Hell Is Your Choice!

The Apostle Paul quickly learned that the questions about Christ's return would not go away in Thessalonica despite what he wrote and what I quoted in my previous blog. This busy metropolitan city with its intersecting roads to the rest of the Roman world had many intersecting ideas and thoughts rushing back and forth. And among those were some troubling thoughts about the return of Christ. Besides all that the church there was being persecuted. So Paul begins his response to all this troubling news like this:

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring. This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering-- since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, 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. 

To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. - 2Th 1:1-12 ESV

As you can see, Paul did indeed have the return of Christ and the terrible Day of the Lord in mind. Destruction in the form of flaming fire is on the way. God will visit His vengeance on those who do not know Him nor obey—in the sense of pay attention to—the Gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be dealt with. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction! That's a strange phrase, because we usually think of destruction as something that happens and the person is gone, dead, destroyed.
But Paul says they will suffer and keep on suffering God's δίκη (dē'-kā), God's justice. The sentence will be carried out. That sentence, he writes, will be destruction, but not extinction. Everything that Christ's enemies trust in, everything they dream about, all peace and security, all their riches and power—everything will be wiped out and they themselves will be separated forever from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might. They will eternally know nothing but despair, guilt, fear, anxiety and loneliness. As Paul wrote in his first letter,

. . . sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. - 1Th 5:3 ESV

But forever? Why? How can it be? That is a most difficult concept to take hold of. Men usually couch it in terms of the Lord Jesus being too vindictive. Won't his anger ever be satisfied? Will he forever demand punishment, justice—destruction!? But that's the exact opposite of what the Scriptures reveal. How dare you or I make such a mockery of our Lord's mercy and love? How dare we forget that Jesus became our High Priest and made Himself the one final sacrifice for the sins of all men (Hebrews 7:27; 9:11-14, 27-28)? How dare we not hear His loud cry for all humanity upon the cross, 

"Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" - Mat 27:46 ESV

He stands before the world of men of all ages with his scarred hands held out. He longs to give forgiveness, but so many are like Jerusalem. He looks down upon them with tears in His eyes.

 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! - Luk 13:34 ESV

But like ancient Pharaoh and Jerusalem's Sanhedrin their hearts are hard, their eyes are darkened and they are not willing! Hell is their choice. The Lord cannot and will not deprive them of the freedom to choose their own destruction.

So it stands for each one of us. Make your choice! If you want hell, then that is what you will receive.

Hell Must Be Forever

The Christian church has always taught that hell is eternal, forever, unending. Holy Scripture quotes our Lord Jesus' reply to those who reject him in this life, contrasting hell with heaven.

Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." - Mat 25:45-46 ESV

John the Baptist is quoted as saying the same thing,

For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. - John 3:34-36 ESV

Yes, it is true that the term eternity is sometimes used in the weakened sense of long duration. For example,

"This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations, as a statute forever (Hebr. 'owlam), you shall keep it as a feast. ... You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. - Exod 12:14, 24 ESV 

The Passover has been replaced by the Lord's Supper. Consequently the term forever does not mean eternal or without end in such references, but in all references to heaven and hell it does indeed mean forever. So the Apostle Paul also writes about the misery of those damned in hell.

Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring. This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering-- since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, 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. - 2 Thess 1:4-10 ESV

But why? Why? we ask again. Why would a loving God bring eternal destruction upon a world that he claims to love so much? The answer  lies in the very nature of God. He is totally reliable. You can always depend upon him and his Word. He never lies. He never changes. He is always the same. He is completely worthy of our trust. He does not change his mind. He will do what he has said he will do.

He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. - 1 Thess 5:24 ESV 

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? - Num 23:19 ESV

There is but one God. To reject him is to reject life itself. This was so from the very beginning. And yet God loves us all, regardless of race, status, position or place. But there is not a just man among us who has loved God with all his or her heart, mind and power (Rom. 3:10-18). How can we possibly be reconciled to God? How can God remain true to himself and still forgive us and freely give to us eternal life? Only in Jesus Christ. In Christ God has reconciled us all to himself. So the Apostle writes of Christ,

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, - Col 1:19-22 ESV

It follows then that God has no other choice. To be who he is, both just, faithful and loving, he must pronounce judgment and eternal death upon  those who turn their backs upon his mercy and forgiveness freely offered in Christ. To quote John as I did above, "whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him" (John 3:36).

