Genesis 18:20 – And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;

Genesis 18:21 – I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.

Genesis 18:22 – And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.

Genesis 18:23 – And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?

Genesis 18:24 – Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?

Genesis 18:25 – That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?

Hello readers, hope you’re having a good weekend. I’ve had many different blogs I wanted to do and want to get to them while they’re still on my mind. This is one I’ve wanted to do. And here’s a big question today, which is “How can a good God send people to hell?”.  This is a common one. Please read it the whole way and ask God to reveal the truth of his word to you. This blog is about pointing you to the Bible, and sometimes I can’t jam all the references in, but I always encourage my readers to read the Bible, get in God’s word for yourself, glean in his field like Ruth did in Boaz’s field. Stay in the field and you’ll get the handfuls dropped to you on purpose! It’s a battle for your mind today, Satan wants to own your mind and thinking and keep you going in circles in his lies and deception all the way to hell.

Many people believe the God of the Bible is a horrible monster. Of course, we know he is not, but they like to convince themselves of that because it makes God the bad guy and in so doing absolves them of sin in their own lives. People really like to make someone else the bad guy to justify themselves… it’s human nature. So they make God bad, to make themselves good.

Maybe you’ve had this question though. How can a loving God, how can a good God, how can God send people to hell? Even Abraham had this sort of question. He knew something was going down, God had showed up with two angels and he knew Sodom and Gomorrah was in trouble. Are you going to send the righteous to hell God? Are you going to do right God?

God had showed him what he was going to do to Sodom and Gomorrah… and God has shown us what’s coming to us, and it’s not pretty. If you don’t get saved, you are going to hell. Is that God being horrible, is that God not being good… or is that God in his mercy telling you… so that you don’t have to go there? You are told by way of warning so that you can do something about it.

See, us humans don’t know how to love, we need to have God’s love in order to love others. Love and truth are inseparable. If God is love, and he is, you can’t love without God’s love to have and give. If nobody warns you about where you are going, that’s not loving you. You are told where you are going so that you do not need to go there. That’s why the gospel has been preached to you today. It’s so you can be saved, so you don’t need to live in sin and die and go to hell.

God showed Abraham what was coming… and Abraham was concerned with the judgment that was going to happen. Will you do right God? And yes, of course he will. He delivered Lot didn’t he? Lot didn’t deserve it either. But Abraham said, Will you destroy the righteous with the wicked God? Is everyone gonna cop it? Abraham was a bit worried about God doing what was right. See, when it comes to things like judgment, especially of such serious and eternal consequences, we tend to doubt the goodness and rightness of God in delivering correct and appropriate judgment.

So if Abraham had a question along these lines… might you too well. There’s nothing wrong with having questions… but take your questions to God. Abraham’s style of question is different to the questions that people would pose to Jesus Christ trying to twist and trip him up and show him to be a liar and fraud. If you do have sincere questions, go to God and ask him to show you from his word with a humble heart that submits to the authority and sufficiency of scripture.

It has been said there’s no such thing as a bad question. Today we want to see that  “how can a good God send people to hell?” that is actually the wrong question. This is a question that arises out of ignorance and unbelief. It’s a function of a deeper problem. You won’t have this question if you have been born again, if your mind has been enlightened by the Holy Spirit, for it is from God that true wisdom and knowledge and understanding comes.

Ever wondered why Jesus Christ often answered a question with a question? It’s impossible to read the gospels and not see that. Question after question came at him… from people that weren’t really interested in his answer either. But he often answered questions with questions. Questions that put them in their place and showed his complete superiority of wisdom and thinking.

Was Jesus answering questions with questions to be a smarty pants? No. It’s because the questions he copped were coming from a place of ignorance and unbelief and rebellion towards God. His questions in response would expose their contradiction, their hypocrisy, their own lack of understanding and their own sin.

The reason this question isn’t a good question is because the thinking that results in this question is wrong. Foundationally you are wrong. Jesus has all knowledge and wisdom, and until you admit that you don’t know, just like Abraham, and go to him who knows everything… you’re never in a place to learn and know the truth.

So let me answer your question “how can a good God send people to hell?” with a question of my own. My question to you is this…

How can a good God NOT send people to hell?

