Of all Christian teachings, perhaps none is tougher to stomach than hell. Our culture mocks it as medieval fear-mongering, many professing Christians deny its existence, and others treat it as a skeleton in Christianity’s closet. However, rightly understood, the doctrine of hell can strengthen the believer, helping us better grasp God, sin and the gospel.
So first, what is hell? A simple Christian definition is: a place of eternal conscious punishment for the wicked¹. “The wicked” are not the worst of humanity but all of us², and hell is where we receive the judgment our rebellion against God deserves. We escape from hell not by living mostly good lives but through faith in Jesus who was punished in our place³.
Okay, you believe in Jesus, but why believe in hell? Many dismiss hell as incompatible with God’s love. They see it as reminiscent of “fire and brimstone” revivalists, not our “gentle and lowly” Saviour. This view, however, is woefully inaccurate because no one in the New Testament speaks about hell as frequently or terrifyingly as Jesus himself. He calls it a fiery furnace where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, a place of unquenchable fire and undying worms, outer darkness, eternal punishment⁴. We must believe in hell for the simple reason that Jesus taught it.
So, if hell really is a place of punishment and an unavoidable part of Jesus’ teaching, how are we to respond? If I had to put it in a word, it would be tremble.
Tremble at sin. Much of Jesus’ teaching on hell is in the context of warning his disciples about the gravity of sin and its consequences. Hell is what our sin against God deserves and will receive, either the sinner themselves or Christ as their substitute. Hell shows the extent of God’s hatred of sin, and it should sober and provoke us to not make peace with the sin it exists to punish.
Tremble for the lost. Warning about hell was normative in New Testament evangelism but is rare today. Many believers lack urgency in evangelism, and unbelievers lack urgency in responding to evangelism because hell is omitted from our gospel conversations. However, the good news of salvation brings sweet relief when we see what we must be saved from. Hell is the dark background against which the light of the gospel shines. It should provoke us to pray for and plead with those who do not know God.
Tremble at God. Hell points to the infinite holiness and justice of God. It comforts us knowing all the evil done in this world will receive just retribution. But it also shows how serious an affront to God our own sin is. We struggle to see how hell could be a proportionate punishment for human sin because our sin-warped minds struggle to grasp how holy God is. However, Scripture tells us we won’t struggle with this in heaven⁵. For now, we must tremble in awe at our God who is both love and a consuming fire⁶.
Tremble at grace. No matter how hard we strain to grasp the horror of hell, we can get only a faint glimpse of the agony Christ endured for us. He took our punishment while we were still God-rejecting, hell-deserving rebels⁷. The contrast between the hell we deserve and the heaven we are promised in Christ should make our jaws drop and make our hearts erupt with praise to our lavishly gracious God.
These articles are written without the use of generative AI. For more on this theme, read Dane Ortlund’s article, Is Hell Real?
¹Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2020), 1413
²See Romans 3.10–23, Ephesians 2.1–3
³See Isaiah 53.5, John 5.24, Romans 3.23–26, 2 Corinthians 5.21
⁴In order: Matthew 13.41–42, Mark 9.43–48, Matthew 25.30, Matthew 25.46
⁵Revelation 19.1–5
⁶1 John 4.8 & Hebrews 12.28–29
⁷Romans 5.7–11