The Frightening And False Teaching Of Purgatory

I return today to the question of hell awaiting those who reject Christ. How does one reconcile the reality of hell with the Biblical teaching of a God of love as revealed in Christ and his suffering, death and resurrection?

In this connection you may be interested to hear and read the testimony of Bill Wiese who says that he was given a 23 minute vision of hell. His website (Soul Choice) features his book and a video among other items. He quotes extensively from the Scriptures. He says he was given this vision so that he might share his experience and warn us not to ignore what God has revealed about salvation and judgment. Do your own study and draw your own conclusions.

There are many passages from the Bible that we all must consider. Before exploring them, however, I believe it is critical that we explore the question of hell's duration and the idea of purgatory, that place between heaven and hell where supposedly even believers must go to be purged and cleansed in preparation for entering heaven. Here I focus especially on the Roman Catholic teaching. Here's a quote from the Catholic encyclopedia about it. Read the entire article for their more extensive treatment.

That temporal punishment is due to sin, even after the sin itself has been pardoned by God, is clearly the teaching of Scripture. God indeed brought man out of his first disobedience and gave him power to govern all things (Wisdom 10:2), but still condemned him "to eat his bread in the sweat of his brow" until he returned unto dust. God forgave the incredulity of Moses and Aaron, but in punishment kept them from the "land of promise" (Numbers 20:12). The Lord took away the sin of David, but the life of the child was forfeited because David had made God's enemies blaspheme His Holy Name (2 Samuel 12:13-14). In the New Testament as well as in the Old, almsgiving and fasting, and in general penitential acts are the real fruits of repentance (Matthew 3:8; Luke 17:3;3:3). The whole penitential system of the Church testifies that the voluntary assumption of penitential works has always been part of true repentance and the Council of Trent (Sess. XIV, can. xi) reminds the faithful that God does not always remit the whole punishment due to sin together with the guilt. God requires satisfaction, and will punish sin, and this doctrine involves as its necessary consequence a belief that the sinner failing to do penance in this life may be punished in another world, and so not be cast off eternally from God.

According to this teaching, sinners must be purged and cleansed by punishment and pain before they can be admitted into heaven's glory and peace. This is a very frightening teaching. It openly takes away from the work of Christ and transforms salvation and eternal life into something we sinners obtain through our works of repentance, suffering, punishment and prayers in addition Christ's suffering, death and resurrection. In so teaching these teachers have changed radically the Biblical teaching of grace and mercy in Christ. Consider Jesus' word as quoted by the Apostle John.

For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. - Jhn 5:21-29 ESV

Jesus had healed a man on the Sabbath. The Jews who opposed Jesus claimed this was a work done on the Sabbath, something clearly forbidden by God. Beyond that Jesus claimed to be God's Son since he called God his own Father. In their eyes Jesus was claiming to be equal with God—the greatest form of blasphemy. So they looked for a way to kill him. These views were behind Jesus' statement quoted above.

Notice carefully what Jesus says about those who hear his word and believe in him.

• He, God's Son, is indeed equal in dignity and honor to the Father. By honoring him you honor the Father. Fail to honor the Son and you fail to honor the Father. 
• All judgment is now given to the Son.
• To hear and believe Jesus' word is more than merely hearing it as sounds in your ear. To hear him is to comprehend, to understand and to put your trust in what he says. Then you build your life and your future upon that word, just as Jesus said in his Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 7:24). 
• So what does Jesus say in his word? He says plainly that we who believe him already have eternal life. We will not come into judgment ! We have already here and now, before the death of our physical bodies, passed into life, the life that is Christ. He is our life, as he and his apostles teach over and over again. 
• Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. - Jhn 14:6 ESV
• For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. - (The Apostle Paul in Phil 1:21 ESV)
• The Scripture clearly teaches that only the blood of Christ cleanses and purges us from sin. John speaks about this in his epistle: "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin." - 1John 1:7 ESV 

The concept of a place of purging between heaven and hell is, as noted, a very pernicious and dangerous teaching. It robs us of the comfort of the Gospel. It puts the burden upon us, our suffering as well as the prayers and good works of others on behalf of those deceased. It turns us away from the wondrous and completely undeserved gift of salvation in Christ.

Instead I urge you to take comfort from the word Jesus spoke to the thief dying beside him on the cross who asked Jesus to remember him when he came into his kingdom. 

