"Difficult Questions #4: Hell - How can a God of love punish anyone?" by Rod Bayley, 26 September 2010

[Danny]

In 1 John 4:8, the apostle John writes: “Whoever does not love does
not know God, because God is love.” Of all the attributes or
character traits of God, John effectively says here that above all
God epitomizes love. In contrast, the writer to the Hebrews states in
10:31: “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living
God.” In 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9, the apostle Paul writes: “He (that is
Jesus) will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the
gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9They will be punished with everlasting
destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the
majesty of his power.” Here loving Jesus, meek and mild, is pictured
as inflicting eternal punishment on those who don’t obey the gospel.
These two sides of God’s character - his love or goodness, and also
his anger and punishment seem to be incompatible to many. The
question is raised, ‘Are they not contradictory characteristics? How
can a God of love punish anyone?’ The result for many in our society
today is that they reject the notion of God punishing, and simply hold
to the God of love, as any talk of judgment, let alone punishment or
hell, just can’t be right. Of course even professing Christians
sometimes hold this view, and in our era of political correctness even
Christian schools will avoid teaching on us being held to account.
Christine and I keep up with a couple that we went through bible
college with, and the wife is currently teaching SRE at a famous
Christian school on the North Shore. She has been told in no
uncertain terms that she cannot teach about God punishing anyone -
that she can only talk about His love. Please teach that Jesus saves,
but not from what he saves us.

The modern habit throughout the Christian church also seems to be to
play down the subject of God’s wrath. As the American writer Jim
Packer says in his famous book ‘Knowing God’, “Those who still believe
in the wrath of God say little about it. To an age which has
unashamedly sold itself to the gods of greed, pride, sex and self-
will, the church mumbles on about God’s kindness, but says virtually
nothing about his judgment. ... The fact is that the subject of divine
wrath has become taboo in modern society, and Christians by an large
have accepted the taboo and conditioned themselves never to raise the
matter.”

It’s hard to imagine that talk of divine judgment was ever very
popular, yet the biblical writers engage in it constantly. One of the
most striking things about the bible is the energy with which both
Testaments emphasise the reality and terror of God’s wrath. A study
of a bible concordance, which list topics and verses where they can be
found, will show that there are many more references in Scripture to
the anger, fury and the wrath of God, than there are to his love and
tenderness. The bible labours the point that just as God is good to
those who trust him, so he is terrifying in judgment for those who do
not (Ex. 34:6-7; Lk. 12:4-5).

The bible clearly teaches that there will be a division at the final
judgment between those who are acquitted and those who are condemned
(Dan.12:2; Matt.7:21-23, 13:39-43, 25:41-46; John 5:28-29). The
common biblical word for the destination of those who are condemned on
judgment day is “hell.” The terrifying idea of eternal punishment is
reflected clearly in a number of passages - I’ve listed some of them
in your outline (Matt.5:29-30; Mk.9:43-48; 2 Thess.1:8-9; Rev.14:11,
20:14-15, 21:8). The bible’s teaching here is quite unambiguous and
of awesome seriousness. Those who remain unrepentant when confronted
by God’s claim on them will face God’s just wrath. It is true that
the language used to describe hell is necessarily symbolic, just as it
is when describing heaven. However, the fact that we are thrown back
on symbols does not mean we can disregard or devalue them. They are
God-given, and while they cannot tell us everything, they won’t
mislead us. For example, we are given images of “outer darkness” or
separation from God’s presence (2 Thess.1:8-9) which conveys not only
loss of God, but also everything that is good and made life seem worth
living; as well as “gnashing of teeth” (Matt.13:42) for self-
condemnation and loathing. It goes without saying that the picture is
bleak

Jesus does not avoid the subject, in fact he has the most to say on it
in the whole NT. At times he spoke with great detail about the coming
judgment. For example, Jesus states in Mark 9:43-48, in the context
of teaching his disciples:
If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to
enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire
never goes out. 45And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It
is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be
thrown into hell. 47And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.
It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to
have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48where ‘their worm does not
die, and the fire is not quenched’.
The word for “hell” here in Mark 9 and in ten other gospel texts, is
‘Gehenna’, which was the valley outside Jerusalem where rubbish was
constantly burned - hence the image of eternal fire (Gk. asbestos),
which represents the agonizing awareness of God’s displeasure. It was
a place associated with God’s judgment in the O.T. due to idolatry and
child sacrifice. “The worm [that] does not die” is a quote from
Isaiah 66:24, and it is a reference to the “the carcases of the men
that have transgressed against me.” So Gehenna, the eternally
smouldering rubbish-tip outside Jerusalem, is likened to the final
abode of those who have not entered the kingdom of God.

