As promised when I returned from the weekend trip to Epcot - This is my understanding of Hell.
Many times when hell is talked about in the Bible it is referring to the grave where the dead rest. Questions about Hell would also go with a study I did on the thread titled Question About Death Post #5.
Personally I think that we are living in Hell here on earth, everyday one temptation after another. The smoker wants his cigarettes, the obese person such as myself constantly tempted by food. You name your sin you got your poison to fill it...Then add all the chaos and terrible things we humans do to each other. The way Hell is taught and misrepresented is another lie by the way, just scare tactic to try and get people to follow God...what a joke.
No one in their right mind would want to follow or love a vindictive God who is just out to punish someone because they messed up. Where is the justice in the first person born that told one lie and has been burning since the worlds been turning and then you have the mass murderers in our day and age and they burn for a shorter period of time just because of when they were born? This is not fair or just and it is not how our God works. Ezekiel 18:32 For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies, says the Lord God. Therefore turn and live.
God's character has been misrepresented as every act God performs is an act of love. Other wise why would He even have bothered to send Jesus to die on the cross for us if He just wanted to punish and torment us for eternity. He could have saved a lot of time by just zapping us out of existence with the first sin committed and Satan would not be here to tempt anyone as sin started in heaven with Lucifer = (Satan, Devil).
The earth will be purified by fire in the end as Satan and the wicked angels and humans who decided to not accept Jesus as their personal Savior will be burned up in the lake of fire that God will kindle. But as any fire when the fuel is burned up the fire will go out.
Both the wicked and the righteous are resting in their graves and at the second coming of Jesus the righteous will rise to eternal life (1 Thessalonians 4:16 &17) and at the end of the 1000 years that Satan has been bound on this earth the wicked dead will be raised from the death of sleep to eternal damnation (Revelation 20:9). They will be destroyed by fire and will be eternally wiped out of existence. Malachi 4:3 You shall trample the wicked, For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet On the day that I do this, Says the Lord of hosts. Obadiah 16 last part... And they shall be as though they had never been.
My Bible says GOD IS LOVE in the book of John.
Hell is not burning right at this moment tormenting people and people don't go to heaven at the moment they die I would suggest going to read the thread title above first as understanding of Hell kind of goes hand in hand with understanding of death. Hell will be real at the end of this sinful earth's history as God will purify this earth with fire and burn up the wicked at that time. Death will also be done away with at that time.
My JesusLives, where did you get all of those Misunderstandings and False Teachings?
YES, GOD is LOVE,
BUT HE IS ALSO PERFECTLY JUST.
There is only one SIN that anyone will end up in Hell for.
That sin is rejecting the Holy Spirit's efforts to bring the unbeliever to believing in GOD the SON as Creator, and receiving Jesus as LORD. That sin or REJECTION is known as blaspheming the Holy Spirit.
1 John 2:2 (NIV)
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He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
Mark 3:28-29 (HCSB)
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I assure you: People will be forgiven for all sins and whatever blasphemies they may blaspheme.
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But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—
What about those who NEVER heard of JESUS the CREATOR (Eph. 1:15-20), or refuse to believe He is GOD the SON the Creator? HOW do we know the Holy Spirit tried to get them to BELIEVE IN HIM as CREATOR.
Romans 1:20-22 (HCSB)
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20 [/SUP] For
His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature,
have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what He has made.
As a result, people are without excuse.
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21 [/SUP] For
though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened.
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22 [/SUP] Claiming to be wise, they became fools
Exodus 34:7 (GW)
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7 [/SUP] He continues to show his love to thousands of generations, forgiving wrongdoing, disobedience, and sin.
He never lets the guilty go unpunished, punishing children and grandchildren for their parents' sins to the third and fourth generation.”
HIS JUSTICE IS PERFECT. There are no big sinners and little sinners ALL SINNERS ARE EQUALLY AS BAD AS THE WORST MASS MURDERER ON DEATH ROW.
James 2:10 (NIV)
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10 [/SUP] For whoever keeps the whole law
and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
Matthew 25:41 (HCSB)
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Then He will also say to those on the left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels!
Revelation 14:9-11 (HCSB)
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9 [/SUP] And a third angel followed them and spoke with a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,
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he will also drink the wine of God’s wrath,
which is mixed full strength in the cup of His anger.
He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb,
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and the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or anyone who receives the mark of his name.
Revelation 20:15 (HCSB)
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15 [/SUP] And
anyone not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
Adolf Hitler did not go to Hades and eventually to HELL for killing six million Jews, he went there because he rejected the Holy Spirit's efforts to get him to believe in Jesus Christ for all that HE IS, including The CREATOR, The MESSIAH, and as OUR LORD, which means MASTER. By that REJECTION he sealed his own fate forever, by blaspheming the Holy Spirit's efforts to work on his heart.
Matthew 13:41-42 (ISV)
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The Son of Man will send his angels, and they'll gather from his kingdom everything that causes others to sin and those who practice lawlessness,
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and they'll throw them into a blazing furnace. In that place there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
That wailing and gnashing of teeth, is an expression that means "continuous bitterness towards GOD". NONE will repent, even in HELL.
Deuteronomy 32:39-41 (NASB)
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'See now that I, I am He, And there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded and it is I who heal, And there is no one who can deliver from My hand.
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40 [/SUP] 'Indeed, I lift up My hand to heaven, And say, as I live forever,
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41 [/SUP] If I sharpen My flashing sword, And
My hand takes hold on justice, I will render vengeance on My adversaries, And
I will repay those who hate Me.
YES, GOD IS LOVE, but HE ALSO IS THE ONE WHO CARRIES OUT PERFECT JUSTICE.
You ask the wrong question, it is not "Why does GOD send some people to Hades and HELL?"
The QUESTION IS: "WHY DOES HE NOT SEND ME TO HADES AND HELL?"