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Some final thoughts this week, thinking about the message a couple of Sundays ago on the question: "Do Good People Go To Hell?"

I know that some are eager to give up on the idea of hell. Hell seems to be too harsh and too "un-Christian."

And yet, what would we love if we gave up on the idea of hell? Here would be 4 big losses:

1. The authority of the Bible: there are many places where we read about God's wrath, anger, judgment and hell. To give up on hell would mean doing away with large segments of the Bible.

2. The character of God: if there is no final judgement then we merely have a "loving" (aka "nice") God but not a God of justice.

3. The authority of Jesus: Jesus talks about hell ("gehenna") more than all of the other New Testament writers combined. To give up on hell means giving up on a portion of Jesus' teaching.

4. The love of God in the suffering of Jesus: for me, the main (but not only) reason to hold on to the teaching of hell is because Jesus suffered hell ("My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?!?!"). If we give up on hell we give up on the full extent of the suffering of Jesus and miss out on the full extent of the love of God for us in Christ.

Again, for some, giving up on hell looks advantegous. For me, to give up on hell would mean too much loss to the Christian gospel. It would feel like selling part of our birthright for a pot of porridge.

Soli Deo Gloria