How can a God of love send anybody to Hell?

One of the classic problems that people bring up is:

How can a God of love send anybody to Hell?

Well, there are several answers to that.
One of course is that God doesn't send anyone to Hell.
You send yourself there.
God has done everything He possibly can to keep you out of Hell and still leave you as a person with free will and not just a robot.

That's the way He made us--after His image, after His likeness, the power to say "yes" or the power to say "no," the power to reject our own Creator, and of course to take the consequences.
In one sense you can say He doesn't send anybody to Hell, because across the road to Hell he has placed the cross of Christ.
There are also the prayers of parents, pastors and Sunday school teachers, and all the other things that God brings into our lives to stop us on our selfish way and to bring us to the Savior. We have to go wandering on past it all and put ourselves in Hell.

Sometimes you hear people say, "God wouldn't send His children to Hell."

God certainly doesn't send His children to Hell because when we're His children we're in the family of God. We're born again and part of our salvation includes deliverance from judgment. We're not all children of God except through faith in Christ Jesus.

Can a God of love send anyone to Hell?

You might as well ask some other question to make just as much sense.

Does God allow disease in the world?
Does God allow jails and prisons for some people?
Does God allow the electric chair sometimes?
Does God allow sin to break homes and hearts?
Does God allow war?

All of these things are the consequences of sin entering into the world, and in some cases the direct result of man's rebellion, and the result of greed and pride and egotism and hunger for power that doesn't have any use for people--only the desire to get ahead.

This is the incredible fruit of sin. Sin brings suffering into the world.
There's no way of getting around it. And the greatest sin in the world is to reject the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior.

We have our catalog of sins.
We have rape and incest and murder ; and we have them all cataloged and classified--but there isn't one of them (or even put them all together in one big hunk) that comes close to the sin of keeping Jesus Christ out of your life. Did Jesus say, "I'm going to send the Holy Spirit to convict the world of sin because they rob banks"-- or, "because they believe not on me"?

It is folly to expect that you or I can trifle with the Lord Jesus and not have a penalty attached to it. What ridiculous thinking people have in this area! We expect penalties for doing much less. Life is just built that way.

You jump off a high building, the law of gravity will take care of you. You might say, "God is love," all the way down, but you're still going to get splattered when you hit the bottom! You break the law of gravity, and it breaks you! You may love your little child, but if he puts his finger up on that hot burner on the gas stove or the electric stove, he's going to get burned!

Fire burns. Gravity kills. Water drowns. And you can say, "God is love, God is love, God is love," until you're blue in the face. But water will still drown you, fire will burn you, and gravity will kill you, and sin will damn you no matter how much you say about a loving God.

God just set up life that way. He set up the rules. He set up the laws by which we are to live. And if we break those laws, they break us, and we pay the consequences.

I willingly believe that the damned are, in one sense, successful, rebels to the end; that the doors of hell are locked on the inside.

All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened. And yourself, in a dark hour, may will [a grumbling] mood, embrace it.
Ye can repent and come out of it again. But there may come a day when you can do that no longer. Then there will be no you left to criticize the mood... --excerpted from The Problem of Pain and The Great Divorce, by C.S. Lewis (1898-1963), included in The Quotable Lewis, 1989 Tyndale

In a sense, the concept of hell gives meaning to our lives. It tells us that the moral choices we make day by day have eternal significance, that our behavior has consequences lasting to eternity, that God Himself takes our choices seriously.
The doctrine of hell is not just some dusty theological holdover from the Middle Ages. It has significant social consequences. Without a conviction of ultimate justice, people's sense of moral obligation dissolves, and social bonds are broke.
Of course, these considerations are not the most important reason to believe in hell. Jesus repeatedly issued warnings that if we turn away from God in this life, we will be alienated from God eternally.
And yet, although "the wages of sin is death," Paul also says that "the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). While breath remains, it is never too late to turn to God in repentance, and when we ask for forgiveness, God eagerly grants it. --excerpted from Answers to Your Kids' Questions, by Chuck Colson, 2000 Prison Fellowship Ministries.

