How can I believe in a God who throws good people into
hell just because they aren't Christians?
Has anyone ever asked you this question? Many sincere people
wonder. Of course, you could pull a pat answer from your
theological quiver and say, "No one is good".
And there is some truth to that, for truly all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God. But does that mean that,
say, a Chinese peasant who worked hard all her life caring
for her family, remaining faithfully married for 50 years,
would be condemned by God to the same eternal destiny as
Adolf Hitler who murdered six million Jews?
Of course He does no such thing, not if He is the God the
Bible describes, the God whom Abraham knew. This was Abraham's
confidence:
Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay
the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and
the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall
not the Judge of all the earth deal justly? (Genesis 18:25)
Pay careful attention to the wording of Abraham's plea.
He appealed to God on behalf of the righteous in Sodom.
Were there any people in Sodom who were justified by grace
through faith so as to be counted righteous in the way that
Abraham was? Even Abraham's nephew Lot had parted company
with him long before Abraham's faith was reckoned to him
as righteousness (Genesis 13:11; 15:6). Lot had no part
in the covenants with Abraham. So how could there be any
righteous men in Sodom? Was Abraham just naïve or deluded?
No! God's response confirmed Abraham's understanding —
He sent His angels to rescue Lot, who turned out to be the
only righteous man in Sodom, before He destroyed that wicked
city. Lot was not a religious man, but according to Abraham
and the apostle Peter, he was a righteous man:
…and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed
by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men (for by what
he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among
them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day
with their lawless deeds), then the Lord knows how to
rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous
under punishment for the day of judgment… (2 Peter
2:7-9)
The apostle Peter, who had once thought God only accepted
Jews, had come to understand how God really was:
I most certainly understand now that God is
not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man
who fears Him and does what is right, is accepted by Him.
(Acts 10:34-35)
The teaching that Christians are going to heaven and everyone
else is going to eternal hell slanders God's character.
It denies His great love for men and women who struggle
to live by their conscience, not doing things that ruin
people's lives (Revelation 21:8; 22:15).
What most Christians don't understand is that there are
three eternal destinies, not two. There are three categories
of men (Revelation 22:11), and three places prepared for
them to spend eternity based on God's just judgment (Hebrews
9:27; Revelation 20:12-13). Certainly there is a place of
eternal torment for those who cast off the restraint of
conscience and gave themselves to doing things that God
hates. This is the first category of man, the Unjust and
Filthy of Revelation 22:11.
And certainly there is an eternal reward for those who
repented of their sin and gave up everything to follow Yahshua
the Messiah, the Son of God, in obedience to the gospel
(Mark 10:28-30; Luke 14:26-33). This is the third category
of man, the Holy of Revelation 22:11. The Bible says they
will rule with Messiah forever over the nations (Revelation
2:26-27). But who are the people of these nations? They
are not the Unjust and Filthy of the first category, for
they spend eternity in the Lake of Fire (Matthew 25:41;
Revelation 20:10-15). Nor are they the Holy of the third
category, for they comprise the holy city (Revelation 21:9-27)
as those who rule with Messiah over the nations.
The simple truth is that God recognizes another category
of people that most Christians do not recognize: those who
are Righteous according to the standard their Creator put
into their conscience. This is the second category of Revelation
22:11, and they also have an eternal reward (Revelation
21:9-27) awaiting them after the Judgment — the eternal
kingdom of the nations (Matthew 25:34) over which Messiah
and His holy ones will rule with perfect love and justice
(Revelation 5:10).
The Bible says that it is appointed for men to die once
(not twice), and then face judgment (Hebrews 9:27). The
first death is the wages of sin (Romans 6:23), the just
sentence due to Adam (Genesis 2:17) and all who sinned after
him. But that first death is not eternal — it comes
to an end and then there must be a judgment to determine,
for each person, whether he or she is worthy of a second
death or a second life. We are not talking about reincarnation
here. We are talking about the words of our Master Yahshua,
the Son of God, who said:
Do not be surprised at this; the time is coming
when all the dead in the graves will hear His voice, and
they will come out of their graves: those who have done
good will rise and live, and those who have done evil
will rise and be condemned. (John 5:28-29)
The reason He said, "Do not be surprised..."
is that He knew that the religious people of that day (like
Christians today) would be surprised to hear that all men
had the possibility of being granted a second, eternal life
based on their deeds (not on their religion). In this passage
Yahshua presents the first category ("those who have
done evil") and the second category ("those who
have done good") of Revelation 22:11, in contrast to
the third category which He described a few verses before:
I tell you the truth, whoever hears My word
and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and does
not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into
life. (John 5:24)
Those who respond to His word by totally entrusting their
lives to Him need not even taste death (John 8:51), for
He paid for their sins by His own death. They are not included
in the judgment of John 5:29. The eternal life that they
receive is a free gift of His grace, and is not based on
their own works. But the judgment of John 5:29 is based
on how each person who never heard the voice of the Son
of God this side of the grave lived his or her life. Concerning
this judgment, Yahshua said:
Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is
with Me, to render to every man according to what he has
done. (Revelation 22:12)
To the Unjust and Filthy, a second death; to the Righteous,
a second life; to the Holy, to rule with Him over the Righteous
nations (Revelation 22:1-5), who ultimately fill the whole
universe with His image (Ephesians 3:21).
