Romans 1.24-32 "Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in [their] knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them."

     It is an increasingly popular notion in our world today and on the Internet that when Jesus Christ went to the Cross He paid for the sins of all mankind. This part is true. But then the thought is carried out to the next illogical level and that is, since He paid for all sins, then all men will go to Heaven on death.

     To me, this is an odd suggestion. Common sense tells us that a pardon is not really in effect unless the one pardoned "accepts" it. If the President of the United States were to pardon a convicted killer, and he refuse to accept that pardon, then the killer would still suffer the punishment for his sins. To me, this is a given, but to others God is viewed as someone who will "force" salvation on everyone regardless of their desires. God's Love is seen as a part of His nature that overshadows all else, even His justice. Is this true? Does the fact that "God is Love" mean that "God will ignore all but Love"?

     The truth is, Scripturally speaking (which is all we use as our basis of doctrinal truth) a Loving God "will", of necessity, cast all those who reject Jesus Christ as Savior into hell. This hell will be eternal, without end. God does this not out of a sense of hatred, but because He has called all that His love and justice will permit. At a certain point in time God "gives them up" (Romans 1.26) to their own desires and passions. They are "given up" after they, knowing the judgment of God, refuse to conform to it (Romans 1.32). After this "giving up" man is allowed to follow his own pathway, even if that pathway leads to hell.

Genesis 18:25 "That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"

Isaiah 6:3 "And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory."

     Though it is pleasing to regard God as "Love", let it not confuse or blind you to the fact that God is also "Just". This is as much a part of God's nature as Love is, and even moreso. The standard which God conforms to is His own nature, not our own desires. God cannot stay true to Himself and ignore His just nature.

     This was amply illustrated by the Cross of Christ. Jesus Christ had no desire to go to the Cross. Three times He prayed in the Garden, "Father, let this cup pass from Me", and three times God the Father said "No" (Matthew 26.39). He who was holy did not want to have the sins of the world dumped on Him, yet the Father demanded it.

     Our sins could not be cleansed unless He be the sacrifice. Jesus paid that penalty, freeing the Love of God so salvation could be offered to all men. God had to suspend His overwhelming Love for the Son so that justice could be served. He had to exercise justice in piling the sins of the world on Christ, so that later He could, with love, offer the way of the Cross to all men. Love was suspended so justice could be fulfilled. Once justice was fulfilled, love could be free to operate as God had always intended, building a relationship between Himself and man through the sacrifice of Calvary.

     God is just in His government of earth. He created the laws by which we live, and has written into the heart of every man the idea of right and wrong (Romans 1.32). God dispenses justice to both men and higher beings (angels), and has made it clear "after" the Cross that those who ignore Him, contrary to Unitarian dogma, will suffer punishment.

Romans 2.7-9 "To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile"

     God's justice "demands" that those who have ignored His just payment via the Cross suffer the consequences. The Unitarian would have you believe that, if the house was burning down, and the fireman tell you to get out, that the Fireman would be justified in dragging you kicking and screaming into the yard. "God provided a way out of the burning house, and demands that you follow that One Door to salvation, else suffer the consequences". If we step toward the Cross He will help us, by faith, to take the leap toward salvation. But if we refuse to step toward the Cross then always remember, God is also a Judge (Psalms 72.2). He provided a Just Substitute for our damnation in Christ. "But if you reject this Substitute, expect to pay the full cost of your error".

     It was a "loving" God who destroyed all but eight souls in the Noahic flood. It was a "loving" God who demanded that Israel enter the promised land and cast out all the Canaanites. It was a "loving" God who killed all the firstborn of Egypt because the Pharaoh was so stiff necked. Yes, God is loving, but He is also "holy, holy, holy".

     One of the more foolish statements made by man is that fatalistic cry, "I don't believe in life after death". It is a fact that Scripture clearly states there is life after death: either eternal life in Heaven, or eternal life in hell. Yet, what if you dispute the Scriptures? Can we prove a "life after death" without resorting to Scripture? Certainly!

     Among mankind, nearly every person intuitively believes in life after death. Even the fatalist, who believes "when I die I'm gone", believes in life after death as is evidenced by his speech. "Go to hell" is a common curse among mankind, spoken in thousands of tongues and in hundreds of nations. Why not "Go to the beach?", or "Go to your non-existence"? Because people know, in their heart of hearts, that there is a life after death, and judgment may be a part of that life. Logic supports life after death. This life is so incomplete, in itself, if there is not some furtherance to it. Nature itself attests to a design, a Designer. Would a Designer have created such a wonderful work as the human body, instill in it a invisible spirit, then allow it to cease after seventy plus years?

     The moral order of the universe demands life after death. There are some crimes committed in society that were never repaid, some crimes committed that the criminal escaped from. What about the O.J. Simpson trial? The man was never convicted for his crimes in the legal courts of our often erratic nation, though he was later punished in the civil courts. The man, most would tell you, walked away scot free, even in the face of overwhelming evidence. What about the Ramsey case, the little girl who was brutally murdered? Who murdered her? Her parents? The courts don't know, but One will make judgment for this heinous crime one day.

"No one is surer of applause than the man who discovers some new method of evading justice under the pretext of humanity. Anyone who wants to evade the doctrine of Eternal Punishment ... is sure of some kind of hearing."

