more calloused the heart becomes to accepting Christ; thus it becomes more difficult to turn to Him.
• If one chooses to live outside of Christ’s atoning blood in this life, it follows that the primary motivation for changing one’s status after death (if that were possible) would be that upon experiencing hell the individual desires only to avoid hell.  Friends, heaven is for those who crave to be in the presence of God, not for those who desire to avoid hell.

 Conclusion

     As we draw to a close, let’s summarize the Bible’s teaching on hell.  First, the teachings of Jesus dealt at length with the concept of eternal and final judgment.  Second, the biblical concept of eternal punishment is seen throughout the Old and New Testament.  Third, hell will be horrible.  Fourth, there will be degrees of punishment.  Fifth, punishment is eternal.  Sixth, the punishment of hell is not in conflict with the nature of God.  Seventh, there are no chances of changing our eternal status after physical death.  Eighth, God is deeply saddened that the pride of man in not accepting God’s atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ necessitates the existence of hell.

     As I grow older and continue to mature spiritually, the thing that terrifies me most about hell is living forever in the total absence of my loving Father.  I also have begun to realize that another reason so many may choose not to believe in hell is that admission of its reality necessitates the admission that they and/or ones they hold dear are in a precarious state.  As long as there is life there is opportunity to receive God’s gift of salvation; we do not know when this life will end.  Let’s not waste another moment.  Let us close with the following statement:

No one should treat the doctrine of hell in a cold, uncaring way.  Hell may be justifiable, but it saddens God and all who love people.  Hell will forever remind us of the significance of human life, its history, its choices.  It will also forever be a memorial to the tragedy of bad choices.  Those of us who love Jesus Christ and other people must get about the task of taking the gospel to the world.  Action, not just intellectual assent, is the appropriate response to the Bible teaching about hell.[13]

-J.F. Watson