Why Do Men Go To Hell

The doctrine of eternal damnation is probably one of the most difficult doctrines of the Christian Faith. It is hard to believe that anyone could do anything in one lifetime that was so bad that God would send him into the lake of fire to burn forever and ever and ever and never get out. I tell you plainly that if I didn’t have the Bible and if I didn’t believe every word in it, I would not believe in the doctrine of eternal damnation.
But one thing is vitally important—none of God’s children will go into the fire at all. They will be chastised, but they will not go to Hell. However, not everybody is God’s child.
There are two groups of children in the world. John 8:44 says, “Ye are of your father the devil”; and John 1:12 says, “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God.”
Nobody who trusts Christ as Savior will be punished in the fire at all. If you believe the Bible, you must believe in eternal damnation for the unsaved. Revelation 20:10 says that they “shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
If you go through the Bible and count all the references to Heaven and to Hell, you will discover that there are nine times as many references to Hell as there are to Heaven.
Some Wong Ideas About Why A Man Goes To Hell
There are some commonly held ideas about why people go to Hell that are incorrect. I want to show you a few of them.
Because he is a sinner. That surprises many people because they have always thought that was why people went to hell. However, if that was the case, everybody would go to Hell because everybody is a sinner. “There is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.” (Ecclesiastes 7:20) “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
How many have sinned? All! That means the preacher has sinned. I have sinned. The entire deacon board has sinned. Everyone in the church has sinned. We may not all have sinned to the same degree, but nonetheless we have all sinned. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” “If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (John 1:8, 10)
So, everybody has sinned. How many of you told a lie? Those who deny they told a lie are the biggest liars in the church. Certainly you have lied. You may be thinking, “You don’t know if I have or haven’t lied.” Let’s see if I know.
“The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.” (Psalm 58:3)
“Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.” (1 Timothy 4:2)
These verses say that you lie as soon as you are born. If man went to Hell because he is a sinner, everybody would go to Hell except Jesus Christ because He is the only Person who never sinned in His entire life.
Because of the types of sins he commits. Our Catholic friends classify sins as what they call “venial sins” and “mortal sins.” A venial sin is sort of a slight offense. If a Catholic dies with an unconfessed venial sin, he goes into what they call purgatory where he will be purged by fire from all of his unconfessed sins. Then he will move out of purgatory and into Heaven.
If, however, he commits a mortal sin, that is considered a damning and killing sin. If he dies with an unconfessed mortal sin, he doesn’t go to purgatory; he has to go straight to Hell and stay there forever and ever and ever.
Men do not go to Hell because of the kind of sins they commit. It may surprise you to learn that some of the worst people in the Bible were saved, and some of the best people were lost.
In the New Testament there was Judas. He traveled with the Lord. He preached with the Lord. He was one of the Twelve. He was there when miracles were performed. If you had lived during that time, you might have wanted your little boy to grow up to be like Judas. His life was almost an ideal example of how to live a godly life, but because he was lost he betrayed the Lord.
In the Old Testament there was a man named
Lot. During his life he did nothing good. He never should have gone with Abraham because Abraham was supposed to go by himself. When he separated from his uncle,
Lot chose the watered plains and the good part and left the other part for Abraham when he should have given the best to him. He even committed incest with his own two daughters. Terrible! He apparently gotten drunk on wine that he had taken from
Sodom when he fled because there was no liquor store in that cave where this sin took place.
He was mean as he could be, and yet the Bible says that the Lord delivered “just
Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked.” (2 Peter 2:7)
Men are not lost because they are sinners.
Men are not lost because of the types of sins they commit.
For example:
What about some of those folks who drove the nails into the hands of our Lord?
What about those who braided the crown of thorns and placed it on His brow?
What about those who smote Him with a reed?
And those who beat Him until His back was lacerated and bleeding?
Josephus the early historian says that the scourging victim often stood in a pool of blood with his inner organs lying at his feet.
