Are There Christians in Hell?

       "God would never send a Christian to hell." This is what most people believe. Let us see what the Bible has to say about this fiery subject and see if there are Christians in hell.

       Works of the Flesh: "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery (Jesus said if you look at a woman with lust, you have committed adultery with her in your heart), fornication (illicit sexual intercourse), uncleanness, lasciviousness (sexually unchaste), idolatry (putting anything or anyone ahead of God), witchcraft (horoscopes, Ouija boards, tarot cards etc.), hatred (the Bible says if you hate your brother you are a murderer), variance (strife), emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God" (Galatians 5:19-21 KJV).

       Are you a Christian and guilty of any of these "works of the flesh?" I encourage you to repent of such things and stop doing them because they will send you to hell. Don't be another one of the Christians in hell.

      Lukewarm: "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth" (The Book of Revelation 3:15-16 KJV).
It is very easy to be lukewarm. Just put other things ahead of God. Do not seek Him diligently. Do not love Him more than anyone or anything. Do not obey His Word. Have little or no desire to know Him intimately. Will you go to hell if you are lukewarm? What do you think your chances are of entering heaven if God spues you out of His mouth?

      Disobedient: "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 7:21 KJV). Are you doing the will of God? The Word of God is His Will.

     Unforgiveness: Jesus states in Mark 11:26, "But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses."
If your sins are not forgiven by God, then you will not inherit the kingdom of God. Walk in God's love and forgive those who have wronged you. Ask God to bless those who have hurt you. Do not let the sin of unforgiveness send you to hell.

       Lying "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and
sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone:
which is the second death" (Revelation 21:8).
Can't keep from lying? Repent of this evil, it will surely send you to hell. God is not the God of liars. Do you lie to
your relatives? Do you lie to friends? Do you lie to strangers? Do you lie to the government? Is lying worth
spending eternity in the lake of fire? Immediately repent of lying and live holy.

      Unrepentant: Let me share with you a testimony. A pastor relates in his vision of hell how an angel explained to him, "There are two kinds of people in hell. One kind is those who did not believe in Jesus. Those who did not believe in Jesus come to hell 100 percent. The other kind is the people who went to church but died without repenting."
Charles Spurgeon said, "There is no going to heaven with one sin ruling within us."
Do not continue to live with even one sin in your life. Repent of it. Turn away from it. Is one sin worth missing heaven and spending eternity in the lake of fire?

     Will You be One of the Few? "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" (Matthew 7:13-14 KJV).
I have not written this article to condemn you but to warn you to turn from sin and walk holy and obediently before God. Seek His presence and desire to know Him intimately.

      Love Him more than anyone or anything. If you do this He will unfold the perfect plan He has for your life which goes beyond anything you could formally think or imagine. God loves you and He wants you to spend eternity with Him in glory and not in the lake of fire. Not a Christian yet? Receive God's free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ now and begin fulfilling God's glorious destiny for your life. I don't want you to be another Christian in hell.

       Remember to always walk in love and forgiveness towards everyone, always obeying God's Word so you don't hinder His perfect will for your life. But if you don't read His Word how will you know what to obey? Please read His Word daily so you will know what to obey, thus fulfilling His will for your life.

The Biblical Hell

There are many different teaching today regarding the subject of hell. Not much preaching about hell, but a lot of teaching. Most of this teaching is not based off the Bible however, and most of it is far different then what God says. I would like to take a look at this subject from God's point of view.

       First off, the Bible teaches that Heaven and Hell are eternal. According to Matthew 25:46, Jesus said, "and these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal". We find this same truth in Romans 16:26, where Paul speaks of the everlasting God, and in Hebrews 9:14 where Scriptures refer to the eternal spirit.

      There are four expressions in these three verses to be considered. They are "everlasting punishment", "eternal life", everlasting God", and "eternal spirit". The only difference between everlasting and eternal in our language is a difference in spelling. They both mean the same thing. The Greek word translated as everlasting or eternal in these three passages is the same. They both mean, "eternal, everlasting, without end, never to cease, or indeterminate as to duration".

