So... does God have power over Hell?

And who ultimately decides who goes there and/or who stays there?What I can't seem to figure out is this... if Jesus came not to condemn the Universe, but to save it (which was, of course, ONLY possible for God to do), then who will He send to Eternal Damnation, and why?

answer: Those who reject Him. When I preach I tell people they don't have to accept Jesus and what He did. They can pay for their own sins if they want to. BUT why, when Jesus paid for all our sins would we want to pay ourselves? Some people just do not want anything to do with Jesus, either cos they don't believe or care. These people God sends to Hell because they have rejected God's grace and His magnificent gift: Jesus. Heb 2:3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard [him];

And who ultimately decides who goes there and/or who stays there?The Father has delegated the power of final judgement to the Son.John 5:22 (KJVS) For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: John 5:27 (KJVS) And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Again it is the Son who passes judgment in the most sobering of all the passages on this topic.“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.” (Matt. 25:31-46, KJVS)

Arthur Pink: The Sovereignty of GodHere is a series of sermons by Arthur Pink that touch on this. I am just getting into them - and have found this very interesting so far. Diane

Hey yrlk,What I can't seem to figure out is this... if Jesus came not to condemn the Universe, but to save it (which was, of course, ONLY possible for God to do), then who will He send to Eternal Damnation, and why?I want to answer your question in two parts. Everyone else has explained the first part well. You must remember, that Jesus did not come to judge us on His first visit. He came to save people. However, the window of opportunity for people to be saved will not be open forever. The day will come when Jesus will return. At that time, He will bring judgement on all the earth. Who will He send to eternal condemnation? It was already quoted by allhavsinned: "answer: Those who reject Him."Jesus said... John 8:24 (NLT)That is why I said that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am who I say I am, you will die in your sins. The last question is, of course, why would Jesus who loves everyone and is love, send anyone to Hell just for not believing in Him? Sounds kind of crazy doesn't it. Hell is an extremely harsh punishment, especially since it is eternal. Why would God do that?This scripture sheds light on the topic. Jesus said this...Matthew 12:31 - (NLT)"Every sin or blasphemy can be forgiven – except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which can never be forgiven. To not accept Jesus, is to commit blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. This sin can never be forgiven. And so, when this happens, a person is eternally damned in Hell. However, to fully understand this, we need to delve deeper into what it means. Blasphemy is a serious act, and one act that God cannot forgive. Why? Have you ever fallen in love with someone and had them turn around and reject your love? It hurts badly and deeply. Especially when you gave that person everything. To reject Jesus is to reject God's love. However, there is something important about love that you must understand. Love is meant for eternity. It is a choice and a commitment. When we marry a person, we make the choice to marry them, and we commit to that person. We say that we will stick with that person until death. Love, though, always speaks of eternity. Children often display this when they write love letters. They always write stuff like, "I'll be your friend forever." You often find little hearts with the word forever inside. What ever gave children that impression? When has love ever lasted forever?Love is meant for eternity. God is offering a commitment to everyone for eternity. If you accept His gift, then you will be married to Him forever. If you reject it, then you will be rebuked and cast from Him. The only place God is not, is in Hell. And since God is the source of all that is good, Hell is a horrible and bad place. You must also understand that rejecting Jesus is also huge sin because it means you think you are better than God. If you think you are better or as good as God, then you are saying, "I am God." This is blasphemy.Jesus died for all our sins. If you accept Him, and accept His forgiveness, then you are saying, "Jesus, I am less than you. You are greater than me. I am a bad person. Please forgive my sins."This means you accept Jesus as your God. You make Him your God by submitting unto Him. However, if you reject Jesus, then you are saying, "Jesus, I don't need your forgiveness. I am not bad. I am good."Only God is good. And thus, if you say that you are good, you are saying that you are God. This is blasphemy.God cannot have this. He cannot have a bunch of people with free will living forever who think they are better than Him or who think they are as good as Him. They will constantly argue with Him, fight against Him, war against Him, and lastly, hurt Him. They will not listen. They will not do His will. And most of all, they will not love Him.God wants people who will share in love with Him by choice. He wants a wife who will submit unto His authority as a husband. He doesn't want a bunch of people who will constantly try to knock Him off His throne. God is a god of peace. God could force people to worship Him, but in order to do that He would have to take away free will. And if He did, would that be love? You cannot force someone to love you.And so, God says to these people who reject Jesus, "I love you so much that I am willing to let you go." He loves us so much, that He respects our choices. He doesn't remove our free will, rather, He honors it.God doesn't want anyone to go to Hell. He knows that it is a horrible place. He created humanity to share in love with Him. We were created to worship God and love God. However, some of us just don't want to love God. Some people want to be thier own God. They want to rule thier own universe. And so, God sends them to Hell, a place where His love does not reach. Jesus called Hell a place of "weeping and gnashing of teeth." In my mind, I picture a bunch of people crying all the time, depressed to the extreme, hopeless, filled with deep anxiety and despair. People who are anxious grind thier teeth. People who have lost a person they love, weep. People in Hell will have lost God forever. They will weep forever.Hell, I believe, is a huge demonstration of God's love. When you really love someone, it is hard to let them go. When a child is out doing drugs, it is hard for a parent to leave them be. When a man or woman you have loved walks out on you, it is hard to let them go. However, if you truly love someone you will let them go.God truly loves all of us. He loves us enough that if we do not choose Jesus, he let's us go. However, the bad side to this is that without God, you are in Hell. Praise be to the Lord for all of us who have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior and who are going to Heaven! We will worship God forever and sing praises to His great name. We will be forever united in His love. Praise be to Jesus for this wonderful free gift!!!I hope this helps you understand. In love,Blake

Yes, Jesus will judge all mankind. When He says that He came to save the world, He was talking about why He came to the earth; to die on the cross. His mission was not to judge during His ministry, it was to save sinners. However, those who reject Him will be judged by the same Jesus who came to save them. The same Jesus that they rejected will be their judge.

I would consider myself a fundamentalist before probably any other category, and unfortunately, many others who take this title do lean toward the cold side. However, there are some who seek to please the Lord in all aspects. As best I can tell, many in the movement reacted to the 'love only gospel' by going to the opposite extreme, the 'no love gospel.' All grit and blood. Also the group was, in my opinion, a prime target of Satan. The more close to God a group gets, the more Satan will put them under attack.Just had to step up for the fundamentalist perspective. I think you would be surprised at the words of the great fundamentalist John R Rice in the following sermon. I think that many have supported the letters Rice stood for, but not the spirit of love for all Jesus' sheep he spoke so often of. Though fixed as an oak in his doctrine, he was no stranger to love:https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/singlefile.php?lid=263&commentView=itemComments