Is There A Spirit World? - Soul Choice Ministries

Have you ever wondered if the afterlife is real?

The main reason we can be confident it is real is because Jesus Christ said it is. He said that there are only two places where people will go after they die. Those two places are Heaven or hell and yes, they do exist. In Matthew 25:46 Jesus said, “And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

There are at least 150 Bible verses about just hell alone. We also know that hell is real because credible people have seen it. Some of you have heard me share the vision of hell God gave me, or you may have read my book, “23 Minutes in Hell.” I explained in detail what I saw, heard and felt in that place of torment. Everything I personally saw and wrote about is already in the Bible, and that is what matters most in convincing people to believe hell exists.

Others have also had near-death, or clinical death experiences, or a God-given vision of hell but we can know for certain hell is real because God tells us hell is real throughout the pages of the Bible. Jesus spoke about hell in 46 places in the Bible.

There are of course also those people who have experienced something “hellish” as a result of drugs, occult or demonic activity, or fabricating an experience for attention. They may or may not have actually had a glimpse of hell. It’s important to note that these types of experiences should not nullify the more credible experiences. Counterfeit dollar bills exist, but you don’t throw away the real dollar bills.

A 2021 Pew Research survey showed 73% of U.S. adults believe in Heaven and only 62% believe in hell. It’s interesting that less people in the world believe in hell than in Heaven. Another interesting study from a 2015 Barna poll showed that less than 1/2 of 1% believe they will go to hell yet Jesus said in Matthew 7 that many are going to hell, and few going to Heaven.

Deep down inside, people know there is more beyond this physical, material world. The secular world tells us we have a subconscious mind. That’s the popular term for our spirit, which is eternal. The Bible tells us we are a spirit being. Our spirit lives in a physical body, and we possess a soul made up of a mind, will and emotions. God put eternity in man’s heart, which is why each of us knows there is something after this life whether we admit it or not. In addition, all of creation reveals the detailed and specific design of God’s hand, which is evidence of the Designer Himself.

The truth is people know they are accountable to their Creator. They may ignore God or even say He doesn’t exist, but their heart tells them otherwise. Perhaps you’ve had a near-death experience, or you saw yourself outside of your physical body. Perhaps you’ve encountered a demon or an angel, or you’ve experienced the presence of evil. You may have had a spiritual dream where God was attempting to warn you or communicate with you. And maybe you’ve experienced the incredible presence of God’s love. The bottom line is we know for certain the spiritual world is real.

After Judgment Day, Revelation 20:14-15 tells us, “Death and hell are cast into the lake of fire. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” This is the future hell that Jesus called Gehenna.

The Bible describes hell as a place of fear, torment, darkness, sorrow, burning fire, punishment, confusion, horrible odors, wailing and gnashing of teeth. Hell is a place of shame, absent of mercy, purpose, rest, peace and hope. Jesus Christ, who claimed to be God, rose from the dead, and proved He is God, and He says heaven and hell are real.

The Lord Jesus Christ also said that every person must turn from sin and trust in Him alone for salvation. The most valuable thing you possess is your soul because it’s eternal. In Mark 8:36, Jesus said, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?