What Happens To Those Who Reject Jesus As The Creator God Of All Things?

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (John 3:16-18 NIV – NOTE: All verses quoted are from the NIV unless otherwise specified)

There has been an upsurge of discussions in print, Podcasts and on forums about the fate of those who die with unrepentant sin and have rejected Jesus as Lord and Savior (from this point on referred to as the Lost). This message does not address those who have never heard about Jesus (Please see the message “What Happens To Those Who Have Never Heard About Jesus?”), but those who:

“have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.” (Hebrews 6:4-8).

These people were never Born-Again because they naturally and habitually do the “better things that have to do with salvation” (Hebrews 6:9). Being “enlightened” by having heard about or experienced the illuminating light of God’s love or tasting versus consuming it completely are very different.

“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.” (1 John 4:16)

When one contemplates the merciful goodness and kindness of God, it is hard to reconcile with His judgment and the eternal destiny of the Lost in the place the Bible calls Hell. Whenever and wherever eternal judgment and hell are discussed, it always raises questions concerning God’s love and justice which causes strong emotional feelings. This message will address the three primary schools of thought.

C.S. Lewis once articulated that religious ambivalence about Hell could lead to misunderstandings about its significance and nature. He pointed out how diverging interpretations can complicate the conversation and emphasized how vital the importance of aligning feelings with, and grounding one’s beliefs in, and adherence to, the authority of Scripture, rather than letting emotions dictate understanding divine truths to avoid falling into spiritual danger. He emphasized that despite personal feelings of distance from God, truth remains unchanged. and God is always closer than we realize.

“Hell may well be unique amongst Christian doctrines, if not for the lack of attention that it has received in the past decades, then for the unwillingness with which many orthodox Christians believe in it. Fundamentalists may preach vividly about the fires of hell, and liberals have long heralded the downfall of eternal damnation, but what can we say about a doctrine which leaves many people highly embarrassed? More recently, the doctrine has received the renewed interest of a specific debate amongst evangelicals concerning whether hell is eternal conscious torment or whether the wicked are annihilated after judgment.

Truth remains the same, whatever our reactions to it or feelings about it may be. I may often feel that God is far away, but the experience of my feeling does not alter the truth that God is closer than I can ever imagine. It is when I make my decisions on those feelings alone, and ignore the witness of Scripture, that danger comes. So, be warned: hell is an emotional subject, but we must let the Scriptures be the final arbiter on the truth of the matter.”

ANNIHILATIONISM

Annihilationism (AKA Mortalism) is the name given to the belief that those who do not belong to Christ are raised bodily from their graves at an appointed day of judgment and are then finally tormented for a time and then eternally annihilated as punishment for their sin and cease to consciously exist, rather than suffer unending torment in Hell.

CONDITIONALISM

Conditionalism is the name given to the belief that human beings are not inherently immortal, but their permanent existence is “conditioned” upon faith in Christ rather have immortality conferred upon them as part of the experience of salvation because the Bible teaches that human beings have been mortal ever since the Fall. Therefore, in their fallen condition, human beings are incapable of living forever and doomed to die and then cease to exist, and it is God alone who possesses immortality innately and no other being, human or otherwise is immortal (imperishable, deathless) possesses immortality inherently but only as God’s specific gift.