TheologyNow

Romans 3:21-24
21 But now, apart from the law, God's righteousness has been revealed--attested by the Law and the Prophets 22 --that is, God's righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ, to all who believe, since there is no distinction. 23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
HCSB

 

Isaiah 64:6
All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
NIV

 

Given that fact that we all failed to measure up to God's holy and perfect law and we are all sinners under condemnation what is the outcome of our predicament, well its hell of course but what is hell. Is it a place where we are tormented by devils with pitchforks, or some other imagery such as found in Dante's infernal? The Bible is specific on what exactly hell is and to that end, here's a few passages that detail its attributes.

First off Hell was not made for man though because of his sin he/she deserves it but rather it was created for the devil and the angels that rebelled with him.

Matthew 25:41
41 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 20:10
10 The Devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Its also a place of darkness

Matthew 22:13
13 "Then the king told the attendants, 'Tie him up hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

Most of the passages however deal with the torment dealt by unending fire. In fact in the book of revelation its called a lake of fire. While darkness does abound, that doesn't diminish the fact that it will be a lake of fire.

Matthew 18:8-9
8 If your hand or your foot causes your downfall, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire.

Luke 3:17
His winnowing shovel is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and gather the wheat into His barn, but the chaff He will burn up with a fire that never goes out."

Revelation 20:10
10 The Devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Revelation 21:8
But the cowards, unbelievers, vile, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars--their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.

There is finality with hell, there are no second chances, once the judgment has been rendered people are cast into the lake of fire for all of eternity. Some people think that Luke 16 is a parable describing the need to repent, true we are to consider how we act now but unlike every other parable Jesus used, this one has people's names. For that reason I believe its less of a made up story to convey a message but rather an actual place

Luke 16:19-31
19 "There was a rich man who would dress in purple and fine linen, feasting lavishly every day. 20 But a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, was left at his gate. 21 He longed to be filled with what fell from the rich man's table, but instead the dogs would come and lick his sores. 22 One day the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And being in torment in Hades, he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off, with Lazarus at his side. 24 'Father Abraham!' he called out, 'Have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this flame!'

25 " 'Son,' Abraham said, 'remember that during your life you received your good things, just as Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here, while you are in agony. 26 Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that those who want to pass over from here to you cannot; neither can those from there cross over to us.'

27 " 'Father,' he said, 'then I beg you to send him to my father's house-- 28 because I have five brothers--to warn them, so they won't also come to this place of torment.'

29 "But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.'

30 " 'No, father Abraham,' he said. 'But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'

31 "But he told him, 'If they don't listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.'"

We see here the full finality of the judgment. God opens up the books for the great white judgment and the people are judged by their deeds and punished according to their sins. Not everyone faces this judgment, only those who rejected the offer of forgiveness and salvation from God. Those people are clothed in Christ's righteousness and we are saved by grace. This group of people chose to believe reject that, or believe that they're not bad enough to go to hell.

Revelation 20:11-15
11 Then I saw a great white throne and One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them. 12 I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books.

13 Then the sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead; all were judged according to their works. 14 Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And anyone not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

For people who believe that the punishment in hell is finite, this passage paints a different and sobering picture

2 Thessalonians 1:5-10
It is a clear evidence of God's righteous judgment that you will be counted worthy of God's kingdom, for which you also are suffering, 6 since it is righteous for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to reward with rest you who are afflicted, along with us. This will take place at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with His powerful angels, 8 taking vengeance with flaming fire on those who don't know God and on those who don't obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 These will pay the penalty of everlasting destruction, away from the Lord's presence and from His glorious strength,

To summarize, it's a physical place that was initially created for the fallen angels, but it is now also a place where anyone who rejected God's offer of salvation goes.  God spent thousands of years laying out his plan of salvation so taht people would not perish but be reconciled to him.  Still for various reasons people choose darkness instead of the light and fellowship of God.

2 Peter 3:9
The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.

God's very character demands that he punish sin, so much so he decided to pay that penalty himself and that payment is open to anyone who's willing to accept it. If people reject that gift and its their right as people with free will but that decision then means they must accept the consequences of their actions.  Its much easier for someone to deny the existence of hell then to come face to face with the fact that they are a sinner who's facing eternal judgment.

Its interesting of all of the injuries that can befall a person, burning is by far the worst. Whenever I burn something, due to my clumsiness my mind ponders those pour people who get burned over huge swaths of their body and are in burn units for months and months enduring excrutating pain as their bodies struggle to heal. This leads me to my second thought that typically pops into my head - the the lake of fire. If my little finger which has a small blister is hurting this much how much pain do you think the lake of fire will inflict on those that rejected God's provision of salvation?.

Revelation 20:11-15
11 Then I saw a great white throne and One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them. 12 I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books.

