In my previous post, I discussed the justification of hell, or, how a loving God can send someone to hell. I am, in this post, continuing that thought, and concluding this series on hell.
Why a Man Goes to Hell
Jesus, in the book of Matthew, speaks of two roads. The first is a broad way that leads to death and destruction. The second is the narrow way laid out beyond the straight gate that leads to eternal life. It is SIN that puts people on the broad road that leads to death. The Bible says in Romans 6:23, “The wages of sin is death.” Sin is anything we do that is contrary to the law of God. If it is contrary to the Bible, the word of God, it is sin. Sin is the reason men are on their way to hell. Sin is a destroyer of the body, and a killer of the soul. Sin places men on their death beds, and then drags them to the dark pit of an everlasting, burning hell. People accuse sin-condemning preachers of being full of hate. There is not an ounce of truth to that. Actually, the opposite is true. It is the compromising preacher who is full of hate. Do I hate a child if I rebuke him as he is placing his hand on a hot stove? No, not for a moment. I would have a heart full of hate if I saw a child preparing to place his hand on a hot stove and refused to warn him! And there are hate-filled preachers, priests, and ministers across our country who are watching their congregations plunge into hell, and they fail to warn them! Sin is a killer. It is because of gross sin that we have HIV. It is because of sin that there are sexually transmitted diseases. It is sin that causes many cases of cirrhosis of the liver. And sin is leading the multitudes into hell.
In the previous post, I presented answers to the question, “How can a loving God send someone to hell?” This question only looks at the loving nature of God. “LOVE” IS NOT GOD’S ONLY ATTRIBUTE. God hates sin. Contrary to what religious idiots claim today, Jesus Christ HATES sin. I saw signs around the city of Indianapolis, Indiana some time ago that read, “Would Jesus Discriminate?” The answer is, “Yes, He most certainly discriminates against sin, which He hates.” When He comes back, I Timothy 4:1 tells us that He is coming to JUDGE the quick and the dead. Look at Hebrews chapter 1, a chapter concerning Jesus Christ, the Son of God:
Hebrews 1:8, 9 – “But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast LOVED RIGHTEOUSNESS, and HATED INIQUITY; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.”
This passage is the account of the Father speaking to the Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, hated iniquity! He, according to Hebrews 13:8, is the same yesterday, today, and forever! Jesus Christ HATES sin! If the Jesus you know does not hate sin, then the Jesus you know is not the Jesus of the Bible! If the Bible calls something a sin, an iniquity, an abomination, or a transgression, then Jesus Christ absolutely detests it!
When I understand how much God the Father hates sin, and how much Jesus Christ His Son hates sin, I cease to ask, “How can a loving God send someone to hell?” I then realize the question to ask is, “How can a HOLY God who hates sin NOT send someone to hell?” Hell is what we deserve. The WAGES of sin is death. Wages are what we have earned. They are the payment for which we have worked. They are what are rightfully ours. We deserve hell. If I got what I deserved, I would be in sin or in hell today. Sin must be punished. God cannot, and does not, overlook sin. He cannot even look upon it – He is absolutely holy in the purest sense.
So, man is on his way to hell because of sin. However, man does not go to hell MERELY because of sin. If that were the case, we would all go to hell, because Romans 3:23 states plainly, “For all have sinned.” But there is a group of people who have sinned, and yet are not going to hell. Therefore, it is not correct to say that men go to hell merely because of sin. Sin is definitely why people are on the road to hell, but if they go to hell, it will not be merely because they have sinned.
Now, I do not doubt that some readers are having a fit right now. Some teach very strongly that people go to hell because of sin. To these people, my statement that people do not go to hell merely because of sin seems blasphemous. They are quick to bring up a couple verses of scripture.
I Corinthians 6:9, 10 – “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”
“See, there! People go to hell because of sin,” they say. Yes, but finish the quotation. Read the next verse.
