Alden Ho/Wheel Salt Ministries
The mainstream thinking is that when you die, you go right to heaven, provided that you’re born again. So then, what if you’re not born again, shouldn’t you in suit go right to hell? Or is it possible that these theories are actually both false. Let’s examine what the Bible says about hell.
Is hell an actual place? It certainly is! Just west of Detroit is the small town of Hell, Michigan, but I can assure you that that’s not the place we are talking about. Follow me as we investigate. John 5:28-29 tells us, “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” The hour is coming, meaning when Jesus comes again. At that moment, there are two groups of people, the righteous, and the wicked. Paul says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23)”
John gives further details, “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power (Revelation 20:6)…” Two groups are spoken of. One that is changed to immortality and will never die, the second that will perish and die as a result of their sins. The first group being the righteous will go to heaven with Jesus when He returns, but no sooner than that. While John describes what happens to the second group, “And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them (Revelation 20:9).” The Greek verb for this word devoured denotes action completed. In other words, the wicked are completely annihilated, having suffered the “second death.” Yet, some believe that hell is an ever-burning endless torture, based on Jude 7, “Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them… are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”
Let’s look deeper into this word “eternal” fire, since this is the key word that has been misinterpreted. In Genesis 19:24-25, we read “Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities…” One thing is very clear, these cities today are not still burning. They are gone. In fact, when I was in Israel in 2019, the exact location of these two cities is unknown, because there is no more fire, nor is there any remains of their whereabouts. So, why is the word “eternal fire” even mentioned? The answer can be found in 2 Peter 2:6, “and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly.” The terrible fate of these cities was to forever discourage others from indulging in the same wickedness that brought about their downfall.
If an eternal burning hell were true, then not only would the righteous be living forever in immortality, but so would the wicked. Where would their destruction and death be if there lived forever in hell? How could the wages of sin be death, if the wicked never really die?
We know without a shadow of a doubt that God IS Love. This is His character. How could a God of love suffer the wicked to be burning for forever? That’s out of His character. What would your feelings for God truly be if He condemned your father, mother, husband, wife, son or daughter to an eternal burning fire?
Here’s the point. Hell is not an eternally burning fire, but rather, it is a consuming fire. Once the fuel is burned up, then the fire goes out, and when the fire is out, the cleansing is done. “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind (Isaiah 65:17).”
Remember, God IS Love. The wages of sin IS death, and hell IS a fire that destroys forever, not burns forever