13 Then the sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead; all were judged according to their works. 14 Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And anyone not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
HCSB

Mark 9:42-44
42 "But whoever causes the downfall of one of these little ones who believe in Me--it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. 43 And if your hand causes your downfall, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and go to hell--the unquenchable fire, [44 where their worm does not die,and the fire is not quenched.]
HCSB

It is evident that the wicked are facing a harsh and eternal judgment. I suppose this is why its probably normal and human nature for us not to dwell on the fact that there is a judgment at the end our lives. For those who dedicated their lives over to Jesus the judgment is for a crown and how we handled his blessings in furthering his kingdom. For the unbelieving its judging their works against God's holy and perfect standard. Since we are less then perfect, desiring more to lie/steal/cheat/etc the outcome is a sobering and scary.

Many people have heard the comments a loving God would never send someone to hell but their sins and rejection of Jesus sends them there. I disagree with that sentiment. While technically true it negates the fact that while God is love, he's also a holy God and sin must be judged.  If people chose to reject Jesus' payment (by dying on the cross) for their sin then they must face the consequences of their actions before a holy and righteous God.

All too often in our modern entitlement minded mindset we shift the blame for our actions to everything or everyone else. Even in court rooms this has the affect lessoning the punishment of an accused but there's no such leeway when facing the blinding light of God's judgement. Ultimately we are responsible for our own actions 

Revelation 20:11-12
11 Then I saw a great white throne and One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them. 12 I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books.

We see that God records all of our deeds and Since the sermon on the mount he not only showed our external actions as sinful but our internal desires to execute those actions as sinful as well.  In essense God does not miss anything in our lives.  We cannot say that society failed top to educate us or we had a hard childhood or we were _____ [fill in the blank.]

Matthew 5:21-22
21 "You have heard that it was said to our ancestors, Do not murder, and whoever murders will be subject to judgment. 22 But I tell you, everyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.
HCSB

Matthew 5:27-29
27 "You have heard that it was said, Do not commit adultery. 28 But I tell you, everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29
HCSB

There's no getting around it, we are on the hook for our actions and thoughts, God records all, how I have no idea, but then God is a heck of a lot smarter then I am and we are all subject to judgment. The difference between a believer/follower of Christ is that the judgment for our sins have been paid by Jesus himself where as the person who rejects this payment must come up witht he payment himself and Jesus at the Great white judgment seat.

I for one do not want to be there, if my finger hurt that much just from a minor burn, I do not want to even consider the prospect of spending eternity in a lake of fire.

John 14:2-4
2 In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if not, I would have told you. I am going away to prepare a place for you. 3 If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also. 4 You know the way where I am going."
HCSB

 

Revelation 21:9-27
9 Then one of the seven angels, who had held the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues, came and spoke with me: "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." 10 He then carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 11 arrayed with God's glory. Her radiance was like a very precious stone, like a jasper stone, bright as crystal. 12 The city had a massive high wall, with 12 gates. Twelve angels were at the gates; on the gates, names were inscribed, the names of the 12 tribes of the sons of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. 14 The city wall had 12 foundations, and on them were the 12 names of the Lamb's 12 apostles.

15 The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 16 The city is laid out in a square; its length and width are the same. He measured the city with the rod at 12,000 stadia. Its length, width, and height are equal. 17 Then he measured its wall, 144 cubits according to human measurement, which the angel used. 18 The building material of its wall was jasper, and the city was pure gold like clear glass.

This thing is huge a stadion equals about 600 feet so 12,000 stadia is 1.400 miles. To put that in perspective the distance between Boston and Omaha Nebraska is 1282 miles (air not road). The city if it decended on to the US would occupy from Massachusetts to Nebraska. That's just the length, the width is exactly the same size and that will overlap the US southern coast. The height is also mind boggling 1,400 miles. That's in space where Medium Earth Orbit satellites hang out. The city extends into space and least space as we consider it in the old earth.
Becase we now have a new earth

Revelation 21:1
21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea existed no longer.
HCSB

Can you imagine how many people could live in a city which is a 1,400 mile cube? I don't have any scientific information but I'd hazard a guess that billions of people could live there. If a story is 10 feet and there's 1,400 miles then the city could contain 739,200 stories. Let me stop here and state that I explicitly believe what's written in the Bible. When symbolism is used, it always points to a reference where the symbol is explained. Where the Bible is clear, then there's no other meaning to take from that.  There's no other need to Spiritualize the meaning.  God says that the new Jerusalem is going to be a ginormous cube, then its going to be a ginormous cube.  If you start throwing out portions of the Bible because they appear too fantastic to believe then you throw out the majority of the Bible, creation, the flood, heaven, hell, Jesus rising from the dead. The virgin birth, etc.

