Objections to Hell #3

Before we read the third objection to hell, ask yourself the following question, “Who do I believe, God or man?” The reason why some objections to hell get off the ground and begin flying is because Christian’s allow the runway for take off to exist. The Bible tells us that God is true, even if every man is proven a liar. If the whole human race says one thing and God says another, who do you believe? God is all wise, all knowing, all seeing! He knows with perfect knowledge the effects that sin has brought upon the human heart. Sin has warped our thinking, it has distorted our judgments. Even our judgments of how we view ourselves! This is why we MUST go to God for our answers, even if God’s answers contradict the whole world of unbelief!

Third Objection. ‘It is unfair to be eternally damned for making a wrong choice, when there are millions of choices. If the stake are so high, then God should make things way more clear!’

If you remember, in the parable that Jesus is telling, He has the rich man in hell asking if God would raise Lazarus from the grave and go warn the rich man’s five brothers about the place of wrath and torment. God tells the rich man that his brothers have God’s word to warn them about hell, and if they won’t listen to God’s word then they won’t listen even if they see someone raise from the grave!

Jesus has the rich man in the parable insinuating “if” things would have been more clear…if he would have had more information…if he would have seen some miraculous event…THEN…he would have never gone to hell!

Has God been unclear? God tells us “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. Because although they knew God they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

God tells us that He has clearly shown Himself in the created order. God has clearly revealed Himself through the things He has made.

His finger prints are on everything!

So why do people then reject Jesus and reject the Gospel? The answer is frightening!

Jesus gives us this answer in the Gospel of John, in the most popular Scripture passage in our land.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish [go to hell] but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved! [John 3:16-17]

What an amazing, wonderful truth! God came into the world to save sinners from eternal destruction! So then, why aren’t some saved? Is it because God hasn’t shown Himself in a clear enough way? The passage continues on, and reveals to us the reason why some people don’t come to Jesus.

“He who believes in Jesus is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” [vs. 18]

Now, read the following verse very carefully.

“And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” [John 3:19]

Light is very clear! It shines clearly into the dark! Jesus is telling us the reason why some people don’t find God is because they don’t want to. They love their sin and refuse to give it up!

These people say that they are open to the truth and are willing to follow the evidence wherever it leads, but in reality they are running as fast as they can from the truth.

In history, Jesus really did raise a man named Lazarus from the dead! Did this amazing feat cause the religious leaders of Jesus day to stop fighting against Him, and begin to follow Jesus? No! Instead they began to plot in how they could kill Lazarus, because his very presence was causing a lot of people to follow Jesus. The religious leaders wanted to get rid of the evidence so that they could continue believing the lie!

And what happened when Jesus Himself rose from the grave on the third day? Did His enemies change their minds? Praise God, some did! But others paid off the guards who witnessed the resurrection! They gave the guards large sums of money to lie about what they saw! In other words, they got rid of the evidence!

In this parable [Luke 16:19-31] Jesus tells us that God has clearly revealed Himself and His salvation in the Scriptures of the Old Testament and New…if a person refuses to bow the knee to Jesus because of God’s Word, then they won’t do so even if they see some miraculous event!

The Bible shows us that God is abundant in loving kindness and mercy. For many He is not only the God of second chances…but of 100’s of chances! But may we not be mistaken! God owes no one second or third chances! God owes no one mercy!

There are times when men and women continue to run away from God, and run into their sin and lies, and God says to them, “if that is where you want to go, then so be it.”

What a terrifying day that would be!

Objections to Hell #2

Now, its time to look at another objection that people have to the place God calls hell. In all truthfulness I am not writing these first and foremost for the unbeliever, in order to convince them. I am writing these to try and equip Christian’s to enable them to answer the critiques and objections that unbelievers give for hell. It can be easy for a young Christian, or a Christian who hasn’t spent much time in the Bible to be pulled away from God’s truths. Of course my desire is also to show the unbeliever that if he or she looks at hell through God’s eyes instead of their own, then all their objections don’t have a leg to stand on.

2nd Objection -- It is unfair for God to send people to hell forever for the sins that they committed in the short time that they were here on earth.

This objection contains several misunderstandings and for times sake I can’t deal with them all at length now.
Let’s look at just a few of them.

1. People view their sin as insignificant and little, why?

Because we sin in thought, word and deed throughout the day…every day…year afer year, for our whole lives.…and lightening never crashes down upon us striking us dead!

God in response shows His patience and grace and continues to pour gifts into rebels lives.