I Corinthians 6:11 – “And SUCH WERE SOME OF YOU: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”
Did you catch what the Apostle said? There will be some in heaven who committed some of those sinful acts. “Such were some of you!” But he goes on. “But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus!” It does not matter what anyone has done, people can be forgiven, and have eternal life in spite of any sins they have committed.
God sent His only begotten Son into the world to pay for OUR sins. Jesus Christ did just that. Someone had to die for our sins. Either we die for them, or we trust Christ’s payment for our sins. But a holy, righteous, perfect God cannot overlook sin. It must dealt with. Because God did not want us to die in our sins, He sent Jesus Christ to pay the penalty for us. God provided a way out of hell for us. The escape is Jesus Christ, and He is the only escape. Because there is an escape, people go to hell not merely because of sin; but because they rejected the escape. To illustrate this, let’s say I am on death row for murder. But one day, I get a message. The prison doors swing open and I am told that I can go free because the governor signed my pardon. However, I refuse to go. I tell the guard that I do not wish to be pardoned. So, he closes the door, and I am left in prison. I am now on death row, NOT FOR MURDER, because my murderous act was pardoned. But now, I am on death row because I rejected the pardon. And that is where people are today. Yes, it is sin that put them on death row. But when Jesus died on the cross, He paid the penalty for us. The prison doors have swung open. If you do not accept the pardon, there is nothing left for you do but to die and go to hell. I spoke in my previous post concerning the fact that people climb mountains to go to hell, and this is the greatest mountain of all! It is Mount Calvary that people climb over to go to hell. They climb over the cross of Jesus Christ to go to hell. People go to hell, not merely because of sin, but because they reject Jesus Christ, and therefore they are not washed in the blood of Jesus!
Mark 16:16 – “He that believeth not shall be damned.”
John 3:18, 19 – “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”
John 3:36 – “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
John 8:24 – “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.”
Over and over, we are told by Jesus Christ that we are damned to hell for not believing on Him! People go to hell because they do not trust Jesus Christ to save them from their sins! People are on death row because of sin, but they actually die because they reject the pardon. And in the same manner, people are on their way to hell because of sin, but they actually go there because they reject the pardon – the blood of Jesus.
How Much is the Blood of Jesus Worth?
Hell is the assessment of the blood of Jesus Christ. How much is the blood of Jesus worth? The reader may say, “You can’t put a value on the blood of Jesus.” But God the Father did just that – He put a value on the blood of Jesus Christ. God explains clearly how much the blood of Jesus is worth.
For the sake of emphasis, allow me to state clearly again that a man does not go to hell merely because of sin. Jesus completely took care of our sin. He died to pay for your sin. If you go to hell, you do not go to pay off your sin – your sin has already been paid off. If you go to hell, you will go because you rejected the blood of the precious Son of God.
God has determined that hell is a fair punishment for rejecting the blood of Jesus. Only those who go to hell will know the fullness of what Jesus suffered on the cross. It is no coincidence that the man in hell suffers the very tortures that Jesus suffered on the cross.
First, Jesus suffered PHYSICALLY on the cross. His back was torn to shreds as He who was perfect was whipped as a criminal. His beard was plucked out. The crown of thorns was pressed into His skull as the blood ran down His face. Nails pierced His hands and feet. He was mocked, blindfolded, beaten, and rejected. He suffered physically, and hell is a place of physical torment. The rich man who went to hell cried out, “I am tormented in this flame!” To pay for rejecting the physical sufferings of Christ, it is only right to suffer physically.
On the cross, Jesus was forsaken by all His disciples and betrayed by His very friends. He even suffered something I will never have to suffer – separation from the Father. He suffered that bleak separation so that I may never know what it is to be separated from God. He has promised His children, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Only the soul who goes to hell will know what Jesus meant when He cried, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me!” Hell is a place where, in spite of any prayers directed toward God Almighty, not one prayer will be heard; not one prayer will be answered. It is a place of separation from God!
