Ephesains 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.


Gen 3:3 "but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.' "


Rom 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned--

Adam ate of the forbidden fruit, in open rebellion against God. This original sin signified man attempting to become his own God and denying the truth of God’s word. This was nothing subtle but an open hostile attack on God’s authority. Upon eating this fruit Adam died an immediate spiritual death and eventually also died a physical death. Because we are offspring of Adam we have inherited this sin nature from Adam.

God is holy and that is why he abhors sin. Anything that is not absolutely pure God separates himself from. It is sin that keeps us from entering heaven. Nothing unpure can enter into heaven. There is nothing man can do to cleave sin from himself and without God’s intervention we are doomed to spend eternity in hell.

Gal 2:16 "knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.


Some have attempted to do good works, thinking if they can earn their way into heaven. They feel that if they eventually do enough good works it will outweigh the bad. Nothing unpure can enter into heaven and simply hiding the bad behind the good will not work.

Isa 64:6 But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.


Rom 3:10 As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one;

Others believe that they are deserving of heaven or at least have not done anything that should disqualify them from entering into heaven. These people clothe themselves in their own righteousness, often comparing themselves to murders, rapists, thieves, or other malcontents. When they do this they come out smelling good and wonder what type of God would not allow them entrance into heaven. If you come knocking on God’s door dressed in your own righteousness, God does not see you as a creature of beauty but as a creature dressed in filthy rags. In God’s eye you are no better than the murder you compared yourself to earlier.

Eph 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace


1Co 15:3-4 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

Eph 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Act 16:30-31 And he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household."

People often accuse God of SENDING people to hell but that is as far from the truth as you can get. God has given people a choice. He has thrown the doors of heaven wide open and shouted COME ALL. All who answer the call are welcome. But if you do not want to enter God can not force you. So, if you refuse to spend eternity with God by your own choice, it is you, not God who has determined your eternal future. So won’t you answer God’s call and spend eternity in heaven. The only thing required from you is to accept God’s gift of salvation by trusting in Christ and what he accomplished in our behalf.

Rom 8:32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?


Some people avoid answering God’s call because they feel they may have committed an act that would bar them from heaven. If this is the case do not let this stop you. God has declared there is none righteous and no one is qualified to enter heaven. It is not what you have or have not done that determines your entrance into heaven but what God accomplished with the Son on the cross of Calvary

2Co 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.


God in the ultimate act of mercy and love sent his perfect sinless Son to die our death. (Pay our penalty for sin). Every sin we have committed or will commit Christ has already died for. All we need to do is believe in God and accept this wonderful gift and we are guaranteed to spend eternity with God. What a wonderful truth!

End of Part 1 of 2

Part 2 of 2

As you can see God does not SEND people to hell. He sacrificed his Son, so that ALL may enter the gates of heaven. There are only two choices: heaven or hell and he has left that choice to us.

To get a better understanding of God, a good study would be to study some of his characteristics. Look up and study passages that reference his attributes. Here is a partial list: God is just, righteous, merciful, love, faithful, God of peace, God of hope.

After you do this study you will get a better picture of God and you will see He is not a cruel, unjust, unrighteous God who would send people to hell but a righteous, just, merciful God who has done everything necessary to secure your eternal salvation.


1 Timothy 1:14 And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Chirst Jesus.

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Gary,
You did an excellent job of giving us a lot of words, but they were what you conceive to be the conclusion of affirmations concerning God's nature -- and they were affirmations you selected. They were neither a total compilation, or a fair representation of what God has said about Himself. You gave us no text pertinent to the subject you have introduced. This kind of back door reasoning is not acceptable. It is unreasonable to add up a series of positives, and conclude with a negative. If you affirm "God does not send people to hell," then you need to provide us with a Divine statement that says that. Please provide us with a text in which God says, "I do not condemn," I am not a God of wrath," "I will not destroy the wicked," "I do not send people to hell" --or something to that effect. A word from Jesus on the matter will also be acceptable -- or one from the apostles -- or from any inspired writer of Scripture.

Come now, do your work honorably, and tell us where God said PRECISELY what you have said. Your reasoning is not sufficient to buttress your point, and we refuse to assign such dignity to you.

If no specific text can be supplied, then simply admit that your conclusion is your opinion. That will suffice for me. However, if you cannot, then I will not let the matter go, because you have spoken for God Almighty,and, let it be quite clear, I personally reject what you have said. However, it is not appropriate to argue against a postulate that has not yet been established. Now, give us the text upon which your premise is founded.

Given O. Blakely

If you really believe that God does not "send" people to hell then what do with verses like these?

REVELATION 20:13-15 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were CAST into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was CAST into the lake of fire.

REVELATION 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was CAST into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Let me direct your attention to the words of Jesus himself.

This is what he said to a certain centurion...
MATTHEW 8:11-12 And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be CAST out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Here is something he said in the Parable of the talents....
MATTHEW 25:29-30 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And CAST ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

To "cast" something means to throw or hurl or cause something to fall in a certain direction. With that being said we can see the condemned are not going to just walk into the lake of fire on their own. They will be CAST into it. When it says they will be cast into the Lake of fire who do you think is going to do the casting?

Let me direct your attention to Christ's words once again to back up this point I just made.

MATTHEW 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

The "power" to destroy body and soul in hell it says. If God does not send anyone to hell then this verse means nothing. It is merely pointing out an ability God has that he does not use. What kind of sense does that make? I'm sure you can see where I am going with this.

Sending people to hell may seem "unfair" and "cruel" to some but then again who are we to question what God does? God is just in all his ways and with that being said let us reason that if God does it then it is right for him to do so!

Eternal fire is real. Jesus said it was. In fact, Jesus spoke a great deal about hell. It is what Jesus came here to save us from.
There will be a Day of Judgment when all people will face God. Those who are not covered by the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross will be cast out into hell where they will undergo eternal punishment. "And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (Matt. 25:46). In this verse, the same word "eternal" is used to describe the punishment of the wicked as well as the eternal life of the believer. The punishment is endless as is the eternal life of the believer. That is why the gospel (1 Cor. 15:1-4) is so important, because it saves people from eternal ****ation:

Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

Gary,
This is the statement you made, to which I was replying: "People often accuse God of SENDING people to hell but that is as far from the truth as you can get." Your answer to my post appears to be what you intended to be an answer to someone else. I am not sure who you were addressing -- or if you were addressing anyone at all.

What you have said about those who are not in Jesus being cast into the lake of fire is true, and we take no issue with that. That they will be "sent" there (which you categorically denied)is seen in the words of Jesus, "DEPART from me, ye that work iniquity" (Matt 7:23), and "CAST ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matt 25:30).

Just as surely as those who enter into the joy of the Lord will be TOLD to do so (Matt 25:23,23), so the casting of the ****ed into the lake of fire will be at the word of the King.

I am asking you to write with the kind of clarity that is becoming of someone who speaks for the Lord. Cut the ambiguity from your postings, and the circuituitous reasoning that makes them so cumbersome. It is not befitting. If you have difficulty knowing how to express yourself clearly, conveying precisely what you are thinking, then I suggest you take time to learn to do so. Then your postings will be beneficial. Crusadors should really be noted for speaking precisely and in strict accord with the scriptures.

Given O. Blakely

Brother Gary,
I see that I misinterpreted your postings to mean you were saying God does not send people to Hell. My apologies. I was wrong in my assessment. I do ask that you clearly identify what you yourself have said, in distinction from what others have said, to whom you are posting an answer.

Given O. Blakely