Is There a Hell?

 Martin Thielen (02/25/24) wrote an article arguing that there is no hell. The entire article was replete with error and misrepresentations and would take several pages of apologetic refutation to address it adequately. But I will restrict my comments to one salient point. To quote: “hell is the most flagrant violation of proportional punishment ever devised.”

That statement is based on a complete ignorance of God. The God of the Bible is not a major or minor resident in a pantheon of deities, He is the omnipotent, omniscient, infinite, and holy  Creator of the universe. And, as such, God did not capriciously flip a coin to determine the Ten Commandments. “Tails, no other gods but Me. Tails again, no graven images. Tails, no taking the Name in vain. Heads, respect the Sabbath to keep it holy. Heads again, honor father and mother.” And so on through murder, theft, adultery, lying, coveting. All tails, no go.

The Ten Commandments are reflections of the character of God and His holiness, and any violation of them is an offense against Him personally. And recall that He is infinite. He is an infinite Being and even a junior high math student knows that anything times infinity is infinity. So an offense against an infinitely holy God is an infinite offense. And an infinite offense would require an infinite penalty to atone for it. 

IF we were to stop there, this would be the worst news in the universe. But, God, in His mercy and grace, made a payment, an infinite payment in the death of His Son, Jesus to pay for man’s sin. Since Jesus is God, and thus infinite, His sacrifice was an infinite sacrifice and is infinitely sufficient to pay the debt of every person ever born on earth.

That is the good news. But not everyone does not accept that payment, choosing to do their own thing. So a “life of 70 or 80 years” as referenced by Theilen, even if lived perfectly cannot pay an infinite debt since only one offense is an infinite offense. And no one has ever come close to being perfect, except Jesus. His perfect life was sacrificed, not for His own sin, but for every person on earth. 

God does not send anyone to hell. They choose to accept the deliverance, salvation, and be redeemed or reject the infinite sacrifice offered for and to them. Choose Jesus.