Hell

Or: "Hell - Who Is There?"


Seems to me, if you ask most Christians, the response to the question of "who is hell for" would be "sinners" or something of that nature.

I am here to say that if that is your answer, then I believe you are wrong.

I could go ahead and say the obvious thing, that hell is for the devil and the demons, that is who God created it for. But I am not trying to be that obvious, just trying to spark an interesting (one-sided) conversation.

If hell was for sinners, we would all be there. Anybody who was born a human being, was born a sinner. Anybody who breathed even one breath on this earth, has sinned. And, even though God does not call Christians "sinners" but rather "saints", we know this is not from a lack of sin on our parts but by an over-abundance of righteousness that Jesus has and gives to us.

So, who is hell for?

I am going to put it to you, that hell is for the proud. Each and every person in hell, is guilty of pride. Pride was the overriding factor that caused them to reject Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.

The Bible tells us that no one has an excuse. No one can stand before God and say that they did not know of Him. Every person born to humanity on this earth, has seen God through creation, and therefore knows that there is a God.

Ponder that for a moment. Basically put, this means that there are NO atheists. There are people who CALL themselves atheists, but God says that they actually know that there is a God, they are merely rejecting the truth.

Why do they reject the Truth? Why does anybody reject the Truth? Pride.

Pride. It was the downfall of Satan, and it is the downfall of every person who ends up in hell. This is why the Bible says that God hates the proud. We know that God does not hate sinners - if so, He would have to hate His very own people. John 3:16 teaches us that God loves sinners, and our own conversion experience has shown us that God loves us enough to die for us while we were yet sinners. But pride, pride God hates. It is pride that causes us to know the truth, but turn away from it. So "the proud", those who live a life defined by pride, does God hate them? Yes, He does; but only because of their pride, which keeps them from Him and His love for them.

Yes, it is true that sinners go to hell. But that is only a partial story. If you asked the question, "what are HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lanes for?", and I answered "they are for motorized vehicles to travel in", my answer would be correct. But, it would not tell the whole story. Yes, every lane of traffic on the road is made and designed for motorized traffic to travel on to get from one point to another point, this is absolutely true. But HOV lanes are ALSO there for vehicles carrying at least two people in them. You see, the answer was correct, but left out a lot of details.

In the same way, yes, everybody who ends up in hell is/was a sinner. But, not all people who sin end up there, just like not all vehicles can travel in an HOV lane.

The truth is, hell is for the proud. Pride is the original sin. Pride is what keeps people from God. Pride, therefore, is the sin that sends people to hell.