You Don’t Have To Go To Hell!

People sometimes approach the Bible like they approach a salad or food bar, taking what tastes good to them and leaving untouched what doesn’t even if it is good for them. That approach may or may not be okay when it comes to a salad or food bar, but definitely NOT an okay way to ever approach the Bible (see Matthew 4:4)! The Bible contains all kinds of sweets for the soul. It offers up huge helpings of God’s love, grace, mercy, forgiveness, joy and peace in the here and now. And then, out beyond the grave in the eternal hereafter, the Bible tells us about a home with God – a place beyond the bright blue where there will no longer be wars and terrorists and hospitals. A place where no one suffers or dies from cancer or diabetes or heart disease or Alzheimer’s. A place where, to quote the apostle John, "God will wipe every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain., for the former things have passed away" (Revelation 21:4). Sweet indeed!

But there is also some bitter in the Bible. Besides a message about God’s love, mercy and forgiveness, there is talk all over the Bible about the wrath of God. There is a sweet, soul-tingling message about Heaven. But those who honor the Bible and respect it as God’s inspired and authoritative word know it also holds out the threat of hell for those who deny or ignore God or "lip service" but not obedience (see Matthew 7:21-23). Some passages offer up the bitter and the sweet side by side. Consider Romans 5:9 for instance – "Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him." Surrounding this verse is the stunning proclamation that at the cross God "demonstrated His own love toward us," that Jesus died for us "when we were still without strength . . . ungodly . . . still sinners . . . enemies" (verses 6-11). But, right there, smack dab in the middle of all that bitter, is the sweet, saving message that God has acted to justify us! That is, He has acted to put away our sins and keep us out of hell! Hallelujah! God not only wants us to go to heaven, but has, at the cost of His Son’s blood, made provisions for us to be able to go! I don’t want to offend anyone who reads the following words, but a story from the past powerfully underscores what I’m trying to say. One day when Vice President Calvin Coolidge was presiding over the Senate, one Senator angrily told another to go "straight to hell." The offended Senator complained to Coolidge as presiding officer, and the Vice President looked up from the book he had been leafing through while listening to the debate. "I’ve been looking through the rule book," he said. "You don’t have to go." People who say there is no hell have it all wrong. It’s plain to see the Bible’s message about hell unless you stubbornly refuse to believe it. But people, including preachers, who would have you believe God would be happy if you were in hell instead of heaven, also have it very wrong! Scripture explicitly declares that God "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" and He is "longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9). Hallelujah! When it comes to hell, you don’t have to go. Through faith in Christ and obedience to the gospel you can go to heaven! Think about it.

Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN