Difficult Questions: Does God Send People To Hell?
From time to time, we dig into Scripture and seek answers to difficult questions from the Bible. Today, we are asking the question: “Does God send people to hell?”
The answer to this question is a resounding NO!
“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left….“Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. Matthew 25:31-33, 41 (New Living Translation, NLT) emphasis mine
In this passage Jesus is speaking about the final judgement when He must judge all, and then those who have denied Him and did not receive Him will be sentenced to eternal hell fire. God is just and when people reject the only cure for sin, then they are left with the results of their choice. God does not send people to hell- their refusal to accept Him sends them there.
If God is to be just in all He does, He must allow everyone to reap what they have sown. Those who have chosen to follow Him will reap life everlasting. Those who choose to remain separated from God will reap separation from God forever in the Lake of Fire. That is just. If God permitted those who rejected Him to receive the same reward as those who accepted Him, He would be unjust.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 (New Living translation, NLT)
God’s justice requires that sin be paid for with death. However, He provided the way for us to escape it- by faith in Christ Jesus our Lord. He does not want us to go to hell. His desire is that we are all saved and spend eternity with Him. If that was not His will, He would not have permitted Jesus, to lower Himself to become a man, die the most brutal death imaginable, and go to hell in our place. God never intended for man to go to hell- it was designed for the devil and his demons, according to the passage above from Matthew 25.
God does not want any of us in hell. And it is not God who sends man to hell. Man sends himself to hell. God will not violate our will and force us to choose Him. Every one of us has a choice- whether to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior- or not to accept Him. And the place we go for eternity hinges on that one single choice. Jesus paid the penalty for sin, and when people decide they do not want to receive that payment, then they must pay the sin penalty themselves. That payment is made by spending eternity in hell, separated from God forever in a place of unimaginable torment.
God loves you and He does not want your sin and your decision not to choose Jesus to send you to hell. Today you can choose the Lord and receive the payment for your sin by speaking a simple prayer out loud from your heart. Here is a sample prayer you can use- or speak something similar in your own words.
Dear Lord, I know I have sinned. I receive Jesus as my personal Savior. I believe He died for my sin and rose from the dead. I receive Him as my Lord and I will follow Him for the rest of my life. I receive Your forgiveness, and I receive Your promise of eternal life with You in heaven. Take my life and do something with it. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
If you meant that prayer, you are born-again. You can now be assured that you will spend eternity with the Lord. Now, find a good church that teaches you truths from the Word of God and begin to read your Bible daily, asking God to show you things from his Word. Talk to God everyday in prayer- the same way you would talk to someone standing right next to you. Ask him to fill you with the Holy Spirit, which will give you power to be a representative for Him in the earth. God has good things for you and He does not want you or anyone to be in hell.
