S. Michael Houdmann Supporter Got Questions Ministries

The Bible says that God created hell for Satan and the wicked angels who rebelled against Him, but there are people in hell also (Matthew 25:41). Both angelic beings and human beings are in hell fo...

Login or Sign Up to view the rest of this answer.

July 01 2013 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Joann Schlachter Supporter

God sends no one to hell, we send ourselves there by choosing to do wrong and avoiding the good. If we live a life of corruption and don't take Christ as our saviour we will not want to be with Him when He comes for us at the end of our life on this earth. Our "will" will have already been set against Him at the moment of death because of our chronic bad choices.
Please don't mistake my saying this to mean that we get to heaven by doing good works. It is not an either/or. Rather an and/both in regards to Faith and Works. Faith encourages good works and by doing the good things required of the Christian, our faith life is enhanced. So now is the time to respond to the Masters call.

July 03 2013 • 1 response • Vote Up • Share • Report

Terry Galloway Supporter Christ follower, Bible lover, mission of sharing the gospel

Quite simply, the Good News would not be good news unless all of us deserved hell and realized that we would be sent there by a just God who made onlyone way for us to escape. The modern gospel message has erased hell from the gospel so that no one has to feel bad. This is tragic because a sinner only comes to understand the Good News of the true gospel by becoming so broken of heart over their sins against a Holy God that they surrender to Christ in desperation.

If we don't realize that our nature is that of a sinner that goes to hell, we don't cry out to Jesus to save us from what we deserve. Then we also don't die to our old life to be given salvation's new life that we are overjoyed to receive. Jesus said that a person must be born again. (John 3) God only gives certain people to Jesus to save-- John 17 which really is the Lord's Prayer. Matthew 5:20 Jesus says that we must be more righteous than the religious people who knew all the rules in order to enter heaven. That means that our hearts have to be righteous. We will give an account to Jesus for every idle thought, word spoken and deed done. We are dirty and dirtier than we ever think we are. God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. So if we will humble ourselves, confess how filthy sinful we are, call on the name of Jesus Christ to save our souls and give us a new spiritual birth, we will be saved. But remember, the soul that sins shall die (Ezekiel 33) and if the righteous are barely saved, what will happen to godless sinners? (1 Peter 4:18)

From the beginning, God is fully a God of wrath and justice. But He is also fully mercy, compassion and grace. But a price must be paid for our sin. He set up the sacrificial system that required a blood sacrifice from the beginning. He sent Jesus, fully God and fully man, to come to die for man's sin,but He still determines which people will have ears to hear Jesus' message of salvation and redemption. Most will refuse Jesus' offer of salvation because they want to own their own lives when Jesus owns the life of the person He saves.1 Corinthians 6:19 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. 

We have to tell others the truth of the gospel, but still salvation is ultimately a gift given by God so that no man may boast. We just don't know who is going to receive the new heart of regeneration (Ezekiel 36:25-27) because it is received by the Holy Spirit's work. We can see the results of the regenerated heart, but we have no control over its occurence or timing. We pray for people to be saved. All people go to hell unless they are born again. This is conversion. False converts don't fully appreciate what they have been saved from-- certain punishment in hell for their sins. True converts are praising God and thanking Jesus for His sacrifice and defeat of death by His resurrection. The resurrected Christ is our only Way and our only hope. In Christ alone is the way of salvation.

We live in times where hell is not part of the gospel message. 2 Timothy 4:3
For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. Remember, it is not the sin that goes to hell, but the sinner. Jesus said Matthew 10:28
“Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

May 01 2014 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Carl Naitram Supporter

I used to be a hellfire and brimstone preacher..but Some word studies of hades and sheol and aion is making me think differently.
But to respond to specific point in your article RE: about us sinning and receiving eternal judgment/torment.  I believe with all my being that God is Holy and hates sin.  That He is Just or fair. He himself tells us in His word to use a just balance oran eye for an eye etc.   Therefore why would he judge a temporal sin that sometimes even bring judgement to our bodies or situations with an eternal sentence not just incarcerated but tormented with fire among other things that we hell fire and brimstone preachers include.  Why would a Just God allow a 10 year old or less who committed the regular sins and not what we refer to as the cardinal sins and sentence them to an eternity in hellfire. That certainly does not sound like the God who tells us to forgive those who have sinned against us..even if it is Seventy times seven and to at least  use the eye for an eye principle even though the Lord told us that He came to change that and to be gracious etc to those who have hurt us.

July 02 2013 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Chris Eleam Supporter Chris Eleam

What comes to your mind when you think of Hell? A fiery place presided over by a red devil with a pitch fork and demons surrounded by thousands of suffering people in unthinkable pain.  The concept of burning forever and ever has fostered fear in the minds of millions of people, why is that? Do you feel that hell is a place where the wicked are tormented forever and ever without the hope of ever being released? If so you are not alone because many of the mainstream churches teach that hell is God’s means of punishing  those who have been judged unfavorable by him for their lack of repentance of sin. 
To shed light on this matter I think it is important to first see what happens to us at death. Recall what the apostle Paul said about  the wages of sin at Romans 5:12, “Through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because they had all sinned.” The Scriptures also state: “The wages sin pays is death.” (Romans 6:23) Since the punishment for sin is death, the fundamental question in determining the true nature of hell is: What happens to us when we die?

Many feel that at death some kind of life form like a soul or spirit leaves the body and goes to a place waiting for God to judge whether the person is deserving of life or death. Let us go back to the Garden of Eden and review the account of the creation of the first man and woman. The Bible states: “Jehovah God proceeded to form the man out of dust from the ground and to blow into his nostrils the breath of life and man came to be a living soul”. Did you notice that the man was not given a soul but once the breath of life was blown into his nostrils he came to be a living soul? The force of life or spirit was the life force that animated the body, much like an electric current is able to activate a variety of machines or appliances. This life force of spirit is independent of the body never taking on any personality of the characteristics of the one it inhabits. 

