The Strand Study Bible

PSALMS 9:18

852

PSALMS 12:6

There is no doctrine which I would more willingly remove from Christianity than this, if it lay in my power. But it has the full support of Scripture and, specially, of our Lord’s own words; it has always been held by Christendom; and it has the support of reason. 1

The Apostle Paul agrees. He notes in Romans 9: 1- 3 :

I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:

Because the doctrine of hell is so abhorred (Mt 8:29 and Jms 2:19), many religions ( Hinduism , Buddhism , Unitarian Universalism , Seventh Day Adventist , Jehovah’s Witnesses , and the United Church of God - Psa 37:9 ) have opted to remove its teaching from their theology. Randy Alcorn in Heaven notes:

The reality of Hell should break our hearts and take us to our knees and to the doors of those without Christ. Today, however, even among many Bible believers, Hell has become “the H word,” seldom named, rarely talked about. It doesn’t even appear in many evangelistic booklets. It’s common to deny or ignore the clear teaching of Scripture about Hell. Hell seems disproportionate, a divine overreaction. In the words of one professor and contributor to an evangelical publication, “I consider the concept of hell as endless torment in body and mind an outrageous doctrine…How can Christians possibly project a deity of such cruelty and vindictiveness whose ways include inflicting everlasting torture upon his creatures, however sinful they may have been? Surely a God who would do such a thing is more nearly like Satan than like God.

Alcorn goes on to note:

Many imagine that it is civilized, humane, and compassionate to deny the existence of an eternal Hell, but in fact it is arrogant that we, as creatures, would dare to take what we think is the moral high ground in opposition to what God the Creator has clearly revealed. 2

And he’s right. Unholy as we are, we are disqualified from saying that infinite holiness doesn’t demand everlasting punishment. Interestingly enough, Jesus taught more on the subject of Hell (He spoke of Hell 21 of the 39 times that it is mentioned in the New Testament) than He did on the subject of Heaven, and for good reason. Hell is a literal eternal place. John Piper, in a sermon he delivered on June 14, 1992, called Behold the Kindness and the Severity of God , noted:

I know of no one who has overstated the terror of Hell…We are meant to tremble and feel dread. We are meant to recoil from the reality. Not by denying it, but by fleeing from it into the arms of Jesus, who died to save us from it. 3

The biblical teaching of hell may be ignored, but never denied. And although there are some who attempt to deny the eternality of Hell ( Lk 16:23,24,26 ) and try and take the “fire” out of it, the Bible is plain concerning the subject. According to the Bible, Hell is a place: - that takes place after death (Lk 12:4-5, Rev 6:8, Dan 12:2, Isa 14:9, Heb 9:27 and Rev 1:18 & 20:13) - opposite of Heaven (Mt 11:23, Lk 10:15, Job 11:8, Psa 139:8 and Amos 9:2) - of eternal fire (Mk 9:43,45,47-48, Mt 5:22,29-30 & 13:42 & 18:9, Rev 19:20 & 20:14 & 21:8 and Deut 32:22) - of personal hurt and sorrow (Rev 2:11, II Sam 22:6 and Psa 18:4-5 & 116:3) - of everlasting personal torment (Lk 16:23, Rev 14:9-11 & 20:10 and Jonah 2:1-3) - of everlasting punishment (Mt 25:46 and Dan 12:2) - of everlasting destruction (II Thess 1:7-9, Phil 3:19, Heb 10:39, Prov 15:11 & 27:20 and Job 26:6) - of everlasting darkness (Mt 8:11-12 & 22:11-13, II Pet 2:17 and Jude 11-13) - of eternal judgment (Heb 6:2, Mt 5:21-22 & 10:15 & 11:22,24 & 23:33, Mk 3:29, Jn 5:29, Dan 12:2 and Jude 15) - where people are responsible for sending other people (Mt 23:15 and Jms 3:6) There are four words in the Bible that are translated “ hell ”: 1. Sheol (used only in the OT) - This word has a two-fold meaning: * It can mean the “ grave ,” in which the unseen state of the dead (Eccl 9:10), both bad (Job 24:19, Psa 55:15 and Prov 9:18 & 23:13-14) and good (Gen 37:35, Job 14:13, Psa 16:10 and Acts 2:27,31), are laid when they die. * It can mean the “ realm of the unsaved dead ; the conscience life beyond the grave ” (a pit of fire below our world where one is separated from God for all eternity - Psa 9:17, Ezk 31:16-18, Isa 5:14 & 14:9-15, Rev 20:7-10, Hos 13:14 and I Cor 15:54-55). 2. Hades (used 11 times in the NT) - This word describes the temporary abode of all the unsaved (Mt 11:23 & 16:18, Lk 10:15 & 16:23, Acts 2:27,31, I Cor 15:55 and Rev 1:18 & 6:8 & 20:13-14) 3. Gehenna (used 12 times in the N.T.) - This word describes the final and eternal abode of all the unsaved (Mt 5:22,29-30 & 10:28 & 18:9 & 23:15,33, Mk 9:43,45,47, Lk 12:5 and Jms 3:6) 4. Tartaroo (used 1 time in the NT) - Tartaroo describes the abode of those angels who left their first estate (II Pet 2:4). NOTE – I marvel that I know this truth and that I do not plead with men and women with greater intensity to come to Jesus. And I marvel that you and other believers also accept this truth so calmly. For more information on the subject of Hell consider Bill Wiese’s book called 23 Minutes in Hell . 4 1 Lewis, C.S. The Problem of Pain , New York, NY, Macmillan, 1962. Print. 2 Alcorn, Randy. Heaven , Carol Stream, Ill., Tyndale, 2004. Print.

3 Piper, John. Behold the Kindness and the Severity of God . June 14, 1992. Audio. 4 Wiese, Bill. 23 Minutes in Hell . Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House. 2006. Print.