That man sends himself to Hell and not God seems to be a popular doctrine in the Christian church today. It appears as if it is an attempt to lessen the severity of God so that the world may accept Him more. This approach seems to be towards appeasing those who criticize God for being too harsh and too judgmental. They want a God who is all love and accepts them just as they are without them having to truly repent of their favorite sins.
I am not really sure what the general motivation is but those were the reasons why I did it.
To say it the way the modern church states it is only half correct, thus in order to be accurate in an honest measurement of truth this would equate to being completely false…
This topic is so serious that one cannot compromise on this and I have been guilty of doing just that.
This entails more than just how one gets to hell but more importantly it’s really about the fear of the Lord. We really do not fear the Lord today in modern day Christianity.
I would use Matthew 25:41 and this verse is actually still used by many if not most in mainstream “Christianity” as their proof that God does not send people to Hell but that people send themselves instead. I used the logic that it was because God had created Hell for the Devil and the demons originally and not for people so He obviously did not intend to send people. “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels”.
Most people today continue to misuse this scripture as I had at one time. Once again, as often as it is the case, the majority is wrong.
Take the example of the earthly judge to help understand how God is the ultimate judge. I would tell people that a good judge would not just excuse the punishment for a crime that one was clearly guilty of but instead He would justly, according to the law, hold the guilty accountable and throw that person in jail for what they did wrong. That would be a just and fair judge according to any reasonable standard.
The analogy carries over to the eternal realm in the sense that God is the ultimate judge and His word is clear that He will send people to Hell for their sin.
It is strange how “traditional American so-called Christianity” gets us thinking incorrectly in so many ways. I was guilty and I should have known better. In a way I did know but I was not consistent in keeping the proper context in my conversations with others. On one hand I would say God is the judge and we will answer to him and then on the other hand I would say we throw ourselves in Hell. How backwards is that? Using the earthly analogy it is like saying the judge makes the sentence then the prisoner makes the choice to throw himself into jail. In reality, that is not going to happen…
Jesus said in Matthew 10:28 “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Man renders himself guilty through his sin and God acts perfectly and righteously as the Judge and throws the man into hell where his body and soul are tormented and punished for eternity. This is pure and holy justice.
This is reason enough to tremble before God in Fear. Even the Godliest man should tremble as such. Even if we are sure in our minds that we are doing well in God’s eyes there may be something we are unaware of. King David exemplified this point when he said in Psalm 139:23-24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”.
Don’t take the above paragraph as a works based salvation statement. Even Paul said to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. We should know we are saved by the sacrifice Jesus paid on the cross but to truly accept it one would have a genuine fear of the Lord and would always, as David demonstrated, keep himself in check as he lives in this carnal world among the enemies of God.
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