Well how can we apply these confronting truths to our own thinking?
When confronted with all this clear evidence of the reality of
punishment and hell, we need to submit to the authority of God’s word,
and stop relying on private religious hunches to ignore what the bible
plainly says. People often get into the habit of following their own
views, whether to excuse God or make themselves comfortable with
judgment, rather than learning about God from his own Word. We have
to repent if this is our attitude to God’s word, and we need to try
and help others who have such views to unlearn such pride which makes
us think we know better than God, or we can take or leave what He
says. We need to learn to base our convictions on what the bible
says, not on what we feel, or would like to be true. If we are to
call Jesus Lord of our lives he must also be Lord of our understanding
of the gospel and the way we explain it (Jn. 13:13). It simply will
not do to claim loyalty to Jesus and yet set aside hell.

Clearly, the theme of God’s wrath or anger is one about which the
biblical writers feel no inhibitions whatsoever. Why then do we? Why
when the bible is vocal about it should we feel obliged to be silent?
How is that we have firm beliefs about God’s love and compassion, yet
baulk at affirming the bible at this point. What really is our
trouble here?

Firstly, the root cause of our struggle seems to be a suspicion that
ideas of wrath and punishment are in one way or another unworthy of
God, and so by playing down hell we think we are defending God’s
character. To some for instance, ‘wrath’ suggests a loss of self-
control, an outburst of ‘seeing red’ which is at least partly
irrational, if not completely irrational. To others it suggests the
rage of wounded pride, or plain bad temper. It is argued that surely
it would be wrong to ascribe to God such attitudes as these? Of
course the reply to such a question is, ‘yes it would be wrong’, but
the bible does not ask us to do this. There seems to be a
misunderstanding here of the bible’s use of human traits to describe
God’s character. The reason the bible talks about God’s ‘hand’ or
‘finger’ or his ‘emotions’ is because we are made in God’s image, and
so human character is the best parallel that we know from which God
can describe himself. But when the bible does this, it does not imply
the limitations or imperfections that we have as sinful creatures -
rather, the bible takes for granted that God’s love or anger is
perfect and right. For example, God’s love never leads him to
foolish, impulsive or immoral actions in the way that human love often
does. Likewise, God’s wrath or anger is never irritable or malicious
or the morally wrong thing that human anger so often is. Instead, it
is a right and necessary reaction to objective moral evil - God is
only angry where anger is called for. Come with me to Romans 1 to see
this - notice what Paul writes from verses 18-21:
“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the
godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their
wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is plain to them,
because God has made it plain to them ... 21For although they knew
God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him ...”
Here Paul points out that God’s wrath is simply in response to the
godlessness and wickedness of people, and that there is no excuse for
our actions. For us to exchange worship of God for images of
creatures, whether ourselves or animals, is abhorrent before God and
simply deserving of his punishment. God’s disclosure of his wrath is
through the present judgment of being given over to a depraved mind in
verse 28, and also the final judgment on the Last Day. God has not
been quick to lash out in anger, rather his righteous anger has been
withheld - rather than being unworthy of Him, His wrath is a necessary
and right reaction against our perverse sin.

The way to grasp this important truth and apply it to our thinking is
to ask questions like: ‘Would a God who did not react against sin in
his world be morally perfect?’ ‘Would a God who did not care about the
difference between right and wrong be a good and loving Being?’ Would
a God who put no distinction between the beasts of history, the
Hitlers and Stalins, and his own saints, be morally praiseworthy?’
Surely not! And this adverse reaction to sin which is a necessary
part of moral perfection, is precisely what the bible has in mind when
it speaks of God’s wrath. The final proof that God is a perfect moral
Being, is the fact that he has committed himself to judge the world.
God will punish sin - He has already proven his commitment to do so by
inflicting His wrath on his Son.

A second reason for why we might struggle with God’s wrath is because
we can think it suggests cruelty. It is argued by some that a God who
would inflict punishment must be a fierce and cruel monster, even if
we have done wrong. But two biblical considerations show that such
logic is not consistent with the Scriptures. In the first place,
God’s wrath in the bible is always judicial - that is, it is the wrath
of the Judge of all people administering justice. Cruelty is always
immoral, but the bible simply shows God upholding justice and that
everyone who experiences God’s wrath is getting exactly what he or she
deserves. If it is asked: ‘Can disobedience to our Creator really
deserve punishment?’, anyone who has even been convicted of sin knows
beyond any shadow of doubt that the answer is ‘yes.’ The justice of
God requires it in any case - our struggle here is that we minimise
sin and pretend it is no offence to God, that surely he can just
overlook it and fail to punish it. But of course that would mock the
holiness of God.

