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Don Stewart :: How Could a God of Love Send People to Hell?

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Don Stewart
If God is so good, then how could He allow people to go to hell? Hell seems so inconsistent with the character of God. Why not send everyone to heaven? To answer this question properly a number of points should be made.

1. Hell Not Prepared For Humanity
First, we must recognize that God did not make hell for humanity. The Bible says that hell was prepared for the Devil and his angels. Jesus said.

Then He [God] will say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41).

Hell was not part of God's original creation. It was only made after the angelic fall.

2. Made For Eternity
Each of us has been made for eternity.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of humans; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

There is no destruction of the human soul or spirit. All of us will have to spend eternity somewhere.

3. Nowhere Else To Go
Since we have been made for eternity, and certain people have rejected heaven, there is nowhere else for them to go. Hell, by definition, is the total absence of God. When God's offer of forgiveness is rejected, then they must go to a place which is away from His goodness.

4. God Sends No One

It cannot be stressed too strongly that God sends no one to hell, or everlasting punishment. People go to hell because of their willful rejection of Christ, not because of God's desire. The Bible says of God.

Who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4).

Peter wrote.

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).

Those who go to hell have rejected Christ and His message.

Summary
God does not send anyone to hell. Each of us have been made for eternity and there is some place we must go after death. If someone rejects God's free gift of salvation, then they must be sent away from His presence. The Bible says that this place is hell. Though God originally created hell for the Devil and his angels, wicked humanity will send themselves there for not believing God's promises.

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The Blue Letter Bible ministry and the BLB Institute hold to the historical, conservative Christian faith, which includes a firm belief in the inerrancy of Scripture. Since the text and audio content provided by BLB represent a range of evangelical traditions, all of the ideas and principles conveyed in the resource materials are not necessarily affirmed, in total, by this ministry.