How Can a Loving God Send Someone to Hell?

Hey everybody, this is Keith Foskey with a conversations with a Calvinist quick quack.

That's what we're calling these new segments on the show.

This is a three to five minute video, which is seeks to answer a listener question.

And today's listener question is how can a loving God send someone to hell? Now the context of this particular question was sent to me with the answer from another person and the listener who sent this said, would you answer this the same way? And I said, well, I think they got some things right.

And I think they got some things a little different than how I would understand them.

And that's, that's the key because I want to make sure that you understand that I'm answering this question from a biblical perspective and from a reform perspective, because that is how I understand the scripture is I understand the scriptures, uh, teaching reform theology.

So, so there are certain things that, that often people use to answer this question, which was in the video that I saw, uh, that I would not necessarily use to answer this question because one of the ways that this question was answered on the video that I saw was as an appeal to free will was that, well, God sends people to hell because people have free will to choose.

They chose not to believe in him.

Therefore God sends them to hell based on their own free choice.

And, and that is a, that is a common way to answer this question.

And honestly, I think that what we do when we answer that question, answer the question that way is I think we're seeking in a sense to get God off the hook.

Well, it really isn't God who's sending them to hell.

It's them who's sending themselves out because ultimately they made a free will choice to go to hell.

And I understand the appeal of that answer.

I do understand why so many people use that answer.

But I also believe that there's a problem in the answer, not only with the concept of free will, which obviously I have an issue with as a Calvinist, and we could talk about that on a different show, I've talked about it at length on other programs, but also I think the issue is that it, it sort of overlooks the bigger problem.

And that is the question of why does hell exist in the first place? And hell exists as a punishment for unrighteousness, otherwise known as sin.

And the reason why people go to hell is because they deserve the wrath of God because they are rebels against his righteousness.

They have rebelled against his goodness and they deserve it.

That's the, that's the thing.

We don't, we don't want to hear that.

We don't want to hear that somebody that the reason they go to hell is because they deserve it and God is just and God gives justice and he also gives mercy and we will be the object of one or the other of those things.

We will either be an object of God's mercy and grace or we will be an object of God's justice and wrath and neither one of those will be unjust because every person who is a sinner deserves to be punished for that sin.

And if God exercises the punishment that is due to that sin, then there's nothing unjust about that.

And if God holds back his justice and gives them mercy, then they're receiving non-justice, but they're not receiving injustice.

God is not doing them an injustice.

He's actually doing them a mercy or a grace, which is a favorable thing.

He's holding back justice, but we know this, he doesn't hold it back his justice indiscriminately.

He holds back his justice because his justice was poured out on Christ.

Christ received the punishment that was due our sin and therefore anyone who receives mercy is receiving mercy because Christ himself took the punishment that they deserve.

Now, I think that I want to, I do want to address one other part of the question.

That's the question of God's love.

And they say, how can a loving God send someone to hell? And the answer is that God's love is his nature.

The Bible says God is love, but the Bible also says God is holy.

In fact, if we look at the attributes of God that are described throughout the Bible, God's holiness, his righteousness, his justice, his love, all of these are attributes of God, but there's only one attribute that is described in a threefold way.

There's only one attribute that God is ever called three times in a row, and that is his holiness.

In Isaiah chapter six, he is called holy, holy, holy.

He's never called justice, justice, justice, or mercy, mercy, mercy, or even love, love, love.

Even though we say God is love, God has never called love to the superlative degree.

In the Hebrew, when something is said twice, it's meant to give it emphasis.

Like when Jesus said, you know, Simon, Simon, or when you were verily, verily.

These are ways to add emphasis to something.

But when we see the three time use of a word, that is the superlative.

And so we have holy, holy, holy.

And that is the one attribute that I think people miss in this question.

They ask, why would a loving God send someone to hell? And the second question, the question that I would respond with is, why would a holy God not send an unrighteous person to hell? And the reason is, is because he's mercy and gracious in his son.

So the only way to have any hope of not receiving what we deserve is to trust in the Lord Jesus who receives what we deserve in our place as our substitute.

So I hope that that's helpful.

I hope that's a helpful way of answering the question.

How can a loving God send anyone to hell? He does so because he is also holy and just and righteous.

But you can be saved by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thank you for listening to this quick quack.

My name is Keith Foskey, and I've been your Calvinist.

May God bless you.