John 14:6

I believe the enemy has, for a very long time, deceived untold hundreds of millions about the very real location known to us as Hell. Today, many are living their lives under the false belief that “only bad people go to hell” or “I’m a good person, I help others and I believe there is a God, so I’m not going to hell”.

Deception.

Contrary to popular belief, hell is not a place reserved for only “bad” people. In fact, whether you wind up there or not isn’t affected at all by how “good” or “bad” you were in your life. Your final destination rests on one simple question – What is your relationship to the Messiah, to God’s Only Son, to the one who was broken and crushed by the Father for your iniquities?

Think about this . . . every single person who ends up in Hell will have just one thing in common. Do you know what that is? They will have all rejected Christ Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior during their mortal lives. That’s the only thing these poor souls will have to bind them together — their rejection of their only hope.

There are unrepentant murderers, thieves, rapists, molesters and other sadistic individuals in hell, that we know. But there are also housewives, and charity workers, and that neighbor down the street who always helped out when asked. That kind, older lady next door who handed out candy to children and was just the sweetest person you have ever known may well be there. Did she know Jesus?

That’s the only question to be answered in this life.

The point is – none of that matters. God is no respecter of person. We are all equal, and without Christ as our personal Lord and Savior we will stand on our own at Judgment Day. Our deeds are like filthy rags unto Him and His Absolutely Holiness.

In our world today, people treat Hell like a place of punishment but only for those who deserve (in their own minds) some kind of punishment for deeds done here on Earth. That’s a gross misrepresentation of what Hell is and why it is. Hell is a place where those who rejected Jesus as Lord and Savior are sent. Period. That’s the only reason anyone winds up there.

Good and bad, as concepts we understand, have no bearing on this journey. What we would perceive as the best, nicest, most gentle person on the face of Earth could wind up in Hell if they have never accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. Being nice or kind or gentle or helpful will get you nowhere in the end. But society portrays Hell as a place for those who “aren’t good”. The end result is that millions believe they are “good enough” to not go to Hell when they die because they don’t steal or murder or rape.

But placing these sins in hierarchy in a distortion. Sin is sin to God, and He hates all of it! If you lie you are no better than a murderer or rapist. Sin is sin is sin. The punish for all sin is death, for God has so decreed.

And that is the great deception, because making some sins out as “worse” or “more worthy of punishment” than others minimizes or completely eliminates the need for Christ as our Savior. It makes Man’s deeds equal to the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalves. In the end, this view says you can “earn” your way out of Hell by not “being bad” and “acting good”. It makes Man responsible for his own deeds-based salvation. It gives Man some kind of holy power or control over his own judgment. It gives us the sense that we can plea bargain with God on Judgment Day.

So very foolish!

This view also hardens the heart, and makes people harder to reach with the Truth. It makes them unwilling to see or admit they are sinful and need a Savior. They can be good and not go to Hell, so why do they need to believe in some man who lived 2,000 years ago? It convinces them that those who proclaim that Jesus is the only way to Heaven are “fanatics” or “bigoted” or “narrow-minded”. God wouldn’t reveal Himself only to a tribal people in a remote part of the world and then condemn everyone else, they say. It promotes discrimination and a worldview that Christianity is misguided, too harsh, and that a “loving God would never punish people who were basically good at heart”.

One of the things I often here from atheists, agnostics, and other non-believers is that our God is capricious, because we say that good people go to Hell just like bad people. They often reply that if any God would send good people to some kind of eternal fiery torture, then they want no part of this so-called “God of Love and Mercy”.

You see? When Hell is viewed as a destination for “bad people”, everyone assumes they are good enough to not go there. It’s our nature. Very few people will actually think they are bad enough of a person to warrant being sent to Hell. And under that condition, why does anyone need to accept Jesus as Savior? They aren’t as bad as the person down the street, so what’s the point?

Yes, the enemy has done a wonderful job of using his final destination against the Truth of Jesus Christ.

God bless and keep you all.

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