How can he? Well how can he not? See, that’s the real question. And if you think about it, you’ll see that. So as we have already touched on, the problem with most people is that their thinking has never been quickened, because their spirit has never been quickened. Their thinking and understanding and logic and rationale and wisdom and philosophy is all wrong. They don’t know who God is. They don’t even know who and what they themselves are. And thus you ask this question.

But let’s think about it. How can a good God NOT send people to hell?

God is the Judge. So every human being gives account of their life to him. You are responsible and accountable to him. And you will be, it is inevitable and inescapable. You can live your entire life saying and even somehow denying your own conscience and convincing yourself God doesn’t exist… yet you’ll stand before him and be judged by him. And what will you do in the day of judgment? What will you say? Nothing… you’ll be speechless, just like that man without the wedding garment in Matthew 22. People think they’ll be at judgment and give God an earful… nah, no you won’t.

So God is the Judge. And he’s going to judge us. Let’s think about us who he is judging. And it’s a comfort he is going to do the judging. Imagine if there was no judgment. Imagine rapists and murderers getting away with all the evil they did. Imagine all the monsters who got by and never paid for their sins, who never came to justice in this lifetime. This world is groaning under the injustices. Just look at Jesus Christ himself, the injustice and evil he endured. Look at heroes in the Bible like Joseph… Naboth… Uriah… Abel. Where’s their justice? Well it’s going to come. Because the good God, Jesus Christ, is going to sit on his throne, we will be gathered before him.

So let’s just think about us as humans and this world we live in. It’s full of darkness and wickedness. That is a fact. You may think it’s all roses. But think about it. What is it full of? It’s full of sexual abuse, rape, murder, exploitation, manipulation, deceit, lies, bitterness, hatred, envy, selfishness, pride. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. This world is FULL of evil, and it’s full of evil because humans are sinners. We all have that in common. Look at human history, it’s just war, injustice, pain and suffering and evil.

So think about God judging this mess. And if he is a good God. And what is good anyway? What defines good? Well the Bible defines what is good. All that law given to Israel showed a standard for good that far exceeded anything the best of us could even hope to muster. Good is telling truth in love, good is mercy and grace and longsuffering, good is forgiveness and holiness and purity and peace and hope. All these attributes and many more belong to God. Jesus Christ is called Just and Righteous. Why? Because he IS those things. It’s not he has those attributes, he IS those attributes. And we can’t even know good without God showing us what is good… we need to be showed good because we’re that crooked.

So God is at judgment and in come people who have done all sorts of wickedness… and God says as the Judge… that’s ok mate. That’s fine, you can go to heaven. Yes, you’ve hooked and crooked, you’ve fornicated and committed adultery, you’ve been swearing, drunk, lying your whole life. You’ve been dishonest, you’ve been selfish, you’ve been full of lust and pride… but welcome in to heaven son.

Except that sounds like a corrupt Judge doesn’t it? That doesn’t sound like a righteous, just, holy Judge who always does that which is right… does it? What kind of good God would not punish sin? What kind of good God would not deal with sin? How can he be a good Judge and pervert judgment, and not do that which is right? It’d be a perversion of judgment, a miscarriage of justice, for people not to get what they deserve.

You may think you are good… but you are not. It is God who is good. You aren’t good. Sorry! You’re not right, you’re not just, and you’re not good. That’s why you’re going to hell if you don’t repent of your sins and believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the good one, you’re not. The heavens were never opened and God didn’t say hey, you, I’m well pleased in you, everyone listen up to this guy. No. Jesus came to die on the cross and was nailed there for your sins. Because you’re that bad. And you’re deceived about yourself. You’re deceived about who and what you are. The good God who you find fault in, in whom you find iniquity, THAT good God is the one who will rightly send you to hell.

Think of human judges. Think of our legal and judicial system. They punish rape, assault, theft and so on. People get fined, or recompense, or go to jail. So humans have an idea of judgment. They have an idea of accountability and justice, they have an idea of being held to account for what they have done. How much more so between us and God?

Think of the human standard of right and wrong. Our country permits and enables abortion, praises gay marriage, is full of drinking and gambling and swearing and fornicating and adultery and selfishness and lust and pride… none of these things are punished. If we in this crooked and perverse nation have judges who send people to jail and so on and try to keep some semblance of order and accountability in our society… how much moreso the LORD God of heaven and earth when he comes in glory and sets his kingdom and eternity in order?