Who are the Righteous?
Every human being is born into the category of the Righteous,
because each one is created in the image of the Creator
(Genesis 9:6; Ecclesiastes 7:29) with an inborn, instinctive
knowledge of Him. Although all men come forth from the fallen
seed of Adam, inheriting the iniquities of their fathers,
they are born with a conscience and the ability to obey
it. This is clear from the way God spoke to Cain when he
was angry toward his brother Abel:
Why are you angry, and why has your countenance
fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And
if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its
desire is for you, but you must master it. (Genesis 4:6-7)
God expected Cain to master, to overcome the temptation
to commit such a sin. It was within Cain's power to resist
the urge to murder his brother; otherwise God was unjust
to demand it of him. If Cain did well (overcame this kind
of sin), God would accept him, as God will always accept
those who do what is good (Acts 10:34-35).
Of course, some will argue that all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). This is quite true.
All have sinned, but not all have sinned to the degree that
merits eternal punishment. The Bible is very specific about
the kind of people who are worthy of the Lake of Fire. Examples
are cowards, murderers, sorcerers, fornicators, adulterers,
sodomites, idolaters, thieves, swindlers, drunkards, those
obsessed with greed, and those who love and practice lying
(1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Revelation 21:8; 22:15). God does
not account all sin the same. He does not equate the murderer
with the man who worked hard all his life, was faithful
to his wife, and ruled well over his family, disciplining
his children (Hebrews 12:7-9).
Cain crossed over a line when he murdered his brother (1
John 3:12-15) — from the category of the Righteous
to the category of the Unjust and Filthy. He chose to destroy
his brother, and the resulting guilt was more than he could
bear (Genesis 4:13), more than he could pay for by his own
death. And that is what distinguishes the sins of the Unjust
and Filthy from those of the Righteous — they are the
sins that destroy people's lives. Men and women who practice
such sins fully deserve their eternal destiny in the Lake
of Fire (Revelation 21:8).
Since Adam fell, every man has been born with an inclination
to sin — a selfish bent — but not an inclination
to silence his conscience. It is normal to value your conscience,
not to despise it. Your conscience is a precious gift from
a loving Creator who desires to keep you from destroying
yourself and your fellow man. It is God's vice-regent in
the human heart, His voice that upholds the absolute standard
of right and wrong (Romans 2:14-16), and His book that records
every violation of that standard until the day of judgment
(Revelation 20:12). Those who suppress this voice store
up wrath for themselves (Romans 1:18). Eventually they succeed
in silencing their conscience as God turns them over to
their depraved minds (Romans 1:28) and removes their names
from the Book of Life (Revelation 20:15). But men and women
who heed the voice of their conscience will find mercy on
the day of judgment. Their names remain in the Book of Life
that records those who are worthy of a second life (Genesis
6:5-8).
The Everlasting Covenant
What exactly is this voice saying? What is this instinctive
knowledge that God has inscribed on every human heart? It
is the terms of an Everlasting Covenant that God made with
Adam and Eve after the Fall, the boundaries of the conscience
that would keep them and their offspring from the sins that
would take them to the second death:
To the woman He said, "I will greatly multiply
your pain in childbirth; in pain you shall bring forth
children; yet your desire shall be for your husband, and
he shall rule over you."
Then to Adam He said, "Because you have
listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from
the tree about which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall
not eat from it,' cursed is the ground because of you.
In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.
Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you, and you
shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your
brow you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground,
because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and
to dust you shall return." (Genesis 3:16-19)
These verses convey the essence of God's absolute moral
standard for men and women. The woman is to desire her husband
and give herself to bearing his children, not trying to
escape the suffering of childbirth or the responsibility
of caring for them. This creates a strong bond between the
woman and her children, who grow up respecting her. Her
husband's love and respect for her also increases as he
watches her go through the pain of childbirth.
The woman is to willingly submit to her husband's authority
over her. The man is to lovingly rule over his wife, appreciating
her desire for him and being faithful to her. He is to work
hard to provide for his family, living off the sweat of
his own brow, not trying to escape the suffering or the
responsibility of being their provider. And they love and
respect him for this.
There is no room within these boundaries for sexual relationships
outside of the life-long covenant of marriage between a
man and a woman. There is no room for the selfishness that
usually motivates the choice to not bear children. There
is no room for the wife to dominate or manipulate her husband.
There is no room for the husband to be passive or lazy,
or to be harsh or tyrannical. But there is much room for
mutual love and care, faithfulness and diligence, loyalty
and patience, kindness and warmth, endurance and fruitfulness.
There is much room for happy, secure, righteous children
who grow up to continue in the footsteps of their parents,
within the boundaries of this Everlasting Covenant of conscience.
