Answering Hard Questions (2): The Problem of Hell

Nicholas Chiang King Hung

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Scripture reading: Matt. 25:46; Phil. 1:21

Matthew 25:46 ESV

And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Philippians 1:21 ESV

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Today we come to another hard question that people always ask Christians. Here’s the question.

If God is a God of love, why would He send people to Hell?

The topic of Hell is a topic which requires a lot of sensitivity and nuance, because it always stirs up the emotions. And people who often ask this question accuse Christians of being narrow-minded, saying that we’re a hateful group of people who think others deserve to suffer for their sins. They think that the idea of Hell is crude and barbaric, and that any God would never send people there. So what is our strategy? The best defense is a good offense.

Offense 1: The consequences do not narrow the mind

First things first, narrow-mindedness and open-mindedness isn’t about your view or beliefs, but your willingness to engage in open and humble dialogue with people who don’t share your beliefs. Just because we believe the consequences are more severe, it doesn’t mean that we’re narrow-minded.

For example, my wife and I once had some kimchi. I thought the kimchi was too old. She thought the kimchi was fine. I thought that her mistake would give her a bad tummy ache. She thought that my mistake would stopping her and me from having good kimchi alongside our lunch. Just because one consequence is more severe doesn't mean that one is more narrow-minded than the other. By the way, I gave in and ate the kimchi. No tummy ache.

Offense 2: If Hell is out of the picture, is it a better picture?

So many cultures in the world have this image of divine retribution going on in their heads. And the idea that everyone will get what they deserve is such a powerful idea, it controls so much of what we do. But what about the idea of Hell? Hell is the idea that people get what they deserve even after death, so that death doesn’t help their situation at all. Hell is the idea that there is punishment for those who oppress, murder, rape, swindle, and abuse other human beings, and who lived a happy life on this earth without paying the consequences of their sins.

You know those scenes in action spy movies where the HQ commander says about the bad guy, “We need him alive. He has to pay.” That’s what I’m talking about. All human beings have this need for justice and judgement. When we see wickedness and injustice, we don’t say, ‘Law of the jungle’ or ‘natural selection.’ The image of God cries out from within us, saying, ‘This has to stop! They must pay!’

If death was merely the end, then there would be a huge debt of injustice in the world.

But what if there’s no hell, no God, but there’s a heaven? People always like to say, “This so and so is in a better place now.” They didn’t repent, but they’re now in heaven. Imagine that. Imagine if every single person on this earth, good or bad, righteous or wicked, slave or oppressor, ended up together in the afterlife without repenting for their sins? I don’t know what that place is, but it isn’t heaven. And to be there for eternity? Goodness gracious.

If hell and God didn’t exist, and everyone went to heaven, then the cycle of sin and hatred would continue on and on for eternity. People would see the criminals of this earth, the murderers, rapists, child abusers, corrupt politicians, and what would they do?

Unless the curse of sin is broken, any idea of an eternal afterlife spent together can only be hellish, if not hell itself.

The mind is its own place, and in itself

Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.

—John Milton, Paradise Lost

John Milton

And so were Atheists to entertain the idea of a God of love, this is the real question they are asking.

If God is a God of love, why would He send people to Hell? If everyone were to go to Heaven, we would obviously live together in peace and harmony (as we do on earth)

Defense 1: What is a God of love?

Theologians have this way of describing God. They say that God is simple. Simple not as in stupid or complex, but simple as in the opposite of having multiple parts. God is not made of parts. This is called the doctrine of divine simplicity, and it’s a very important doctrine. Why is it important? It’s because without this idea, then all of God’s attributes are at war with each other.

If God sees someone sin, His love wants to forgive, but His justice wants to judge. His love wants to save, His justice wants to condemn.

And so if we don’t hold to the doctrine of divine simplicity, we end up with a schizophrenic God. Then our only answer would be something like this.

If God is a God of love, why would He send people to Hell? Because, in some cases, God’s justice won against God’s love.

But that’s not the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible isn’t schizophrenic or compartmentalized, but simple. He only has one divine essence, and, depending on our perspectives, that essence looks like different things, such as love, justice, wrath, holiness, and so on. God’s love is God’s justice. God’s justice is God’s wrath. And God’s wrath is God’s holiness. It’s like looking at one thing, but from different perspectives.

For example, a drowning man sees water as death. But a man dying of thirst sees water as life. What matters is our relationship to that object.

The Bible tells us that there are two kinds of people. The first group will tremble in fear when God brings about His justice. But the second will rejoice.

And so the main point is this: because God is simple and without parts, God’s justice is His love. It is the same divine essence from different perspectives. And so in order for us to understand what Hell is, we first need to understand who or what God is.

The Bible tells us that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is three Persons, and they share the same divine essence. And that pure relationality shared among the three Persons of the Trinity is what we call love. This is what we mean when we say “God is love.”

But as we’ve seen, God’s love is also God’s justice. Well, what does that mean? Love means that there is no disharmony in the relationship. Why? Because if there’s disharmony, it means that at least one person feels wronged somehow. When there is disharmony, it means that in some way, shape, or form, there has been injustice. And when there’s injustice, there’s wrath. Married couples know this.

And so wrath is about justice, justice is about harmony, and harmony is about love. In God, they are one and the same. That is why God is called ‘love’ in one passage and ‘a consuming fire’ in another. And this is seen in God’s Law.

The first four Commandments are about harmony with God, whereas the last six commandments are about harmony with man. And isn’t it true of today as well? If you steal something, if you covet your neighbor’s wife or house, if you bear false witness against your neighbor, it would introduce disharmony into the relationship.

And so when we say that God is a God of love, we are also saying that God is a God of justice, and a God pours out His wrath against evil and wickedness. A God of love will never compromise on justice and judgement. A God of love will always be wrathful toward anyone who sins against his neighbor.

