Does hell really exist?

There has been a lot of talk lately about the existence of hell and if it is really forever.  In a  recently written book by Michigan mega church pastor Rob Bell, Bell states that if hell exists, it can't be for eternity.  He says that in the end, after death, everyone will have another chance to follow Christ and they will take it and repent, and in the end  Everyone will end up in heaven.  This kind of false teaching is foolish and extremely dangerous.

The idea of universalism states that in the end every human will end up in heaven, so we should not focus on the heaven and hell in the future, but focus on our life her and now. Trevin Wax who is an editor for the Southern Baptist convention Lifeway resources said that " If our biggest need was to feel good about ourselves, God would have sent Oprah, and if our biggest need was to get along with our family, God would have sent Dr. Phil. But God sent his son to brutally die for our sins on the cross, then surely our sin must be more heinous than feeling empty inside." Wax also said that "The greatest threat to Christianity may not be from modern culture, blatant heresies, or the rise of Islam. It may come from the counterfeit gospel, the seeds of which are slowly being planted within the church."

There is no basis whatsoever in the Bible to back up Bells ideas. There are many many references that the opposite is true. Hell does exist, and it is for eternity. The Greek word for hell was used in the New Testament 12 times, 11 of those times were from the mouth of Jesus Christ. If you don't believe in the biblical teaching of hell, you don't believe in the teachings of Jesus himself.

If you don't believe in the teachings of Jesus, then you are saying Jesus is a liar and the Bible is not true. You can't pick and choose the parts of the Bible that you want to believe. If you only believe in the parts of the Bible that work for you, you are not a follower of Christ.

John MacArthur preaching on the subject of hell said, "The truth of eternal punishment to come on those who do not believe the gospel savingly is a painful message to preach, it is a painful message to hear, it is a painful message to process. It is a painful truth to apply, but it is biblical." Matthew 25: 45-46 45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’ 46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”

Revelation 14: 10-11 10 must drink the wine of God’s anger. It has been poured full strength into God’s cup of wrath. And they will be tormented with fire and burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb. 11 The smoke of their torment will rise forever and ever, and they will have no relief day or night, for they have worshiped the beast and his statue and have accepted the mark of his name.” Just from these 2 passages you can see that hell is not just a bad time. No, hell is clearly a place of torment and pain that will last forever.

Luke 16: 24-26 24 “The rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames.’
25 “But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides, there is a great chasm separating us. No one can cross over to you from here, and no one can cross over to us from there.’ This clearly shows that you can't get to heaven after death, once you die and go to hell, you can't leave. There is no second chance after death.

In the gospels hell is described as a place of unimaginable torment, weeping and gnashing of teeth, spiritual and bodily destruction, fiery furnace, outer darkness, unquenchable fires and endless torment. These words from the Bible do not leave any room for different interpretation, hell is clearly not a place that anyone wants to be even for a short time, and you certainly don't want to be there for eternity.

God is a loving God but he is also a just God and the price must be paid for all sins. Jesus died to pay the price for all sins, all we need to do is believe and repent and turn away from our sins. God will give you a new life and a new heart and you will not want to continue to sin.

God would not have sent Jesus to die on the cross to pay the price for our sins If we could all continue to sin and live like we want here on earth, then after we die we could make the decision that we believe and repent for all out sins.

If you follow Bell's teaching that you can say your sorry after death and still go to heaven, you are wrong, you will not have the chance to change your mind after death, you will not spend eternity in heaven, you will be sentenced to eternity in hell.

A great illustration of God being just and not evil is by comparing to mans law. If someone breaks the laws of man, and goes before a judge or a jury to face the charges and they say that they are sorry for their crime, it doesn't change the fact that they have to pay the price for the crime. Even if you commit a seemingly small crime like texting while driving or not wearing a seat belt. The judge is not going to let you out of the fine because you say you are sorry for breaking the law. There are penalties for breaking the law and you must pay for the crime.

If you were sentenced to a $10,000 fine for a crime and couldn't pay it, you would go to jail, even if you were sorry. If someone paid the fine for you, you would be allowed to go free, the price for your crime has been paid. If God is just he will also not forget about the sins against him if you say your sorry on judgement day, you will be held accountable for the sins you've committed.

There would have been no reason for God to send Jesus to earth to die and pay the price for our sins, if we could wait until we die and then say we are sorry and it's done. He sent Jesus to earth to die for our sins, to pay the price, so if we choose to accept this gift, we will be spared the pain of Hell.

The Mega church preachers who are teaching this type of religion where having a great life here on earth should be our focus, are leading many people away from the truth of the gospel and what God wants us to do. Our job is to spread the truth, and let people know that this feel good gospel is wrong. The price for being wrong is eternity in hell. God doesn't want anyone to spend eternity in hell, but on judgement day, he will be just and those who do not believe and repent will be sentenced to eternity in hell. The fact that some don't believe in hell, doesn't change the fact that hell is real and it is forever.

Don't be wrong and think that you can keep sinning and live your life the way you want to and then after you die you can say sorry and yo will be forgiven. There is no Biblical evidence supporting Bells claims and plenty supporting the opposite is true.

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