God's Wrath - Hell

Eternal Suffering is hell is clearly preached in the Bible, especially by Jesus.

Luke 12:5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.

Mt 13:41,42 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Mt 18:34,35 In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."

Jude 1:7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

Despite the fact that eternal suffering would seem contrary both the God's judicial nature and his mercy and would seem to portray God the Father as the God Father, Jesus didn't shy away from portraying his Father in this manner. Because first of all this is the way God actually is. And secondly, from God's perspective, this a just sentence. True that it's difficult to see how eternal punishment is a just sentence for temporal sins, especially in consideration of the circumstances in which we live. It's difficult to see how it meets the standards of the law of Moses - an eye for an eye. But it apparently is. And fear and intimidation in light of hell is part of how the gospel is preached in the Bible.

Now there are those who would say that it's ineffective preaching hell. It turns people off. And so we hear little of hell today. But this is not an issue of effectiveness. This is an issue of what constitutes the essential elements of the gospel. To remove the wrath of God from the gospel is to preach a different gospel. If people won't accept the idea that God sends people to hell, if people can't accept that such judgment is condoned by the Lord Jesus Christ, then they have yet to believe the gospel of Christ.

"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." Mt 25:41

The Berean Christian Bible Study Resources