And so we can answer our question.

What is a God of love? A God of love is a God of justice, wrath, and judgement; God is not made of different parts.

Defense 2: What about good people who didn’t believe in Jesus? Why should they go to Hell?

For some reason people always bring up Ghandi in this objection. What about good people like Ghandi? They did so many good works. But the Bible tells us two things. First, the standard for good and evil is God Himself, not some idea of goodness or righteousness that is apart from God. Second, all people fall short in light of God’s righteousness. No one can be saved by their good works.

Rom. 3:10-12 “as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.””

Romans 3:23 ESV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

It was G. K. Chesterton who said that ‘The doctrine of original sin is the one doctrine that can be proven outside the Bible. There is something desperately broken in human beings.’

And for any who oppose this idea, there’s a simple challenge. For a day, speak everything that comes into your mind. All your thoughts, whether you’re talking to your friends or family, or spouse. See where that gets you. Because if all of us had the power to read minds, it’s going to be a poor show.

And so says C. S. Lewis: ‘It is not a question of God ‘sending us’ to Hell. In each of us there is something growing, which will be Hell unless it is nipped in the bud.’

So the problem with this question of good people going to hell is simple. Replace the word ‘good’ with the word ‘sinless’.

What about good (sinless) people who didn’t believe in Jesus? Why should they go to Hell? Good (sinless) people don’t go to Hell.

But then comes follow up question. Wait a minute. You’re telling me that the sins I commit in this life, this short time on earth, is going to send me to Hell for eternity?

Defense 3: Isn’t Hell too extreme? Why should a finite sin incur an infinite consequence?

This is another common question. Isn’t Hell a place where you suffer for eternity? Why should you suffer for eternity when you only sinned for a finite amount of time? You call that a God of justice?

But the thing is, the severity of a sin depends on two factors. First, the nature of the sin. But second, and more importantly, the status or value of the person who is sinned against.

If you spat into my coffee, you can just make me another coffee. If you spat into Lee Hsien Loong’s coffee, you will probably have to do more than make him another coffee. Why is that? It’s because Mr. Lee Hsien Loong has a higher status than me. Society perceives him as being more important than me. Now what if you spat into God’s coffee? Because God who created the whole universe is of infinite status and value, your sin against Him incurs an infinite consequence.

King David took Uriah’s wife for himself and plotted to have Uriah killed. But David confessed something unusual during his repentance.

Ps 51:4 “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.”

David acknowledged that He had sinned against God. He understood that all sin is ultimately against God. He understood that all people are precious in God’s sight. They are His creation and His precious children.

Ezekiel 18:4 ESV

Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.

And so to sin against another person is to sin against God. The anger and wrath you feel when someone sins against your own child, is the same anger that God feels when someone sins against another person. In fact, He loves us more than any parent could ever love their children, and so His wrath burns hotter than we could ever imagine against the one who sins against His children. In fact, it’s an eternal wrath, and it’s rages at an eternal temperature. That’s why Hell is called the lake of fire imagery where the worm does not die. Hell represents God’s wrath against sin.

Mark 9:47–48 ESV

And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’

To summarize, wen we sin even against a child of God, we invoke His infinite wrath, and we incur an infinite debt of sin. Why? Because God is infinite in value, and, by extension, are all things that belong to Him. And so we can now answer the question.

Isn’t Hell too extreme? Why should a finite sin incur an infinite consequence? There is no finite sin, because there is no finite God.

Now imagine the sins of the world. The wars, the crimes, the violence, the injustice. And imagine the wrath of God against all that sin, past, present, and future, being poured into a cup. That was the cup of God’s infinite wrath which Jesus drank. Did you think the physical pain alone was enough for Jesus to pray that God remove the cup from Him?

Luke 22:42 ESV

saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

An author put it this way: ‘God’s anger at the Holocaust, God’s anger at the slave trade, God’s anger at abuse and murder and cruelty and neglect was all poured out on Jesus on the cross. This was what He dreaded: not the nails in His hands.

Conclusion: Running from the infinite wrath of God

The story of the Bible tells us that on the day of judgement, those who are clothed in Jesus Christ’s righteousness have had their sins removed from them. God will not even remember their sins.

Psalm 103:12 ESV

as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

Hebrews 8:12 ESV

For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”

But those who rejected Jesus will bear their sin and guilt for eternity. Now imagine if you could freely move between Heaven and Hell. You’ve rejected Christ, and your sin and guilt are yours to wear for all eternity. Is. 64:6 says that such people are clothed in filthy rags. Suppose you go to heaven where everyone’s gloriously clothed in the white robes of the saints, but your sins are on display for all to see. How long could you stay? The King of Heaven hates your sin with an infinite wrath. How long dare you stay?

The wrath of God poured out on sinners will be so terrible, this is what they will say in the end.

Revelation 6:16 ESV

calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,

See, when all is said and done, when all people behold the undiluted glory and majesty of Jesus, God won’t even need to tell us where to go. Jesus told a story about this. It’s the story of the rich man and the poor man Lazarus. Both of them die, and Lazarus is in Heaven while the rich man is in Hell. And the rich man asks for several things. First, he asks for some water to help deal with the pain. Second, he asks for a messenger to go to his brothers, to warn them that Hell is real.

What he doesn’t ask for is a reason. He doesn’t question why he’s in Hell. He knows he deserves it. And so will all who flee from God into Hell on the last day.

And so the question for us today is this: will we nail our sins to the cross and live for the glory of God in this life, or will we live in the wrath of God in the next?

In the words of C. S. Lewis,

‘There are only two kinds of people – those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done’ or those to whom God in the end says, ‘Thy will be done.’’ – C. S. Lewis

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