God’s Love and Hell

By Dane Skelton

A recent book by a well known evangelical casts doubt on some things Jesus said about hell and judgment. The basic question is: If God is love why does he send people to hell?

First, there is a problem with the question: It assumes that we understand human nature and hell as they are presented in the Bible. We don’t.

We have a childish notion of human nature. We believe we are better than we are. We also have a mixed up view of God, we like to blame him for our choices. Therefore God’s holiness is beyond our comprehension and so is his wrath.

Second, we mistake God’s wrath for human rage. Tim Keller has a good definition of God’s wrath: “It is not an out of control temper. Wrath is the settled opposition and hatred of that which is destroying what we love.” We humans are capable of much evil, much selfishness, much that is perverse and opposed to that which God holds dear. We destroy the bodies he gave us with all kinds of toxins. We destroy the souls he gave us with things like greed, gossip, lying, self-righteousness and self-pity. And we destroy others with cutting words, with economic oppression, and with things like relentless criticism and betrayal.

Third, we assume that Jesus was too kind to mention hell. But Jesus had more to say about hell than anyone else in the New Testament. He sees hell as self-chosen; He said, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:18-19 NIV)

C. S. Lewis said it like this: Unless someone wants God and God alone he would be utterly miserable in heaven. It would be a crime to send him there for heaven is all about God.

God wishes to save us from hell. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” That’s God’s love at work, doing what is best for us, making it possible for us to know him now and join him in eternity. Jesus said, “He who receives me receives the one who sent me.” He also said, “He who seeks to save his life will lose it. But he who gives up his life for my sake will save it.”

So the question is not, "Why does God send people to hell?" but rather, "What do I really want? Do I want Jesus Christ and the God who sent him? Or do I want my own life, my own way?" Either way, the choice is ours.