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!