If corrupt humans judge and are judged… how much moreso ultimate accountability to God and righteous judgment at the end of your life? See God isn’t like our judges. And thank God for that. Our judges can be bought out, our judges can and do pervert judgment. People go free who we don’t think should, who really puts that much faith in our justice system, who thinks people really ever get what they deserve? God is far above a human judge.

Our judges aren’t God, but humans, fellow sinners like ourselves. Sinners judging sinners. But being judged by God is being judged by someone who never sinned ever. And your sins and my sins are crimes again him. They originate from disobedience toward him, they are birthed in rebellion toward him. But now picture yourself standing before holy God. God who is always RIGHT. God who is always JUST. He is never ever wrong in a single thing he does. He’s not wrong in his word either. He is perfect. Perfectly loving, holy, right, he has perfect integrity of character and being. He is Just and Righteous alone.

So then he’s judging us sinners, and how can he let all this sin go? All this perversion of what’s right. We are far from Eden, this world has been cursed and is in darkness and wickedness and iniquity abounds. Just look at your own life… and you may think you’re pretty good. But it’s just loaded with selfishness and pride and lust and sin. You know it’s true. And not just that, but you top it off with rejecting all God has done so you could be saved. You reject the truth he gave you, the light he gave you, the gospel he sent you, the messengers sent to you, the witness, the conscience, the knowledge… the rain he sent, the blessings, the breath of life, the ability to walk, talk and move and live and enjoy life… and you used it all to deny him and spite him and rebel against him. Imagine accountability to that God, and you will be one day.

So you stand before him at the end of a Christ rejecting life… and you think you should get let off? You think God should compromise who he is, his holiness, and change the rules for you. You think he should let sin go, let wickedness go, let evil reign? What kind of good God lets evil win? Lets Satan win? Lets sin win? Please. That wouldn’t be a God worth serving and worshiping. Imagine a God who took bribes, who looked the other way, who made mistakes, who didn’t punish the workers of iniquity, who didn’t serve justice. And because he’s so pure and perfect and right he is the only person in existence in position to not just judge, but do it right, and have the power to execute it as well. He’s worthy to be feared… he’s the one Jesus forewarned us of.

See we people think we have it figured out. We got out arguments and justification and excuses sorted. God wiped out an entire world in a flood, he wiped out Sodom and Gomorrah… and we say he’s a horrible God for doing so. Oh he was so bad ordering Israel to wipe all the nations in Canaan out. But God was doing something about the evil. Why did he flood the old world? Was it because he was mean, nasty, hateful and a monster? Or was it because the old world was corrupt, violent and wicked? Yeah that.

And not just that… but he was saving Noah… the Bible says the waters saved Noah in 1 Peter 4. Saved by water. Just like Lot was saved by the judgment God sent on Sodom and Gomorrah. He was saving the righteous Noah and his family, and he saved Lot from the sodomites. Would you really want to look forward to an eternity where sin and evil still went on? Still existed? But we look for a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. Sin and evil will be dealt with fully and forever. The only way you get there is with Christ’s righteousness, you only get there on the righteousness of Christ which he gives you when you believe in him for your righteousness… abandoning your own worthless rags of self righteousness and religion and garbage.

The Bible speaks of the contradiction of sinners against Jesus Christ. Think about this… if God doesn’t do anything about sin, we find fault. For we say, how can God let all this pain and suffering and evil go on and not do anything about it? But when he does something about it we say how bad he is. Right? By the way, he only lets stuff go on because he is longsuffering. That’s why you haven’t been annihilated, it’s not because your sin is ok, it’s because he’s giving you a chance to get saved. And you abuse that chance by demonizing the God who’s loved you, shown grace to you… all of which you do not deserve.

How can God be good, how can he be just, how can he be right, how can he be holy, pure, true… and not judge sin? How can he not sentence sinners to eternal fire? How can he not sentence sinners who spited his own Son he sent to suffer and die for us to be saved? How can he be good and let evil triumph? How can he be good and let evil prevail? How can he be good and let sin go unpunished, undealt with?