Secondly, God’s wrath in the bible is something which people choose
for themselves. It is a knowing rejection of our Creator for which God
condemns us, and so it is only right. The punishment is no doubt
unimaginably dreadful, but they are not arbitrary inflictions -
rather, they represent a conscious continuation of the state in which
a person has chosen to be - apart from God. The unbeliever has
preferred to be by himself or herself defying God, and God shall give
them their preference. The essence of God’s wrath is to give people
what they choose in all its implications - nothing more, but also
nothing less. God’s readiness to let us have our way may appear
terrifying, but it is plain that He is just. His actions are poles
apart from the deliberate and irresponsible inflicting of pain which
is what is meant by cruelty. Before hell is an experience inflicted by
God, it is a state for which a person himself opts, by retreating from
the light which God shines in his heart to lead him to Himself.

Turn with me to John 3:16-21, which was read for us earlier. John
highlights something in verses 17 and 18 that we need to grasp - Jesus
did not come into a neutral world in order to save some and condemn
others - he came into a lost world in order to save some. We were all
going to hell, and it is a miracle that anyone is saved. This is what
is verse 18 is telling us: Whoever does not believe (in Jesus) stands
condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one
and only Son.” John goes on to explain himself further in verse 19,
which is the crucial verse for the point I am making. ‘This is the
verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead
of light because their deeds were evil.’ He means just what he says:
the commencement of judgment upon the lost is the judgment which they
pass upon themselves by rejecting the light that comes to them in and
through Jesus. As the light of the world, Jesus is the revelation of
God. But people prefer to live without Christ, and therefore without
knowledge of God. In the final analysis, all that God does
subsequently in judicial action towards the unbeliever, is to show a
person the full implications of the choice they have made. God is not
cruel, but justly punishes as our Judge and only gives us what we
deserve, the result of the choice we’ve made. This is not cruelty,
this is justice.

The application of this truth, and all that we have been considering
today, is that we only know the extent of God’s love, we only see its
amazing depth, in contrast to what we deserve because of our sin. It
is the just punishment that we have avoided through the forgiveness
that comes from faith in Christ, that makes us truly appreciate God’s
love. God’s love would be shallow if it were simply words - that is
why the Cross is central to showing us God’s love in action through
the turning away of his wrath from us onto his one and only Son.
These two characteristics of God’s love and wrath must be held
together, or we lose the fuller meaning of both. The most famous
verse in the bible encapsulates both truths - God has shown us amazing
love, because he must punish sin, and yet he has given us a way out.
John 3:16 states: “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.”

People today are in the habit of dissociating the thought of God’s
love from that of his wrath; and only God can wean them from this
habit. The doctrine of a heavenly Santa Claus, whereby there is
nothing more to be said of God than that he is infinitely kind, is
very hard to eradicate. And once it has put down roots, true
Christianity dies off, because the substance of Christianity is faith
in the forgiveness of sins through Christ, who had to die on the Cross
for sin to be dealt with. But on the basis of a Santa Claus God
approach, sins create no problem, they are certainly not worth
eternally punishing, which of course empties the importance of the
Cross. There is no need for an atonement, for Christ to die for my
sin if God’s favour extends to people who reject him. No-one fears
God or trembles at his word if they reject the biblical truth of God’s
eternal punishment. But such ideas are illogical, and simply empty and
wrong. God’s love is understood through the Cross, where he punished
His Son.

I want to finish by saying I take no joy in preaching on God’s
punishment and hell. Out of compassion for the many unsaved, we are
naturally repelled by the idea. I have friends and family who are
facing a Christless eternity. A few years ago I spent a couple of
hours sharing the gospel with my grandmother who was dying, and
although she seemed quite open and listening, she didn’t make any
clear response that I know of. As I consider the reality of hell it
makes me shudder at times. I say at times, because for the most part
I don’t dwell on it, and yet I should. If I did, then I would pray
daily, desperately, for every unbeliever I know, for only God can
soften the hard heart and save them from the consequences of their
sin. In the end, it is a question of whether I take God at His word
or decide that I know better. I want to leave you with the words of
C.S. Lewis: “There is no doctrine which I would more willingly remove
from Christianity than hell if it lay in my power. But it has the
full support of Scripture, and especially of our Lord’s own words - it
has always been held by Christianity, and it has the support of
reason.”

So please, let me urge you not to reject God’s word, or say it’s not
fair or right, but to submit and act. Submit to God’s word, and act
by sharing the gospel and praying. Here is the urgency of the Great
Commission - God calls us to make disciples of all nations and the
clock is ticking. Please, join me in praying and sharing, praying and
speaking the gospel, which is “the power of God for the salvation of
everyone who believes” (Rom.1:16).