What may shed more light on this subject is having an understanding how the Hebrew and Greek word for spirit is translated in the bible. The Greek pneu′ma (spirit) comes from pne′o, meaning “brdrp;eathe or blow,” and the Hebrew ru′ach (spirit) is believed to come from a root having the same meaning. Ru′ach and pneu′ma, then, basically mean “breath” but have extended meanings beyond that basic sense. (Compare Hab 2:19; Re 13:15.) They can also mean wind; the vital force in living creatures; one’s spirit; spirit persons, including God and his angelic creatures; and God’s active force, or holy spirit. So then let's get to the real question What is Hell? At death everyone goes to the common grave called in Hebrew sheol and in greek hades. In the Bible, we find the first occurrence of the word “Sheol” at Genesis 37:35. Often translated in the KJV of the bible as grave. Following the apparent loss of his beloved son Joseph, the patriarch Jacob refused to take comfort, declaring: “I shall go down mourning to my son into Sheol!” Believing that his son was dead, Jacob desired to die and be in Sheol. Later, nine of Jacob’s older children wanted to take his youngest son, Benjamin, down to Egypt to find relief from the famine. However, Jacob refused, saying: “My son will not go down with you men, because his brother is dead and he has been left by himself. If a fatal accident should befall him on the way on which you would go, then you would certainly bring down my gray hairs with grief to Sheol.” (Genesis 42:36, 38)

 These two references link death, not some kind of afterlife, with Sheol. Did you know that at Jesus death he went to Hades or hell> The bible writer Luke confirms this Neither was [Jesus] forsaken in Hades [hell, King James Version] nor did his flesh see corruption.” (Acts 2:31) Where was the hell to which even Jesus went? The apostle Paul wrote: “I handed on to you . . . That Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that he was buried, yes, that he has been raised up the third day according to the Scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15:3, 4) So Jesus was in hell, the grave, but he was not abandoned there, for he was raised up, or resurrected. What conclusions can we draw from this? What is Hell? Hell is the common grave of mankind where Jesus went there at death, the righteous man Job prayed to go there to end his suffering Job14:13 and the patriarch Jacob asked to go to Sheol once learning that he had been deceived by his sons to think his son Joseph had been killed by wild beasts. What is Hell? The common grave of mankind where all mankind goes at death.

July 02 2013 • 2 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Michele Straitiff Supporter Servant of The Lord Jesus Christ, 53, female

Dear Seeker, This question is not so much about the answer I would give as it is your question to know and to hope to understand the character of God. We know that God is Love, we know that God, our Father is all knowing. Isn't it true that many thousands of people, if not more, do not want to know God. Is it true that these same people will do anything to not think of, here about or consider His providence, His work? Many can not even tolerate a suggestion that He created the world that we live in, or even that He created them. To do so would take the control over their own lives out of their own hands. So many that want to be their own gods. Can you imagine the sorrow of the Heart of Our God to see the rejection of Him, the rejection of the Truth, even in it's most elementary form? It is not He that made Hell for us, it is us that reach and strain towards Hell, dear friend, because we refuse to acknowledge our position under Him. He is the Creator, We are the created. God Bless you dear in your search for Him. God grant you all the Wisdom you seek, which in Him are all the riches of Wisdom

July 05 2013 • 3 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

James Kraft Supporter 74 year old retired pipeline worker

Romans 3:23 All have sinned and come short of the glory of God, All, not some, but all. Romans 3:10 There is none righteous, no not one. 

So, we are all ungodly, unrighteous sinners and deserve to go to hell. 

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, (the bad news) but the GIFT of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. The GIFT of God is eternal life. 

You can not earn it, or buy it, or do one thing to get it, except to believe on Jesus as the only way of salvation by grace. Since it is eternal, it can not be lost or stolen. And since it is free, we have nothing to boast in. Ephesians 2:8-9. 

John 3:18 Believers are not condemned, but unbelievers are condemned already because they have not believed on the name of the Son of God. 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. 

First John 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may KNOW YE HAVE ETERNAL LIFE.

If you have eternal life now, how long does it last? It is eternal. It lasts forever. John 6:47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, hath everlasting life. Jesus can not lie. John 3:16. 

God made a way of salvation before the foundation of the world. He fulfilled His promise on the cross where He died to pay our sin debt in full, so all who believe on Him will at once receive the free gift of eternal life.

June 21 2019 • 1 response • Vote Up • Share • Report

Meluleki Maphosa Supporter Amateur Bible Student

The short and simple answer is that God doesn’t send anyone to hell. Jesus said in John 10:10 “I have come so that you may have life and have more abundantly”. In John 3:15-19 He says “that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.”


The import of these verses is that the only thing God offers us is salvation. However by rejecting that salvation we are choosing death instead. Life and salvation have been offered to all but we have to choose consciously. By not choosing salvation and life we automatically choose death and eternal loss. There is no middle ground. Therefore it is not God that is sending people to hell but rather their choices. This world is going to come to a very fiery end as stated in 2 Peter 3:10 and God is warning us today to make the right and informed choice. If we don’t choose life and salvation as it is freely offered in Jesus, we have no one to blame but ourselves when the world as we know it comes to an end in a lake of fire. 


I also think it grieves God to see any person rejecting salvation and choosing death as given in Ezek. 18:23. We need to put away all notions that God punishes the unrepentant sinner and delights in their destruction. Like a loving Father He longs for all His children to choose life and be saved. 

December 31 2017 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report