Does Hell Exist?

What does the Bible say about Hell? That is a question that has a lengthy answer. The Bible is definitely not silent on the subject as some teachers may have you believe. Just left to our own thoughts we may think that a good God would not do something so horrible to people. We tend to think that if our children did something wrong we would never throw them into everlasting punishment. Well right away there are two things wrong with that thinking.

First, the Bible is clear; while we are all created by God we are not all His children. Ephesians 2:1-3 1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 1John 3:8 also says Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil.

Second, we are not God. It is wrong for us to compare ourselves to God. There is no one like Him. He is completely and perfectly holy. A lot of people think that a good God would not send people to Hell. But that is exactly the reason He is sending people to Hell. We are people who have a sense of justice. God wired us that way. If someone killed your mother you would demand justice. You would want the criminal caught and punished for his crime. Well God is described in the Bible as a just judge(Rom. 2:16, 2Tim. 4:8, Heb. 12:23, Rev. 19:11) and He will have His day in court with murderers. But God is so good that He will not only judge murderers, but also liars, thieves and adulterers.

The Bible says in Hebrews 9:27 that it is appointed once for man to die, and after this comes judgement. So judge yourself by the Ten Commandments. Have you ever lied, stolen, or committed adultery? In Matthew 5:27-28 Jesus says "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' 28But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. So that brings us back to our subject. Right after Jesus says this He says in verse 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. Jesus was not promoting self mutilation but trying to get us to understand the wages of sin and our need to deal with that sin.

Hell is very real and a just thing for a good God to do. If an earthly judge were to let a guilty murderer go and turned a blind eye to the crime, he would be a corrupt judge. He would not be good at all! A good judge sees that justice is upheld.

The Bible says that God is so good that all liars will have their par in the lake of fire(Rev. 21:8) that no adulterer or thief will inherit the kingdom of God(1Cor.6:9) We may think that God would not send us to Hell for lying, but think of it this way. If I lied to my child it would be wrong, but I would not be in any trouble. If I lied to my wife I'd be sleeping on the couch. If I lied to my boss it would get me fired. And if I lied to the government it's called treason and I'm going to prison. In every case the crime was the same, I told a lie. But the punishment was more severe the higher the authority. There is no one higher or holier than God Almighty, and every time we lie or sin it is primarily against Him and His Character. That's what the Commandments are a definition of His holy character and nature.

So before we could look at verses in the Bible that describe Hell we need to realize that it is the right and just thing for God to send sinners to Hell.

Here are some verses that describe Hell. I would suggest that you get a Bible and read them for yourself in there context. They are very clear, and notice most of them are Jesus talking.

Luke 16:19-31 The Rich Man and Lazarus
19"There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24And he called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.' 25But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.' 27And he said, 'Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— 28for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.' 29But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.' 30And he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' 31He said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.'"

2Thessalonians 1:9 9They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,

Matthew 3:12 12His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

Matthew 5:22 22But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire.

Matthew 25:30 30And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

Matthew 25:41 41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

Matthew 25:46 46And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Revelation 14:10 10he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

Revelation 20:15 15And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Mark 9:47-48 47 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, 48'where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.'

So as you can see there are many verses in the Bible dealing with Hell. This is not even all of them.

Here is an excerpt from the Reformation Study Bible on Hell. ESV.