See, the problem is, you don’t know who God is. You can’t, because you’re in rebellion towards him, so alienated him by your sin in your life, because your sin has separated you from God, because he is so good. Your thinking is wrong. You’re not righteous, you’re not good, you’re not just. Sorry. Your righteousness isn’t more right than God’s. Nobody’s ever was. There was only one person who pleased the Father, whom the Father said, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased… HEAR YE HIM. Listen to Jesus Christ today, listen well, listen up, listen good… for he is your Judge, and he will deal with sin and wickedness and iniquity forever and respect nobody’s person in doing so. This society is all about their “person”, their identity, but that doesn’t matter to God… so wake up.

God can’t be a good judge and not deal with sin, not give it what it deserves, not send it where it needs to go, and he will, he will put it away forever. You see, he’s going to make all things right. There is such a rude awakening coming. There is going to be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. There’s going to be shame, embarrassment, remorse, regret… and bowed knees. That’s why you must be saved and must be ready to meet your Maker. Are you ready? Are you ready to meet the Lord God of the Bible?

The real question is not “how can a good God send people to hell?”. The real question is “how can a good God NOT send people to hell?”. What a difference a word makes. Just like with all the new Bibles, changing a few words can make one hell of a difference. One hell of a difference … because hell is what is at stake.

Your question is wrong, because your thinking is wrong. Your thinking is in error. Your understanding and knowledge does not compare to God. That’s why you should get in God’s word. Stop pouring garbage into your life, and get God’s word, get light and truth in your life and the Holy Spirit will use God’s word, the gospel, to save you and change you and give you enlightenment and illumination in your mind and heart and soul. Even that question itself, if you think about it, it’s loaded with pride, self centeredness, unbelief, willful ignorance… all things to be held accountable for.

How do we get our thinking right? Introspection. Look at ourselves in the light of God’s word. The Bible says… the entrance of thy words giveth light. If you want light in life, the light of understanding and knowledge… you need but open your Bible with a humble heart that is ready to receive God’s grace freely extended toward you. Stop trying to find fault with God with your questions… they were doing that with Jesus his whole ministry, and start by getting saved.

It’s usually always the wrong question being asked. What must I do to be saved? That was a good question asked in Acts by the Philippian jailer. But if you look back to Jesus’ day… and he copped a lot of questions. But they were always asking the wrong questions. And why were they? Because they were trying to establish their own righteousness. Because they were full of sin in their own lives.

What kind of God would he be if he didn’t deal with sin, and judge it? And you’re not separate from your sins. The Bible says you’ll die IN your sins and go to hell. Your sin must be dealt with. He wouldn’t be good if he let evil go unpunished, if he left off from doing what’s right, from being just and executing judgment and preserving holiness and protecting what’s good. Noah was pretty happy that day in the ark, not because he was a sadistic mean old man… no he’d spent his life enduring scorn and shame preaching and warning that world… he was pretty happy to see all that corruption and wickedness and violence getting drowned by the water. You can be saved by water today, the word of God can deliver you, you can rise with Christ in newness of life with your sin dealt with and your flesh crucified with him and you be free you from all that garbage in your life.

Picture Noah stepping out into the new world with the beauty of a world washed clean of all the filth that was going on before, now safe and peaceful and love and righteousness abounding with all the wicked dealt with. Don’t you want to see good win? Righteousness win? Holiness win? And win it will. See, that water did save Noah. The same waters that damned also saved. Pretty incredible huh. And you’ll float above the level that drowns in the ark of Jesus Christ… just as Noah floated in that ark. Christ has to be your ark, you have to be in the ark, you have to believe in him, you have to be saved. The same Jesus that saves, is the same Jesus that sends to hell… he’s worthy of your time, he’s worthy of you listening to what he has to say now. He is the good God, he is the Judge, and he will do and always does that which is right.

So today, hopefully your question can go from “how can a good God send people to hell”… to “how can a good God NOT send people to hell”? How can there not be a hell? If there was no hell, it’d mean God wasn’t righteous, imagine all the sin and wickedness triumphing, going unpunished, no justice served, no holiness preserved and ensured. Imagine a world where evil wins. But it hasn’t won. Evil lost that day when the stone was rolled back. Sin, death, Satan, this evil world… lies, lust, pride… everything… all conquered with the risen Saviour, risen in great power and authority. That is the Lord God of the Bible. He is so good, and we have no idea. Learn how good he is. Isaiah saw his glory and could only say WOE is me for I am a man undone! See his glory today, see how holy and good and right he is… and all your wrong thinking and questions will disappear.

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