Why Hell Is Necessary - Soul Choice Ministries

There are several reasons why hell exists.

1. The punishment of sins. If no hell exists, then there would be no consequences for our actions.

2. To separate the wicked from the just. If the wicked were allowed into heaven, which they are not, they could harm the righteous, just as they do here on the earth. So just as earthly prisons keep the evil away from society to keep us safe, so hell exists to house the wicked.

3. Hell is a great deterrent against sin. The fear of an eternal hell should scare any rational person into obeying an all powerful and Holy God.

4. GOo has prepared a place for the people that don’t want anything to do with Him.

Those who reject God’s ultimate sacrifice, Jesus Christ, deserve eternal punishment. Jesus suffered horribly, and God allowed His own Son to endure this punishment for us all because our sin separates us from our Creator. Those who reject Him don’t value His Son or His sacrifice for us. They mock Him and even use His name as a curse word.

Let’s go back to our first reason: There must be a place of punishment for sin.

We must realize that God’s nature is holy and righteous. He is not only love. He cannot tolerate sin. He is a God whose anger burns against the wicked and disobedient (Isaiah 5:25; Hosea 8:5; Zechariah 10:3).

We may not understand that our sin is exceedingly sinful to God, as Romans 7:13 states. Nevertheless, our ignorance of that fact doesn’t nullify God carrying out His justice. God’s justice exposes man’s inadequacy.

All of us sin. Heaven is a perfect place without sin, and God cannot allow sinful man into heaven, as Revelation 21:27 states. And why should He! It’s His home! We need to see that our sin is deserving of death, which means separation from God.

Romans 3:23 states, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.”

We have to realize that there are wages we earn for our sins. These wages include death, destruction, separation from all good, and God’s fury and wrath. There are spiritual laws of God, and physical laws of man. Just as there is punishment for breaking man’s laws, punishment is the result for breaking God’s laws. Every person has failed to live up to God’s moral law, and so he finds himself guilty. The Bible word for this moral failure is sin.

Our second reason is there must be a place that separates the disobedient from the obedient.

Ask yourself, why are prisons necessary? If no criminal was placed in prison, and there were no consequences for committing heinous crimes, would our society be safe? Of course not! If a person could murder or rape and not be imprisoned for it, they could continue to repeat the same offence, which would be a danger to society.

We wouldn’t accuse the leaders of our country of being mean and unfair for constructing prisons, so we should not accuse God as being mean and unfair for establishing hell. Man has been given a free will to choose whether to obey God, or not. It’s a person’s own choice if they go to hell. It is not God’s decision.

The third reason is that Hell is a great deterrent against sin.

When we comprehend the severity of an eternal hell, we are less likely to sin. We are less likely to live morally corrupt lives. We are less likely to compromise and fall prey to every temptation and sin.

In his book, The Essential Works of John Wesley, page 758, he said, “God having the power to cast into hell…this very fear, even in the children of God, is one excellent means of preserving them from it.”

Solomon Stoddard said in his book, the Fear of Hell, pages 2 and 9, “It would be a great benefit of godly men if they had more of the fear of hell. For it would help them against a lukewarm and slumbering spirit and would strengthen their heart against many temptations. The misery of men are that they do not fear hell; they are not sensible of the dreadfulness or danger of damnation, and so they take a great liberty to sin.”

Job 31:23 states, “Destruction from God was a terror to me.”

Jesus said in Mark 9:47, “And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire.” This is a severe statement of Jesus. He is saying that we are better off digging our eyes out if they are causing us to sin, rather than going to hell. That would be a severe action to take but better than enduring hell. We all should have a fear of an eternal hell.

Jude 23 says, “some are saved with fear, pulling them out of the fire.”

Paul mentions, “the terror of the Lord” in 2 Corinthians 5:10-11.

David said in Psalms119:120, “My flesh trembles for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments.”

Hebrews 10:27 and 31, “a certain fearful looking for of judgment…It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

The Bible says in Hebrews 12:14, “Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord.”

That’s a sobering verse.

The Bible also says in Philippians 2:12, to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”

The truth of an eternal hell should cause us to walk more in the fear of the Lord by obeying Him. Of course, keep in mind that our obedience to God’s commands does not save us from hell. Only our trust in what the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished for us on the cross provides us with the gift of salvation. Obeying His commands identifies us as one who has repented and received Him as our Lord and Savior. It is evidence we are saved. Good works are not the cause of salvation, but the effect.

A fourth reason for hell is because there are many people who don’t want anything to do with God.

Hell is a place where all the attributes of God are removed. There is no good thing apart from God because all good comes from Him (James 1:17). Many people just don’t realize that they can’t have the good without God. They enjoy God’s goodness on the earth but after they die, they won’t get to enjoy his goodness. God grants them their desire.

Proverbs 15:29, “The Lord is far from the wicked.”

2 Thessalonians 1:8-9, “in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.”

Just as we need physical prisons on earth, there are spiritual prisons for the wicked and all who reject Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

And finally, Isaiah 55:6-7 says, “Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.”