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Ezekiel 18:32
I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!

Sometimes people ask me why my so-called loving God would send someone to hell. This is such a hard question to deal with and usually I just don’t have a good enough answer. I wanted to think about this some more and explore it with you! I don’t have all the answers, but here are my thoughts! Feel free to share yours with me too

People say to me that they are a “good person” and why would God send a good person to hell? I think the first thing we need to tackle is people’s perception of what “good” means. In Alpha Nikki Gumble uses the image of a scale of good and bad which goes from floor to ceiling, floor being the ultimate bad, ceiling being the ultimate good, then he asks people to rate say Hitler, Mother Teresa and themselves. More often than not they put Hitler right near the bottom of the scale, mother Teresa near to the ceiling and themselves somewhere in the middle. I think that scale highlights that even though we may think we are good, we are not perfect because otherwise we would all put ourselves at the ceiling. Even mother Teresa was not perfect and on that scale the only person who would reach the ceiling (and beyond) is Jesus. We are not to compare ourselves to the world and the “average person,” we are to compare ourselves with the perfect life of Jesus. Then we will see that our “good” just isn’t good enough. God is perfect, being perfect and good and just, he cannot look on sin or accept it. That’s why he sent Jesus, so that when he looks on us, we are perfect in his sight because Jesus took our sins on the cross, exchanging his perfectness for our sin. Without Jesus in our lives we cannot enter heaven on our own merits.

The other thing I would like to talk about is this paradox – a loving God who lets people go to Hell… This is hard, but as I mentioned, God is just, he is fair, he can’t bend the rules. If he was a judge in a court of law and someone was found guilty of a crime, he couldn’t just go, well I like this person so I’m going to let him off… No! He would have to pass the right sentence, even if the person stood in front of him was his son, or he wouldn’t be a good, fair judge. (We would soon sack him for being biased and unjust wouldn’t we?) God never bends the rules for any of us, but loves each one of us the same, and so sent Jesus to take our penalty for us¹, to pay our spiritual fine, to do our stint in jail.

This verse in Ezekiel (and many other verses) speak to me of God’s anguish when people still choose death rather than to turn to him and live. He says time and time again that he takes no pleasure in seeing the death of people², whether they are “good” or even “wicked” he wants us all to turn from our wrong ways and to live³. It’s so simple – repent & live – This means to be sorry for what we have done wrong and to choose to turn around and not continue to walk in rebellion against God. He wants us to be free and living his way because that’s the best way we can live! He doesn’t want any of us to go to hell, and gives us all more opportunities than we deserve in order to prevent us from death. Yet he will not force us, we have free will to choose. And when we do choose, what a joy this brings Him to see someone saved from death and brought into life.⁴

So the real question is.. Why would anyone choose to go to hell, when we have been offered the gift of eternal life?

1) For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

2) Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live? Ezekiel 18:23

3) The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

4) In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Luke 15:10