Hello, my friends! I have been on Twitter lately, I noticed that many people had questions about Hell. I have had these same questions too and I want to share the answers that God gave me. But before I get into it (yuh lol) I would like to preface this by reminding you all that salvation is a FREE GIFT (meaning you don't receive it by works) and you CANNOT lose your salvation. So once you are saved, then you are saved for life and NO ONE (including yourself) can take that away from you. (and if you would like more details on that check out "Your Salvation Is Secure" Part 1 & 2) So yeah, let's get into the questions.
1. Why is hell a thing?
Hell is a thing because first, if you don't accept Jesus's gift of paying for your sins, then you would have to pay for it yourself. And two, if you spent your entire life rejecting God, then heaven wouldn't rock with you because heaven is literally just God but more intense. So if someone was ducking mans whole time in life, it would be pretty annoying to spend eternity with Him. So Hell is where people go to be the furthest removed from God.
2. Can you truly have free will if your choices are heaven or hell?
Yes you can have free will if those are your choices. I know that the world has conditioned us to believe that if something is too good to be true then we shouldn't believe it, but yes God is literally that good! So imagine you committed a crime. Let's say you robbed a bank because capitalism is trash. You're about to be sentenced to 25 to life in prison AND you have to pay back all the money you stole (35 million). But then some guy you don't even know comes in. And He's like "Judge! Don't sentence them! I'll go to jail for them AND I'll use my own money to pay back the bank. And since double jeopardy is illegal here, once I do this, they can't be tried for this crime." The judge agrees, but in order to be fair to you and what you want, he asks you if you agree too. You don't have to agree if you don't want to. But I think a lot of people would want to agree to that. Just because one choice is way more favorable than the other, it doesn't mean you don't have a choice. You still have autonomy even when the best choice is obvious.
3. Why is hell so bad?
Hell is a terrible place to be because it is the most removed from God's presence. Since God is the source of ALL goodness, when He is removed from something, all that is left is evil. There is no goodness in hell because, without God, there can be none. So it's not so much the punishment aspect of it, as to why it's bad, but it's bad because God is so far away from there.
4. Why does hell last for eternity?
Hell lasts for eternity because sin is intergenerational. Hell lasts because sin lasts. Just one act of sin can change someone's entire life. (It might even steal their life from the earth) Many people continue with sin because someone sinned against them, thus creating generational trauma for everyone involved. (Ever heard of generational curses?) And I understand that just because someone was hurt, it doesn't mean that they will continue the pain, however, most people who are perpetrators of crimes were previous victims of the same or a similar crime. I mean, think about Adam and Eve. They committed one sin, A super long time ago, and ALL OF HUMANITY is still eating off that first sin. Jesus literally had to come because of it. Sin doesn't just affect one person, it affects many people. It creates a ripple effect in many people's lives and that's why we need Jesus's help to show us how to live better and be better to ourselves and each other.
5. What about people who haven't heard the gospel?
They will be judged based on their consciences. But because our human consciences are flawed, it's better to have Jesus so that our consciences are made new in Him. (Ever had guilt for stuff you shouldn't have been guilty for, like standing up for yourself? That’s an example of a flawed conscience) But there is a great video I saw about this on YouTube by Dr. William Lane Craig that gives a great and well fleshed out answer, and I’ll link it down below.
14 The Gentiles do not have the Law; but whenever they do by instinct what the Law commands, they are their own law, even though they do not have the Law. 15 Their conduct shows that what the Law commands is written in their hearts. Their consciences also show that this is true, since their thoughts sometimes accuse them and sometimes defend them.
Romans 2:14-15 GNT
6. Okay girl, I see your cute little reasonings, and your little arguments, but at the end of the day, there are still people who are suffering for all of eternity. So, again, WHY does that happen?
And y'all I completely understand this question. When I was asking God this question I felt the exact same way. For like two weeks of my life, I literally was mourning for all of the souls in hell. Every time I thought about them I cried. I felt such a pain and sorrow for them. I even bought a book that talked about hell and gave questions and answers that he received from God about it. And as I read the book, I still wasn't satisfied by his answers. They felt so cold and distant compared to the stark reality of what those souls were living in. However after some time, I felt almost a shake in my spirit, and I felt like God was telling me that He felt the exact same way for all of those people. And that if I felt this much for these people that I haven't met, imagine how He feels about them. God created every single one of them, and He spent their entire lives with them. And to put context in this period of my life, while I was mourning these souls God was showing me signs multiple times a day, every single day, that He wanted me to be closer to Him. And this was already after me recommitting myself to Him. He was showing me signs every day to be closer to Him in the relationship that we already had! So I can only imagine what someone's life would look like if they didn't know God, and He was urging them to get to know Him. Because at least for me, God pulled out all the stops. He showed me many signs, and He wasn’t too proud to beg. He put His entire heart into me, and He wanted to be in a deeper relationship with me. And I know that in the same way that He was tugging on me to enter a better relationship with Him, I know that He was doing the same for them.
God cares about every single soul in hell. And God mourns and cries for all of them. He's not distant in His emotions for those people. He cares for them and loves them too. But they ultimately made their decision. They didn't want Him. And it sucks and it hurts to see people suffer because of it, but that is ultimately what they wanted. They didn't want to have God and we have to respect their decision. God is a God of consent. And He will not force us to do anything that we don't want to do. So know that if someone ended up in hell, that God tried His absolute hardest to make sure that no one ended up there. He truly gave it His all, and He STILL loves them dearly.
9 The Lord is not slow to do what he has promised, as some think. Instead, he is patient with you, because he does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants all to turn away from their sins.
2 Peter 3:9 GNT
If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in [a]hell, behold, You are there.
Psalm 139:8 NKJV