Tragically, beginning with Cain, there were many who forsook
this covenant. By the time of Noah's generation, wickedness
was so great that God was grieved that He had made man.
But He took hope in Noah's family, who still held to the
Everlasting Covenant. After the great flood He added to
the covenant:
And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to
them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth...
And surely I will require your lifeblood; from every beast
I will require it. And from every man, from every man's
brother I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds
man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the
image of God He made man. And as for you, be fruitful
and multiply; populate the earth abundantly and multiply
in it." (Genesis 9:1-7)
This includes a provision for human government to punish
those who destroy human lives, which Israel received as
law (as all nations will in which righteous men prevail):
If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall
be put to death at the evidence of witnesses, but no person
shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness.
Moreover, you shall not take ransom for the life of a
murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be
put to death... So you shall not pollute the land in which
you are; for blood pollutes
the land and no atonement can be made for the land
for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood
of him who shed it. (Numbers 35:30-33)
All good people will uphold this standard (even with their
vote), for they value the image of God in their fellow man.
Not only will they not murder (Revelation 21:8),or withhold
justice from murderers, which amounts to the same thing,
but they will not knowingly do anything to ruin
another person's life (Genesis 18:25). Still, as in
the days of Noah, most people today do not uphold this Everlasting
Covenant, and the tragic results are plain to see, as the
prophet Isaiah foretold:
The earth is polluted by its inhabitants, for
they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the Everlasting
Covenant. Therefore, a curse devours the earth... (Isaiah
24:5,6)
The Judgment of the Sheep and the Goats
Considering the sad state of humanity in general, what
is the heart of a just and righteous God toward courageous
men and women who suffer to keep a good conscience by upholding
the Everlasting Covenant, respecting His image in their
fellow man by showing care, hospitality, and compassion?
Will He condemn them along with the cowardly, self-seeking,
greedy, deceitful, and sexually filthy people who defile
this good earth? Far be it from Him to do such a thing —
to treat the righteous and the wicked alike! (Romans 2:13;
Ephesians 2:8). On the contrary...
... When the Son of Man comes in His glory,
and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious
throne. And all the people of the nations will be gathered
before Him, and He will separate them from one another,
as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and
He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the
left.
Then the King will say to those on His right,
"Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to
eat. I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink. I was a stranger,
and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me. I was
sick, and you visited Me. I was in prison, and you came
to Me."
Then the righteous will answer Him, saying,
"Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You,
or thirsty, and give You drink? And when did we see You
a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?
And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to
You?"
And the King will answer and say to them, "Truly
I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of
these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did
it to Me." (Matthew 25:31-40)
Who are these righteous people whom Yahshua calls sheep?
It is clear that they are not disciples for at least three
reasons:
- They are justified by their works, while disciples are
saved by grace through faith (1 John 4:20; Hebrews 6:10);
- They were not aware that by loving Yahshua's brothers
they were loving Him, while disciples know they are loving
their Master by loving their brothers (Genesis 9:6);
- They are contrasted to "these brothers of mine"
in verse 40.
These people whom Yahshua calls sheep were unaware that
the people to whom they showed hospitality were especially
important. Their motive was not selfish gain. Their conscience
told them to honor the image of God in their fellow man
(Genesis 9:6), and they were inclined to obey the voice
of their conscience. They were consistent at it. That is
why Yahshua called them sheep — they sensed their need
of a shepherd, which was their conscience. And the Chief
Shepherd will welcome them into the kingdom prepared for
them — the Eternal Kingdom of the Nations, over which
Yahshua and His brothers (Hebrews 2:10-12; Matthew 25:40)
will rule (Revelation 5:10).
As for the goats, who had no use for a shepherd, there
is a place prepared for them, too:
Then He will also say to those on His left,
"Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal
fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;
for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was
thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger,
and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe
Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me."
Then they themselves also will answer, saying,
"Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or
a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not
take care of You?"
Then He will answer them, saying, "Truly
I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to
one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me."
And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the
righteous into eternal life. (Matthew 25:41-46)
The three categories of man are clearly distinguished in
this passage:
- The Wicked who live only for themselves, in callous
disregard of their fellow man, silencing their conscience
to gratify their own desires (the Lake of Fire has been
prepared for them (Matthew 25:41);
- The Righteous who recognize and honor the image of God
in their fellow man, keeping a good conscience even at
cost to themselves (an eternal kingdom has been prepared
for them (Matthew 25:34);
- Yahshua's brothers, the Holy, who have utterly forsaken
their own lives and live only for Him who died and rose
again on their behalf (the Holy City has been prepared
for them (John 14:3; Hebrews 11:16; Revelation 21:2,10).
Perhaps you are not used to thinking in terms of three
categories and three eternal destinies, yet the truth of
these words registers in your conscience — that is,
if you have the heart of Abraham, the friend of God. Otherwise,
what confidence can you have that you know the God of Abraham?
Do you believe in a God who throws good people into hell?
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