How Can I Avoid Hell?

What does the Bible say about avoiding hell? What does it involve?

The Problem of Sin

Whoever does not have the Holy Spirit cannot even know that they are in deep trouble with God because of their sins. Their sins have separated them from a holy God (Isaiah 59:2), whether they know it or not. Jesus says that those who are still in their sins will die in their sins unless they repent (John 8:24) and He warned “do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt 10:28) because only God, “after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him” (Luke 12:5)! Even though most will ignore these warnings the author of Hebrews writes that “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb 10:31) so what do we do about the sin problem?

Satisfying the Wrath of God

Jesus leaves all of us with only two choices: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36) so “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16) for “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life” (John 6:47). So belief in Jesus Christ is part of the way to not only escape the rightful wrath of God but also to receive eternal life (John 3:16). Christians “are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins” (Rom 3:24-25). God has made Jesus, Who knew no sin, to become sin for us so that the Father would see us as He sees His Son and the righteousness of Christ is imputed toward our account (2nd Cor 5:21) because “in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation” (2nd Cor 5:19).

Propitiation

The word reconciliation and propitiation (or appeasement) are the satisfaction of God’s wrath as “Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Eph 5:2) and took upon Himself God’s wrath that was due us but “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience” (Eph 5:6) and these things included the unrepentant sins of sexual immorality as anyone who lives in sin “has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God” (Eph 5:5b).

Atonement

The ancient Israelites kept the Day of Atonement but this holy day was not a typical feast day because they were told to afflict themselves or fast. This day represented the sins of the people being placed on the Azazel Goat (some call it the scapegoat) and then the goat was released into the wilderness and took the sins of the people with him. This only symbolized the coming of the sinless Lamb of God whose sinless, perfect life would make the sufficient sacrifice for the wrath of God to be satisfied but also to reconcile us back to God. This makes Jesus’ life and death “the atoning sacrifice for our sins and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” (1st John 2:2) because God “sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1st John 4:10b). If you break down the word atonement it is “at-one-ment” or to be at one with God but this doesn’t happen unless a person repents and puts their trust in Christ.

Conclusion

How can we escape the wrath of God and be kept from being cast into the lake of fire (Rev 21:8)? This is exactly why Jesus came to this earth; to live a sinless life and die for those who were sinful, “Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (Heb 2:17). For everyone who refuses to humble themselves, “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth” (Rom 1:18) and “because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed” (Rom 2:5).

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.