Question
Do sinners really burn in hell forever? Surely that is not how a God of love operates!
Answer
Firstly, hell is not a place that exists now, but rather a time at the end of earth’s history, when the devil, his demons and the wicked, will all be totally destroyed in fire. The devil and his demons may be having a great time now, pulling people away from God, tempting them into sin, and killing as many as possible, but in the end they will suffer and die in hellfire.
Secondly, the doctrine that many churches teach, that sinners are tortured in hell forever, is against what the Bible teaches. The wicked will be burnt up, not be tortured forever in the fires of hell.
John 3 14 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
When you look at the passages above, it seems pretty conclusive. Jesus gave us only two choices, perish or eternal life. Perish means to cease to exist. The Bible says the wages of sin is death, eternal death.
Revelation 20 7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9 They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.
13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
Revelation 21:8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.
Malachi 4 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,” says the Lord of hosts, “That will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves. 3 You shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I do this,” says the Lord of hosts.
Psalm 37 9 For evildoers shall be cut off; but those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. 10 For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more; indeed, you will look carefully for his place, but it shall be no more.
20 But the wicked shall perish; and the enemies of the Lord, like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish. Into smoke they shall vanish away.
Look at what God tells Satan, who used to be the covering cherub Lucifer in heaven, and now lives to destroy human beings, just to hurt God:
Ezekiel 28 14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. 15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you.
18 You defiled your sanctuaries by the multitude of your iniquities, by the iniquity of your trading; therefore I brought fire from your midst; it devoured you, and I turned you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all who saw you. 19 All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you; you have become a horror, and shall be no more forever.”
Matthew 10:28 “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
I repeat what I said before, those who have rejected God’s free gift of eternal life, will one day burn up and be destroyed, together with the devil and his demons. Sin will be eradicated, not live on forever in hell. One day sin will be no more, and the whole universe will be only love, free from all sin, pain and suffering, and especially death. When churches say that sinners will be tortured in hell forever, they are saying that everybody gets eternal life; some in heaven and some in hell, which is completely against what the Bible tells us.
Revelation 21 1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”
I don’t know how some Christians can love God, if they believe that He will torture sinners forever, for the sins committed in a short lifetime here on earth. The punishment does not fit the crime, and I could never love and worship a god who could do such a thing. Luckily the Bible tells us that eternally burning hell is a false doctrine, and that a loving God wants to eradicate sin, together with the devil and his demons, and any humans who reject His offer of free salvation and eternal life. God is love, and wants us to live forever in an atmosphere of love, with sin just a distant memory.
I trust that this makes sense to you. God bless!