Mueller

     You say you do not believe in hell? Come home one day to find your wife or children murdered, then tell me you do not believe in hell. From deep in your soul will well up an indignation to accompany your pain, then a deep sense that these people will one day be punished. You tell me you do not believe in hell, ask the woman who was raped. She will tell you there must be a hell, for justice "demands" that these animals who attacked her suffer damnation. Not believe in hell? What if your child were kidnapped, and horribly used, strangled, and left for dead. These things happen because of people whom God has "given up", and one day they will suffer eternal damnation for their evil. Browning said, "There may be a Heaven, but there MUST be a hell". Yes, there must be a hell.

     The same God who made the mountain also made the volcano, the same God who made the gentle breeze also made the tornado. The skies, so blue and peaceful, can in a moment be filled with lightning.

Romans 11:22 "Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off."

     Behold both the goodness and the severity of God, not just His goodness. From the darkened day, years ago, a Sacrifice screamed out "My God, My God, Why hast Thou forsaken Me?". The Son suffered hell for us from the sixth to the ninth hour, and in that moment God the Father turned away from God the Son. Such anguish suffered to secure your pardon. What will God do to you if you neglect that pardon, a pardon purchased in such rich suffering? God is infinite, and when you sin against Him the object of your sin makes its repercussions infinite. Time does not diminish the essence of evil. To sin against One who is infinite is to perform an action that has lasting offense. If death is a release from life, then why did Jesus tell Judas:

Matthew 26:24 "The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It had been good for that man if he had not been born."

Mark 14:21 "The Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written of him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man if he had never been born."

     If Judas was ultimately going to find either the presence of God or the release of death, then why make this statement? If Judas had "never been born" then he would have never existed. If death is a cessation of life, then wouldn't that have been just as good as never having been born? No, Jesus knew that Judas' action would warrant eternal damnation, and in this case it would have been better that he had never been born.

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

     Our Lord Jesus also equated the punishment of the wicked to the blessing of the righteous. The righteous go into a state of eternal life, the wicked into a state of eternal punishment. To those who assume this "punishment" is a cessation of life, look at the words "kolasin ai"nion" in the Greek. "Kolasin" comes from kolaz", which means to mutilate or prune. This is an active punishment, not a cessation of life. "Ai"nion" means "that without end", so these people are actively tormented forever, just as the righteous are in a state of eternal life. You cannot actively punish a dead body, or something that has no life in it. No, life must be there, but another type of life, a suffering type of life. This is a life, if you had to choose, you would choose non-existence rather than this life. Yet this option or choice is not open to you, if you forsake the Savior Jesus Christ! (see "How do I get to Heaven?")

Mark 9.43-48 "And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched."

     Jesus taught that "Geennan", Gehenna, (the Greek word used above for "hell") was such a terrible place that it would be better for you to "cut off" your hand or feet, or poke out an eye, than to leave this life and go there. The Jehovah's Witnesses say that the "worm" referred to by Jesus is the "worm" of flame of those annihilated in hell fire. Nothing could be more wrong.

     Jesus used an illustration for hell that all of His listeners could relate to. Nearby stood the Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna), which had been desecrated by the sacrifice of children to Moloch (the Bull god). Gehenna was viewed as a cursed place by the Jews, and no civilized Jew would live in it or near it. Gehenna became a landfill, used for the city garbage where worms gnawed and fires burned. It was therefore a vivid picture of the eternal punishment that God is going to place on all who reject Jesus Christ as Savior. "The worm, i.e. that preys upon the inhabitants of this dread realm" (Gould). Jesus used two terrible figures of Gehenna combined (the gnawing worm, the burning flame) to show how terrible hell will be. No figures of Gehenna can equal the dread reality which is here described. His words also hearken back to the words of the Prophet Isaiah, which said:

Isaiah 66:24 "And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh."

     No, this shall not be annihilation, nor a cessation of life, but a horror brought on man because he refused to accept Jesus Christ as Savior.

2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 "In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power"

     "Non-obedience" to the Gospel of Christ brings the necessary punishment of damnation. Those who ignore Christ and His Words their entire lives are not automatically saved, as the Universalist believes, but are punished for their failure in accepting God's freely offered pardon. When this particular line of illogic fails, they say "this refers to everlasting destruction", a cessation of life. Yet they forget that eternal destruction, Olethron Ai"nion, does "not" denote cessation of life but rather a separation from God (see 1 Thessalonians 5.3). Robertson's Word Pictures states: "Destruction (cf. 1 Th 5:3) does not mean here annihilation, but, as Paul proceeds to show, separation {from the face of the Lord} (Apo Pros"pou Tou Kuriou)". No, there will be no respite for the wicked, but eternal damnation, eternal torment.

Revelation 14:11 "And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name."

     Again, the torment of the wicked is eternal, not passing. "Those who desert Christ for Caesar will be the victims of a remorse that never dies or sleeps" (Swete). Imagine the suffering of hellfire. Not just the spiritual torment of the flames of God, but imagine your own thoughts as you reconsider, day after day, and wish that you had accepted Christ as Savior when you had the chance. Imagine re-living those times in your life when you ridiculed preachers and friends who, with tears in their eyes, begged you to come to Christ. Imagine the times you chose other than Christ, the fast life, the drugs, the job or family, and imagine knowing that your slackness may have influenced wife or child to one day join you in these flames. Imagine that, as Jesus said in Matthew above - it would be better had you never been born!

John 3:36 "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."

     This eternal damnation does not have to be. Each person can choose, and choose freely, to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. You can repent of your current way of life, and turn, believing, to Him. This secures eternal life and peace for you, our friend. Do not allow the Universalists and Humanists to delude you: God is holy. He has provided a way out of hell, if you'll but accept it. Otherwise, expect to suffer the consequences - and we feel heartfelt sorrow for your decision.

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