We all have heard someone say something like "that really put me through hell!" We know that they mean something terrible has happened to them and they are using the term hell in a figurative way. However, when Bible-believing Evangelicals use the term, they are usually referring to a very literal place.

The Bible reveals that God has created not only Heaven and Earth, but also Hell. It is referred to in its different stages as The second death, Gehenna, the place of Torments (Luke 16:28), Hades (Revelation 20:14), and finally the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15). This place is where some people will go to be punished for eternity (Revelation 14:11). This class of people are those who have violated the law of God written into their consciences and have never accepted the free gift of pardon which God offers through His Son, Jesus of Nazareth.

This means that someone like Adolph Hitler will not be able to go unpunished by merely committing suicide. It also means that justice will prevail in the final analysis for all of mankind. Jesus Christ, who is God, and God is love, warned about judgment and Hell more than any other person in the Bible (Matthew 5:21,22; 7:2; 10:15;11:22; 12:36;12:41; Mark 6:11; 9:44-48). It must, therefore, be considered very loving to warn someone about this awful place.

One of the usual objections made about Hell is the idea that there are some people who have never heard of God or the Bible and that it would be unfair of God to send an ignorant, presumably innocent Human being, to hell. There are at least two untrue assumptions that this objection is based on.

First, it is assumed that judgment for mankind will be according to people's knowledge of the written word of God known as the Bible (Romans 2:12). This is a false assumption. God has revealed through the Apostle Paul, in the Bible, in a section known as the Letter or Epistle to the Romans, that God will judge all men on the basis of the conscience He has put into everyone (Romans 2:14). You can alter your conscience, like a computer programmer altering software (see 1 Timothy 4:2), so that it no longer represents what the Creator had in mind and it no longer bothers you when you sin (Romans 1:28). This itself constitutes a sin, and is enough to qualify you to be sent away from God for eternity (Romans 6:23; 1 Corinthians 15:56; James 1:15).

The second false assumption is that there are innocent human beings before God. The Bible reveals that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23; 5:12) and that none are righteous and all will, therefore, die. Nobody has a right to be self righteous and think he is better than others on the basis of his own goodness before God. Jesus said that some will be punished more than others ( and that "to whom much is given much will be required"(Luke 12:48). The real goal should be the avoidance of hell altogether. Jesus died on the cross to make this possible and by raising Him from the dead our Creator has put His stamp of approval on Jesus' sacrifice, showing that God's just need to punish sin has been satisfied in Christ. Jesus' only requirement of us now is that we believe the good news about His death for our sins and His resurrection (Ephesians 2:8,9; Acts 16:31). He wants us to trust Him with ourselves (Proverbs 3:1).

Even if you are guilty of only one sin like Adam and Eve's it is enough to send you away from God for all eternity (James 2:10; Romans 5:12; 6:23). This is a tragedy because He loves you and is the One Who provides you with every good and perfect gift (James 1:7). Everything from oxygen and a beautifully balanced atmosphere on Earth, to any true pleasure you have ever known, are examples of His gifts. The term second death refers to being separated from God and all of His good benefits without hope for all eternity (Revelation 2:11; 20:14; 21:8). There is no hint in God's revealed word of any other offer of forgiveness beyond this life (Hebrews 9:27).

God doesn't grade on the curve because He is Holy and the Cosmic keeper of all justice (Romans 3:26). He must punish evil as He defines it. He has the right to define it and to execute justice, because He is the owner of all knowledge and the original Creator of all things (Genesis 1:1). He doesn't delight in the death of the wicked but desires that everyone accept a full and free pardon from Him based on a person's trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ (Ezekiel 33:11; 2 Peter 3:9). By paying for our sins in His death on the cross, God has taken all of our deserved punishment (2 Corinthians 5:21), otherwise awaiting us in hell, and can now freely forgive us without requiring anything more than simple childlike faith in Him through Jesus Christ. It is written that he who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved (Acts 2:21; 4:12 and Romans 10:13). He wants to be your Savior and King. Won't you trust Him and call to Him now in the privacy of your own thoughts? He is listening and will forgive you and adopt you as His own (Galatians 4:5 and Ephesians 1:5).

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