Lies We Believe #24: A Loving God Wouldn’t Send Me to Hell

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to Me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and do many mighty works in Your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness.'”—Matthew 7:21-23

Would God, who is infinitely loving, send someone to hell? All because they didn’t believe in Him? The Bible’s answer is clear: yes. Our passage for today reveals that there will be some at the end of time who did great things for God, but hadn’t truly trusted in Christ. And they will be judged because of it. God will send many to hell.

Over the years, I have heard numerous individuals espouse the view that a loving God wouldn’t send them to hell. Their logic is that since God is loving, His love would somehow trump His holiness and His justice. But, that is to misunderstand several things. The first is: God’s holiness, justice, and love are not in conflict with one another. They are in complete harmony. Secondly, God’s justice and holiness demand that a payment for sin be made. And since “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), then our death is required. We must pay the price. Thirdly, some like Jesus as a teacher and see Him never condemning anyone. But, such a belief truly indicates a lack of familiarity with the Jesus of the Bible. The Jesus of the Bible talked repeatedly about hell. The Jesus of the Bible had no problem condemning those who deserved it. And the Jesus of the Bible came the first time as a suffering servant who was sent to "seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10). But, He is also the Jesus who died on the cross, was buried, and then rose from the dead. He is the Jesus who ascended into heaven and will come a second time as the conquering king,

“…when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might, when He comes on that day to be glorified in His saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed”—1 Thessalonians 1:7-10.

Christ will come again “inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (v. 8) because they have chosen to live their life apart from God, rejecting His Lordship and decrees, preferring to be their own arbiters of truth, purveyors of righteousness, and gods unto themselves. God will not be mocked: what we sow, we will also reap (Galatians 6:7).

And for those who have sought to live a life apart from God’s revealed decrees and have rejected the Christ who bought them (2 Peter 2:1), there awaits a punishment that is unimaginable and inescapable, “They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might” (v. 9).

God doesn’t delight in the destruction of the wicked (Ezekiel 18:23). Rather He delights in those who turn to Him: “Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?”—Ezekiel 18:23.

May we turn to God and be saved! As Isaiah wrote, “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other”—Isaiah 45:22. May we embrace the Son of God—Jesus Christ, who was given to us in these last days for our salvation! As it says in the book of Hebrews 1:3, “…but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things, through whom also He created the world.” We know it is through Him that salvation has been provided! And we know that “He has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom He has appointed; and of this He has given assurance to all by raising Him from the dead"—Acts 17:31.

Jesus is the Lord of Life and time, the one whom God has given for our salvation. May we trust in Him, resting in His glorious, life-altering, universe-shaking sacrifice so that we might be with Him in His presence, delighting in who He is and what He has done forever and ever. Amen.