Why do people go to hell?

Why do people go to hell? These are just some personal questions and statement(feel free to disagree)

1) People go to hell because they refuse to accept the Gospel. What about the person who's never heard it? If the standard of judgement is based on this then how can God hold accountable one who's never heard it?
2) people go to hell because they sin. What is the standard by which sin is judged? If one doesn't know what sin is, can they be guilty of it?
3) People go to hell because they are not chosen. This would make hell a place where everyone is destined, unless intervened by God.

People go to hell because they are sinner's. As sinner's they refuse the Gospel, unless God by His grace intervenes.

Hi stevet83

stevet83 wrote ///2) people go to hell because they sin. What is the standard by which sin is judged? If one doesn't know what sin is, can they be guilty of it?///

For there is no respect of persons with God.
For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;
(For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

Ah, yes. The conscience standard for sin. People who don't know Gods law get judged by the law of their conscience. This is not a verse that proves innocents but proves guilt. Fact is everyone has gone against at some point what they thought they should've done. In chapter 3: 9 What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;" everything Paul had to say in 1&2 was to eastablish the fact that all sin.

///This is not a verse that proves innocents but proves guilt.///

Yes I agree

I had understood the question as asking 'Why do people go to hell?' and If one doesn't know what sin is, can they be guilty of it?

I was not using it to prove innocents, Only those who do not have the capability to judge others are innocent such as the infant, all adults judge thus they all fail their own judgment and guilt enters their soul

Let me find out, you agree:)

I can't say babies are innocent, "dead in trespasses and sin". I have yet come to a conclusion, and If I need to He'll show me.

Hi stevet83,

In answer to the question, 'why do people go to hell?' I think we need to stop and ask the question Abraham asked of God when He was about to destroy Sodom. Abraham probably believed that there were more righteous people in Sodom and the cities of the plain than their truly were. This, I think, is a common mistake we can all make. We assume that people are not the problem and we look to God as if somehow we need to restrain Him in His actions. But God is more loving than we could ever hope to be independent of Him, so we need to know that His decisions are the consequence of His knowledge and have passed through His benevolent and long-suffering nature. Abraham asked, "Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?" Indeed He will.

I wish to begin by answering briefly the matter of babies and children. Since we know that the scripture teaches that one must be born again (John 3:3) and that if any man have not the Spirit of God he/she is not His (Romans 8:9), etc., many have concluded over the centuries that babies and children are doomed to hell. This is a clear example of how theological constructs can miss the forest for the trees. Jesus said plainly:

At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
(Matthew 18:1-6)

And again,

But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. (Matthew 19:14, Mark 10:14, Luke 18:16)

So we see then the issue is not children making it to heaven, for they are as the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. The disciples asked the question and Jesus called a child to Him. Any theology that cannot account for this reality has to be scrapped and reworked. Shockingly men make it difficult for a child to get into Heaven, when Jesus spun it around on the adults and made the children (in effect) the standard. I picked up on this as a small child reading the Bible. I noticed how adults were often dismissive and condescending to children (and me), but I found comfort knowing that a truly Christ-like Saint would treat me (the child) as Jesus would have.

To the question directly, we have covered this many times in the past, but the simple answer is that men and women do always resist the Holy Spirit and the light that God provides for them. We learn in Genesis 6 that God will not always 'strive' with man; and as the writer to the Hebrews repeats' "today, while it is called today, if you hear His voice harden not your hearts." The condemnation (as Jesus explains it) is that light has come into the world, but men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. (John 3)

Typically the response to this reality is that some have not heard or some have more light than others. Paul answers this in Romans, "But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world." (Romans 10:18) He then goes on to ask, "Did Israel know?" His answer? But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people. (Romans 10:21)

Between these two answers is a great truth. It is not how much light a person has, it is how they respond to the light that they do have. God has whispered and men and women have responded. God has shouted with a thousand megaphones in peoples ears and yet they rebel. Paul said it this way, But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me. (Romans 10:20b)

I used to believe that faith and light were proportional. I other words, if God would just overwhelm a person with light, then they would believe. I have lived long enough to see that this is NOT the case at all. Imagine that the Chief Priests (Sadducees) saw Lazarus raised from the dead by Jesus. Who would want greater proof than that that He was who He claimed to be? Yet, when they saw the multitudes believing they sought to put Lazarus to death again. (John 12:10) Why? The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection and would rather destroy the evidence than respond rightly to the light they received and believe on Christ.

Another example from the opposite side is found in the book of Joshua where we have a prostitute that believes on God as a result of hearsay. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.
(Joshua 2:10-11)

She is mentioned in Hebrews 11 and is in our Lord's family tree according to the flesh.

For those that might be interested I put together a video series that is here on sermonindex.net called "Tophet, the beating of Drums." it is a bit long, but here is part two. Blessings. https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/myvideo/photo.php?lid=3128

Hi RobertW

very well said many good points

Why do people go to hell? These are just some personal questions and statement(feel free to disagree)

1) People go to hell because they refuse to accept the Gospel. What about the person who's never heard it? If the standard of judgement is based on this then how can God hold accountable one who's never heard it?
2) people go to hell because they sin. What is the standard by which sin is judged? If one doesn't know what sin is, can they be guilty of it?
3) People go to hell because they are not chosen. This would make hell a place where everyone is destined, unless intervened by God.

