Many people have come to think that hell is too severe for the sins committed today. We’ve actually become accustomed to sin. In doing so, we’ve determined that God should not judge people so harshly.
What we must realize is whom we have sinned against. Sinning against our fellow man is not the same as sinning against Almighty God. Thomas Aquinas, who was considered the greatest theologian of the medieval church, said this in the book, “Hell on Trial,” “Now a sin that is against God is infinite; the higher the person against whom it is committed, the graver the sin—it is more criminal to strike a head of state than a private citizen—and God is of infinite greatness. Therefore an infinite punishment is deserved for a sin committed against Him.”
Throughout our lives, God gives everyone countless opportunities to repent and receive Him as Lord and Savior. He gives people dreams and visions to keep back their souls from the pit (Job 33). Those who have gone to hell pushed God away. They knew the truth (Rom. 1) but willingly rejected Jesus, even knowing the judgment to come. God will not tolerate sin, and will never allow it in heaven.
Revelation 21:27 (NKJV) reads, “But there shall by no means enter it [heaven] anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”
To further understand why sinful man cannot enter heaven, we must realize that God’s nature is different from ours. Deuteronomy 4:24 and Hebrews 12:29 say He is a “consuming fire.” All of us would be consumed by His presence in our natural, fallen state as sinners.
Consider this analogy:
If I stuck my hand into a fire to retrieve something and the fire burned me, I wouldn’t say, “Why did that fire burn me? Why was that fire mean to me?” No, of course not. The nature of the fire is to burn. My hand and the fire are not compatible. Neither are a holy God and sinful man compatible. God has to give us a new nature and a new spirit that’s compatible with His. He can only do this if we trust in what Jesus did for us on the cross and not in our own works. Our good works are as filthy rags to God (Isa. 64:6). God considers our trust as if we were righteous, and when we repent of our sins, Jesus washes them away by the payment of His shed blood. He took the punishment for us on the cross. There is only one way a sinful man can enter a perfect heaven.
Some may think that the endless duration of hell is unfair compared to 80 or 90 years of a sinful life. They feel the crime doesn’t fit the punishment. There are at least three reasons why time is the wrong premise.
Sign up NOW for a FREE Charisma Magazine Online 30-day trial!
1. Time spent in hell to pay off sins would be considered works. Ephesians 2:8-9 says we are saved by grace, not by works. Time could never pay for sins.
2. Our time is not valuable enough to pay for sins. Only the shed blood of Jesus has that value. “Without shedding of blood, there is no remission [of sin]” (Heb. 9:22). Only someone who is eternal and has never sinned can pay for sins.
3. The time it takes to commit a murder may only be a few seconds, yet the time justified for the punishment may be a lifetime. The time it takes to commit the crime has nothing to do with the time allocated for the punishment.
Jesus said in Matthew 12:37, “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
If a person says, “I don’t believe the Bible,” they are ignoring the warning and choosing to go against the words of Jesus and the Bible. Their own words determine where they will spend their eternity.
Our free will to choose is a very powerful and precious benefit. However, there are consequences we will suffer, and we will be accountable for our choices.
Join Charisma Magazine Online to follow everything the Holy Spirit is doing around the world!
Bill Wiese is the author of the New York Times bestselling book 23 Minutes in Hell, the story of his life-changing visit to hell in 1998. Bill has since authored six additional book titles and continues to share his experience around the world. He and his wife, Annette, founded Soul Choice Ministries in late 2006 and have dedicated their lives to reaching the unsaved. For more information about Bill Wiese and Soul Choice Ministries, please visit us at: https://soulchoiceministries.org/
You can find more of Bill’s teachings at: https://www.youtube.com/user/BillWieseTV
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.