IS HELL INEVITABLE FOR NON-CHRISTIANS
Dear _____, Am I missing something in my understanding of Heaven and hell? At the Bible study Tuesday you seemed to say that you could not accept the part of the book “Heaven Is So Real” that told about Choo’s mother being in hell. Choo called today so I asked her about this although we had discussed it before. She said she has prayed to God to give her mother a lighter “sentence” but she knows that she will stay in hell. This broke Choo’s heart, but she accepted it. She did really see her mother in the torture of hell. I would like to discuss this with you. I want to have some rebuttal as there were several people who also could not accept this, and probably many more that didn’t bring it up. There is so much richness in this book that I hope people can get past this apparent difference in understanding. Choo told me that there are over a million people in many lands who have read this book and use it in their life guidance.
In your excellent book (Seeking God and Finding Him) you spoke of this, especially on pages 187-188. You stated that Jesus died to offer forgiveness to all mankind. “But all men will not choose to come to Him. Those who do not will carry the burden of sin to their death.” I cannot find any other meaning than that they will not enter Heaven, since God will not permit sin in Heaven. You know better than I what the Bible says about Jesus being the only way to the Father.
My first reading of the book “Heaven Is So Real” by Choo Thomas led me to question if Choo’s mother could really be relegated to hell and all its miseries. But that chapter really did grab my attention. How could a God of Love be so cruel? Choo said that her mother was not a bad person but she never had the opportunity to know Jesus.
There are many things in the Bible that I have wondered about, but now believe the following:
God is a loving God. The problem for us is that He cannot tolerate even the tiniest sin since He is absolutely without sin. The only person who ever led a perfect life on earth was Jesus Christ. It is impossible for us to be perfect. The Bible states that even a sin that seems insignificant to us will keep us out of Heaven unless we are forgiven. And this was the purpose of Jesus dying for our sins, so that we could enter Heaven with a clean slate if we ask for His forgiveness.
Many people who believe that they will go to Heaven do not take this into consideration. They apparently believe that t if their good deeds outweigh their bad ones, they will pass through the gates of Heaven. But God is perfect and He demands that Heaven be kept perfect. So how could Choo’s mother or anyone else enter Heaven without being forgiven by Jesus? It does seem cruel that since she didn’t know Jesus that her only possible destination was hell. But we don’t make the rules, God does. The Bible states that we have a spirit and a soul that live on after our body dies. It is vital that we know where our soul, the real person, will live.
Excerpt from the Bible:
John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."