The catalyst for Honey's article was the "U.S. Religious Landscape Survey" released this summer by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. The data does indicate a shift in beliefs concerning hell. In the Pew study, just 59 percent of those surveyed indicated belief in a concept of hell "where people who have led bad lives, and die without being sorry, are eternally punished."
That figure, Honey reports, is down from 71 percent "who said they believed in hell" as recently as a 2001 Gallup poll. -Source: Mohler blog 8/18/08
Hell. Every so often, the public opinion on the reality of Hell shifts. Not only about its existence, but also in regards to who will be sent there. Strangely enough, I think there are people who take solace in the fact that others don't believe in the existence of Hell.
So, the faulty logic that ensues goes something like this: The vast majority of educated Americans do not believe in the existence of a Hell for people just because they didn't believe in Jesus. Hence, there must be no such Hell. Hell (if it exists) must be a place just for the "REALLY" bad people.
Tragically, in eternity, we will all discover that both Heaven and Hell are not matters of subjective preference, but rather matters of objective Truth. Having never seen Hell nor experienced the Judgment of Christ, our human opinions of Hell don't really matter. 99% of Americans could not believe in the existence of Hell, but that would not change its reality!
The real question, at the core of it all, is the Bible accurate and was Jesus indeed God in the flesh? Because if the Bible is accurate and trustworthy, and Jesus was indeed God in the flesh, then Hell is what Jesus said it to be.
For every 1 time Jesus spoke about Heaven, He warned us 7 times about the reality of Hell.
"And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." -Matthew 25:46
"And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night," -Revelation 14:11
Yes, the reality of Hell does awaken my senses to the importance of evangelism; but you know what it really does for me?
You see, Jesus ultimately didn't die on the cross to give us the "good" life on earth. Jesus died so that we may be saved from the incinerating wrath of God. This is a Biblical truth for the ages. O, my sins which were many...are washed away by the blood. The PRECIOUS blood of the Lamb of God. The reality of Hell makes me sing with THANKSGIVING, for I know exactly what I deserved.
Praise the Lord.
4 comments:
the heart breaking truth of hell. half of me is saying thank you god for saving me. the other half seems somewhat guilty for my grandpa.
i still think its me and my family members fault for being late for gramms.
and i understand that there are some true christians in the club, but then again, i see how they act in the praise nights and in school.. two very different sides.
how true.
it'll surely encourage me; thanks.
btw, i'm winning.
such a big reality that this world puts aside as a trivial matter...
All the more reason for us to spread the good news!
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