Hell - a Physical Reality!

After some rather interesting interchanges with a few Unitarians who took exception to my previous article, being accused and I quote - "I leave you to your very real hell you created for yourself...", I have decided to make my position very clear on hell, biblically speaking. But first things first: why does the world hate Jesus Christ so deeply?

• John 14:6 - Jesus claims He is the only way the Father. The lost detest being told what they must do and they will do every thing possible to find another way.
• If Jesus is nothing but a prophet why should He have the monopoly on the inside track to heaven. P.S. I heard a testimony of a converted Muslim that the Koran mentions Muhammad by name only four times but mentions the name Jesus 24 times and calls Him the Son of God and have a whole chapter dedicated to Mary (bad doctrine though).
• The world attempts to read the Word of God in a literal manner; when in actuality it can only be read literally in a Spiritual context (1 Cor. 2:13-14) and being blinded to the Truth they will not accept Jesus as God for they desire to be their own god. Remember, there are no other gods beside the Holy Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit!
• The main reason for the hatred is that by refusing to acknowledge our Lord as the Christ they are living in their trespasses and sins, dead to all things godly and spiritual. They have no hope, no future and no peace apart from God: everything they attempt to achieve a peace ends in failure and great disappointment.

How many of us can identify with my last point; I speak from personal experience and testify to the grace that saved a hopeless sinner such as I?

Why is it that the subject of hell is a topic so avoided today from the pulpits of its churches? It is a very dire doctrine and contrary to the modern "soft-sell" - you need a friend in Jesus; a half-truth and as I have quoted before, a half-truth can be the blackest of lies. I wonder how many become "players" at church and are destined to be left behind or left out? Why do we avoid the consequences of our sins and make it sound like we need a doctor and the right prescription as opposed to "turn or burn". Jesus used the terms for hell fifteen times in the Gospels and announced in Revelation 1:18 that He held the keys to hell itself. That is another reason to hate Jesus - how can one who only taught "looooove" turn around and be so cruel and allow anyone to go to hell? Our churches have become similarly contaminated with this godless doctrine; no wonder that those who attend such a place are confused to 1) who is the real Jesus, and 2) doesn't God love everybody? Now what does the Scriptures say?

• The Old Testament has only one word for hell and that is sheol meaning a place of the dead which would include both the Abels and the Cains of the O.T.; the good guys and the bad guys.
• The Greek of the New Testament better defines the makeup of this place of the dead, for it uses 3 words: hades the Greek version of sheol; geenna(gehenna) a place of burning and tartaroo for angels only.
• In Numbers 26, when the sons of Korah defied God's selection of the family of Aaron as being the high priests; the earth opened and swallowed 250 of the protestors, consumed them with fire and closed back up. Quite a demonstration of God's tolerance for those who openly defy Him and the place of the damned became a living reality for the survivors. If left to the O.T. alone, the question of the place of the godly dead might be more difficult to answer, but the N.T. brings the Truth to the light.
• Hades contained both geenna a place of burning and Paradise - a garden where those who seek audience with the King can wait in comfort until the bodily resurrection. This garden now resides in the holy heaven for Jesus took Paradise with Him when He ascended in Acts 1. Remember in Luke 16 the beggar Lazarus was with Abraham while the rich man looked on from geenna; a gulf between them which could not be crossed. Today hell resides within the earth awaiting the final judgment; a place void of hope and comfort for the worst is yet to come. Purgatory, a Catholic doctrine, is partially true - but the difference is those who now and will reside in hell will never see the light of day and they know it far better than the living dead of this world.
• Tartaroo is only found in 2 Peter 2:4 and is another pit reserved for fallen angels only. They are being reserved until the day of judgment. I wonder if the super antagonist Apollyon is one of its residents and they will become an instrument of God's judgment against man. Angels and man are imprisoned separately but in the end, all will see the Lake of Fire

The first tenet of Calvinism is the doctrine of total depravity. The hyper-Calvinists take it to an extreme which I believe is not biblical and I intend to prove my point. I do believe that man is a truly depraved creature and will be held eternally accountable whether having heard the Gospel directly or not. I also believe that Jesus laid down a major tenet that is overlooked by many of the hypers and the 3-fold principal of Romans is ignored.

• Romans 1:18-20+ - The wrath of God Almighty is revealed "...against all ungodliness...For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen...even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:" I remember the first time I visited Yosemite and all the people around us just stood in awe of the scene before us but I notice the pets many had brought could care less for they were too busy sniffing or finding a tree to do their business. Only mankind stands in awe of nature whether it is beauty, power or its destructiveness; creation alone is enough to convict man of His need to know the Creator.
• Romans 2:14-15 - "For when the Gentiles which have not the Law, do by nature the things contained in the Law, these not having the Law are a Law unto themselves: Which show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;..." When you see documentaries about people from the most remote of lands, you will find within their tribal or national cultures, laws that are very similar to that of civilized nations. One's own conscience is enough to convict them of their personal lawlessness before God and also leave them without excuse.
• Romans 2:17 to chapter 7 - The written law, the Word of God and by default everyone who has ever heard the preaching of the Gospel or read any of the Bible and yet denies the power and the authority of the Scriptures is triply without excuse. This will include millions of professing Christians and those who have joined the cults with the purpose of defaming the name of Christ, the only name given among men whereby we must be saved.

The question of the unborn, the newborn and the child's relationship to the law of creation, the law of conscience and the Law, the written and spoken Word.

Here is where I definitely disagree with the hypers for they hold that anyone who has not been born again by the personal acknowledgement of Jesus Christ as Lord & Savior, will not see heaven but will abide in hell and at the White Throne Judgment will be cast into the Lake of Fire. This includes babies and small children. Can you imagine the comfort they would bring to a grieving family who just lost a young child - "Well, I am so sorry for you, though your child is now in hell maybe it is time for you to repent before you join them." If they should survive the encounter, they would become anathema and their gospel would be now worthless in the grieving family's eyes. Obviously, they would avoid any conversation that approached their real belief and what ever comfort they should attempt to give would actually be a lie. Now the Truth!

• Per 2 Corinthians 1:3 our God is the God of all comfort and we are follow His example within all of our relationships, whether within the body of Christ or without.
• Matthew 18 in particularly verses 6 and 7 uses the phrase "little ones which believe in me", this passage indicates that the natural state of a little child is one of belief in God. In verse 7 He indicates that a day when this unbelief will come but woe unto the person through whom this unbelief comes. Sadly this is being played out before our eyes within the education system, for the secular world knows that little children have an inborn respect for authority and believe easily in there being a God. This does not fit the modern education model and children's minds are being polluted with evolution, unacceptable lifestyles and the such; do we have to think too deeply to figure out what a major problem this has upon society?
• My favorite verse concerning children and their safety in Christ is Romans 5:13 - "..but sin is not imputed when there is no law (the law of creation, the law of conscience or the written Law)." It doesn't take an Einstein to figure out that a baby or a young child would not be convicted by the standard set by God for mankind. I am sorry but I believe that life begins at conception and my little unborn grandchild who just recently passed away, I have every confidence I will meet them and know them. People talk about an age of accountability; that is purely up to our Lord but this I do believe; not only will there be millions upon millions of the unborn and young children present in heaven, the unregenerate people who are responsible for their young's demise will wail because their sin will be so great. Jesus said it best "...it would be better if a millstone were tied about their neck and they were drowned in the sea...".

There is so much more that could be said but may what I have written bless the reader.