Would You Like to Talk about Hell?

“No!”
That’s my answer to the title question: “Would you like to talk about Hell?”

I don’t want to talk about the reality of Hell. 

I don’t want to talk about the doctrine of Hell. 

I really don’t want to talk about Hell. 

And yet, when you read and study the Bible, the subject is inescapable. Hell is the place of eternal destruction and its existence brings to the foreground the reality of divine judgment.

When the Apostle Paul went to Athens, he preached the gospel and concluded with a statement calling for repentance. Then, he added a statement of explanation:

Because He [God] has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness, through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead. 

—Acts 17:31

The idea of judgment indicates that people will be evaluated and then placed into categories. Paul revealed the basis for judgment: righteousness. The one to do the judging is the man that God raised from the dead, that is, Jesus the righteous one.

There are several terms used in the Bible to describe the groups of separation in judgment:

• Righteous/Unrighteous
• Godly/Ungodly
• Holy/Unholy
• Good/Evil
• Forgiven/sinner

All of these can be reduced to the comparison: those who are like God and those who are not. Those who are righteous (godly, holy, good, forgiven) have been born again and are alive in Christ. Yet, those who are unrighteous (ungodly, unholy, evil, sinful) are dead. Life and death are not to be understood in a physical sense, but in light of one’s relationship with God. Those who are living are alive spiritually. Those who are not, are dead spiritually.

God’s judgement is the separation of the living and the dead, again, those who are like God and those who are not.

The fact that there will be a day of judgment is very clear in Scripture. 

   Jesus Himself spoke about the day of judgment (Matthew 11:22; 12:36). 

   Peter and John also warned their readers of the day of judgment (2 Peter 2:9; 1 John 4:17). 

   It was prophesied in the Psalms (9:8; 96:13; 98:9). 

Numerous other passages mirror the same.

To the surprise of some, Jesus will be the judge. That was not His role when He came to earth the first time.

For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

—John 3:17

However, His return will be different…

...when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord…. 

 —2 Thessalonians 1:7-9

I don’t want to dwell on the day of judgment and hell. Yet, this negativity is true. It is placed in the Bible as a warning because God loves you and wants you to know Him. He wants you to obey the gospel, live righteously...and LIVE!

Mark Stinnett

February 4, 2024