CHRISTIANNEWS.COM.- We have to stick closely to the Bible to adequately answer the question: Why do good people go to hell? From my perspective, I feel like most people believe they will go to heaven or hell based on how good or bad they have been on earth.
While most people think it will be close, they believe they will make it to heaven. Unfortunately, the opposite happens. “Just as people are destined to die once, and then face judgment, so Christ was once sacrificed to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who wait for him.” (Hebrews 9: 27-28).
In Romans 3-7, Paul shows us how all have sinned and are guilty. In Romans 1-2, Paul shows us why good men and women are not good enough for God’s heaven.
Good people need forgiveness for their sins just like everyone else. Christians have their sins forgiven at the cross. Because of God’s grace and mercy, Christians will never again face their sins. Not so with those who died without a Savior.
The Great White Throne Judgment
The key to understanding the “good people in hell” revolves around the Book of life and the Books of works. The Book of Life contains the names of all who have ever been born. Those who die without a Savior have their names “erased from the Book of Life” and will be judged for their behaviors that are recorded in the Books of Works.
I imagine that those who wait their turn with Jesus to be organizing their speeches to show him why they are good enough for heaven.
Then God will show them in the Book of Works why they are not good enough. Then the Lord Jesus Christ will open the Book of Life and discover, as he already knows, that their names are not there. Tragically, they will be thrown into the Lake of Fire and assigned to Hell for eternity.
The problem is that no one is good enough for God’s heaven. If he let us into heaven with all our sins, we would ruin the place.
1. God will evaluate according to the truth
God will judge everything according to the truth because we all have the habit of comparing ourselves with others. On Judgment Day, God will say to those who died without Jesus Christ as their Savior, “We are going to judge you for who and what you really are.”
2. God will evaluate according to his goodness
God’s judgment will be proportional to the amount of goodness that God has showered on people during their lives. God shows us his goodness to lead us to repentance.
Christians often wonder why lost people seem to have it so good. The answer is that it is only the goodness of God to turn them into repentance; the longer they reject his kindness, the more unforgivable they will be when they face the Great White Throne Judgment.
3. God will evaluate according to your pent-up wrath
Hardening of the arteries may lead us to an early grave, but hardening of the heart, spiritually, will ultimately lead us to the lake of fire.
If God’s grace and goodness have not brought us to repentance, then every day, moment by moment, hour by hour, we are heaping up drops of the terrible treasury of God’s wrath that will burst forth at the Great White Throne.
4. God will evaluate according to works
Standing before God now is the person who says, “Look, God, judge me according to my works. I have lived a good life. Take my good deeds and put them next to my bad and certainly the good outweigh the bad!”
God will take the best works of the moral man or woman and compare them with the works of Jesus. Jesus recovers the lame, gives sight to the blind, and heals the sick. He takes on the sins of the entire world and by his death and sacrifice brings salvation to those who pledge themselves to him as Savior and Lord.
No one in their right mind wants to be judged for their deeds. He wants mercy.
5. God will evaluate without playing favorites
God offers salvation to everyone because everyone needs it. God is no respecter of persons. He shows no favoritism. On the subject of sin, no one is better than anyone from God’s perspective.
God does not like to judge. He definitely says that the judgment is his “strange work of his” (Isaiah 28:21). However, he will judge: “He who spared not even his own Son, but handed him over,” certainly he will not hesitate to judge those who reject his free offer of grace in Jesus Christ (Romans 8: 32).
6. God will evaluate according to how well we have lived up to the “light we have received”
There are two types of people: those who have heard the Gospel and those who have not. Both are judged on how they respond to what they know. In other words, they will be judged by the amount of “light” they have received.
Those who have heard the Gospel have seen the “light” and by receiving Christ they are living up to the light they have received. But there are many people who hear the Gospel and reject it. They have not lived up to the light and are therefore condemned by God.
People who have a greater “light” have more responsibility to live up to the “light” (Matthew 11:23-24).
7. God will evaluate according to the inner secrets of the heart
At the Great White Throne, God will open the closet doors and reveal the secrets of the people who are there. Jesus spoke of this often (Matthew 10:26-27).
Then skeletons will come out of the closets. Facts long buried in the depths of memory will be brought to light. Unsolved crimes will find their solutions. These are the secrets of men.
As a Christian, I know with absolute certainty that I will never appear before this Sentencing Court. “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” ( Romans 8:1 ).
conclusion
The way to avoid The Judgment Seat of Christ is to settle your case before it goes to trial.
Christ died on the cross to offer us the opportunity to accept him now and solve our sin problem before Judgment Day arrives.
If we die without Christ, our case will come to trial and God has enough evidence to condemn every person to hell, and He will. Now there is mercy, settle out of court. The days of mercy have no end. When we die, our choice is sealed for eternity.
Written by: Dr Roger Barrier at Closwalk.
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