At Calvary, Jesus Christ suffered thirst like no other man has thirsted. He was not given water, but rather vinegar mingled with gall. No water for the suffering Saviour! He suffered this so that those who trust Him would never thirst! But those who reject Him, when they get to hell, will know how much Jesus thirsted upon the cross. In hell, the rich man cried out, “Send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue!” But just as there was no water for the suffering Saviour, there is no water for the suffering soul in hell.
At the cross of Christ on that dreadful day of the death of the Son of God, the sun hid his face. For three hours in the middle of the day, Golgotha was as dark as midnight. We who are saved will never know darkness to that degree. Yes, we may see dark days, but we have a promise that the Day Star would arise in our hearts! But the soul that goes to hell, on the other hand, will experience that darkness, for hell is a place of outer darkness!
When the sufferings of Jesus Christ are examined, we understand clearly that hell is the only punishment equal to the sufferings of Christ that men reject. Let me say again that no one goes to hell to pay off their sins. Jesus paid them off, and if you reject His payment, you will go to hell for rejecting His blood. If men only went to hell for lying, ten years in hell might be enough. If men only go to hell for stealing, cheating, cursing, swearing, fornicating, or other such sins, one hundred years in hell might be enough. I spoke to a preacher who did not believe in hell. He said, “I do not believe that God sends people to an eternal hell for committing temporary sins.” That man is wrong. Men do not go to hell for committing the temporary sins of lying, stealing, and cheating. Men go to hell for rejecting the ETERNAL blood of Jesus Christ, and offending the ETERNAL Spirit of God, and disobeying the ETERNAL word of God, and denying the ETERNAL redemption purchased by the blood of the ETERNAL Son of God, Jesus Christ.
How much is the blood worth? If you reject it, you cannot pay it off by suffering ten years in hell; it is worth more than that. You cannot pay off your rejection of it by suffering a hundred years in hell. You’ll be in hell forever trying to pay off your rejection of the blood of Jesus Christ, and it is worth so much that you’ll never pay it off!
What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
Oh, precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow.
No other fount I know;
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!*
*Robert Lowry
Why a Man Goes to Hell
Jesus, in the book of Matthew, speaks of two roads. The first is a broad way that leads to death and destruction. The second is the narrow way laid out beyond the straight gate that leads to eternal life. It is SIN that puts people on the broad road that leads to death. The Bible says in Romans 6:23, “The wages of sin is death.” Sin is anything we do that is contrary to the law of God. If it is contrary to the Bible, the word of God, it is sin. Sin is the reason men are on their way to hell. Sin is a destroyer of the body, and a killer of the soul. Sin places men on their death beds, and then drags them to the dark pit of an everlasting, burning hell. People accuse sin-condemning preachers of being full of hate. There is not an ounce of truth to that. Actually, the opposite is true. It is the compromising preacher who is full of hate. Do I hate a child if I rebuke him as he is placing his hand on a hot stove? No, not for a moment. I would have a heart full of hate if I saw a child preparing to place his hand on a hot stove and refused to warn him! And there are hate-filled preachers, priests, and ministers across our country who are watching their congregations plunge into hell, and they fail to warn them! Sin is a killer. It is because of gross sin that we have HIV. It is because of sin that there are sexually transmitted diseases. It is sin that causes many cases of cirrhosis of the liver. And sin is leading the multitudes into hell.
In the previous post, I presented answers to the question, “How can a loving God send someone to hell?” This question only looks at the loving nature of God. “LOVE” IS NOT GOD’S ONLY ATTRIBUTE. God hates sin. Contrary to what religious idiots claim today, Jesus Christ HATES sin. I saw signs around the city of Indianapolis, Indiana some time ago that read, “Would Jesus Discriminate?” The answer is, “Yes, He most certainly discriminates against sin, which He hates.” When He comes back, I Timothy 4:1 tells us that He is coming to JUDGE the quick and the dead. Look at Hebrews chapter 1, a chapter concerning Jesus Christ, the Son of God:
Hebrews 1:8, 9 – “But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast LOVED RIGHTEOUSNESS, and HATED INIQUITY; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.”
