Today I am contemplating something I found written in my notes from a class I took back in 2008. It is clearly my hand-writing, though I don't remember writing it. I don't even remember what discussion we were having that led to me writing it. And it has really made me stop and think.
It reads, "Sin doesn’t send anyone to hell. Jesus paid the penalty for all the sins of humanity once and for all in His death on the cross. People go to hell because they refuse to accept God's grace."
I've written before about C.S. Lewis' view on heaven and hell. Lewis taught that God doesn’t send anyone to hell, but rather that people choose hell. He wrote an excellent book called "The Great Divorce", which is a story with a point, kind of like Jesus' parables. He writes about the afterlife, with some people in heaven and some in hell. In his story, the people in hell have the opportunity to visit heaven, and they even have the opportunity to stay, if they agree to live under God's reign.
However, no one ever accepts. They prefer the comfort of the known sin and misery they lived in. They don't like the idea of being overshadowed by someone else, claiming it would take away their freedoms. Even though the residents of heaven tell them that God is good and His ways are good and His mercy is never-ending, they refuse to believe it. They don't trust it. It sounds too good to be true. It's like Jesus said, the road is narrow, and many find it too difficult, preferring the wide road instead (Matthew 7:13-14).
Lewis writes, "There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.' All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it."
I know a lot of people try to erase hell. There are some very popular and well-known authors, pastors and speakers who reject the doctrine of hell. Personally, I have a hard time finding my way around it when I read Scripture. You would have to dismiss multiple Old and New Testament verses, including the words of Jesus.
I also wrote previously about how God is a gentleman, a God of consent. As Lewis noted, He will accept people's choices. Even if that means their choice is to not be with Him.
Perhaps rather than erasing hell, we need to rethink our concept of hell.
If we conceptualize hell as somewhere God sends people to be eternally punished and that He gets some kind of pleasure out of that, we dismiss verses like 1 Timothy 2:4, where it says God "wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." After all, hell was not created for human beings. It was created for the devil and the other fallen angels. It is not God's desire for any of us to end up there. But we choose it, when we reject His grace.
We choose it because we think somehow God is unfair in how He determines who goes where, not realizing that our free will means it is actually us who determines who goes where. We choose it because we don't trust Him. We choose it because we love our ways and we want to live by our rules, no one else's. *
The part I wrestle with is not whether or not hell exists, but with how many people are going to go there who think they’re saved.
When you read through the New Testament, as well as the letters and writings of the early church fathers (the disciples of Jesus' disciples) and what they believed about it, you see a theme emerging. Accepting God's grace is not about going to church or repeating a superstitious prayer or having a moment of contrition. It’s about a changed life. It’s about leaving behind the ways of the world and seeking after the will of God, directly expressed in the Bible as loving our neighbor.
It makes me wonder, how many people because they grew up in the church or said the prayer once when they were a kid (or maybe even as an adult) think that's it. They've done all they need to do. Then they keep living their lives however they want to, believing they are under grace when in fact they’re not. I wonder if, even, in the U.S., people believe they're saved because their family is "Christian" or because they belong to the "Christian party" or because they are White... or because they are American! It wouldn't surprise me, given how mixed the name of Christianity has become with nationalism and politics.
Jesus told a parable in Matthew 25 about the sheep and the goats and how they’ll be separated in the end days. The sheep are those who followed Jesus' teaching, loved their neighbors and served others in practical ways. They are welcomed into their eternal reward. The goats, however, did not do these things for the least of these, and so are cast out into "eternal punishment" (sounds like hell, doesn't it).
Accepting God’s grace is not just about asking for forgiveness for sins so we get a ticket to heaven. It’s so much more than that. It’s about surrendering to God. It’s about living the life that He calls us to live and leaving our sin and misery behind. A life submitted to God's grace should be a changed life. And, Jesus says, it should be marked by love for others.
This is not about legalism or perfectionism. It is not about church attendance (though that certainly helps in our walk) or rituals and tradition. It is about dying to self. Taking up our cross. Taking Jesus at His word. Putting our faith into action. Not in our own strength - but in the strength of the One who lives within us. That is why those who truly belong to God look different, because the very essence of God shines out from within them. And since God is love, they emulate God's love to others.
Living under grace means the old has gone, and the new has come. This is a process and a journey. But it is what we are called to, and what God wants to do within us.
Did Jesus die once and for all for everyone's sins? I suppose He did. That's what Paul says. But that doesn’t mean we are all saved. We must accept His grace, turn from our wicked ways, and love one another, as He first loved us.
* As a child I believed the world was small, and everyone had the chance to either accept or reject God and the free grace He offers. I have since come to realize the world is quite big, and there are many places around the globe where God's name is unknown, or at least, the name of Jesus is unknown. People are born into cultures and religions which profess other beliefs, many of which have nothing to do with God. Therefore, one could argue they never have the chance to reject God's grace. So, what happens to them? Paul states in Romans 1:20, "For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse." This echoes the words of the Psalmist in Psalms 19:1. Indeed creation itself speaks to a loving Creator. It should be noted, though, Paul adds later in Romans 10:14, "How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?" God wants the whole world to hear - and He calls us to be His messengers.
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