EXCERPT

Discussion Topics Include:

What are the Three Views of Hell? (Chapter 1)
Is God Balanced or Unbalanced? (Chapter 2)
Did Jesus Descend to Hades? (Chapter 5)
Is there a Postmortem Opportunity for Salvation? (Chapter 5)

Chapter 3
The Lake of Fire

An Overview
I have had many discussions about my faith in Jesus Christ and the Holy Bible with others. At times, those I share my beliefs with believe in heaven but not hell, and they believe in Jesus but not in a triune God. Some consider hell to be just a metaphor, but they believe in heaven. I explain to such individuals that the apostle John described heaven and hell quite well in the Book of Revelation.

During my discussions, I shared that we cannot have a real heaven but have a metaphorical hell. If heaven is real, hell needs to be real too. If both are metaphors, Jesus died in vain. If there was no eternal torment, why would we need to be saved? And if neither heaven nor hell exists, the Bible would be a work of fiction, which most of the world believes anyway.

The most important conversation the young woman at work and I had was regarding hell. We had many discussions on the subject over four months.

The following is a summary of the young woman’s beliefs. She explained that we create our hell of pain and suffering here on earth through the results of decisions and choices we’ve made. She further shared some individuals currently have their hell of mental illness and addiction, for example. Additionally, she stated that because God would not have eternal torment, evil souls just die. If one is saved through Jesus Christ, they will either go to heaven [if chosen to live in heaven] or live on an earthly paradise.

I have heard the following quote in several versions but did not know its origin. Yet with a bit of research, I found the author. You may have heard it as well. The quote comes from the book Heaven by Randy Alcorn.

The best of life on earth is a glimpse of Heaven; the worst of life is a glimpse of Hell. For Christians, this present life is the closest they will come to Hell. For unbelievers, it is the closest they will come to Heaven.

Alcorn said it best, and his quote helps us understand the Biblical theology that there is a heaven and a hell, and neither one is on earth.

Therefore, I concur with Alcorn, and I adopted and developed a spin-off quote that helps us understand this analogy: for believers, earth is the worst hell they will ever experience, whereas, for unbelievers, this earth is the best heaven they will ever experience.

Apostle John was describing the lake of fire in the Book of Revelation, not hell.

And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. (Revelation 20:14 KJV)

Along similar lines, the Bible discusses we need to be aware of false doctrine. For example, there are those who “have left the path of truth, claiming that the resurrection of the dead has already occurred; in this way, they have turned some people away from the faith” (2 Timothy 2:18 NLT). However, suppose we stay in the true faith. In that case, scriptures assure us, “Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be an implement for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work” (2 Timothy 2:21 NASB).

Biblical Warning Signs

The Old and New Testaments give us multiple signs and prophesies about Jesus and the lake of fire and its descriptions. A few brief examples are, we will have a savior coming: Isaiah 9:6 (NASB) tells us “for a child will be born to us,” meaning “Immanuel” Isaiah 7:14 (NASB), and Isaiah 66:24 (NLT) says, “…For the worms that devour them will never die, and the fire that burns them will never go out.” Throughout the New Testament, Jesus provides many warnings; one such example is Jesus explains in Matthew 25:31–46 (KJV), “everlasting fire” and “everlasting punishment.” Do we listen?

The following analogy is not original; I have heard it in many forms throughout my life. Let us say you are taking a vacation with your family. As you drive, you start to see warning signs that the bridge is out—take an alternative route—cliff ahead. Would you go anyway and drive your family off the cliff, or would you heed the warnings and divert? We are not only given warning signs; we are also given an alternative route—Jesus Christ! Why is that different from biblical warnings about the lake of fire?