We may rest assured that no one will suffer in hell who could by any means have been won to Christ in this life. God leaves no stone unturned to rescue all who would respond to the convicting and wooing of the Holy Spirit.
As for the fate of [the damned] being eternal, it could not be otherwise. Death is not the cessation of existence but the continuation of the eternal being with which God lovingly endowed man--but now in painful separation from God and all else in utter darkness and loneliness. --excerpted from In Defense of the Faith, by Dave Hunt, 1996 Harvest House Publishers

The Bible says that God prepared hell for the devil and his demonic cohorts (Matthew 25:41), that He is "...not wishing for any [person] to perish but for all to come to repentance." (II Peter 3:9), and that He has done everything possible to save us from that terrible, terrible place. Yet in the end God will not violate or overrule the deliberate choice of those who consciously and willfully turn away from Him. --Daryl E. Witmer of AIIA Institute

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil." --Jesus Christ, John 3:16-19, NASV Bible

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Kan een homo of lesbienne naar de hemel gaan?

Ik weet dat de bijbel het een zonde noemt, maar er staat ook dat de enige onvergefelijke zonde is om Jezus niet aan te nemen. Als een homo Jezus aanneemt maar zijn levensstijl niet verandert, kan hij dan naar de hemel gaan? Ik heb een neef die homo is.
—Lucy

Je hebt een erg belangrijke kwestie aan de orde gesteld – en een erg moeilijke.

En je hebt volstrekt gelijk: er is maar een zonde die onvergefelijk is. Dat is de zonde van het niet geloven in en het aanvaarden van Jezus Christus in je leven.

Een homo kan Christus aannemen zoals wij allemaal. Wij zijn allen zondaars, we komen tekort aan de heerlijkheid van God, vele of weinig, dat maakt niet uit.

Jouw vraag is of iemand Christus kan aannemen, zijn levensstijl niet verandert en toch naar de hemel gaat. De bijbel leert ons, dat iemand werkelijk Christus aanneemt in zijn leven niets hem buiten de hemel houdt.

In Johannes 10:28 zegt Christus over zijn volgelingen:

‘Ik geef ze eeuwig leven: ze zullen nooit verloren gaan en niemand zal ze uit mijn hand roven.’
Dus, Lucy, de echte vraag is volgens mij, of je neef een levensveranderende ervaring had met Christus.

Jezus zegt in Lucas:
‘Waarom noem je mij Here Here en doet niet wat ik zeg?’

Iemand stelde het eens zo:
‘Zonder Jezus geen verandering. Met Jezus wel verandering.’

Is je neef bezig om zijn homogerichtheid te veranderen? Zo ja, dan is dat een goed teken dat Christus in hem aan het werk is.

God is de enige die werkelijk ons hart kent. Hij is de enige die echt weet wat er in het hart van je neef leeft. Maar als Christus de Heer over het leven van je neef is geworden, dan zal de Heilige Geest wel klaarkomen met de zonde van homoseksualiteit in zijn leven.

Ik wil je bemoedigen om elke dag te bidden voor je neef.

En zeg hem dat ook. Misschien gaat God jou gebruiken in zijn leven. Bedankt dat je ervoor hem wil zijn en bezorgd bent over hem.

Author: Dawson McAllister van Dawson McAllister Live!

Can a gay or lesbian person go to heaven?

I know the Bible says it's a sin, but it also says that the only unforgivable sin is not accepting Jesus. If a gay person accepts Jesus but does not change his lifestyle, can he go to heaven? I have a cousin who's gay.
—Lucy

You've asked a very important question—and a very hard one.

And you are exactly right: there is only one sin that is unforgivable. That is the sin of not believing and not receiving Jesus Christ into your life.

A gay or homosexual person can accept Christ, just as an alcoholic, a drug addict, or a mass-murderer can accept Christ. Jesus' offer of salvation is open to everyone.

Your question is whether someone can accept Christ, not change his lifestyle, and still go to heaven. The Bible teaches that if someone has truly accepted Christ into his life, nothing can keep him out of heaven. In John 10:28, Christ says of Christians,

“I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of My hand.”
So, Lucy the real question, I believe, is whether your cousin had a life-changing experience with Christ. Jesus said in Luke,

“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord’ and do not do what I say?”
Someone once put it this way:

“No Jesus, no change. Know Jesus, know change.”

Is your cousin trying to overcome his homosexuality?

If he is, that's a good sign that Christ is working in his life.

God is the only one who truly knows our hearts. He's the only one who truly knows your cousin's heart. But if Christ has become the Lord of your cousin's life, then the Holy Spirit will begin to deal with the sin of homosexuality in his life.

I would encourage you to pray daily for your cousin. And I'd encourage you to tell your cousin you are praying for him. God may use you in his life.

Thanks for being there and thanks for caring for him.

Author: Dawson McAllister of Dawson McAllister Live!

Bagaimana saya dapat diampuni dan merasakannya?

