What about Hell?

One of the inevitable facts of life is death. Since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, the curse of death has been man's history. To date, only two individuals have escaped its clutches: Enoch and Elijah. "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27 KJV). That is the Sword of Damocles that hangs over mankind.

If there were only something we could do about death. Well there is. We cannot avoid it - unless the Rapture comes - but we can avoid its sting. When Jesus Christ died on the cross and later rose from the grave, He removed the power of death over us. Paul wrote: "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:55-57 NIV). So, when I accepted Christ as my Savior, the sting of death was removed.

But there is a second question: What happens after a person dies? For many Christians down through the centuries, the answer has always been - either heaven or hell. Heaven is the place for those who have accepted the eternal life that Jesus Christ came to give; hell is the place for those who have rejected that gift. There seems to be abundant biblical evidence for both locations. Even Jesus described hell as a place of torment - a place where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched (Mark 9:48 NIV).

Yet, there is a spirit afoot among evangelicals to deny the reality of hell; to call into question the very statements of Jesus about that place. A new book, to be released next week, by Rob Bell, the renown pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, MI, has taken the evangelical community by storm. In the book he describes as "misguided and toxic" the dogma that "a select few Christians will spend forever in a peaceful, joyous place called heaven, while the rest of humanity spends forever in torment and punishment in hell with no chance for anything better" (from Star Tribune article, March 6, 2011). Bell joins a growing list of evangelical scholars, including the late Clark Pinnock, to deny the existence of hell.

If there is no hell, does that mean that all will go to heaven? If all will go to heaven, does that mean that we don't need to evangelize any longer? If we don't have to evangelize what is the purpose of the Church? These are the questions that proceed from a dialogue about the reality of hell.

The Bible is very clear on the reality of hell and of those who will go there. Take a few moments and read Revelation 20:11-15, especially that final verse: "If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." That seems to be the exclamation point, at least in this blogger's mind.

The dangers of the teachings of a Rob Bell is that it leads to universalism - everyone will be saved. That is a dangerous position to take as your eternal life might hang in the balance.