RUSHWAVE: Establishing Believers in the Christian Faith

from The Judgment God Desires to Withhold

Chapter 23: The Stubbornness of Hell’s Captives

Hell does not reflect God’s cruelty but rather man’s obstinacy.

The world deems the Christian doctrine of hell repulsive. To fallen men it makes God out to be cruel. They may object and say “Why would a loving God create a person whom He knew would ultimately end up in hell? It would show greater compassion to not even create such a person!”

Despite all the worldly objections, hell does not reflect God’s cruelty but rather man’s obstinacy. And such accusations only demonstrate man’s deceived, hardened heart. God is loving, just, and gracious. It is man who is cruel, unjust, and hateful. Several remarks will clearly contrast God’s benevolence against man’s stubbornness.

Man put himself in the position of being liable to God’s judgment. It is not that there is a subgroup within mankind that is innately good and whom God deems just and righteous, and everyone else is immoral and selfish and thereby considered corrupt and evil. On the contrary, all are unrighteous. All have sinned. And man did this to himself.

Hell is what man has earned. Man examines himself using human standards and also compares himself to other men. But God examines man using His holy Law and compares men to those righteous standards. And in doing so He considers each man’s outward actions as well as his heart, thoughts, desires, intents, and conscience. The result is everyone is deserving of condemnation. The kind, gentle, and conscientious, as well as the impatient, rude and selfish stand condemned before God.

That man finds himself in the terrible predicament of being liable to God’s judgment is his own doing. God merely pronounces sentence based on the evidence before Him. Man put himself in his situation by being a rebellious, disobedient scoundrel. Man has no basis to blame God for the threat of hell when man put himself in that position to begin with.

God takes no pleasure in condemning men to hell. He yearns for man to come into relationship with Himself, and be spared judgment.

The Lord … is … not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

And again.

I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Ezekiel 33:11

God takes no delight in seeing men suffer in hell. His desire is that all men be saved from judgment. It is impossible for God’s heart to be otherwise, because God in His very nature is love. Grace, kindness, patience, long suffering, and mercy — this is who He is. His loving, gracious, kind nature is only overruled when His wisdom, justice, and righteousness demands it.

God has made provision so no one need be sentenced to hell. In this book series Good News in John 3:16, this provision is the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, and will be fully explored in book 5: The Saving Work of Jesus Christ. What needs to be recognized here is no one needs to go to hell. That is what the good news of John 3:16 is all about. While man is worthy of condemnation, He need not suffer that fate.

God made this provision even though the entire world was in rebellion against Him.

For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:7–8

So God openly displayed His good will to all mankind. To we who are hateful, murderous, unkind, immoral, unthankful and deserving of wrath, God sent His Son to die on our behalf so we could be spared judgment. No one has to be sentenced to hell.

Hell’s captives spurned all God’s attempts to save them. It is not that God earnestly desired fallen man to be saved, made provision to that end, and then did not take it upon Himself to move man in that direction. On the contrary, He actively and passionately pursues fallen man, even when He knows they will reject Him.

God moves upon all men to be saved, and seeks to draw them to Himself. He does this through ordinary people who share His message of love to the world. When that message is shared, He supernaturally moves upon men’s hearts through His Holy Spirit, and brings conviction.

Stephen testified of God to the wicked religious leaders of his day. But he perceived while giving his message they were receiving none of it. He likely saw the scowls on their faces while giving his discourse. After giving a stirring message, he proclaimed:

You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. Acts 7:51

God was moving upon these religious leaders supernaturally through His Holy Spirit. But they were resisting Him as they had done many times before, fighting God’s attempt to save them. They were stubborn and obstinate. To God’s overtures of kindness and appeals to believe they became stiff-necked, hardened their hearts, stopped their ears, and closed their eyes. Their fierce hatred resulted in murdering Stephen; the very one God had sent to yet again draw them.

To end up in hell a man must vehemently fight God — he must fight long and hard.

God sends His word through His messengers time and time again to the lost. A man may stumble across a billboard, commercial, or broadcast where a preacher appeals to receive Jesus Christ. Or he may hear a conversion testimony from his parent, sibling, child or friend. Whatever the means, God sends His people to share His message that forgiveness and reconciliation is freely available. But those in hell rejected that message time and again, resisting the Holy Spirit. And there comes a point in God’s wrestlings with man that He reluctantly, firmly and in wrath says, “I will strive with you no longer! If this is the way you want it, then this is the way it will be!”

Man is condemned to hell by his free choice. In one sense, people in hell receive the desire of their heart. They want nothing to do with God. They hate Him and everything He stands for. They just want God to leave them alone, and they fight all His attempts to draw them to Himself. So God reluctantly but in justice grants their request. They are forsaken by Him and cast into an isolated, miserable existence absent of all God’s mercies.

All the angels were created in a state of righteousness; they were naturally disposed towards goodness, and did what was right. But angels were created free agents, and the choice God gave them was whether they wanted to remain in that righteous state, or rebel. A subgroup within them made the decision to rebel, Satan having initiated the rebellion. This decision of the fallen angels was their perpetual, free choice: they loved darkness rather than light.

In contrast man is born into this world in a state of unrighteousness; he is born naturally disposed towards evil, and does what is wrong. But men are created free agents, and the choice God gives man is whether he wants to escape his unrighteous state, or continue in rebellion. A subgroup within mankind makes the decision to receive the free gift of eternal life, God Himself having initiated their deliverance through Jesus Christ. The rest of mankind chooses to reject God. This decision of fallen man to remain in his unrighteous state is his perpetual, free choice: they too love darkness rather than light.

God is blameless in His dealings with man. It is not that God desires man to be condemned; God truly desires mankind to be saved. And God does not implant in man’s heart the will to perpetually reject Him; that will arises from man’s own heart. Nor does God withhold from man the grace necessary to receive Him; that grace is given, but man resists the Spirit’s moving, and that resistance likewise arises solely from man’s heart. Man’s perpetual rejection of God originates solely from man himself.

God does not force any man to enter into a relationship with Himself — any relationship necessarily involves a free decision from both parties to associate. If men choose a solitary existence undergoing fiery torment rather than humbling themselves before God and enjoying eternal bliss, that is their decision. God made all the provisions necessary for them to avoid their miserable fate. They are the ones who choose defiance over obedience, self-will over humility, rebellion over submission, cursedness over blessedness, and torment over joy. And they perpetually make this same choice — moment after moment, eon after eon. Their hatred of God and love of sin, much like the fallen angels, reflects their eternal character.

The sentence of hell does not reveal God’s cruelty but rather your obstinacy. You put yourself in the place of being liable to God’s judgment. The threat of hell stems from God rightly assessing what you deserve for your works. God has no desire for you to perish in hell, and He made provision so you do not have to suffer your miserable fate. He pursues you and all men to save them from judgment, moving supernaturally on their hearts through His Holy Spirit in the preaching of the gospel. Those who are ultimately sentenced to hell have vehemently fought God’s attempts to save them. And they freely, willfully, and perpetually choose hell over a relationship with God.

from The Judgment God Desires to Withhold

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