IS GOD CRUEL?
No, He is not. A most loving God has done the unthinkable thing to ensure you don't go to hell. It is just that you choose to mock at His offer of eternal life to you.
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| Will God Be Angry Enough? |
(2）Is Hell Eternal?
The white man brought Christianity to the East, and because of it, today I am able to know the one God, the One who created all things seen and unseen. For that I am thankful. But on the other hand, I also realize that the white man that brought God into my Eastern culture has used their God-given wisdom to reason same God out of their own culture! Such is the folly of human wisdom. The churches in the western hemisphere that preach holy living and obedience to God’s commandments on holy living are scarce and few. Wicked churches emphasize only obedience of believers in terms of paying money into their coffers.
What is the cause of this folly? The bible tells us it is the lust of the heart.
Jas 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
That great desire springing from the seed of the devil inside man to sin against God, coupled with the innate knowledge, and fear of the coming wrath of God against unrepentant sinners. They want desperately to sin and continue sinning, yet they fear the judgment and wrath of God.
The saddest thing I see is that many Asians look up to white man so highly that they have simply accepted the teachings of ungodly white men who had created them so that they can justify their love for adultery, fornication and sodomy. Very often, these Asians call themselves Bible Students. What have they learned?
Atheism -The Solution of The Wicked
How can one freely sin without having to fear? He reasons, “Oh, if only there is no God, then there is no judgment! ” And thus some have reasoned God out of their lives by inventing the idea of atheism. Such is the folly of their wisdom. “Since there is no God, there will be no punishment. Since there is no punishment, we can do as we please.”
But then, not every lusting sinner buys into the idea of atheism. There is this inborn and deep-seated knowledge in most people that God does exists,
Rom 1:20 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:
and He is going to judge.
Eze 33:9 Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity;
And not everyone of them can numb this knowledge. The lust to continue sinning brings them to find, or rather twist out meanings in the scriptures which are not there, such as: “Maybe God is not angry with that sin after all” , or “Hell is really not what the bible says it is.” Here is an illustration of this approach. The homosexuals or habitual adulterer may well reason that since God is love, surely that love extends also to the homosexuals as well. “Didn’t the scriptures say that God loves the sinners? Are not homosexuals also sinners?” or “Didn’t the scriptures say that Jonathan the son of King Saul said that he loves David ? ( They interpret 1Sa18:1 out of its context, for the verse actually says Jonathan loves David as his own soul, and not as his lover) Ahhh! That means Jonathan and David were having a homosexual affair! Yet David is the king that God loves the most. Therefore God loves homosexuals and it is okay to be a homosexual!” Sorry, no. The bible says homosexuals and all sinners for that matter, who do not cease and desist, and repent from whatever they are doing are all going into hell!
Reasoning Hell Out of Their Minds
Well then, since that does not work, the homosexuals would start reasoning ( it is their own reasoning, mind you. There is no bible verse to support it ) that, “Surely it is against the nature of a merciful, gracious and loving God to torment people in hell permanently and endlessly. If He does that, He is no longer God, at least not one worthy of worship. Therefore the fires of hell will surely annihilate the sinners after some intense burning …. and then poof! every essence of sinner vanishes for good!” Now, that sounds something like the ultimate state of nirvana which a Buddhist tries to achieve through perfection in living. These evil-minded people should try selling their idea to the Buddhists. “Why strive so hard trying to live a perfect life in order to achieve nirvana? We can sin all we want and end up as nothingness after a while in hell anyway!” No, the bible says that the fire in the Lake of Fire is permanent. Jesus Himself says so in Matthew 25:41 that the fire is everlasting.
Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Do they think that Jesus doesn’t know the meaning of everlasting? Do they think Jesus is stupid like they are? Not only will hell fire be everlasting, the bible also says that torment from the fire is for ever and ever.
Rev 14:11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 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.
No matter how one twists and turns, and contorts his perverted mind, “for ever and ever” means just that – for ever and ever. If anyone sincerely thinks “for ever and ever” does not mean for ever and ever, he must be real stupid.
Some try to justify their idea of annihilation of the soul by referring to what Jesus says in this verse.
Mat 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.