While it is a book describing God's wrath on a wicked people, it is ultimately a book of hope. Jesus promised to return for his bride (the church), God promsied his people the jews that someone in the line of David would have someone sit on the throne and they'd enjoy fellowship with God.  The book of Revelation fulfills promises made to his church and to his people the jews.  It also shows that God wants to bless his creation and have fellowship with us.  The Bible is a love letter to his creation, and the book of Revelation is the fullfilment of that love. 

Revelation 22:1-5
22 Then he showed me the river of living water, sparkling like crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the broad street of the city. On both sides of the river was the tree of life bearing 12 kinds of fruit, producing its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations, 3 and there will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and His servants will serve Him. 4 They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. 5 Night will no longer exist, and people will not need lamplight or sunlight, because the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign forever and ever.
HCSB

James 4:1-5 What is the source of the wars and the fights among you? Don't they come from the cravings that are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. You do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and don't receive because you ask wrongly, so that you may spend it on your desires for pleasure.
4 Adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the world's friend becomes God's enemy. 5 Or do you think it's without reason the Scripture says that the Spirit He has caused to live in us yearns jealously?

Jeremiah 3:8
Id observed that it was because unfaithful Israel had committed adultery that I had sent her away and had given her a certificate of divorce.
(HCSB)

Jeremiah 5:7
7 Why should I forgive you?
Your children have abandoned Me
and sworn by those who are not gods.
I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery;
they gashed themselves at the prostitute's house.
(HCSB)

Ezekiel 23:37
For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands; they have committed adultery with their idols.
(HCSB)

While at times we may look down at the ancient Israelites because they so easily backslid and rejected God, yet, if we are honest with ourselves we are not innocent in this either.  It is too easy for us sinnful people to push God aside and focus on getting that bonus or new car.  Do we purposely push him away, or just ignore him?  Does it matter, when we stop spending time in his word and in prayer for another activity we reject our relationship to God and embrace a new relationship to the world and that is Adultery.  Displacing God for a man made object is also called idoltry and while we may not bow down to statues, we all too often bow down to materalism.  So in the end we are just as stiff necked and wayward as the ancient Israelites were.

What is even more condemning in light of this passage is Jesus' own words in the book of Matthew

Matthew 22:37-39
37 He said to him, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and most importantk commandment.
(HCSB)

How can we love the Lord with all of our heart when we're working 60 hours a week to afford that new BMW or when we spend all of our time playing video games or watching tv. Cars, video games and tv have their place - provided its no at the forefront of our lives. That's God's place, we need to be focused on becoming Christ like and not just running the good race but finishing it like what Paul states.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27
24 Do you not know that the runners in a stadium all race, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. 25 Now everyone who competes exercises self-control in everything. However, they do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one. 26 Therefore I do not run like one who runs aimlessly, or box like one who beats the air. 27 Instead, I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
(HCSB)

We are the bride of Christ and like any bride we need to maintain our purity, we will fail that and be guilty of adultery if we choose friendship with the world over a relationship with Christ.

1 John 3:16-24
16 This is how we have come to know love: He laid down His life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers. 17 If anyone has this world's goods and sees his brother in need but shuts off his compassion from him--how can God's love reside in him?
18 Little children, we must not love in word or speech, but in deed and truth; 19 that is how we will know we are of the truth, and will convince our hearts in His presence, 20 because if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knows all things.
21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us we have confidence before God, 22 and can receive whatever we ask from Him because we keep His commands and do what is pleasing in His sight. 23 Now this is His command: that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another as He commanded us. 24 The one who keeps His commands remains in Him, and He in him. And the way we know that He remains in us is from the Spirit He has given us.

HCSB

The 1 John 3:16 teaches us that if we have the truth in us, we need to show that love in action, not in words. All too often in this crazy world, we're much to busy to get involved in other people's lives. We see them in church, we're polite, but when a need arises we sit silently in the pew. We justify the lack of action with excuses of buying to busy or that we have different priorities.

James 1:22-25
22 But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his own facef in a mirror; 24 for he looks at himself, goes away, and right away forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who acts--this person will be blessed in what he does.
HCSB

James 2:14-19
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith, but does not have works? Can his faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well," but you don't give them what the body needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way faith, if it doesn't have works, is dead by itself.
18 But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith from my works. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. The demons also believe--and they shudder.
HCSB

James is teaching is the same concept, we cannot be hearers of the word but rather doers as well. In fact the book of James teaches us that our faith must have legs. If our faith consists of sitting in church for one hour a week, we need to truly evaluate whether we have a genuine faith in Jesus. While we cannot justify ourselves with works but our faith is proved out to us and the world by our works.

The sad fact is there will be some people who have have gone to church every day talked church and looked pious only to find out they had a dead faith.