Kebutuhan Akan Pengampunan
Karena Allah membenci dosa, harga sebuah pengampuanan sangatlah tinggi. Injil menuliskan beberapa syarat untuk pengampunan:

Pengorbanan. Ibrani 9:22 berkata tanpa penumpahan darah, tidak ada pengampunan." Dalam Perjanjian Lama diperlukan korban domba yang tak bercacat untuk meredakan murka Allah. Yesus, Anak Allah yang tak berdosa, mati di kayu salib dan menjadi korban penebusan dosa. Yesus membayar pengampunan bagi kita ketika mati di salib.

"Sebab juga Kristus telah mati sekali untuk segala dosa kita, Ia yang benar untuk orang-orang yang tidak benar supaya Ia membawa kita kepada Allah." (1 Petrus 3:18a)

"Sebab di dalam Dia dan oleh darahNya kita beroleh penebusan, yaitu pengampunan dosa, menurut kasih karuniaNya." (Efesus 1:7)

Mengampuni sesama. Syarat untuk pengampunan dosa adalah mengampuni sesama. 1 Korintus 13:5 berkata "kasih tidak menyimpan kesalahan orang lain". Ingat bahwa Amsal 17:9

mengajarkan pada kita bahwa sahabat sejati mengampuni. Allah juga menjadikan mengampuni sesama sebagai syarat untuk menerima pengampunan dariNya.

"Karena jika kamu mengampuni kesalahan orang, Bapamu yang di sorga akan mengampuni kamu juga. Tapi jika kamu tidak mengampuni orang, Bapamu juga tidak akan mengampuni kesalahanmu." (Matius 6:14,15)

"Hendaklah kamu ramah seorang terhadap yang lain, penuh kasih mesra dan saling mengampuni, sebagaimana Allah dalam Kristus telah mengampuni kamu." (Efesus 4:32)

Pengakuan Dosa Kita harus mengakui dosa kita pada Allah jika ingin hubungan kita dengan Dia dipulihkan. Melihat pada kebutuhan akan pengampunan, kita mengetahui dosa yang tidak diakui dapat memisahkan hubungan kita dengan Allah. Pengakuan adalah jalan untuk memulihkan hubungan kita dengan Allah, karena walau kita tidak setia, Ia tetap setia (2 Timotius 2:13).

"Jika kita mengaku dosa kita, maka Ia adalah setia dan adil, sehingga Ia akan mengampuni sehala dosa kita dan menyucikan kita dari segala kejahatan." (1 Yoh 1:9)

Bertobat. Kita harus memutuskan untuk berubah, berpaling dari dosa kita.

"Karena itu beginilah jawab Tuhan :"Jika engkau mau kembali, Aku akan mengembalikan engkau menjadi pelayan dihadapanKu." (Yeremia 15:19a)

Hasil dari Pengampunan.

Alkitab menjanjikan kebaikan atas pengampuan Allah:
Kebahagiaan. Ketika tahu bahwa Tuhan mengampuni kita diberkati (bahagia).

"Berbahagialah orang yang diampuni pelanggarannya, yang dosanya ditutupi. Berbahagialah manusia, yang kesalahannya tidak diperhitungkan Tuhan dan yang tidak berjiwa penipu." (Mazmur 32:1-2)

Allah memilih untuk tidak memperhitungkan dosa kita. Hasil dari pengampunan adalah Allah tidak mengingat kesalahan kita. Dia tidak menyimpannya untuk mendakwa kita. Karena darah Kristus telah menutupi dosa kita, Allah tidak mengingat-ingat dosa kita.

"Aku, Akulah Dia yang menghapus dosa pemberontakanmu oleh karena Aku sendiri, dan Aku tidak mengingat-ingat dosamu." (Yesaya 43:25)

Allah mengangkat kita dari dosa. "Sejauh timur dari barat, demkian dijauhkanNya dari pada kita pelanggaran kita" (Mazmur 103:12)

Kita dapat mengampuni diri sendiri. Saat kita diampuni, kita dapat mengampuni diri sendiri dan meneruskan hidup kita.

"Saudara-saudara, aku sendiri tidak menganggap bahwa aku telah menangkapnya, tetapi ini yang kulakukan: aku melupakan apa yang telah dibelakangku dan mengarahkan diri kepada apa yang dihadapanku, dan berlari-lari pada tujuan untuk memperoleh hadiah, yaitu panggilan sorgawi dari Allah dalam Yesus Kristus." (Filipi 3:13,14)

Author: Dawson McAllister

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