Tuesday, July 15, 2008

The Reality of Hell -- Just How Real Is It?

The reality of hell - Just how real is it?

Sitting in church one Sunday morning, taking notes as the pastor preached, it hit me. I don't believe in hell! I've told this story a couple of times since that Sunday morning and I always have gotten the same reaction - raised eyebrows, so I'm not surprised if you are having the same reaction. In fact, I had the same reaction! I was STARTLED to realize I don't BELIEVE in hell.

Oh, I KNOW hell is a real, literal place, a place of eternal torment. I have never questioned its existence. I KNOW the reality of hell; I just don't BELIEVE IT.

You may wonder what brought me to such a startling conclusion. It was the message that morning about reaching people with the gospel of truth. That Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, was crucified, died and buried making payment for our sins. He rose on the third day to give new, eternal life to those who believe. But those who refuse the gospel, failing to believe in Jesus Christ and Him crucified, will not have eternal life but will live eternally in a literal place called hell.

"...to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched-where ' Their worm does not dieAnd the fire is not quenched.' Mark 9:43-44

One thing I have learned in 25 years of saving faith is that our attitudes and actions are the indicator of what we really believe in our hearts, much more that what we say we believe with our lips. "We live out what we believe not upon what we know."1

There can be a vast difference between what we know and what we believe. I KNOW there is a literal hell, but my actions or rather inaction belies the fact that I do not BELIEVE it. If I had more than just an intellectual ascent to the reality of hell, I don't think ANYTHING could stop me from sharing the gospel, pleading for the souls of people, family and friends alike.

How about you? Can you identify with what God showed me that Sunday morning? Do you not only KNOW there is a very real hell awaiting those that refuse the gospel, do you BELIEVE it? Are you living as if you believe it? I'm not yet but I am praying and trusting God that will change.
Diane Hunt is Director of Addiction Recovery Ministries at America's KESWICK
1 Vicki Arudda quoted in "Praying God's Word" by Beth Moore

1 comment:

GraceHead said...

1/14/06 - From God the Father
...Shall I, even I, torment My beloved, they who are tormented continually by he who is, and has, torment in his vesture? Satan is the tormentor. ... Become, again, a child of God, and learn to walk uprightly, leading others into love, by love, not fear. ...MORE from this letter about unbiblical "hell" HERE

18 reasons why in a single verse

Theological Myth - Unending conscious torture