Will You Remember Your Loved Ones? - Soul Choice Ministries

In heaven, how will we be joyful knowing some of our loved ones are in hell?

Some have asked, “What about some of our loved ones who may have gone to hell; will we who are in heaven remember and grieve their loss? How can we be happy in heaven knowing they are suffering?”

Here are some verses in the King James Version that explain how I believe God reconciles that situation:

“I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men” (Deut. 32:26).
“His remembrance shall perish from the earth” (Job 18:17).
“I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind” (Ps. 31:12).
“To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth” (Ps. 34:16).
“ . . . land of forgetfulness” (Ps. 88:12).
“He may cut off the memory of them from the earth” (Ps. 109:15).
“The name of the wicked shall rot” (Prov. 10:7).
“They are dead . . . therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish” (Isa. 26:14).

Revelation 21:4 states, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” Revelation 7:17 and Isaiah 25:8 say the same.

It appears from these verses that God will erase the pain of the past, the things that would cause sadness, and remove them from our minds. Those former things are “passed away.” There is a verse that states the Word is able to divide soul and spirit (Heb. 4:12). God is well able to separate joy and sadness from our hearts and minds. This answer may not be conclusive, as there may be more to this than is revealed in Scripture. There are some things we will not fully understand until we are in heaven.

For those in hell, it is another form of sadness to endure, as they are not even remembered. To be forgotten and abandoned is a very painful state indeed. This is one of the many reasons that being separated from God is most miserable. It is the antithesis with those who are saved, as Psalm 112:6 states, “The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.”

It is eternal bliss or eternal misery, and it is our choice. I think it would be wise of us to take God’s advice and choose life (Deut. 30:19)

Excerpt from Bill’s Book, Hell: Separate Truth From Fiction and Get Your Toughest Questions Answered