God is worshipped throughout the Bible as the ultimate standard and source of good. Here are just a few verses explaining this:
“The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and His mercy is over all He has made” (Psalm 145:8-9).
“The Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him” (Psalm 92:15).
"You are good, and do good; teach me your statutes" (Psalm 119:68).
“For He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in faithfulness” (Psalm 96:12b-13).
In contrast to the goodness of God, our world is full of evil.
People lie, cheat, rape, steal, murder, abuse, and more.
Governments and businesses are full of corruption.
Horrific evils such as the Holocaust have taken place in recent history.
If God is good, shouldn’t we expect Him to care about these things? Goodness cannot overlook evil. Goodness cares about the well-being of those harmed by evil. Goodness and justice are inseparable.
2. GOD IS JUST SO HE MUST PUNISH.
God is a righteous judge who will not ignore evil. Hell is the expression of His just punishment against sin.
God declares, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay” (Romans 12:19). Vengeance is His right alone... not something that humans are entitled to. He alone is judge and executioner.
No evil people, ranging from common thieves to outrageously evil men like Hitler, will get away with their crimes.
Innocent people who have suffered under the hands of others will receive the justice that they deserve.
Even though we, as compassionate and empathetic people, may not like the idea of wrongdoers being punished for their crimes, it is far worse to imagine a world where there is no law and evil goes unopposed. Hell is God’s necessary punishment against evil.
Hell is fair.
God never makes a mistake in His judgment. He knows every factor for pronouncing a correct verdict, including the accused’s knowledge, motives, societal pressures, and more. We can always trust God to do the right thing.
All who are punished in hell will deserve it (Romans 1:18-32; Galatians 6:7).
There will likely be different levels of punishment depending on how bad the crime was (Luke 12:47-48).
3. IN HIS GOODNESS GOD HAS PROVIDED A WAY TO ESCAPE HELL AT A GREAT COST TO HIMSELF.
Although God is praiseworthy because of His commitment to justice, He is greater still for having provided a merciful and gracious way for people to escape their deserved punishment.
Jesus has taken the punishment that sinners deserve on Himself. For those who repent of their sins and follow Jesus with their whole heart, they will not only escape hell, but will spend eternity in the happiness of God’s renewed creation!
All of us should take this truth of God’s kindness to heart. We may not individually have hurt as many people as someone like Hitler, but we have all undeniably done bad things (Romans 3:23). That makes us criminals according to the law. Praise God that none of us have to live with the identity of “criminal,” but can instead live as forgiven and beloved children of God!
Although we may have lingering questions about hell, recognizing God’s goodness as displayed through the cross that Jesus bore should remind us that God is worthy of our trust. Jesus has experienced far more “hell” than any human ever will by taking the wrath deserved on all of sinful humanity on himself. Jesus should be admired and praised for His love!
1. GOD IS GOOD SO HE MUST BE JUST.
God is worshipped throughout the Bible as the ultimate standard and source of good. Here are just a few verses explaining this:
“The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and His mercy is over all He has made” (Psalm 145:8-9).
“The Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him” (Psalm 92:15).
"You are good, and do good; teach me your statutes" (Psalm 119:68).
“For He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in faithfulness” (Psalm 96:12b-13).
In contrast to the goodness of God, our world is full of evil.
People lie, cheat, rape, steal, murder, abuse, and more.
Governments and businesses are full of corruption.
Horrific evils such as the Holocaust have taken place in recent history.
If God is good, shouldn’t we expect Him to care about these things? Goodness cannot overlook evil. Goodness cares about the well-being of those harmed by evil. Goodness and justice are inseparable.
2. GOD IS JUST SO HE MUST PUNISH.
God is a righteous judge who will not ignore evil. Hell is the expression of His just punishment against sin.
God declares, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay” (Romans 12:19). Vengeance is His right alone... not something that humans are entitled to. He alone is judge and executioner.
No evil people, ranging from common thieves to outrageously evil men like Hitler, will get away with their crimes.
Innocent people who have suffered under the hands of others will receive the justice that they deserve.
Even though we, as compassionate and empathetic people, may not like the idea of wrongdoers being punished for their crimes, it is far worse to imagine a world where there is no law and evil goes unopposed. Hell is God’s necessary punishment against evil.
Hell is fair.
God never makes a mistake in His judgment. He knows every factor for pronouncing a correct verdict, including the accused’s knowledge, motives, societal pressures, and more. We can always trust God to do the right thing.
All who are punished in hell will deserve it (Romans 1:18-32; Galatians 6:7).
There will likely be different levels of punishment depending on how bad the crime was (Luke 12:47-48).
3. IN HIS GOODNESS GOD HAS PROVIDED A WAY TO ESCAPE HELL AT A GREAT COST TO HIMSELF.
Although God is praiseworthy because of His commitment to justice, He is greater still for having provided a merciful and gracious way for people to escape their deserved punishment.
Jesus has taken the punishment that sinners deserve on Himself. For those who repent of their sins and follow Jesus with their whole heart, they will not only escape hell, but will spend eternity in the happiness of God’s renewed creation!
All of us should take this truth of God’s kindness to heart. We may not individually have hurt as many people as someone like Hitler, but we have all undeniably done bad things (Romans 3:23). That makes us criminals according to the law. Praise God that none of us have to live with the identity of “criminal,” but can instead live as forgiven and beloved children of God!
Although we may have lingering questions about hell, recognizing God’s goodness as displayed through the cross that Jesus bore should remind us that God is worthy of our trust. Jesus has experienced far more “hell” than any human ever will by taking the wrath deserved on all of sinful humanity on himself. Jesus should be admired and praised for His love!