The New Testament views hell as the final abode of those condemned to eternal punishment at the Last Judgment(Matt. 25:41-46;Rev.2011-15). It is described as a place of fire and darkness(Jude 7,13), of "weeping and gnashing of teeth"(Matt. 8:12, 13:42,50;22:13;24:51;25:30), of destruction(2Thess. 1:7-9;2Pet. 3:7;1Thess.5:3) and torment(Rev. 20:10;Luke 16:23). These terms are probably symbolic rather than literal, but, if anything, the reality will be more terrible than the symbol. New Testament teaching about Hell is meant to appall us and fill us with horror, persuading us that though Heaven will be better than we could dream, so Hell will be worse than we can imagine. These are the issues of eternity that must be realistically faced.
Hell is not so much the absence of God, as the consequence of His wrath and displeasure. God is like a consuming fire(Heb. 12:29), and His righteous condemnation for defying Him and clinging to the sins He loathes will be experienced in Hell(Rom. 2:6,8,9,12). According to Scripture, Hell is unending(Jude 13;Rev. 20:10). There is no Biblical warrant for speculations about a "second chance" after death, or annihilation of the ungodly at some stage.
Those in Hell will realize that they have sentenced themselves to be there because they have loved darkness rather than light, refusing to have their Creator as their Lord. They preferred the self-indulgence of sin to self-denying righteousness, rejecting the God that made them(John 3:18-21;Rom. 1:18,24,26,28,32;2:8;2Thess.2:9-11). General revelation confronts everyone with a certain evidence of God, and from this standpoint Hell has a basis in God's respect for human choice. All receive what they chose, either to be with God forever, or to be without Him. Those who are in Hell will know, not only that for their doing they deserve it, but that in their hearts they chose it.
The purpose of the Bible's teaching about Hell is to make us turn with gratitude to the grace of Christ that saves us from it (Matt.5:29,30;13:48-50). For this reason God's warning to us is merciful; He has "no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live"(Ezek. 33:11)


God is very angry at sin and will cast sinners into Hell and that is bad news. But God is a very merciful and gracious God. In that about 2000 years ago God the Father sent God the Son to this earth to be born of a virgin(Matt. 1:23). He was sinless in thought, word, and deed. He was tempted in all ways as we are tempted(Matt. 4) yet He was without sin. Jesus Christ willingly laid down His life at the cross and died a sinners death and three days later He rose from the grave forever defeating death. He took the punishment and wrath that we deserve. It's like this we broke the law and Jesus paid our fine. It was a legal transaction. We were doomed and justly on our way to Hell, but Christ stepped in and paid our fine. So now we can legally leave the courtroom.

Christ took our badness and we get His goodness. God now sees us as the righteousness of His Son and we can now have eternal life and fellowship with Him forever. The Bible says if we repent(turn from our sin) and trust Christ and Him alone we shall be saved. God hates sin so much it took the death of His perfect and righteous Son to satisfy the payment for sin.

God demands justice and we will pay for our sin either in Hell for eternity or Christ has paid that fine for you. God showed His love towards us in that while we were yet sinners He sent Christ to die for us(Rom. 5:8).

Think of it like this. If I was in a court room watching a case with my daughter and the judge was about to slam the gavel down on a guilty murderer, when all of a sudden he looks at me and says Jeff "I will let this criminal go if you give your daughter to pay his fine which is death. I would bow my head, and even shed a tear, but I would look at the judge and say I'm sorry, but I can't give my daughters life for someone you have already condemned. I can't love them that much. But GOD so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life(John 3:16).

Christ is the only payment for sin. He is the only way. John 14:6 says "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." John 3:3 Jesus says unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. So if God causes you to be born again, cry out to Him. Confess your sins and turn from them, forsaking them. Trust the Savior Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation. Hell is real and reasonable, but God is merciful and will save you if you repent and trust the savior. If you hear His voice do not harden your heart. Today is the day of salvation. Get a Bible, read it, and trust it. Go to www.NeedGod.com

Who killed Christ on the Cross... My sin did!!

Joy in Christ and the Glory of the Cross

Christ for the Christian is the ultimate joy and should be our main affection. Christian if you are struggling with something, love Christ more. Love Christ more than any sin. Christian, find your joy in Him and give Him glory for the cross. My prayer is that by His grace my love for Him would increase more and more everyday. Thank you Lord Jesus for showing your love toward me in while I was a wretched scumbag sinner you came to this earth and died for me, for your glory. God bless!!