Hell, does it exist?

Having ended my previous post with the subject of Hell, I thought that I would discuss its existence and why Hell was created. Let's look at the latter first as this will lead into the former. Hell is a created place of torment that was designed for Satan and his angels, however the Bible clearly states in Isaiah 5:14 "Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it." Does this sound like men will not be be in hell? Reading more of Isaiah, ch. 5, will make it very obvious that man, not angels, are the focus of God's prophecy. Man's pride will be brought down, man will be made desolate, man's wisdom will be brought low, man will face judgment. While Isaiah is speaking to Israel, man as a whole should wonder that if His Chosen People face judgment, then who are the rest of us to think we won't? Hell is spoken of in the Bible, including the original Greek and Hebrew manuscripts. Again, I am no scholar, but I have studied interlinear translations by various groups and all translations that I have read mention hell, in one form of the word or another. While some groups try to change the meaning of what hell is, the fact remains that Jesus pointed to it as a real place for us to avoid. Why should we avoid it if, as some say, we will not be there or, if we are, we won't be for long? Jesus is quoted in three of the four Gospels actually saying the word "hell" in warnings against following the enemy or we would be in danger of hell. In John, while not saying the word "hell", Jesus refers to it in numerous passages. We have no reason to believe that Jesus Himself would have warned against hell if it didn't exist. If we use our wisdom and try to talk our way around what Jesus says, and put spin on it to support our way of thinking, then we are in danger of calling Jesus a liar, and if He is a liar, then we have our faith in nothing. The Word of God is truth. The word of man is lie. Only when man speaks the Word of God does truth pass our lips. That seems a bold and contradictory statement, and some would use it to say that what I write would therefore be a lie, but when we begin to look at things through the eyes of God we will understand that we, who needed a savior, have very little understanding of righteousness, and therefore have little knowledge of the truth. So if we have little truth, then we can not give great truths to the world. Think of it this way, you are in a desert of lies and a single raindrop of truth falls every hour, will you quench your thirst with the sand?

Dying Daily to Self

I have determined that I will begin everyday that I am able posting something on this site that honors and glorifies God and His Holy Son, Jesus. I have spent the last three weeks in intense study, because we have had a cult established in our little town and I feel that someone needs to stand and preach the truth. The cult, and I call it this because it has some semblance of truth while being a lie. The truth is that Jesus died for all, that any who would will be saved. The lie is that whether or not you choose to follow Christ you will be saved. While those who profess this false doctrine use Scripture, they have picked a verse here and there, either out of context with the passage or isolated within other verses that further reading will show the truth as being contradictory to their teaching. The examples are endless, but let me point out one, universalism tends to make much of the word "all" in certain verses. I will not debate what the original Greek meaning of the word, because I am no Greek scholar, however, I will state two points that should be obvious to the most casual reader. First, with a few exceptions, the epistles of the Bible are addressed to believers, and as such, verses should be interpreted in the context of being written to those that have received Christ as their savior. When we read Scriptures we should keep in mind that the author was writing to Christians with two thoughts; first keep the believers following Christ and second evangelize the world, as we all were commissioned by Christ to do. Second, while Christ did die for all, even He said that not all that cry "Lord, Lord" will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, even if they do great works in His name(Matt 7:21,22). If even He says that not all are going to heaven, where does the justification for this false doctrine come from?

The true draw of any cult or false teaching is that it plays upon the desires of the person. While our desire should be that all we know and see would go to heaven, placing our faith in a false hope does not get them there. If we believe that they are going to heaven, no matter the condition of her soul, we have no unction to witness for Christ.

I will close this post with this hypothetical question that was posed to me. If an unsaved 22 year old died, while driving drunk, in a car wreck why should he be eternally punished for only 22 years worth of sin? The answer is this: if God knows the number of the hairs on our head, then He knows the number of our day's on this Earth. His love is shown every day, His Word is preached all around us. How many times did the 22yo reject Christ in those same years? We have a personal responsibility to know Christ. If we do not accept that responsibility, then we have chosen our eternal destination. We choose, God does not put, us in Hell. Yes, Virginia, there is a Hell, but that is another post.