People go to hell because they are sinner's. As sinner's they refuse the Gospel, unless God by His grace intervenes.

Steve

If I do a quick Bible search using the words "believe not", I find over and over again that scripture says that we are justified if we believe, that we are condemned if we do not believe. So I conclude that the simple answer to the question of why people go to hell is simply, because they did not believe on Jesus Christ and on His sacrifice for their sins.

Obviously we are under a sentence of damnation because of sin, but not, I believe, because of individual sins that we committed, i.e., sins are the natural action of those who are born into sin. So the default condition of man is condemnation, but the determining factor is faith in the sacrifice of Christ and the resulting believing on Him for the work of salvation to be accomplished.

As far as a person who has never heard the gospel? Paul addresses this in the first few chapters of the book of Romans. The thrust of it is this. Man has, within himself, an innate knowledge of God. This knowledge is evidenced by man's laws. Even the heathen, who have no knowledge of the Levitical law, make laws by which they judge one another. These laws are evidence of a realization that there is a standard of right and wrong that transcends man. So, since even the heathen acknowledge through their laws the existence of a higher law, they are without excuse. I firmly believe, and have heard many stories to corroborate, that if a person who has never heard the gospel cries out to God and says, "I know there has to be a God to whom I am accountable, and I want to know You!", that God will reveal Himself to that man.

I don't believe that people go to hell because they sin. But rather because they are sinners. The fact that they sin and the fact that they are headed to hell both have the same cause, that they were born into sin.

Christ has made the way plain and open to all. But it is only those who believe who shall be saved.

As to the question of children, I would like to add something. Several times Paul says that where there is not law, sin is not imputed. In Romans 7 he says that he was alive without the law once, but when the law came sin revived and he died. I think this is applicable to the question. I personally believe that a child will not be held accountable until they reach the age that they are aware that their wrong doing is breaking the law of God.

Blessings Brother.

Robertw
Appreciate the reply

1) People go to hell because they refuse to accept the Gospel. What about the person who's never heard it? If the standard of judgement is based on this then how can God hold accountable one who's never heard it?

Those who sense his existence, if they have true longing to find him, will find him. There was man in India called Sadhu Sundar Singh. He found Jesus by himself without anyone preaching to him. How? He searched for the true God and Jesus revealed himself to him. So not having heard the Gospel is not an excuse. If you have longing for him, he will show himself to you.

2) people go to hell because they sin. What is the standard by which sin is judged? If one doesn't know what sin is, can they be guilty of it?

I was brought up as a Hindu and I know nothing about Sin. But deep in my heart I know that my life is not pleasing to God. But I tried to please him by ways I know. I thought if I do good then it will balance my evil deeds. But God revealed Jesus to me by his mercy and showed me the true way to please him. So my point is everyone knows whether their life is pleasing God or not. Some hide this truth and continue living in Sin.

3) People go to hell because they are not chosen. This would make hell a place where everyone is destined, unless intervened by God.

Romans 9:20:-
But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?

by stevet83 on 2012/11/5 21:21:26

Why do people go to hell? These are just some personal questions and statement(feel free to disagree)

1) People go to hell because they refuse to accept the Gospel. What about the person who's never heard it? If the standard of judgement is based on this then how can God hold accountable one who's never heard it?
2) people go to hell because they sin. What is the standard by which sin is judged? If one doesn't know what sin is, can they be guilty of it?
3) People go to hell because they are not chosen. This would make hell a place where everyone is destined, unless intervened by God. People go to hell because they are sinner's. As sinner's they refuse the Gospel, unless God by His grace intervenes.
"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." 1 John 2:15 (KJV)

Can one go to heaven without the love of the Father"?

Hi Steve83,

You stated
"I can't say babies are innocent, "dead in trespasses and sin". I have yet come to a conclusion, and If I need to He'll show me."

I guess is depends how define the word dead. If dead means a spiritual condition and not a physical condition as is the case in Ephesians 2 and Luke 15(parable of the prodigal, then babes are not dead in trespasses and sin. For they obviously are not capable of the knowledge of good and evil as we learn in Isaiah 7:14-16 in regards to the coming messiah.

14“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. 15“He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. 16“For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken.

Hope that helps.

Bless you,

Russ

All good replies, give me some time to respond, thanks

Hi stevet83

stevet83 wrote ///I can't say babies are innocent///

For I was alive without the law once:(as an infant alive free from guilt) but when the commandment came (age of understanding), sin revived, (revived from one generation to the next)and I died (in Adam all die, at this point guilt enters in and we die of innocence.

What is sin ?? sin is the transgression of the law.

This is no small issue it effects our outlook on God and our outlook on our fellow man.

I would encourage an unbiased study of history on paedobaptism and how they whom endorsed it treated those whom believed in credobaptism

Proud papa,
No offence, but I'm all set with studying that. Like I said I have not come to a conviction about it, and when I do it'll be from God

stevet83,
No offence taken, I can respect following conviction

Why do people go to hell?

Apparently because God is ok with a cosmic scoreboard that looks something like this:

Satan: 98%
Jesus: 2%

Babies are innocent__Innocence is the state of being blameless as in, not guilty.

Quote: "That tally goes 100% to 0."

Not sure about your math, there. That's playing with the numbers. From a souls, perspective Satan wins by the hugest landslide imaginable. Which, if true, means that God didn't get what he wanted for Christmans.