Hell is Just

𝐈𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓? 

"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“

~Clark Pinnock

Someone walks up to you at your job and says this quote. How would you answer?

The doctrine of Hell has become an embarrassment to modern Christianity. It is viewed as terribly unjust. Hell is a terrible fate when you think about it. Eternal punishment? What about all the good Jews, Muslims, or Hindus of the world? Many are great neighbors and friends. Is Hell unjust?

The Bible does not view hell as unjust. Actually, it is quite the opposite. It is viewed as a reason to praise God (Revelation 18:20).

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞? 

🔥𝟖 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭🔥

1. God cannot be just and not punish sin. A king who does not punish a murderer is an evil king. He may claim that he is being good, but in fact, he is being unrighteous. Sin must be punished.
2. Hell is terrible because sin is terrible. The fact that hell is eternal is more than just a grim reality. It is also a theological statement that sin and its effects are so terrible that only eternity is sufficient to pay for it.
3. Hell is proportional. We will be punished proportional to what we have done good or bad. 
   • Revelation 22:12: “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.”
   • Matthew 12:36-37: “But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
   • Matthew 16:27: “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.”
   • Romans 2:6: “He will render to each one according to his works.”
4. Hell is infinite because the offended is infinite. The relationship between the offender and the offended matters greatly. Just as someone is punished more severely for committing a crime against the government or a pregnant woman, so we creatures are punished more severely since we have disobeyed against our creator.
5. Only the offended party knows the true punishment for sin. Examples include the severe punishments for lying to God, as seen with Ananias and Sapphira.
6. A momentary action can have long results. A momentary action like murder can result in a life sentence, showing that the duration of the act does not determine the severity of the punishment. Similarly, sin against an infinite God warrants an infinite punishment.
7. Those in hell never cease to be sinners, therefore their punishment is never-ending. A criminal who keeps committing crime in prison will have their prison sentence lengthened. So those in Hell continue to sin and lengthen their sentence. 
8. The cross is not wonderful if hell is not eternal. The cross demonstrates that God paid a debt we could not pay, highlighting the severity of sin and the necessity of justice. No amount of suffering on our part can pay the debt. Otherwise, Christ’s death is in vain.