Hell

A typical person who believes that Hell exists, or even a typical disparager of religious belief, might describe being sent to Hell as something like this:

Once a person dies, he stands in judgment, whether by God, or Saint Peter, or some other arbiter.  The person is then confronted with the record of his sins in life.  Did you kill anyone?  Did you lie, steal, or commit adultery?  Did you speak bad words, or think bad thoughts?  Did you refrain from acts of charity?  Did you belong to the right religion?

No one will be able to plead complete innocence.  All are guilty, especially those who deny any guilt at all.  And the punishment for guilt is eternal torment in the fires of Hell.

But wait, the condemned person may point out that amid all his sins, he did do some good deeds.  He can list a great many acts of kindness, of resisting temptation, perhaps even of great sacrifice and heroism.  Certainly, those count for something.  Let us then, he pleads, weigh the good against the bad, and see which carries more weight.

The judge agrees.  Yes, you did do some good things.  Your sins imposed a great debt on you, but you made some payments on that debt.  Let’s look at the balance sheet.  Your sins, one billion dollars.  Your good deeds, five thousand dollars.  You see, the good deeds that you claim so proudly, they were required of you.  You do not get praise for paying back a minuscule amount of your debt.

The person standing in judgment then despairs.  Is there, then, no hope for me?

The judge says, hmm, let’s see here.  It seems an additional payment was made for you, on your debt.  Hmm.  It was paid in full.  It seems that someone saved you from Hell, by suffering in your place, the punishment you deserve.  You are free and clear to enter heaven.

I’ll end the story there, even though it’s not the end, but the beginning of eternal life.

But there is still some confusion.  In order for the person to avoid Hell, doesn’t he have to do something more?  Doesn’t he have to pray?  To worship?  To be truly, truly sorry for his sins?  To apologize?  To make reparations? 

The Bible tells us that salvation is the finished work of Jesus.  We cannot add to it.

But wait.  What about people who committed murder?  What about truly evil, vicious people who caused untold suffering to innocent victims?  Was their debt paid also?

Yes.  It was.

But why should that be?  Why should the guilty get the same reward as those who tried to lead a good life and failed?

Why, you ask?  Why did the workers in the vineyard all get paid the same, regardless of how long they worked?

But we’re talking about people who burned the vineyard.  If everybody gets the same reward, then why should any of us even try to be good?  Why can’t we all just live our lives in sin, if we all get rewarded the same?

You can.  Would you?  If someone paid your debt for you, would you then slap him in the face?

Well, no, I wouldn’t, but some people would.  Why should they go to heaven?

You are forgetting one thing.  Every soul can enter heaven.  But, sin cannot.  Not even one sin.  Not even the least sin.  Not even one penny of your billion-dollar debt.

Okay, but my debt is paid.  Are you saying that, in order for me to enter heaven, I must be accepting of all other people who enter heaven?

You can enter, but not your sin, not even a tiny grudge, not even a hint of prideful resentment.

Okay, I am beginning to see, but there is one more question.  The Bible makes it clear that many people do, in fact, go to Hell.  The devil will burn in Hell forever.  Doesn’t God love the devil?

Indeed, God loves all whom He created.

Then why do people get sent to Hell, if their sins are forgiven?

Nobody is sent to Hell.

Huh?

Nobody is sent to Hell, but some people send themselves there.

Even though they are forgiven?

Yes.

Why would anyone do that?

There is no answer to that, at least, not one that you would ever wish to know.  It involves the most hideous and vilest deed that can ever be committed by any person.  That deed is known as blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and also as, the taking of the Mark of the Beast.  Those two are the Unforgivable Sin.  Those who commit them, spend eternity in Hell.

Unforgivable?  But I thought that God forgives all sin.

Forgiveness is freely offered.  But to be forgiven, one must accept forgiveness.  The unforgiven will never accept forgiveness.

But what if they do accept it, say, later on, when they realize that the alternative is eternity in Hell?

They won’t.  The very essence of the unforgivable sin is that, the sinner himself, transfixes himself into eternal evil.

Okay, but even so.  Suppose a person momentarily commits the unforgivable sin, and then repents?

The sinner who takes the mark of the beast, or blasphemes the Holy Spirit, never does so lightly.  Such a sin is committed knowingly, willfully, and persistently, over a long period of time.  At every moment, his soul cries out to stop this spiritual suicide.  Finally, the point is reached where the sinner knows, knows with all certainty, that he is reaching the point of no return.  Instead of turning back from it, he rages toward it, filling his heart with hatred and all manner of filth.  He inflicts infinite pain on himself, rejecting every mercy from God, slashing out at every offer of forgiveness.

Even when the sinner is in Hell, even then, he loves no one but himself, hating all others, despising them, wishing to torment them as he torments himself.

Okay, but why torment the sinner?  Why not just lock him away, or even extinguish him from existence?  Why burn him forever?

The punishment of Hell is not like that.  Hell is starvation, spiritual starvation.  The condemned soul condemns himself.  He remains free to partake of the heavenly feast, but chooses instead to throw it to the swine, if he could.  His soul yearns forever for that food, but the sinner refuses to eat.  That, more than any earthly flame, is what torments him, that, and the hatred which he cultivates in his soul.

Then why not simply make him not exist?  Wouldn’t that be better?

It would be better for the condemned sinner never to have been born.

Then why did you let him be born?  And why don’t you make him vanish from reality?

Those are good questions, and there are good answers.  But they are matters of the spirit, where you have yet to walk.  For now, you do not even understand the world in which you live, no more so than the fish of the ocean depths can understand the mountaintop.  When you are ready to receive the answer, then you will have your answer.

But be assured, it will not matter.  All your vexations will cease, and you will know eternal bliss, eternal fellowship with God, living in His house, feasting at His eternal banquet.