How is eternity in hell a fair punishment for sin? | GotQuestions.org

Today's question is, how is eternity in hell a fair punishment for sin?

In this video I'll answer that question from a biblical perspective. Then afterwards, as always,

I'll share some helpful resources, so stick around until the end. Many people are uncomfortable, to say the least, with the idea of an eternal hell.

This discomfort, though, is often the result of an incomplete understanding of three things – the nature of God, the nature of man, and the nature of sin.

As fallen, sinful human beings, the nature of God is a difficult concept for us to grasp.

We tend to see God as a kind, merciful being whose love for us overrides and overshadows all

His other attributes. Of course, God is loving, kind, and merciful, but He is first and foremost a holy and righteous

God. So holy is He that He cannot tolerate sin. He is a God whose anger burns against the wicked and disobedient.

Isaiah 5, verse 25. He is not only a loving God, He is love itself.

But the Bible also tells that He hates all manner of sin. Proverbs 6, verses 16 -19.

And while He is merciful, there are limits to His mercy. Seek the Lord while He may be found.

Call on Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake His way, and the evil man his thoughts.

Let him turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him and to our God, for He will freely pardon.

Isaiah 55, verses 6 -7. Humanity is corrupted by sin, and that sin is always directly against God.

When David sinned by committing adultery with Bathsheba and having Uriah murdered, he responded with an interesting prayer, against you, you only have

I sinned and done what is evil in your sight. Psalm 51, verse 4.

Since David had sinned against Bathsheba and Uriah, how could he claim to have only sinned against God?

David understood that all sin is ultimately against God. God is an eternal and infinite being.

Psalm 90, verse 2. As a result, all sin requires an eternal punishment.

God's holy, perfect, and infinite character has been offended by our sin. Although to our finite minds, our sin is limited in time, to God, who is outside of time, the sin

He hates goes on and on. Our sin is eternally before Him and must be eternally punished in order to satisfy

His holy justice. No one understands this better than someone in hell.

A perfect example is the story of the rich man and Lazarus. Both died, and the rich man went to hell, while Lazarus went to paradise.

Luke chapter 16. Of course, the rich man was aware that his sins were only committed during his lifetime.

But interestingly, he never says, how did I end up here? That question is never asked in hell.

He does not say, did I really deserve this? Don't you think this is a little extreme, a little over the top?

He only asks that someone go to his brothers who are still alive and warn them against his fate.

Like the rich man, every sinner in hell has a full realization that he deserves to be there.

Each sinner has a fully informed, acutely aware, and sensitive conscience, which in hell becomes his own tormentor.

This is the experience of torture in hell. A person fully aware of his or her sin with a relentlessly accusing conscience without relief for even one moment.

The guilt of sin will produce shame and everlasting self -hatred. The rich man knew that eternal punishment for a lifetime of sins is justified and deserved.

That is why he never protested or questioned being in hell. The realities of eternal damnation, eternal hell, and eternal punishment are frightening and disturbing.

But it is good that we might indeed be terrified. While this may sound grim, there is good news.

God loves us, John 3, verse 16, and wants us to be saved from hell, 2

Peter 3, verse 9. But because God is also just and righteous,

He cannot allow our sin to go unpunished. Someone has to pay for it. In His great mercy and love,

God provided His own payment for our sin. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty for our sins by dying on the cross for us.

Jesus' death was an infinite death because He is the infinite God -Man, paying our infinite sin debt, so that we would not have to pay in hell for eternity, 2

Corinthians 5, verse 21. If we confess our sin and place our faith in Christ, asking

God's forgiveness based on Christ's sacrifice, we are saved, forgiven. We are cleansed and promised an eternal home in heaven.

God loved us so much that He provided the means for our salvation. But if we reject

His gift of eternal life, we will face the eternal consequences of that decision. Want to learn more?

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