When Jesus died
on the cross, he descended into Hell; not as a
sinner, but as the 'bearer' of mankinds sins. In
other words, He went into Hell, so we who receive
Him as Lord and Savior won't have to: "(Now
that he ascended, what is it but that he also
descended first into the lower parts of the
earth? He that descended is the same also that
ascended up far above all heavens, that he might
fill all things.)" ( Ephesians 4:9-10 )
"He
seeing this before spake of the resurrection of
Christ, that his soul was not left in hell,
neither his flesh did see corruption." (
Acts 2:31 )
There is no
escape, no hope, no parole from Hell for those
who don't know Jesus as their Lord and Savior:
"In
flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know
not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord
Jesus Christ:" (2 Thessalonians 1:8)
Hell is literal
and eternal. Who better to describe Hell than
Jesus, Himself:
"fire" (Matthew
7:19, 13:40, 25:41)
"everlasting fire"
(Matthew 18:8, 25:41)
"eternal
damnation" (Mark 3:29)
"damnation"
(Matthew 23:14, Mark 12:40, Luke 20:47)
"damnation of
hell" (Matthew 23:33)
"resurrection of
damnation" (John 5:29)
"furnace of fire"
(Matthew 13:42, 13:50)
"the fire that never
shall be quenched" (Mark 9:43, 9:45)
"the fire is not
quenched" (Mark 9:44, 9:46, 9:48)
"Where their worm dieth
not" (Mark 9:44, 9:46, 9:48)
"wailing and gnashing
of teeth" (Matthew 13:42, 13:50)
"weeping and gnashing
of teeth" (Matthew 8:12, 22:13, 25:30)
"torments" (Luke
16:23)
"tormented in this
flame" (Luke 16:24)
"place of torment"
(Luke 16:28)
"outer darkness"
(Matthew 8:12, 22:13)
"everlasting
punishment" (Matthew 25:46)
God does not
condemn anyone to Hell. Man condemns himself for
not placing his faith and trust in Jesus:
"He
that believeth on him is not condemned: but he
that believeth not is condemned already, because
he hath not believed in the name of the only
begotten Son of God." (John 3:18)
Pastor Adrian
Rogers once said, 'There are many
strutting toward Hell thinking they're good
enough to escape it'. Pastor Rogers
statement is correct, because the Bible says we
cannot work our way to salvation:
"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."
(Ephesians 2:8-9)
There is nothing
you can do that's good enough to save you. You
can live a good honest life, become a member of
your local church, or donate time and money to
good causes; but none of these things, or any
other 'good deeds', can save you. You must place
your faith in Jesus:
"Neither
is there salvation in any other: for there is
none other name under heaven given among men,
whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)
If you would like
to receive Jesus' free gift of eternal life with
Him, please visit our Salvation page. And if you already
know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, praise God
for His grace and mercy! If you don't know Him in
this way, don't think you can achieve Heaven by
being too good to go to Hell.
Keith
09-02-2003
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