And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." - Luk 23:43 ESV

Hear Jesus' word and be at peace. Your sins have been taken away: "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." - Rom 8:1 ESV

We Work With Him To Heal

This discussion about sickness got started because I invited you to look with me at the story in John 9 about the man born blind and Jesus' disciples asking him whose sin brought on that particular disability. Jesus' answer is very helpful.

As (Jesus) passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. - Jhn 9:1-7 ESV

Some babies are born blind or with severe vision loss. This can be caused by many different things, including defects in the eye itself, problems with the part of the brain responsible for vision, or by infections. Some of the factors placing an infant, toddler, or child at significant risk for visual impairment include:

• Prematurity, low birth weight, oxygen at birth, or bleeding in the brain
• Family history of retinoblastoma, congenital cataracts, or metabolic or genetic disease
• Infection of mother during pregnancy such as rubella, toxoplasmosis, venereal disease, herpes, cytomegalovirus or AIDS
• Problems with the central nervous system such as developmental delay, cerebral palsy, seizures, or hydrocephalus.

As you can see, there are many biological, genetic and developmental causes of vision loss. Some cause more severe loss than others. Regardless of what modern medical diagnosis one may offer for the blindness of the man referenced in John's Gospel it is critical that we hear Jesus' answer.

"It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. - Jhn 9:3 ESV

Whatever was Jesus getting at? The man had been born blind. From childhood to maturity he'd groped about in darkness. God had permitted it. Further, we know nothing about the man's faith. Neither he nor his parents approached Jesus, pleading for him to cast out some demon of blindness or to release him from the supposed bondage of Satan. In fact, we hear nothing from the man nor his parents before Jesus healed him. From what we read later the blind man was not even aware of who Jesus was (John 9:24-33). And yet Jesus made a paste of mud to put on his eyes and told him to wash in the pool of Siloam. He did and came back seeing. Quite amazing.

Back to Jesus' answer. This man's sins and the sins of his parents did not cause the blindness. His blindness was not the direct result of anyone's specific disobedience to the will and commands of God. There is no direct correlation between some particular sins and a specific disability like this man's blindness. Jesus pointed out that the eighteen Galileans who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them were no worse sinners that all the other Galileans (Luke 13:1-5). Paul teaches the same thing. All are equally guilty of sin and have earned death.

For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, - Rom 3:22-24 ESV

Because of the sin of Adam we are all sinners, born into a world of sinful mankind (1 Cor 15:22). We who were to rule the earth have now pulled it down into suffering and death along with us. The whole earth is under God's curse (Gen. 3:17-19), a curse that will remain until Christ returns to make all things new (2 Peter 3:13; Romans 8:19). Yet in Christ we are set free from that curse. In Christ our sins are forgiven.

Yet sin remains with us who have been reborn in Christ in this present age and will until we receive new bodies in the promised resurrection (1 Cor 15:50-55). Meanwhile we struggle with our sinful nature and the temptations of satan throughout our lives. Even after his conversion the Apostle Paul had to acknowledge this.

For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. - Rom 7:18-23 ESV

So back to the man born blind. Note that Jesus does not lay out some general abstract answer to the question of sickness. He simply emphasizes that this particular man's blindness was not a result of some particular sin by him or his parents. However, here was an opportunity. This poor man needed help, whether he asked for it or not, and Jesus would not pass by without reaching out to him. That was why he made the mud poultice for his eyes and tested him by asking him to wash in the pool.

Further, it seems clear that Jesus was using this as an opportunity to teach his disciples how to do the work of God, the work of compassion and love for all caught in the suffering, pain and death of this world. Joined with Jesus as disciples, yes as members of his body, we reach out to heal and bind up those suffering in darkness and pain. And in this manner we make visible the love revealed in Jesus Christ: God loves the world and sent Jesus to set us all free.

We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." - Jhn 9:4-5 ESV

Some translations have Jesus saying, "I must work the works . . ." Indeed he did and does. But an even better reading of the original text has him inviting us all to work with him, even as he works in and through us: "We must work the works of him who sent Jesus." We are God's fellow workers (1 Cor. 3:9). We work with him in this world to bring God's mercy and forgiveness and healing and wholeness for heart, mind and body. This has long been the motivating power behind medical missions, hospitals, hospice care, Christian counseling and millions upon millions of other works of mercy by Christians throughout the world. Through this work of God the light of Jesus, the light of the world is being
displayed for all to see.

This beautiful chapter of John has so much more to teach us. We will continue our study in my next posts.