The Reality of Hell, Part 2 of "Heaven and Hell"预览

God will judge justly

“A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is He” (Deuteronomy 32:4)

Before we get into all kinds of important Biblical information about hell, let me dwell on God's justice. “He loves righteousness and justice”, states Psalm 33:5. Acts 17:30-31 tells us that everyone must repent, because God has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness. Romans 2:5 also speaks of “the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.”

We could quote many more verses about God's justice. This is a fundamental attribute of the Lord that we need to keep in mind when thinking about hell as eternal punishment.

When the Bible speaks of hell, it often does so in symbols or parables. Not all of these can be interpreted literally within our limited conceptions of time and place. Therefore, we must be reticent to speak too confidently about details we may (mis)understand in an earthly way. It is with good reason that Jesus speaks about hell primarily in images. Moreover, our understanding of God's holiness and the seriousness of human sin is too limited to judge what constitutes fair punishment.

We must trust that God will judge justly. If our conception of hell is incompatible with that, we must begin to doubt not God's justice but our understanding of hell.

Do you firmly believe that God is just? What convinces you of His justice?