“Ahh!, they say, “See what Jesus says? The soul can be destroyed in hell. Destroyed! You know what destroyed means? It means totally gone! Vanished!”. Really? Does being destroyed mean being annihilated? No traces left? Check the bible. Was not Babylon destroyed? Do we not see the ruins of Babylon today? No, “to destroy” does not mean to annihilate. What more, they have failed to understand the meaning of destroying the soul in terms of the second death, which is to be cast into the lake of fire! Satan does not have the power to cast anyone into the lake of fire. God has. That is what Mat 10:28 is referring to!
Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
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| Tormented for ever and ever |
Will a Loving, Merciful and Gracious God Put People Into Permanent Torment in Hell?
Let’s get the 3 facts right first.
Fact 1: The bible clearly says that hell was meant for the devil and his angels. It was not meant for humans. But if a man chooses to obey the devil to follow the lusts of his heart, he has chosen to become a follower of the devil. God is not putting him into hell. He has chosen to follow the devil into hell. Why blame God? Is God putting him there? No. He chose to go there. It is not even like God is putting a surprise decision that any sinner is going to hell. God has given clear warnings, 1000’s of years of warning.
Fact 2: The first immutable nature of God is holiness. He is absolutely pure, clean if you will. If God is unholy, He is not God. And because of His holiness, God cannot stand sin. Big sin or small sin does not matter. Whatever He has revealed to us is a sin is a sin which He will not stand for.
Fact 3: The second immutable nature of God is righteousness. He is just. In His righteousness, any transgression is to be punished. If He does not punish, He is no longer righteous. He is no longer just. All sins must be punished, to be paid for, so to speak.
Would A Loving God Not Punish?
The fact that God loves does not mean that God does not punish those whom He loves. If God does not punish, then God is not righteous. God loves man who is His creation. Yet God has set the law that the wages of sin is death, the penalty of 2nd death which is in the lake of fire – the destination meant not for man but for the devil and his angels. And a man who sins shall surely go into the lake of fire together with the devil. It is God's love for man that makes God warn man what he should not do to avoid going there. God chides those whom He loves. It is the love of God that resulted in Him coming into the world as a man to die for His creation; to take the punishment upon Himself so that man whom He loves can be saved. And if a man chooses ( indeed man chooses ) not to be saved, either out of wickedness or unbelief, it is then not the love of God that sends him there. God has made a way out for him yet he chooses not to take it. God has no pleasure in the soul of the wicked that dies.
Eze 18:32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye. Eze 33:11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked;
The Mercifulness of God
Let us now put to rest the contorted meaning of mercifulness put forward by lustful perverts to convince themselves that a merciful God would not punish. Mercifulness does not exclude punishment. Mercifulness softens the impact of the punishment on the offender. God in His mercy for humans, came into the world Himself and took the punishment for the sins of all men. God as a man took the stripes of the lashes on His back for sins He did not commit. God as a man who committed no sin died on the cross on behalf of all sinful men through the ages. For if God as a man had sinned, He would have died for His own sin only. God in His mercy paid the penalty, the fine if you will for the transgressions of man. The punishment has been exacted on Him and God in His mercy extend that gift of carrying your sins and paying for them. Is that not incomparable mercy?
The Graciousness of God
Do not mistake the graciousness of God to mean that God can ever be unrighteous, unjust and unholy. The graciousness of God is manifested through His willingness to forgive all and sundry ( regardless of how grave, abominable or disgusting the sin is, not matter how voluminous ) who accept that gift by confessing the sins, asking for His forgiveness and repenting from sinning again. Is not that graciousness awesome? All one has to do is to confess and repent and every he is forgiven …. no penalties ( for the penalty has been paid by Jesus Christ ), no fines. All paid for.
Conclusion
And so, a loving, gracious and merciful God has done everything for the sinning man to NOT go into hell. All the sinning man has to do is to turn away from his sinning ways and repent and accept the gift of Jesus paying that penalty on his behalf. Simple.
And scripture confirms that hell fire is everlasting. You must either find a verse to prove that it is not, or you disbelieve it either because you in your wickedness you think that by not believing it, it will not be everlasting. Either that, or you have been deceived so badly that you cannot comprehend what you read.
And the torment in hell fire is for ever and ever. You must again prove that it is not by pointing to a verse that says so. And I will surely say that you cannot find it.
And God is not cruel because God is not sending any human being to hell. He chooses to follow the devil there. God is not cruel because God says to the stiff-necked hell-bent sinner that He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. He has allowed you free will and a way out of hell. You chose not to accept it.
And if you do go into hell for eternal torment, blame yourself and your hell-bent desire to go there.
Jesus says in John 8:32, "And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free."
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