Why does He do this? Showing us that He is merciful, encouraging rebels to turn from sin and come to Him for mercy! But rebels willfully interpret God’s patience and His gifts as God’s acceptance of their sinful lifestyles…and they therefore view their sin as cheap and insignificant! Not every interpretation is correct!

When you and I sin against God, we are dishonoring and violating His infinite character…this means the penalty for this sin must also be infinite in nature.

Charles Spurgeon, a great preacher of the 1800’s, hit the nail on the head when he said, “They must be infinite sins to require an infinite Person to lay down His life for their removal.”

Those who raise this 2nd objection are leaving something else out of the equation, aren’t they? Something very important, did you catch it?

2. If you live your whole life as a rebel against God, willfully sinning against God, willfully rejecting the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who do you think you will be when you die?

The Bible teaches that God created man in His own image. Man was to be a reflection of the God who made him.

God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for all eternity honored, and served one another in perfect harmony, putting each other before self.

When God created man, it is God who served man. God made the world for man to enjoy. God gave man food and drink. God painted beautiful pictures in the glorious sunrise each day. Fanned man with a cool breeze,. Played music for man with the singing birds and bubbling brooks. God gave Adam and Eve to one another for fellowship and enjoyment, the list is endless.

God loved and served someone that was infinitely lesser than Himself.

God gave man everything in creation to enjoy, except one thing. Adam could enjoy absolutely everything, except one tree that God said was off limits. Satan the deceiver, comes to Eve and Adam with a suitcase full of discontent. He doesn’t want them to see the glass as 99.9% full, he wants them to focus on that empty sliver of space there at the top!

He feeds them the big lie and tell them that if they disobey God and eat of the forbidden tree, then they will become like God.

God warned of death. Satan promises junior divinity. Satan lied. On the day they ate of the tree, Adam and Eve spiritually died. They were cut off spiritually from God [who is Spirit]. Even though they looked the same physically, they were very much different!


Now, man wanted to be a god too…but not like the True God…man didn’t want to focus on others and serve others. Sin made him self centered, self focused, self exalting…

Man would make up his own standard of what was good and what was evil, he would no longer follow God’s ways.

Jesus warned that man’s sinfulness was so deep…so engrained…that the only thing that could change him was to be Born Again! To be born again means to be given a new heart from God. To receive spiritual life, a new spiritual birth!

How does God give sinner’s new hearts? How does God set people free from their bondage to sin and Satan? God’s Spirit works through God’s Word to give people new hearts!

It is important for us to remember that God’s Word itself has a focus, Jesus and His Work of salvation are the focal point of the Bible…this is where God changes people’s hearts!

When God changes a sinful rebel’s heart, He begins the good work here in this life. When a person trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior God forgives the sinner because of what Jesus did for Him on Calvary’s cross. Jesus suffered and died in the sinner’s place!
But God work is not done there! Next, throughout this person’s life, God slowly changes them more and more to be like Jesus, this is the work of Jesus' Spirit working ‘in’ the person’s heart. This work will be fully complete on the day this person dies and sees Jesus face to face. The Christian will fight and struggle against sin throughout their whole life, but this battle will be over when they see Jesus face to face. On that day, they will be completely free from their old sinful nature and will never sin again!

This next part is very important!

God offers His Son, Jesus must be received by faith! The Bible tells us that faith is the “assurance of things hoped for the conviction of things NOT seen”. When we die and face God it will be too late for faith…it is appointed for men to die once…and then the judgment!

God offers the Gospel…God offers the new heart here and now…if a person dies without the gospel and without a new heart…they will have that same sinful, rebellious heart for all eternity! With that heart they will continue to sin against God, and God will continue to justly punish them for their ongoing sin.

In Jesus' parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man in hell, never asks to get out of hell! He hated God in life and he hates God in eternity. He only wanted God for the things He gave in life and that’s the only thing he wanted from God in eternity. The rich man, even though he was in hell still viewed himself in an elevated place. He still viewed himself as a rich master and he still viewed Lazarus as someone lower than himself…someone to serve him.

Even in hell, even in eternity we see that he is self focused, and his being self centered has not gone away.

He was a God hater in life and he will be a God hater throughout all eternity!

Do note that the rich man’s request for even the smallest mercy is denied in eternity.

Those who think they can enjoy God’s gifts without God are going to be greatly disappointed!

Objections to Hell #1

I know that there are a multitude of objections to the existence of hell, we are not going to try and look at them all, but instead, over the next little while we will try and look at a handful of them...to see if they really hold water or not.

