Does anyone deserve eternal hell?

[RABurkhardt]

I think we need to understand what Hell really is in order to understand if anyone deserves it.

First, Hell is a place where those who have spent their mortal life rejecting God can have what they have chosen. They can have what they truly desired. Now, God has given us all one of the greatest gifts He has ever created in the Universe and, that gift is Free Will. We are able to choose and make thousands of choices every hour. We are able to have free will since we experience on earth the collision of good and evil, light and darkness, life and death, etc. The coincident existence of these contradictory realities makes existence of Free Will possible. And God gave us a life of free will in this world so that we all could learn a very basic lesson and thus choose our destiny. Planet earth is our nursery school and the primary lesson of life is LOVE. This is why the greatest commandment in the Universe is "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and strength." And the second greatest command is like it, "You will love your neighbor as yourself". The final commandment of Jesus Christ before He left this world was, "Love one another as I have loved you." The Bible tells us plainly, "God is Love." Love is the primary attribute of God's existence. Love is the Absolute Rule of Law in heaven. Those who choose love are choosing God. It is impossible to choose God and reject love. Anyone who claims to belong to God but hates his neighbor is a liar and the Truth is not in him. So the lesson of this present earthly life is love. Love or don't love. It is that simple, yet so profound. It seems so easy, but in practice it is very hard. In fact it is impossible to truly love without being spiritually united in oneness with God. Those who learn the lesson of love then "graduate" to go home to God when this mortal life is finished. Heaven is a place of Love and those who choose love are compatible to live there. And those who fail to learn, who choose to reject love, are then given an eternal place where there is no love. Hell is a place where God's love is not experienced. Since all the good things on earth are the evidence of God's love for us, then as a consequence, Hell is also a place where are all good things are absent. Love is absent. Light is absent. Joy, hope, comfort, peace and a long list of so many other good things that spring into existence because of God's love are also absent in Hell.

Secondly, Hell is not a place God sends anyone unfairly, undeservedly or against their will. Everyone receiving an eternal fate in Hell has chosen it, as evidenced by the multitude of their life choices. God can not be fooled by outward appearances or hypocritical words because He sees into the heart and mind of everyone. Jesus has absolutely perfect knowledge and understanding of our intent and choices, and so He is able to make an instant judgment about who and what a person really is and who he really has chosen to love or hate. He knows who loves God and He knows who doesn't love God.

Thirdly, Hell is a huge place with an almost infinite variety of features and depths. I think the experience of Hell is probably going to be idiosyncratic to each individual because of the Law of Sowing and Reaping, or in other words, the Law of Cause and Effect. The Bible tells us not to deceive ourselves because "Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap." Every human being is uniquely made by God and will live a life that is singularly unique. We will all experience life with our own thoughts, speaking our own words and doing our own life activities. No one else will live your life exactly as you have. There are no exact duplicates. Every life is unique. Every person who chooses to go to Hell, will experience it uniquely as a consequence of their own lives. Now, the gift of Free Will carries with it the eternally irrevocable responsibility to receive the consequences of our choices. Whatever seeds we choose to plant in this mortal life, we will receive the consequential harvest result in the next dimension. For example, if a man has rejected God and chosen a life of cruelty to others, then he will receive what he evidently desired. He chose a mortal life of cruelty. He consistently sought after it, acquired it so as to make it a primary attribute of his being, until gradually he became the incarnation of cruelty during his lifetime. By the Law of Sowing and Reaping, that man will be what he has freely chosen to become. He will exist as a predatory creature of cruelty because that is what he wanted to be. He will exist as cruelty incarnate, receiving cruelty and giving it out, ever descending into greater depths of hellish cruelty with all the suffering and personal destruction associated with it.

