Hebrews 9:27: “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” No one likes to be judged, but this judgment is particularly terrible, for in it all of life is weighed by the greatest of all possible beings: God Himself. Therefore, everything will come out, all the evidence will be in plain view and nothing will remain concealed. See Hebrews 4:13: “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” Our lives will be measured against a perfect standard by a perfect Judge. See Revelation 20:11-12, Psalm 96:13, and Romans 2:16: We can sense something of judgment already in us. Our conscience manifests guilt through mental and physical symptoms. It is imperfect as our morality is imperfect. What we will face is so much more than what we know now, even if we have faced the most imposing of human judges. See 1 John 3:20: “For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.”
Death Outside of Christ Bible Verses
We can fool ourselves while living that our lives can withstand this kind of scrutiny, but the pure light of the thrice holy Godhead will show us that we have all fallen short. See 1 John 1:5, 1 John 1:8, Romans 3:23, and Romans 6:23:
- 1 John 1:5: “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”
- 1 John 1:8: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
- Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
- Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Because our God is light without any trace of darkness He cannot abide that evil go unpunished. Every second the judgment is delayed is a sign of grace and mercy delivered to us in love. See 2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
However, the judgment will come, and the vile will be punished. It is promised even in that most cherished of Gospel verses John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Later in John 15:6 it is more explicitly foretold, echoing Matthew 7:19: “Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.”
Jesus has much to say about the punishment awaiting sinners. See Matthew 13:41-42, 2 Thessalonians 1:9, and Revelation 21:8:
- Matthew 13:41-42: “The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
- 2 Thessalonians 1:9: “Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;”
- Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
The Lord speaks of it in several places, always with severe language. Indeed, significant earthly pain is preferable to this unquenchable eternal fire from which there is no rest or rescue. Consider Mark 9:43-48: “And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”
See also Isaiah 66:24: “And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.”
We see a foreshadowing of God’s ultimate judgment in the stories of Sodam and Gamora in Jude 1:7, in the great flood of Noah’s day Genesis 6-9:17, and in many other places:
- Jude 1:7: “Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”
- Genesis 6:9-17: “These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.”
At every turn, we see that God is serious about upholding His righteousness and enforcing His good and perfect law.
Indeed, breaking the good laws of the perfect God is a very serious matter, and the punishment due is immense. So great is the weight of the verdict against us that it required God Himself to become one of us and offer up the perfect and infinite sacrifice that could pay the penalty for our crimes against the holiest One.
Editor’s note: See the Gospel of Jesus Christ in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4: “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how 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:”
It is easy to see then why death should be feared by anyone and everyone who is outside of Christ. For anyone who has not trusted entirely and exclusively in Christ, death is worse than termination of identity, it is the beginning of an eternity under the white-hot wraith of the thrice Holy Trinity. For the unbeliever, death will bring them into the undeniable presence of the justice of God without the love of God which they rejected. They will lose everything, and they will have no rest from the agony of it.
Beloved, this is why the mission of the Gospel is so urgent, for there is a time when it will be too late. Hell is a reality that must not be ignored or denied. We do not wish to scare anyone, but to sober hearts and minds with the truth towards honest and earnest reflection upon the Good News of eternal life which is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. See Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
No Second Chances
Damnation is a very bitter pill and very hard for us to swallow. Tender hearts struggle to see how anyone could know joy in Heaven when former family, friends, and other souls are suffering eternal agony. To ease our own dissonance, we often bring in outside ideas of reincarnation or purgatory to create a means of escape for souls who saw the truth just a bit too late. Others like Rob Bell simply manipulate texts to dismiss the unpleasant truth in an attempt to get everyone to Heaven.
It should be clear from the last section that universalism is far from what Christ thought, but there is one more text we should examine:
“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.”
There is no escape from Hell. The rich man does not ask to be released, only for a little water. Even that is denied. It is denied in the first place because it would be unjust. The rich man lived his best life already, rejecting God and His ways to his own benefit. Lazarus lived in poverty but trusted God. We are also told that the request is impossible to fulfill as the two realms are separated to prevent any crossing over.
Notice that Abraham and Lazarus do not seem in the least bit troubled by any of this. They are aware of the justice of the situation, and trusting God they have peace with it. It is only the rich man who is disturbed, and even he does not protest his sentence.
Denied his own comfort, the rich man turns his attention to his living relatives and asks that Lazarus be sent to evangelize them. Abraham states very plainly that it is unnecessary as there is already a witness for the living. The same witness the rich man rejected was sufficient and is sufficient. If people do not believe the divine revelation they will not listen to a ghost. If it were not so, the rich man and others like him might have grounds for complaint, but as Romans 1 plainly states God has given everyone sufficient reason to seek Him.
Editor’s note: See Romans 1:18-20: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:”
Our ideas of justice are imperfect. We are influenced by imperfect affections, and left unchecked by imperfect faith. We are influenced by noble desires to see everyone enjoying God forever, but also by ignoble desires for our personal comfort. Beloved, the right response to teaching on hell is to go and spread the Gospel: especially to share it with those we love most dearly. God has given us a chance now, there will be no second chances. Thus, it is written in John 9:4: “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.”
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