Is Hell for Real or Does Everyone Go to Heaven? (Tim Keller, Al Mohler, J.I. Packer, Robert Yarbrough)

I walked into the Family Christian Bookstore last Friday to pick up a gift for my sister's birthday. I like those trips because usually it means I leave the store with a couple extra items :)
This time the extra items included a copy of the new Downhere (On The Altar of Love) and Steven Curtis Chapman (Re:Creation) CD's.

I also picked up this $10, 80-page book that was front and center on display. "Is HELL for real or does everyone go to HEAVEN?" Needless to say it caught my attention. After the uproar in the evangelical community with Rob Bell's "Love Wins" I wanted to re-study the topic again myself. With contributions from men like Timothy Keller, R. Albert Mohler Jr., J.I. Packer., and Robert W. Yarbrough I figured this would be a good book to have. The general editors are Christopher Morgan and Robert Peterson (2 guys I don't know at all) but that's the background info if you're searching for the book somewhere.

The authors begin with a few questions, similar to how Rob Bell asked in his book...

Actress Elizabeth Taylor likely never professed faith in Jesus Christ. Dare one ask: Is she in hell now?... Osama bin Laden likely never professed faith in Jesus Christ. Is he in heaven now? (pg 7)

Pretty standard questions you'd think, but these days...

Looking too closely into someone's fate after death is, today, considered tasteless at best. At worst, it can appear hateful. (pg 7)

Chapter 1 - Is Hell for Real? (by R. Albert Mohler Jr.)

John Stott recently died and while he was a great evangelical Christian leader I don't agree 100% with everything he believed... for instance:

Stott said that the church had misunderstood the meaning of key biblical texts. In Matthew 10:28, for instance, Stott said that the Greek word for "destroy" meant complete destruction rather than eternal punishment. (pg 19)

Have you ever heard this line before "needing correction" not "deserving punishment".

Philosophers argued that justice is about restoration rather than retribution. Criminals came to be seen not as deserving punishment but as needing correction. (pg 21)

A sad truth Mohler is not ashamed to call out is that...

Many churches now talk about new life in Christ without talking about judgment apart from him. (pg 22)

God, may Philpott Memorial Church continue to preach about new life in Christ while at the same time proclaiming the eternal conscious torment awaiting those who reject Christ as King.

Chapter 2 - What Jesus Said About Hell (by Robert Yarbrough)

I liked this brief summary. People are upset about hell so take it up with Jesus. He preached on it more than he did on heaven...

To summarize, Jesus' words on hell seems fairly straightforward. There will be a bodily resurrection of all persons, the good and the wicked (John 5:28-29). The good (those who have received Jesus and his saving message) will enter heaven. This is a place of blessing and unending joy in the presence of God. The wicked (those who have not received Christ's saving message) will enter hell: "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life" (Matt. 25:46). The symmetry is stark and simple. As McKnight concludes, Jesus clearly teaches "punishment in an individual, eternal sense." We have seen that Jesus depicted hell as real, awful, everlasting, motivational, and influential in this life. In view of modern doubts about hell, Jesus' clear teaching is all the more helpful. (pg 29)

And if you're thinking... "I'll just share the '4 spiritual laws because my job is just to 'win people to Christ' or help them 'discover Jesus' ", well I encourage you to please revisit Matthew 28:18-20.

Jesus' followers are to go into the world teaching all the things that he commanded (Matt. 28:20). There is no reason to suppose that he granted them "a bye" when it came to the doctrine of hell. (pg 34)

Chapter 3: Three Pictures of Hell (by Christopher Morgan)

The three pictures of hell Morgan describes are: Punishment, Destruction and Banishment. I thought this was a great point because many times I can just call hell "separation from God". But the Bible states that that it's more than just "separation". Others can just think hell is only destruction and then believe in annihilation (that people don't live forever but will cease to be). This next quote was helpful...

At times, the pictures of hell even seem irreconcilable. How can burning fire coexist with blackest darkness, for example? How can destruction be linked to continual endless suffering? Instead of viewing these pictures as contradictory, however, we should understand them to be complementary. The different depictions of hell bring out shades of meaning that a single rendering could not. (pg 41)

Complementary. I like that word :) I was also persuaded that "banishment" is the word I should be using to describe hell instead of just "separation". Banishment means God is in control, not just a by-stander. Hell was and is God's idea.

Banishment is stronger than separation... Most evangelicals need to guard against the tendency to view hell in passive terms like separation rather than banishment (pg 46)

Then to summarize his three pictures he concludes:

Hell as punishment vividly depicts God as the Judge who justly sentences the wicked.
Hell as destruction portrays God as the Warrior or Victor who defeats his enemies.
Hell as banishment views God as the King who allows only his citizens into his kingdom. (pg 46)

Chapter 4 - Three Perspectives on Hell (by Robert Peterson)

God not only is the Judge who welcomes people to heaven and casts people into hell, He is the one who is in control in hell. Back in January 2011 a friend emailed me asking... "from a biblical position is it justified to say that Hell is a place that is absent of God. Does that go contrary to our belief that God is everywhere?"

I responded to him and said "God is present in hell. God is omnipresent, even in hell. He is omnipotent and rules hell, and will one day cast Satan and unbelievers there. I think I'd say that there is some sort of distinction between God's presence in and out of hell, but I don't have lots of time to dig out my Bible and come up with references to back this position..."

Here's a quote that reiterates my position:

God's sovereignty is expressed in his judgment. This theme recurs a number of times in the Gospels and Revelation, and it shows that the power of God over the wicked extends beyond the grave. The Bible also indicates that God rules over hell. Unfortunately, some have erred at this point. As one writer said, "Hell is where Satan rules... where his complete fury is unleashed." But this is wrong, for hell is where God alone rules and where his fury is unleashed against Satan, his angels, and wicked human beings. (pg 53)

I found this website link helpful too.


Appendix - Preaching Hell in a Tolerant Age (by Timothy Keller)

Here's a helpful definition and clarification:

I do not define sin as just breaking rules but also as "making something besides God our ultimate source of value and worth". (pg 76)

The universal religion of humankind is: We develop a good record and give it to God, and then he owes us. The gospel is: God develops a good record and gives it to us, and then we owe him (Romans 1:17)... You see, you can believe that people are saved by goodness or you can believe people are saved by God's grace, but you cannot believe both at once - and the approach that appears inclusive at first glance is really equally exclusive (pg 77-78)

I encourage you to do what I did, buy this book and then one Saturday night from 7:30-10pm take this book and your Bible in hand, and study the topic of hell. Trust me, as you sing Christ-centered, gospel-centered songs at church the next morning you'll be overwhelmed by God's love and grace.

It is only because of the doctrine of judgment and hell that Jesus' proclamation of grace and love are so brilliant and astounding (pg 80)

Conclusion - Christopher Morgan and Robert Peterson

The final two quotes don't require any further explanation. God's ways are higher than our ways, and if He says hell exists, I believe him - hell exists.

Jesus himself stands out as hell's chief defender... Christians also must embrace the doctrine of hell because of its prominent place in a biblical worldview. The doctrine of hell does not appear in isolation in the Bible; it is linked to the indispensible doctrines of God, sin and the atonement. (pg 81)

Our prayer is that you will join us and countless Christians throughout history and around the world in sharing the whole counsel of God - including hell - with Christians and non-Christians alike. May we do it with a passionate love for the Lord Jesus, abiding conviction in the truthfulness of God's Word, and heartfelt compassion for the lost. (pg 83)