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8 Huge Myths about Hell
Sam Storms
The reality of
hell and eternal punishment is not a popular topic, even among Christians.
Part of the
problem is that the nature of hell has been horribly distorted in our culture
and portrayed as an experience that is far from what we read in the NT.
When I’m asked
why I believe in hell, my response is three-fold.
First, I have such
unshakable and robust confidence in the inerrant truth of every word in the
Bible that the matter is already settled before I even read the text.
I believe, as the
Apostle Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:16, that “all Scripture [even texts such
as Revelation 14:9-11] is breathed out by God and [is] profitable for
teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.”
Second, by God’s grace
I have come to understand, at least to some degree, the immeasurable magnitude
and majesty of God’s holiness and beauty and authority and the honor that is
due to him from all of his creatures, including you and me.
Third, again by God’s
grace I have come to understand the immeasurable horror and ugliness and
self-centeredness of humanity’s sin and depravity and wickedness.
If hell strikes you as unreasonable or unfair...
So I can honestly
say that to the degree that you and I struggle with the concept of hell and
eternal punishment is the degree to which we don’t understand God’s holiness
and honor, on the one hand, or the horror and depravity of mankind’s sin, on
the other.
In other words,
if hell strikes you as unreasonable or unfair or disproportionate, it can only
be due to the fact that either you don’t believe the Bible is inspired
and true, or you don’t believe that God is infinitely holy and just, or you
don’t believe that mankind is morally depraved and has committed cosmic treason
and is thus deserving of eternal condemnation.
As noted,
contributing to the problem of hell are the numerous myths or false beliefs
that surround it.
Here are eight of
them:
Myth #1: Hell is a place to be united with unbelievers.
There is
widespread belief among non-Christians that hell is
a place where they will be united with their unbelieving friends and drink beer
all the time in an endless party. The fact is that hell is a place of utter
isolation, loneliness, and deprivation.
Myth #2: Hell is a place where Satan and his demons reign.
Another false belief
is that hell is
the place where Satan and his demons exercise their authority to rule and
reign.
The fact is that
hell is the place where Satan and his demons suffer eternal punishment.
Satan and his demons are inmates in hell, not its warden or guards.
See Matthew 25:41 for
one clear statement to that effect: “Then he will say to those on his left,
‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the
devil and his angels."
Myth #3: Satan and his demons will torment human beings in hell.
Directly related
to the previous myth, there is the notion among many that in hell Satan and his
demons torment human beings who also are there.
No. There is not
one text in the Bible that
suggests Satan and his demons afflict or torment human beings. They themselves,
instead, are the object of God’s punishment.
There have been
numerous books written by people who claim to have visited hell in which they
describe a scene where demons are tormenting humans who have been consigned
there.
This should be
the first indication to all careful, Bible-believing readers that such an
experience is fabricated.
Myth #4: There are people in hell who want to reconcile with God.
Yet another
misconception is that there are people in hell crying
out for mercy who want to reconcile with God. Nothing in Scripture indicates
this is so.
Instead, those in
hell are eternally defiant of God and hate him all the more with each passing
moment.
Myth #5: There are people in hell who don't deserve to be there.
One of the more
blasphemous notions about hell is
that there are people in hell who don’t deserve to be there. Nothing could be
farther from the truth.
God’s justice is
impeccable and he never consigns anyone to punishment in hell who does not
fully deserve to suffer there.
Myth #6: There are people in hell who wanted to go to heaven.
A related myth is
the notion that there are people in hell who wanted to go to heaven while
they were still alive, but God wouldn’t let them.
That is utterly
false. Jesus himself made this clear when he said, “I am the bread of life;
whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never
thirst. . . whoever comes to me I will never cast out . . . For this is the
will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him
should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:35, John 6:37b, John 6:40).
Myth #7: Hell holds people who will one day be released.
A seventh myth is
that there are people in hell who will eventually be released and granted
entrance into heaven.
As much as we
might wish this were true, it isn’t.
The Bible does not
teach the doctrine of universalism, that is, the idea that everyone will
eventually be saved and given eternal life in the new heaven and new earth.
Myth #8: In hell, people will be rid of God.
Finally, there is
the myth that in hell people
will be rid of God and have no experience of him.
That is not true.
It is true they will have no experience of God’s loving and gracious presence,
but they will most assuredly experience his presence in justice and wrath.
In fact, we read
in Revelation 14:10 that
they will be tormented “in the presence of the holy angels and in the
presence of the Lamb,” that is, in the presence of Jesus Christ.
As John Piper has
said, Revelation 14:10
is not saying that “those in hell have the privilege of seeing what they
enjoy, but that they have the remorse of seeing what they rejected.”
Hell should provoke anguish and urgency.
I’ll conclude
with two brief observations.
First, I can’t
read biblical portrayals of hell and
eternal punishment or think about it without feeling a deep and unrelenting
agony in my heart.
We should never
talk about hell without weeping, for it is real and people are going there.
This is not a subject for joking or lighthearted banter.
It is an issue
that should provoke within us both anguish and an urgent commitment to share
the gospel with those who remain in unbelief.
Hell should provoke unfathomable gratitude.
My second
reaction is one of unfathomable gratitude.
When I read about
hell in a passage like Revelation
14:9-11 I’m reading about what I deserve.
God would have
been perfectly just and righteous had he chosen to consign me to eternal
torment.
But in mercy he
has drawn me to faith in his Son. In mercy he has poured out his wrath on Jesus
in my place, a wrath and judgment that Jesus lovingly and willingly embraced
and endured.
Every single one
of us deserves damnation. God owes us nothing but justice. The fact that he has
given us mercy instead, and forgiveness instead of condemnation, ought to
awaken in us the most heartfelt and passionate gratitude and praise.
Article originally
published on SamStorms.com. Used with permission.
Sam Storms is an
Amillennial, Calvinistic, charismatic, credo-baptistic, complementarian,
Christian Hedonist who loves his wife of 44 years, his two daughters, his four
grandchildren, books, baseball, movies, and all things Oklahoma University. In
2008 Sam became Lead Pastor for Preaching and Vision at Bridgeway Church in
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Sam is on the Board of Directors of both Desiring God
and Bethlehem College & Seminary, and also serves as a member of the
Council of The Gospel Coalition. Sam is President-Elect of the Evangelical Theological
Society.
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