Now the Good News is that the love of God has made a way to save a man from Hell through the cross of Jesus Christ. The Crucifixion of the Son of God does not nullify the Law of Sowing and Reaping. But it does provide a way to fulfill and then supersede it. The personal consequences of our evil choices cannot be nullified since God cannot be unjust, unfair or arbitrary. God's laws and every word from His mouth are irrevocable. But what God can and does offer is an exchange. Jesus is able to offer to us His righteousness in exchange for our sin. He is able to offer this exchange because He purchased it by the shedding of His blood and His subsequent death on the Cross. Because of His great love for us, Christ voluntarily gave Himself as a ransom for the world. "What greater love can a man demonstrate than to lay down his life for his friends." Jesus is the physical incarnation of Love. He is the infinite undefinable God uniquely expressed in human form so that we can all have a personal intimate relationship with God. Jesus said, "I and the Father are One." And now Jesus invites us all to give to Him our sin with all of its hellish consequences in exchange for His righteousness with all its future ecstasy of living in the presence of God. This is why Jesus the Messiah is called "the Lord our Righteousness. (YHVH Tzikenu)" The true and living God will never coerce anyone into loving Him. He will never convert anyone against their will or make them involuntarily believe by using the threatening end of a gun barrel. He will never violate our Free Will. Instead, Jesus invites us to choose voluntarily to come to God, to embrace love, hope and faith. The way back Home for us has been made possible as a free gift because Jesus suffered the consequences of all the sins of the world. "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." And now we have the choice to receive the love of God... or not receive. We have the choice to give our sin to Jesus and accept His personal righteousness to our account. We can choose to have our spiritual bankruptcy paid in full by the blood of Jesus. Or we can choose to earn our way to Hell by receiving our justified wages for sin.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but has everlasting life." Heaven or Hell? It is your choice. God made that choice possible for you and for everyone else. Jesus suffered the horrors of Death and Hell so that we might enjoy the bliss of going Home, to our true Home where our Father reigns has Creator and King of the Universe. We are all prodigal sons and God is our loving Dad, waiting and hoping that we will choose to come back Home to Him.

"Whosoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved." And, "Whosoever will may come."

Shalom,
RAB

[Halsoft]

I'm not sure what the bible all has to say so maybe some of you could fill me in on the biblical version of hell. I'm not sure if it is given a description or not. I, personally, believe in reincarnation. I know that may not jive with some of you but please do hear me out. I think that hell is a place devoid of God. Complete separation from his love and grace. Can you imagine anything more bleak? Thats incomparable to any physical suffering that you could get from being tortured by demons in a lake of fire. To live life without seeking Him. That is a living Hell. Something you would be doomed to repeat for eternity if you don't find Him.

[Jac3510]

Christianity doesn't permit reincarnation. Heb 9:27

If you're interested, I've written a blog post on the nature of hell you might find interesting given your statements here.

https://cmmorrison.wordpress.com/2010/0 ... s-of-hell/

I conclude that post this way: "Hell is not a place of justice, where the lost finally get what they deserve. Hell is a place where the lost are kept for, having finally been given completely over to themselves, being what they are."

[IceMobster]

I'm not sure what the bible all has to say so maybe some of you could fill me in on the biblical version of hell. I'm not sure if it is given a description or not. I, personally, believe in reincarnation. I know that may not jive with some of you but please do hear me out. I think that hell is a place devoid of God. Complete separation from his love and grace. Can you imagine anything more bleak? Thats incomparable to any physical suffering that you could get from being tortured by demons in a lake of fire. To live life without seeking Him. That is a living Hell. Something you would be doomed to repeat for eternity if you don't find Him.

Oh, so, reincarnation until you find Christ. Heard something like that already. An interesting hypothesis.

Christianity doesn't permit reincarnation. <a target="_blank" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-version="nasb95" data-reference="Heb 9.27" href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Heb%209.27" class="rtBibleRef">Heb 9:27</a>

If you're interested, I've written a blog post on the nature of hell you might find interesting given your statements here.

https://cmmorrison.wordpress.com/2010/0 ... s-of-hell/

I conclude that post this way: "Hell is not a place of justice, where the lost finally get what they deserve. Hell is a place where the lost are kept for, having finally been given completely over to themselves, being what they are."

I don't get it. You are taking the verses that fits you... When I take a verse, it is seen as it makes no sense. I can admit that it might be wrong, but like, eh...

[Jac3510]

I don't get it. You are taking the verses that fits you... When I take a verse, it is seen as it makes no sense. I can admit that it might be wrong, but like, eh...

I don't understand what you are saying. We do you mean I am "taking the verses that fit" me? And what do you mean that when you "take a verse, it is see as it makes no sense"?

[IceMobster]

I don't get it. You are taking the verses that fits you... When I take a verse, it is seen as it makes no sense. I can admit that it might be wrong, but like, eh...

I don't understand what you are saying. We do you mean I am "taking the verses that fit" me?
And what do you mean that when you "take a verse, it is see as it makes no sense"?

Doesn't matter...

[B. W.]

Christianity doesn't permit reincarnation. Heb 9:27

If you're interested, I've written a blog post on the nature of hell you might find interesting given your statements here.

https://cmmorrison.wordpress.com/2010/0 ... s-of-hell/

I conclude that post this way: "Hell is not a place of justice, where the lost finally get what they deserve. Hell is a place where the lost are kept for, having finally been given completely over to themselves, being what they are."

True how true...
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