As you read this today please remember that we are dealing with the God who made us and who now governs all things. This God cannot lie…He is Truth. Many of the objections to hell arise from the lies we tell about ourselves and God…and the objections die a quick death when these lies are rejected. Let’s look at our first objection.

1. It is NOT fair for God to send good, moral, and virtuous people to hell just because they didn’t trust in Jesus for their salvation.

The objector goes on to tell us that there are many good atheists and sincere people from other faiths who don’t trust in Jesus. Is God going to send these good people to hell?

A question must be asked at this point;

Good, moral, and virtuous? According to Who’s standard?

The Bible tells us that God is the Creator of all things. As Creator, God is the High King over all His creation [everything]. As King, He is the One who establishes the Law of the Kingdom. God doesn’t arbitrarily make up laws…God’s law is the expression of His own Holy, and unchanging character.

To violate God’s Law is to violate God’s Person!

And finally as King, God is the Judge who will right every wrong done against Him and His people…every wrong! [Isa 33:22].

This leads us to ask the following question, letting the above direct our reasoning.
Can a person be good, moral, virtuous if they break God’s greatest commandment?
Jesus, who is God become man, tells us that Loving God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind, is the Greatest commandment there is!

This means loving God as He has shown Himself!

God’s clearest expression of Himself was shown to us in the Person of Jesus Christ. God became man, He put in a personal appearance!

And God’s greatest expression of love was shown at Calvary’s Cross! God the Father showing His love by willing to send the One He loved most for sinner’s salvation.

God the Son willing to be sent, in order to suffer and die for sinner’s salvation!

Ask yourself this question. If people are so good, moral and virtuous…then why did God have to leave heaven to suffer and die for us?

The Bible teaches us that the greatest evidence that our hearts are evil, immoral and wicked…is revealed by our hatred of the God who made us…and our hatred towards His only way of salvation revealed in the gospel.

At this point we must think clearly and maturely. Hatred isn’t always expressed by someone saying “I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!” with their face reddening and their feet stomping on the floor! Jesus made it very clear…He said ‘if you love Me, then keep My commandments’. Jesus is telling us that our love for Him [God] is expressed in keeping His commandments, because His commandments are expressions of Who He is.

Of course the opposite is true.

Hatred is also revealed by ‘indifference’. Someone who lives their life ignoring God, His Word, His people shows their dislike for God.

Someone who is always too busy…purposefully steering clear of God…reveals in their actions that they really have an ax to grind with God…

As we look at the rich man in hell [Luke 16]… Jesus, the God who knows the hearts of all people, is revealing in this rich man, what every human heart looks like apart from God’s grace changing it through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The unbelieving heart is revealed in two types of people. One that never darkens the door of the church, and the other that hides in the church, wrongly thinking that God doesn’t have x-ray vision.

Vs 24, “Then the rich man cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’

Note- The heart of those who hate God want nothing to do with God Himself…they only want the good things that God has to offer. The rich man asks God to give him mercy…but notice he doesn’t repent, he doesn’t confess his sin…he doesn’t ask God for forgiveness/pardon…just mercy!

Don't let the important fact pass you by. The rich man never asks to get out of hell! He never says to God... "I want to be with You, I want to love You!" He just wants Lazarus to come to him...to bring him mercy!

When we as sinners come to God for mercy…through the gospel, we are acknowledging that God is Holy, Just and Good…and the only way that we can be forgiven and receive mercy…and at the same time, God remain Holy, Just and Good is by God Himself becoming a man…and fully paying the debt our sins deserved, which is wrath and death!


But when a sinful person asks God for mercy without the gospel…he is saying I do not want to change. I am not asking for forgiveness. God, You change and become unholy and unjust…and give me the opposite of what my sins deserve.

On a side note, do not let the unbeliever define God’s omnipotence [All-powerful], we must listen to God as He describes it.

The unbelieving philosopher will say that if God is all powerful then He can do anything at all, but this is not the Biblical definition…so don’t get sucked into it!

The Bible reveals that God can do anything He wants to do. The Bible also teaches that God cannot lie, cannot be tempted by sin and cannot deny Himself. These things that God cannot do are not a sign of weakness…instead they further magnify His perfection and might!

If God showed mercy on rebels without paying for those rebels sins He would be denying His justice and holiness and thereby denying Himself…something He will NOT do!

When sinners willfully ignore God and His only way of salvation, in Jesus, and yet they still want to receive mercy…they are showing that they are any but good, moral and virtuous…they are showing that they want wickedness to reign unhindered throughout all eternity unchecked by God.

