Why Do People Reject Hell? - Soul Choice Ministries

In John 3:18–20, Jesus told us why the unbeliever rejects hell. It’s because they reject God and love their sin.

Jesus said, “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.”

People ignore what Jesus said and reject the idea that they are evil. They think they are pretty good compared to others and are therefore entitled to go to heaven.

There are also three main objections many have regarding hell.

For many, the defining attribute of God is supreme, unconditional love. The concept of hell challenges His nature. They question, “How can an all-loving Creator who desires the salvation of all allow any of His creation to be eternally lost or actively subjected to torment?”
They challenge a disproportion between finite human actions and an infinite consequence.

In other words, a lifetime of sin doesn’t deserve eternal punishment.

The concept of hell is sometimes viewed as a historical mechanism used by ancient societies to enforce social cohesion and moral restraint, rather than objective reality.

The belief in any of these three objections to hell is due to either biblical ignorance, a desire to justify their sin, or arrogance. And many times, all three would apply.

Questioning God’s loving nature by allowing punishment in hell also ignores that He is holy, perfect, and just. Jesus Christ proved His love for us by suffering a horrible death on the cross to keep people out of hell. He took our place and paid for our sin. What more could a loving God do?

Love must allow a free will to choose. God doesn’t force anyone into heaven, as He gives every person a choice. In addition, He warns us of the negative consequences that follow the wrong choice. Humans are born in sin and thereby separated from God.

(Romans 5:10–14; Psalm 51:1–5). Since man is born in sin, he is already on the road to hell because he cannot live in heaven with his fallen, sinful nature (John 3:17–18). God’s nature is fire and holy (Hebrews 12:29; Nahum 1:5). Our nature is corrupt, evil, and full of death (Romans 3:10, 12, 23; Galatians 2:16). We cannot exist in God’s presence with our fallen nature, as we would be consumed. God will not allow corrupt man into heaven (Revelation 21:27).

Suffering in hell could never repair the gap between the two natures. In addition, man is an eternal being, and God will not annihilate him. Once a person is born, their spirit lives on forever. Hell is the only other place that exists for a person’s soul to dwell (Luke 16:23; Isaiah 38:18; Job 33:28; Psalm 26:9).

God’s loving nature made a way of redemption where there was no way. The only way to reconcile sinful, fallen mankind back to God was for Jesus to take the punishment for our sin so that God’s justice could be satisfied. Our part is to trust in His shed blood, and not our own good works, and then we will be given a new heart and a new nature compatible with God’s.

As for the punishment being disproportionate to the crime—time is the wrong premise. Time served in hell could never redeem man, as time spent suffering cannot earn us a new nature. If we spent a million years in hell, we would still have our fallen nature. Also, man’s time is not valuable enough. Only the shed blood of Jesus has that value, as Hebrews 9:22 states. The correct premise is not time, but faith and trust in what Jesus did for us on the cross.

We must believe in Him before we die, because after death, there would be no faith required. We would know hell and God exists. We can’t earn our salvation through good works; it’s a free gift. In addition, time spent in hell would be considered works, as if we paid off our sins. We are saved by grace, and not by works, as Ephesians 2:8–9 states.

We also have to understand whom we have sinned against. We can understand that it would be more criminal to lie to the Supreme Court than to the average citizen. The penalty would be greater for lying to the Supreme Court. Sinning against an eternal God, a God of supreme position, is deserving of an infinite punishment. We have also sinned against an infinite Being. If we killed a person’s pet dog, it would deserve some punishment. But if we killed the owner of the dog, it would deserve a much greater punishment. Sinning against the Supreme Being would deserve eternal punishment.

Hell is torment and eternal because it’s a place prepared for the devil, and not for man (Matthew 25:41). God never intended for man to go there. God warned man not to sin, or he would be separated from Him forever.

The reason hell is horrendous is because God withdrew all His goodness or His attributes when preparing hell. There is no such thing as good without God (James 1:17). God removed all good from hell.

We get to enjoy God’s goodness here on the earth because He made the earth for man. But if a person rejects God, then they go to a place separated from God, just as they desire. They want to live their earthly life separate from God, so also they get to do so for all eternity. The unbeliever just doesn’t realize that all good comes only from God. If he had read the Bible, he would have discovered that fact (Psalm 33:5; Matthew 5:45).

One other point: The time it takes to commit a crime does not equate to the time allotted for punishment. It may only take two seconds to kill a person, but would deserve a life sentence or death. Likewise, a person sinning throughout their lifetime does not determine the length of the sentence. Each of us has sinned against an eternal God; therefore, we deserve eternal punishment.

God sent His only Son to die in our place. He suffered horribly and then rose from the dead to prove who He said He was. Yet people deny Him, ignore Him, mock Him, and even use His name as a curse word.

As for hell being used as a method to induce society into living a moral life, this is not true. Although a byproduct of Christianity does affect people’s morals and lifestyle, hell’s existence is not a method of controlling people’s behavior. God doesn’t control people. He gives us His instructions to help guide us.

He also gave us a conscience to know right from wrong. However, our conscience isn’t enough for adhering to a moral lifestyle. Man sins so often that his conscience becomes seared. Sin also hardens the human heart and deceives.

We need a plumb line of right and wrong, good and evil. God has done this with the Bible. It establishes the standard. The Bible teaches us to treat others as we would want to be treated. It teaches humans not to lie, steal, covet, or be greedy, and so much more. It teaches that there are consequences for our actions.

Society also functions well on a reward and punishment system. That’s why we have laws. Understanding that hell exists to house the disobedient may influence some in a positive manner. Knowing hell is real should scare any rational-thinking person who lives apart from Christ! However, the main reason Hell is mentioned throughout the Bible is because Jesus saved us from it. Those of us who believe and are saved should be more appreciative of our salvation, knowing hell’s severity. Eternal punishment is one of the foundational doctrines and should be taught just as the rest of Scripture.

Hell is a message of love because it’s a message of warning. If you were in a hotel sleeping and the building caught on fire, you wouldn’t be upset if a man came screaming down the hall to wake you up and get out. You would be grateful for the warning. Why would someone reject the many warnings from the Lord Jesus Christ? At the end of the road, the bridge is out, the building is on fire, and sharks are in the water.

God warns us ahead of time what hell is like, so that we can repent and avoid it at all costs (Matthew 7:13–14; 18:8–9; 25:41, 46).