      So, if a person were to take the word "eternal" literally in regards to God and Heaven, they would have to do the same in regards to hell and punishment. If one took the position that hell were to last only a thousand years, to be consistent he would also have to contend that the Father, Spirit and Heaven will last for only a thousand years. The same word used to describe the duration of Hell's punishment is also used to describe the duration of the Father, Spirit and Heaven.
Because of this, it must be understood that the very moment the disobedient cease to be punished, the righteous will cease to be blessed and the Father and Spirit and Jesus Christ will cease to exist. Just as Heavens blessings last for an eternity, hell's punishment must also last for an eternity.

      There are two other arguments that arise regarding hell. First, some say that would make hell too long. They argue that it would not be right to punish one eternally for five years of disobedience. If that is true it would also be wrong to bless one eternally who had lived for only five years in obedience to God's will.
If not, why not? The same arguments used to rid the Bible of the doctrine of hell, can be used with equal validity against the doctrine of heaven.

       Those who feel that eternal punishment is too long, reflect upon every system of justice in the world. How does one determine the enormity of an act? By the time it takes to perform it? Or by the act itself? For example, in fifteen seconds, a man could kill a dozen people by throwing a hand grenade into a crowded store. If that were done, should the killer go to prison for only fifteen seconds? Should he be placed in the penitentiary for only sixty seconds? Would the demands of justice be satisfied if he served a jail sentence of two minutes? Oh, no, if he were able to escape execution, he would have to spend the rest of his life behind bars for an act which took only fifteen seconds to perform. The heinousness of evil is seen in the act itself, rather than by the time involved in its perpetration.

       The most horrible thing one can do is live in rebellion to the will of Almighty God. Those who live five years, five months, or five days in defiance of the Lord, and die in that condition will be punished in hell forever. The length of the sin is not the question.

       Second, there are those who believe the punishment of Matthew 25:46 means eternal annihilation. They maintain that the disobedient will be cast into the fires of hell and simply experience a cessation of all existence. When Revelations 21:8 speaks of a second death, they understand it to refer to a second physical death. In their view, when one dies the first time he goes back to where Adam was before he was created. Where was Adam before he was created? He was not. They believe that at the Lord's second coming, the dead will be re-created and those who have rejected the Saviour will be burned to death, experience a second physical death and be annihilated forever. Everlasting punishment to them means to be dead, like an animal, eternally.

       In response to that position, consider the word translated as punishment in Matthew 25:46. It is, "colason", which means to chastise, or torment. In I John 4:18, it is translated as torment. Read Luke 16:19-31, and notice that four times the rich man in the flames of Hades is described as being in anguish or torment. See Revelations 14:11 and 20:10, where the word torment is used to describe the fate of the unsaved. If those who leave this world unprepared to meet God go into eternal nonexistence, how could the words torment or anguish be used to describe their experience? Torment can only exist where there is consciousness. Where there is no consciousness, there is no torment.

       The Bible tells us that it is "appointed unto man, once to die, after that the judgment." This death is a physical death. Once you are resurrected to stand before God, you will have a spiritual body. This body can not die, or be destroyed. Once judged, you will be cast into the lake of fire. This is the "second" death. This death is not a physical one, but a spiritual separation from God for all eternity. This takes place in the Lake of fire. The unsaved shall go away into everlasting conscious, suffering, torment.

Here are some other things that the Bible says about hell...
- Hell is a place of fire
- The man in Luke 16:24 cries: "...I am tormented in this FLAME."
- In Matthew 13:42, Jesus says: "And shall cast them into a FURNACE OF FIRE: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."
- In Matthew 25:41, Jesus says: "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting FIRE,..."
- Revelation 20:15 says, "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the LAKE OF FIRE."

        THE BIBLE GIVES THE LOCATION OF HELL:
In Numbers 16, the Bible gives the account of people falling into hell alive!
"And THE EARTH OPENED HER MOUTH, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive INTO THE PIT, and the EARTH CLOSED."

       When Jesus Christ died on the cross, He descended into hell. In Acts 2, Peter is speaking, verse 31, "... seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in HELL"
And in Matthew 12:40, Jesus Christ says: "For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly: so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the HEART OF THE EARTH."
My dear readers, Hell is a literal, eternal place of conscience punishment. It is real, and according to the Word of God, it is enlarging itself every day. You can escape this place simply by turning from your sins, and accepting God's salvation through Jesus Christ. Won't you do so today.

       Evangelist Paul Dodson is a full time Evangelist, preaching the Gospel in the North-Central United States. Evangelist Dodson is also a member of Baptist Circuit Riding Mission, and writes Biblically based articles during his off time