Matthew 7:21-23
21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord!' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to Me, 'Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name?' 23 Then I will announce to them, 'I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!'
HCSB

 

We cannot earn our way into heaven. Faith is proved out by works and those works are doing the will of God as shown in tha passage above. In fact Jesus tells us exactly what we are to do in the great commission

Matthew 28:18-20
18 Then Jesus came near and said to them, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
HCSB

Unfortunately too many Christian's in America prefer to sit in the pews and not act.  If a brother or sisiter is in need we need help them, whether its financially or providing clothes, or even just sitting with them, giving them a shoulder to cry on.  If we look hard enough and pray for ways to exhibit our faith, God will present us with such opportunities.

The book of James was contradiction to the book of Romans, so thought Martin Luther, he called it "an epistle of straw". Martin Luther who kicked off the protestant reformation, in part because of what he found in the book of Romans was unable to reconcile salvation through grace in Romans to what he saw in the book of James.

James 1:1-2:13

We will want to keep the following two principles of interpretation in mind as we read the Book of James: (1) understand the settings, and (2) look at all the possible meaning of terms. These two principles will help us discover not only the message of James, but the message of many other passages in God's Word.

The setting. What then was the setting in which James wrote? What was his purpose? And how do these differ from the setting of a book such as Galatians?

James wrote to the earliest church. He wrote in the days when the church was Hebrew-Christian, made up of men and women who had known the God of the Old Testament and who, under the dynamic preaching of the Apostles, now recognized Jesus of Nazareth as their resurrected Lord and Savior. The Book of James is not an evangelistic book written to people in a culture where faith is foreign. The Book of James is a book of guidelines for living, which was written to the family who had a full knowledge of who Jesus is, and who had chosen to make Him the center of their lives.

Essentially then James was concerned with how the new faith in Jesus is to find expression in the lives of members of that early community. James and Paul were, in fact, exploring different aspects of a common salvation. Paul, the obstetrician, was explaining what happens at birth. James, the practical nurse, was changing diapers and holding the hands of toddlers as they learned to walk. Because the setting and the purpose of the two writers differed, a difference in emphasis naturally followed. As John Calvin pointed out in Luther's day, "It is not required that all handle the same arguments."

The book is generally attributed to James the half brother of Jesus and not the apostle James. The apostle was martyred around 44 BC and the date of the epistle is around 45-48 AD which means its one of the earliest epistles in the new Testament. The theme of the book is faith which when it matures produces godly works. The initial audience of the book was Jewish believers which may explain some of the confusion for Martin Luther. As mentioned in the above snippet from the Teachers commentary, the setting and all possible meanings must be examine. For a middle ages priest with little to no education on rabbinical principles it would be easy to jump to conclusions on this book. We in the 21st century have the benefit of examining the book with the help of history, commentaries and more rounded thorough instruction on the first century church.

The book opens up after James introduces himself in verses 1

James 1:2-4
2 Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.
HCSB

Like many of the Chapter and verses in James, I personally find this passage difficult to digest. Not because of the complexity of the letter but rather the content. We are to embrace with joy our trials. That is exactly the opposite of human nature and my nature. I choose to lash out at God at how unfair he is, or life is to be facing this [insert trial] trial. I've been faithful, and yet I have deal with this, blah, blah, blah. Yet the James is teaching exactly that. Let us look to these trials with joy as God wants us to mature.

God cannot build our character without our cooperation. If we resist Him, then He chastens us into submission. But if we submit to Him, then He can accomplish His work. He is not satisfied with a halfway job. God wants a perfect work; He wants a finished product that is mature and complete.
(from The Bible Exposition Commentary. Copyright © 1989 by Chariot Victor Publishing, and imprint of Cook Communication Ministries. All rights reserved. Used by permission.)

Basically we can ignore, resist and struggle with what God is trying to do in our lives but then we'll be worse off.  We'll not have the maturity but still dealing with the trials.  As we see in verse 4 with endurance we will become mature in God. How often do we see people in particularly humble circumstances, or have serious health issues praise God and rely on him, and have such an outstanding faith in God. Consider Joni Eareckson Tada who was crippled from a swimming accident. Her trial was being a quadriplegic. While can marvel at her faith and maturity in Jesus now, it had not arrived overnight but by enduring this tragedy wth her focus on how God was working in her life.  Early on she had to decide to whether to succumb to pity and depression or look up to God for help.  She chose the latter and look how she's been blessed.

We generally have a horizontal perspective, that is, we look side to side in life. We see the troubles that befall us, and moan about the inequity of it all. We fail to have a vertical perspective, i.e., looking up to God. We need to raise our eyes to God and see what he is teaching us. All too often we forget that we are just pilgrims, here on earth, our true and eternal home is heaven in fellowship with God. With that in mind, we can endure the temporary set backs, trials and problems in this life knowing they will produce in our life a beautiful fragrance that pleases God and will help us mature and glorify him further by relying on his provision..