They are saying that God should change and be like them, instead of them changing and being like God! Total wickedness!

For Whom The Bell Tolls

Before we begin to look at some of the objections to hell. It is probably a good idea for us to have some understanding of what “hell” is. Let me emphasize once again that I do not hold to the Bible’s teaching about hell because it fills me with the warm fuzzies. My emotional comfort, my minds understanding is never the ultimate authority in the universe…and I don’t want to rock your world…but neither is yours. God is the absolute!

Today, we will look at one verse and mull it over…

Vs. 22 “The rich man also died and was buried…and being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes…”

Jesus’ teaching in this verse stands in stark opposition to much of what people in our culture like to think about concerning death! I have been to quite a few funerals in my life and what I have found out is that it doesn’t really matter what type of life you lived, or what you believed…because…at ‘your’ funeral…not only is some guy going to dress you to the nines, and put make-up on you to make you look your best, physically, but people are going to say all kinds of nice things about you…whether those things were really a part of you or not!

To tell you the honest truth…it really doesn’t matter what the minister and the rest of the people say about me on this side of death’s veil…if it doesn’t match the info that God has about me on the other side of it. In the end…all the nice words that people make up about me and you means nothing if we didn’t really love Jesus and trust our never dying souls in Him!

Our culture wants to sugar-coat death…everyone gets a “get out of jail free” card!

There is a saying that is popular in our culture, “All paths lead to God.”

To a certain extent this saying is true…when we die we will all stand before God in judgment…so all paths do lead to God the judge…but all paths do NOT lead to salvation!

Jesus tells us very clearly that NOT everyone is going to spend eternity in heaven…and the only other option is NOT non-existence…it is going to a place of suffering…or as Jesus said…torment!

What will be the nature of this suffering? The Bible speaks in language of “fire”!

Some Christian’s interpret the fire language to mean “literal” fire, while others believe that the language of fire is speaking in metaphoric language. In either case, both sides believe that the “fire” whether it is literal or symbolic for something else is going to be horrific…and will cause suffering.


If you have never seen Mel Gibson’s, “The Passion” you should rent it. And as you watch it, witnessing the brutal beating that Jesus suffered physically…remind yourself that the worst torment that Jesus suffered on the cross was not due to the physical torture of the nails that were pinning Him to the cross!

While on the cross, Jesus drank the full cup of God’s wrath…the wrath of hell was poured out on Jesus…because Jesus had voluntarily taken the place of everyone who would trust Him, and call Him Lord!

Those who reject Jesus will drink this cup themselves for all eternity! The fire of God’s judgment and wrath will pour upon their rebellion for endless ages!

God is holy and perfect and His nature must punish evil and wickedness wherever it is found!

The Bible tells us that God is a consuming fire!

But…the suffering of hell is not merely going to be external…as horrible as that will be in and of itself…hell will also be, in a sense, self-made.

Hell is also going to be a place where the suffering is within. For all eternity a person’s lusts, hungers and thirsts will ever increase and yet never be fulfilled!

In hell, a person will fully remember every gift they were given by God, they will see their lack of gratitude in full light, they will remember every opportunity that God gave them to turn from their sin and come to Jesus for mercy, and they will remember their hateful rejection of those opportunities!

One of the most horrifying realities of hell will be that there is absolute no hope, no end in sight, no end…period!

Christian writer, C.S Lewis said that on the day of Judgment there will be two types of people. Those who say to God, “Thy will be done!”, and those to whom God will say, “thy will be done.”

If you want to try and understand what hell will like, begin by looking at the God who made us and then start subtracting!

In my first couple years as a Christian I can remember a man telling us to look in the Bible to see what God’s attributes are…here is a beginning list from Galatians 5: 22-23, God is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Please note that the Bible doesn’t say that God merely has these characteristics…instead…He IS these things!

Next, this preacher encouraged us to go home and grab a Thesaurus…and find the antonym [opposite] of each of these attributes.

The people who tell God I want nothing to do with you…should really know what they are asking for…here are the opposites of God’s character.

Hell will be a place of undiluted hatred, turmoil, discontent, cruelty, wickedness, disloyalty, rage, and chaos.

Because God is absolutely perfect and holy, He cannot tolerate sin! Those who demand on clinging to their sin are telling God they do NOT want Him.

Now, finally, we will begin to look at some of the objections that people have against the Bible’s teaching on hell…next time.