There is nothing more satisfying than reading a verse in the Bible that tackles a false idea about God. I want to share a verse to help anyone avoiding a relationship with God because they can’t embrace how a “loving God would send people to hell.” I have great news. He is a loving God, AND He doesn’t send people to hell. Here is the verse: 

“Then He (Jesus) will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” 

Matthew 25:41 (NIV) 

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   Why was hell created? The verse above clearly states that hell was intended for the devil and his angels. So how do people go to hell? They choose to associate with the devil.  

   One of God’s greatest gifts to every human being was free will. He doesn’t force us to love Him. What kind of love relationship would it be if He made us love Him? That would make us robotic. God created us because He desires a relationship with each of us for eternity, and He designed our hearts accordingly. Eccl 3:11 says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”  

   The essence of God is love. I John 4:8 says, “God IS love.” He unconditionally loves everyone He has created, but this truth may be clouded by stories of God in the Old Testament, in which He appears unloving. However, you can discern a pattern that when His children became stubborn and rebellious, God called them to repent and by choice, they refused. God is a just and fair God. The consequences came after God gave them warnings. If you’ve parented, you’ve done the same when your child was defiant and rebellious. And you loved your children enough to discipline them to help them make better choices in the future.  

   So how are people making a choice to spend their eternity in hell? The people I know who aren’t Christians aren’t consciously saying, “I am choosing to associate with the devil.” But here’s the problem. When they refuse to acknowledge that they are sinners in need of forgiveness and then refuse Jesus as their Savior, who died for them, they have made an active choice to associate with the devil and his angels.  

   Refusal has different looks. Some people are ignoring the issue of where they will spend eternity. It’s easier not to think about it. Others are discounting the significance of what it means to live in hell for eternity. I hear people joke about having parties there. Weeping and gnashing of teeth in a lake of fire is not a party. Some disbelieve that there is a hell, but make no mistake, Jesus talks about hell more than He does about heaven. It is a real place! Some are delaying their decision thinking they have plenty of time to figure this out, but none of us know that we have tomorrow. Then there’s the group of people who rationalize they are “good people” and are convinced they are going to heaven based on their charitable view of themselves. The bible is clear on their wrong thinking. Romans 3:12 says, “There is no one who does good, not even one.” The hardest ones to reach are those who are complacent. They believe they don’t “need” God, so even if they believe there is a God, they choose to be self-reliant while paying lip service to God. Yet they have never acknowledged to Jesus, who died for them, that they are sinners in need of His forgiveness.  

   God continues to strictly honor free will. If you have avoided entering into a love relationship with Christ, then understand that when Judgment Day comes, He will simply affirm the choice you freely made. He is not casting you to hell because He is “unloving.” The good news is that it’s not too late to make the most important decision you will ever make in this life! Can you own that you are a sinner? If you’ve ever told a lie, or cheated, or lusted, or disobeyed your parents, for example, then you are a sinner like me. Rom 3:23 says, “For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Do you understand that Jesus was the only One who paid the consequences of your sin by taking your place on the cross? Now this is a loving God who would take your place! Let me reinforce His love for you with the following verses: 

   “For God so loved the world (you), that He gave His only Son (Jesus), that whosoever (you) believes upon Him (Jesus) shall not perish, but have eternal life (in heaven).” John 3:16 

   “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.” Isa 54:10 

   “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave Him up for us all – how will he not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Rom 8:3. 

   If you are still an unbeliever, and you know in your heart that you’re a sinner in need of forgiveness, Jesus is waiting for your confession of this and your request for Him to be your Lord and Savior. Your prayer can be this simple: “Lord, I know I am a sinner. I am asking you to forgive me for all the ways I have sinned against you. I accept that Jesus took my place on the cross to pay the penalty of my sin. I am choosing this day to accept you, Jesus, as my Lord and Savior and to follow you the best way I know how for the remaining days of my life.” 

   Many of you who subscribe to this blog are devoted Christians, so you already knew the above. But we all have family and friends who need to re-evaluate their thinking to make sure they don’t unwittingly choose to associate with the devil and his angels. After all, hell was intended for them.  

   Would you please share this or forward this post to those who struggle with the idea that a “loving God wouldn’t send people to hell?” May God bless those of you who will take the extra step to use this post to reach lost souls for Christ. 

Blessings,                                                                                                              Lee Ann

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