Hell

Your question about hell is a “hot” topic. In the Koran there are verses such as; 2:202-206, 3:194-198, 18:99-105, 22:19-22, 40:69-72, 43:72, 66:9. These verses do not paint a picture of a loving God.

It’s important to know a couple of verses from the Bible. God has control over our eternal destiny and He teaches us the difference between right and wrong; thus, it matters a great deal what we do with our life. Jesus’ Apostles asked Him in: John 6:28-29: “The Apostles said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” (i.e. to be saved). Jesus (God the Son) answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent." Also it is said in: Rom 10:9-10 “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that He rose from the dead, you will be saved.”

It is true that Jesus (God the Son) knows our every move and thought for he is OMNIPOTENCE: The condition of being all-powerful; an attribute of God, OMNIPRESENCE: The condition of being present everywhere at once; an attribute of God and OMNISCIENCE: The condition of knowing everything; an attribute of God and thus knows all our thoughts before time began.

A Look at Our Eternal Destiny

"Man is destined to die once," the Scriptures tell us, "and after that to face judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). Christians believe that immediately after death the person comes into God's presence and is judged as to whether he has accepted Christ's offer of salvation or rejected it. Jesus tells the good thief on the cross next to him, "Today you will be with me in paradise." This is usually called the "particular judgment" to distinguish it from the "general judgment" that will occur following Christ's second coming. The bodies of those who die in God's grace and friendship rest, awaiting Christ's return and our resurrection: while we enjoy the continuous, active love relationship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Those who do not die in God's grace are sepa­rated from God.

I imagine some readers have started bracing themselves: "Here comes the hellfire and brimstone stuff," they are thinking. "God wouldn't send anyone to hell. This is just scare talk on the part of Christians that reeks of fanaticism."

Well, people raising that objection are quite right. A loving God wouldn't send anyone to hell and He doesn't. He doesn't want "any­one to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). He promises that every individual who comes to Him in genuine faith and repents of his sins will be saved and spend eternity with God.

But God gives each person a free will. Reluctantly, He respects the choice the person makes to remain alienated from Him while alive. He doesn't send the unrepentant person to hell; the unrepentant per­son chooses it.

What is hell like? It's a real place, and its chief punishment’s eternal separation from God. The biblical images for hell, such as the lake of fire, are meant to wake us up to what an excruciatingly painful fate that will be. How would it be to hear God not say, "Well done good and faithful servant," but, "Depart from me"?

Those Who Have Never Heard the Message

But what, you may ask, about those who have never heard the Gospel, who are ignorant of God and His commandments?

First, no one is entirely ignorant, that is, in the sense of not know­ing about God: God reveals Himself by common grace through cre­ation and conscience. As Paul writes, "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse" (Romans 1:20). All people have some sense or awareness of God; there has never been a society of people in any setting without some form of religion, some means for seeking contact with God.

And yet, Paul talked about what he called the times of "ignorance" (Acts 17:30), that is, the times in which people pursued the knowl­edge of God wrongly or in vain and futile ways (Acts 17:23 - 29). Before the coming of Jesus Christ countless millions sought to know God, following in good faith the dictates of tradition and culture according to their inherited forms and rituals of religion. But there is good news about these times of ignorance.

First, it has pleased God to "overlook" the ignorance of those who have sought to know God in ways other than what He Himself reveals (Acts 17:30). That word, "overlook," is a most generous and ­mysterious word. We know God is good; God is just; God is merciful ­He will do what is good, just, and merciful concerning all those who have never heard the Good News of Jesus Christ. (And as we read in Romans 1:8, God's judgment is against those who knowing the truth, still reject it.)

The second part of the Good News concerning those who dwell in the times of ignorance is that they don't have to be ignorant any longer! Now, Paul says, since the days of Jesus, God has been busy sending messengers to all the world to tell the Good News that He can be known, that He desires us to know Him, and is the One through whom we may enter into the knowledge of God which is eternal life (John 17:3).

Over the years, in many Christian communities devote teaching and theologians have taught that those who have not heard the message of Jesus Christ will be held accountable for the full extent of their knowledge and for the genuineness with which they seek to know God. At the same time, no one comes to the Father but through faith in Christ. Christ's redemption of creation and humankind opens the doors of God's Kingdom to those who believe the Gospel.

So, while Scripture isn't entirely clear about how truth becomes­ known to people who have not heard the Gospel, and how God’s perfect justice and mercy will apply to them, believers trust in the goodness and mercy of God and, obedient to His command, are calling all people everywhere to repent and believe the Good News of Jesus Christ (Acts 17:30). As the book of Job says, “It is unthinkable that God would do wrong, that the Almighty would pervert justice.”(34:12)

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