This passage is the account of the Father speaking to the Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, hated iniquity! He, according to Hebrews 13:8, is the same yesterday, today, and forever! Jesus Christ HATES sin! If the Jesus you know does not hate sin, then the Jesus you know is not the Jesus of the Bible! If the Bible calls something a sin, an iniquity, an abomination, or a transgression, then Jesus Christ absolutely detests it!
When I understand how much God the Father hates sin, and how much Jesus Christ His Son hates sin, I cease to ask, “How can a loving God send someone to hell?” I then realize the question to ask is, “How can a HOLY God who hates sin NOT send someone to hell?” Hell is what we deserve. The WAGES of sin is death. Wages are what we have earned. They are the payment for which we have worked. They are what are rightfully ours. We deserve hell. If I got what I deserved, I would be in sin or in hell today. Sin must be punished. God cannot, and does not, overlook sin. He cannot even look upon it – He is absolutely holy in the purest sense.
So, man is on his way to hell because of sin. However, man does not go to hell MERELY because of sin. If that were the case, we would all go to hell, because Romans 3:23 states plainly, “For all have sinned.” But there is a group of people who have sinned, and yet are not going to hell. Therefore, it is not correct to say that men go to hell merely because of sin. Sin is definitely why people are on the road to hell, but if they go to hell, it will not be merely because they have sinned.
Now, I do not doubt that some readers are having a fit right now. Some teach very strongly that people go to hell because of sin. To these people, my statement that people do not go to hell merely because of sin seems blasphemous. They are quick to bring up a couple verses of scripture.
I Corinthians 6:9, 10 – “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”
“See, there! People go to hell because of sin,” they say. Yes, but finish the quotation. Read the next verse.
I Corinthians 6:11 – “And SUCH WERE SOME OF YOU: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”
Did you catch what the Apostle said? There will be some in heaven who committed some of those sinful acts. “Such were some of you!” But he goes on. “But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus!” It does not matter what anyone has done, people can be forgiven, and have eternal life in spite of any sins they have committed.
God sent His only begotten Son into the world to pay for OUR sins. Jesus Christ did just that. Someone had to die for our sins. Either we die for them, or we trust Christ’s payment for our sins. But a holy, righteous, perfect God cannot overlook sin. It must dealt with. Because God did not want us to die in our sins, He sent Jesus Christ to pay the penalty for us. God provided a way out of hell for us. The escape is Jesus Christ, and He is the only escape. Because there is an escape, people go to hell not merely because of sin; but because they rejected the escape. To illustrate this, let’s say I am on death row for murder. But one day, I get a message. The prison doors swing open and I am told that I can go free because the governor signed my pardon. However, I refuse to go. I tell the guard that I do not wish to be pardoned. So, he closes the door, and I am left in prison. I am now on death row, NOT FOR MURDER, because my murderous act was pardoned. But now, I am on death row because I rejected the pardon. And that is where people are today. Yes, it is sin that put them on death row. But when Jesus died on the cross, He paid the penalty for us. The prison doors have swung open. If you do not accept the pardon, there is nothing left for you do but to die and go to hell. I spoke in my previous post concerning the fact that people climb mountains to go to hell, and this is the greatest mountain of all! It is Mount Calvary that people climb over to go to hell. They climb over the cross of Jesus Christ to go to hell. People go to hell, not merely because of sin, but because they reject Jesus Christ, and therefore they are not washed in the blood of Jesus!
Mark 16:16 – “He that believeth not shall be damned.”
John 3:18, 19 – “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”
John 3:36 – “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
John 8:24 – “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.”
Over and over, we are told by Jesus Christ that we are damned to hell for not believing on Him! People go to hell because they do not trust Jesus Christ to save them from their sins! People are on death row because of sin, but they actually die because they reject the pardon. And in the same manner, people are on their way to hell because of sin, but they actually go there because they reject the pardon – the blood of Jesus.
