Would a Loving God Put Anyone in Hell?

I could barely contain myself. Instead of watching the Science Channel, or the History Channel, or watching the local news, I found myself watching the ABC news magazine 20/20. After only about three minutes I could tell that I was going to be upset. On their website they were advertising a story subtitled "One Minister Challenges the Idea of Hell and Loses His Congregation". The headline was 'Nobody Goes to Hell': Minister Labeled a Heretic'.

I know what happens every time I allow myself to watch network TV. I get overwhelmed with the THEOLOGY that is preached by almost every program. When I say "theology", normally I am referring to the underlying worldview that drives almost every program. "Reality TV" is another word for voyeurism. Network TV "worships" a different god than the God of the Bible. Sitcoms are based on anti-Biblical ideas. TV husbands are rarely respectable and seldom accorded the respect that the Bible demands for husbands and fathers. Sex is cheap and tawdry. Even on so-called "family" entertainment, sex is depicted in anti-Biblical ways. (As an example, our family was watching a movie that was touted as one of the most family oriented of family shows that has recently been produced by Hollywood, "Cheaper by the Dozen". How could this show, about a family with 12 children, manage to contaminate such a wholesome theme? They made sure that the parents reacted in an entirely ungodly way toward their oldest daughter that was shacking up with her boyfriend.) In the case of the 20/20 broadcast, the worldview proffered wasn't even "underlying". They presented the modern, open-minded, "loving", liberated and enlightened view that a well-trained, scholarly, courageous pastor should be teaching. The "truth" about Hell is that there isn't one!

Holy cow! I listened to this fellow tout his credentials. He attended Oral Roberts University. He had studied Greek and Hebrew. From his own lips, I heard him say that he was familiar with every verse in the Bible, and he couldn't believe that a loving God would ever send anyone to Hell. He told the reporter that after extensive study of the Scriptures, he had come down with the conclusion that the Bible was a collection of writings that man had made about God, but that the Bible couldn't be the actual, literal Word of God.

The program went on to describe how his friends had abandoned him and kicked him out of the church and how most of his congregation of 6,000 and left him. It was so sad, I almost cried! But not quite. According to 20/20 he is now building a NEW congregation of more enlightened people, people that are willing to submit to the more hopeful and loving teaching that there are no consequences for sin. Can you imagine how intellectually astute one must be to embrace such a "high" view of God? The implication in the article is that the church can't keep the collection plate full unless they are preaching Hell.

Before I go berserk, I had better state my thesis for this article. Yes, God is love, but God does not love everyone in the same way. Yep. There I said it. If I make such a bold statement then I had better be able to back it up! Since we live in the United States of America in the 21st century, there are certain things that one cannot say unless he wants to be labeled unloving, unenlightened or just plain stupid. For instance, if one were to challenge the American maxim that the ultimate virtues are individualism and tolerance, that person would barely be given a chance to say another word.

I know I sound like a broken record, but if we don't allow the Bible to speak for itself and if we continue to use eisegesis, (forcing our preconceived ideas into the interpretation of Scripture), instead of exegesis, (allowing the Scriptures to speak for themselves), to determine truth, then we will continue to have a crisis in Christianity. In a recent Bible study, one of the attendees stated plainly, "My pastor says one thing, my Bible study teacher says another. Who am I to believe?"

Last year I asked my then 11 year old son if he thought that God loved everyone. He shocked me when he responded, "Well . . . not salvifically!" I almost fell out of my chair. He was right. I have always been astounded by the fact that certain passages in the Bible have become so popular that even unchurched, non-Christian people become familiar with them, while other passages seem to shock even old-time believers. For instance, what passage is by far the most well known, and most oft quoted amongst non-Christian people? Matthew 7:1 of course! "Judge not, lest ye be judged." While passages like Matthew 15:24-26 "But He, (Jesus), answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she, (the Canaanite woman), came and began to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” And He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” ", are strangely unfamiliar. When was the last time you heard that passage quoted in a sermon? It is pretty easy to see why people can get a distorted view of the Scriptures, because most people are only exposed to select passages and most do not study the Bible for themselves.

Probably one of the most distorted and complex concepts in Scripture is that of God's love. First, the Scripture clearly teaches that God is love. 1 John 4:8 "The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love." There are 711 mentions of the word "love" or "lovingkindness" in the Bible. Obviously love is an important concept. There are some who impose their favorite preconceptions on the Scripture in order to solve difficult problems that arise from God's love and how it works itself out vis-à-vis other concepts such as eternal punishment in Hell. One of the most common of these devices is to deny the existence of Hell itself. This strategy does great damage to the integrity of Scripture and logically results, as was asserted by the 20/20 pastor, in the necessity of relegating the Bible to a collection of man-authored books about God and not God's literal word.

Other strategies that some have used to reconcile God's wrath with His love is to adopt a form of hyper-dispensationalism. This view holds that God revealed Himself progressively from the incomplete Old Testament view of God as wrathful, to the more complete New Testament view of God, manifested in the person of Jesus, as loving. This is a fantasy. First, in the Old Testament, we see 183 mentions of God's lovingkindness. He has ALWAYS demonstrated His love for His children. Second, the New Testament is full of wrathful decrees from the mouth of Jesus Himself! John 9:39 And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.”

There is another popular view that God hates the sin, but loves the sinner. Again, we must allow the Bible to speak for itself. Romans 9:13 "Just as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” " Psalm 5:5 "The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes; You hate all who do iniquity. " Psalm 11:5 "The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, And the one who loves violence His soul hates." Malachi 1:2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have You loved us?” “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob; but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness.” God clearly hates people. How does this square with God's love?

Hopefully, I can demonstrate a view of God's love that takes the entirety of Scripture into account. Does God love everyone? Yes, but not in the way that most people think. God demonstrates His love for everyone, even those that hate Him. Matthew 5:45b ". . . for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." Ezekiel 33:11 “Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’" God's love for the reprobate does not, however, negate His justice. Those who reject Christ will be relegated to an eternity in Hell. Mark 9:47-48 “If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched."

To try to put this concept into human terms, think about your neighbor in relationship to your your family. As a Christian, I am commanded to love my neighbor. I do. I also love my family, but the quality of the love that I have for my family is clearly different from the love that I have for my neighbor. God has a special and unique love for the people that are part of His family, people that He chose from before the beginning of time. Ephesians 1:3-6 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved." He demonstrates that love to us for His purposes.

Today, I hope that I was able to demonstrate the FACTS that God does love everyone, but He loves His children in a different way than He loves others. I also hope that my readers come away with the understanding that God's justice still demands that those without a relationship to Jesus will still suffer for eternity in Hell, despite God's love for them.

Tomorrow, I hope to address the "whys" that inevitably MUST be asked, regarding this seeming incompatibility in God's character.

His servant,

D. L. Culiver