On the Edge of Uncertainty
Seems to me there are a lot of people interested in Hell. I hear folks talking about it in lots of conversations. Maybe they are not really aware of that with which they are dealing. It has become a common word in our society. I suppose the current temperatures are reminders to them, certainly those who are supporting the non-existent “global warming” or “climate change” agenda.
Let me answer three questions for any of you who might be concerned: 1) What is it? 2) How do you get there? 3) How do you avoid it?
What is it? The word is found 12 times in the New Testament, all in the Gospels, uttered each timer by Jesus. It appears one time in James. Here are the descriptions from other passages: Matthew 13:42 – Furnace of fire; Matthew 25:46 – Everlasting punishment; Philippians 3:19 – Destruction; Hebrews 10:39 – Perdition (Judas is called the “son of perdition); 2 Peter 2:17 and Jude 13 – The blackness of darkness forever; Revelation 2:11 and 20:6 – The second death; Revelation 19:20; 20:10; 21:14; 21:8 – A lake of fire burning with brimstone. Maybe the most important definition is found in 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 – taking vengeance with flaming fire on those who don’t know God and on those who don’t obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction from the Lord’s presence and from His glorious strength. . . . Hell is a forever irreversible state of consciousness and ruin in the absence of God’s presence and glory. Our conscience will be forever screaming, “I told you, I told you!”
How do you get there? The proverbial “do nothing.” It is the natural state of mankind. We are born separated from God. We are without hope or power to change our circumstances or situations. Every human is born spiritually dead. Ephesians 2:1-9 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins 2 in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler who exercises authority over the lower heavens,[a] the spirit now working in the disobedient.[b] 3 We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy,because of His great love that He had for us,[c] 5 made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! 6 Together with Christ Jesus He also raised us up and seated us in the heavens, 7 so that in the coming ages He might display the immeasurable riches of His grace through His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast.
How do you avoid it? There is only only one path that leads to redemption. In John 3:1ff, Jesus talk to Nicodemus about “new birth.” Jesus said “you must be born again.” The simple Truth is that redemption from the curse of sin and death is by GRACE alone, through FAITH alone, in CHRIST alone. There is a broad road to destruction, but the road to Heaven is narrow. Romans 10;9-10,13 tells us that if we “confess with out mouth, and believe in our heart, that God has raised Christ from the dead after His sacrificial death in our place, we can be born into the family of God.
Find a Church near you that proclaims the Truth of God’s Word.
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