How Much is the Blood of Jesus Worth?
Hell is the assessment of the blood of Jesus Christ. How much is the blood of Jesus worth? The reader may say, “You can’t put a value on the blood of Jesus.” But God the Father did just that – He put a value on the blood of Jesus Christ. God explains clearly how much the blood of Jesus is worth.
For the sake of emphasis, allow me to state clearly again that a man does not go to hell merely because of sin. Jesus completely took care of our sin. He died to pay for your sin. If you go to hell, you do not go to pay off your sin – your sin has already been paid off. If you go to hell, you will go because you rejected the blood of the precious Son of God.
God has determined that hell is a fair punishment for rejecting the blood of Jesus. Only those who go to hell will know the fullness of what Jesus suffered on the cross. It is no coincidence that the man in hell suffers the very tortures that Jesus suffered on the cross.
First, Jesus suffered PHYSICALLY on the cross. His back was torn to shreds as He who was perfect was whipped as a criminal. His beard was plucked out. The crown of thorns was pressed into His skull as the blood ran down His face. Nails pierced His hands and feet. He was mocked, blindfolded, beaten, and rejected. He suffered physically, and hell is a place of physical torment. The rich man who went to hell cried out, “I am tormented in this flame!” To pay for rejecting the physical sufferings of Christ, it is only right to suffer physically.
On the cross, Jesus was forsaken by all His disciples and betrayed by His very friends. He even suffered something I will never have to suffer – separation from the Father. He suffered that bleak separation so that I may never know what it is to be separated from God. He has promised His children, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Only the soul who goes to hell will know what Jesus meant when He cried, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me!” Hell is a place where, in spite of any prayers directed toward God Almighty, not one prayer will be heard; not one prayer will be answered. It is a place of separation from God!
At Calvary, Jesus Christ suffered thirst like no other man has thirsted. He was not given water, but rather vinegar mingled with gall. No water for the suffering Saviour! He suffered this so that those who trust Him would never thirst! But those who reject Him, when they get to hell, will know how much Jesus thirsted upon the cross. In hell, the rich man cried out, “Send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue!” But just as there was no water for the suffering Saviour, there is no water for the suffering soul in hell.
At the cross of Christ on that dreadful day of the death of the Son of God, the sun hid his face. For three hours in the middle of the day, Golgotha was as dark as midnight. We who are saved will never know darkness to that degree. Yes, we may see dark days, but we have a promise that the Day Star would arise in our hearts! But the soul that goes to hell, on the other hand, will experience that darkness, for hell is a place of outer darkness!
When the sufferings of Jesus Christ are examined, we understand clearly that hell is the only punishment equal to the sufferings of Christ that men reject. Let me say again that no one goes to hell to pay off their sins. Jesus paid them off, and if you reject His payment, you will go to hell for rejecting His blood. If men only went to hell for lying, ten years in hell might be enough. If men only go to hell for stealing, cheating, cursing, swearing, fornicating, or other such sins, one hundred years in hell might be enough. I spoke to a preacher who did not believe in hell. He said, “I do not believe that God sends people to an eternal hell for committing temporary sins.” That man is wrong. Men do not go to hell for committing the temporary sins of lying, stealing, and cheating. Men go to hell for rejecting the ETERNAL blood of Jesus Christ, and offending the ETERNAL Spirit of God, and disobeying the ETERNAL word of God, and denying the ETERNAL redemption purchased by the blood of the ETERNAL Son of God, Jesus Christ.
How much is the blood worth? If you reject it, you cannot pay it off by suffering ten years in hell; it is worth more than that. You cannot pay off your rejection of it by suffering a hundred years in hell. You’ll be in hell forever trying to pay off your rejection of the blood of Jesus Christ, and it is worth so much that you’ll never pay it off!
What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
Oh, precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow.
No other fount I know;
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!*
*Robert Lowry