Some of those folks had to be the most wicked, meanest and most sinful men alive to have driven nails into the hands of a Man who had never committed even one sin. Yet on the cross, Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)
Fifty days later on the day of Pentecost, Peter preached and three thousand folks were then saved, and I believe that some of those who were saved that day were some of those who had driven the nails into Jesus’ hands and feet.
Because he won’t quit his sinning. If a man went to Hell because he wouldn’t quit sinning, then everybody would go to Hell because nobody has quit his sinning.
How many of you have been absolutely perfect and never committed a sin since you have been saved?
How many of you have not been absolutely perfect and have sinned since you’ve been saved?
No one is perfect or sinless even after getting saved! Paul said, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief” (1 Timothy 1:15)
A “faithful saying” never changes. It was true when it was written in the Bible; it is true today; it will be true in the future. An example of that is the plan of salvation—it never changes.
“Worthy of all acceptation” means that everybody can accept it—men and women, children and all the races.
Paul said, “Of whom I am chief.” He didn’t say, “Of whom I used to be chief.”
I want you to live right, pure and holy; but men do not go to Hell because they are sinners or because of the types of sins they commit or because they won’t stop sinning.
Because he does not live as Christians should. Getting saved is like getting married. The Lord uses a marriage relationship as an illustration of His relationship to us. He says that the “husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church.” (Ephesians 5:23); and he is to love her like Christ loves the church, and have Himself for it. The wife is to be submissive to her own husband, so getting saved is kind of like getting married.
Do you know that folks can live like they are married and are not married? Some folks live together and never get married. They move in together, sleep in the same bed and never marry.
I heard of a woman who shot her husband with a bow and arrow. During the trial the judge told her that she must be honest and tell the truth because she was under oath. When he asked the woman why she shot her husband with a bow and arrow and not a gun, she replied, “I didn’t want to wake up the kids.”
Some folks really live like that, but you don’t get married by living like you are married. You don’t get unmarried or divorced by living like you are unmarried. Don’t you see that? You don’t get saved by living like you are saved, and you don’t get unsaved by living like you are unsaved. Do you see that?
Man does not go to Hell because he is a sinner.
He does not go to Hell because of the kinds of sins he commits.
He does not go to Hell because he won’t stop sinning.
He does not go to hell because he doesn’t live right.
The One reason a man goes to hell. Man goes to hell for one reason only, and we find that reason in the Book of John. In just two verses the Lord divides the world into two groups: believers and nonbelievers.
The Lord says very plainly, “he that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” (John 3:18, 36)
So, man is not condemned because he is a sinner.
He does not go to Hell because of the kinds of sins he commits.
He does not go to Hell because he won’t stop sinning.
He does not go to hell because he doesn’t live right.
Man is condemned because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. There is no third group in John 3:18. One group believes on the Son of God, so they are not condemned and they have “everlasting life” and they are never going to die. Instead, they will live in Heaven forever and ever and ever.
The second group does not believe in the Son so they are already condemned. They are not waiting for judgment to be pronounced. As soon as the unbeliever dies, Like the rich man in Luke 16, he will “lift up his eyes, being in torments” (v23) and the “wrath of God abideth on him.” That’s plain as it can be.
Well, maybe you are thinking, if the only thing that is required to keep someone out of Hell is to believe in Christ, then everybody is saved because everybody believes in Christ.
Well, not really. The Bible says in James 2:19 that “devils also believe, and tremble;” but they are not saved.
The Bible word “believe” means “to trust, to depend on, to rely upon.” Listen very carefully; we use the word believe in several different ways. When I say that I believe I hold the New Testament in my hand, I am giving a mental agreement to a fact. That is not what it means to believe in Christ. It includes that, but it means more than that.
I may tell you that I believe that it is going to rain tomorrow. That is a calculated hope based on a weather report. That is not what it means to believe in Christ.
T.T. Martin, an old gospel preacher said that “There is not promise in the Bible who partially believe in Christ.” What a statement! There is no such thing as partially believing on Christ. If you don’t believe in and trust Him 100%, you are neither believing in nor trusting Him at all.
A young man was selling watermelons for 60 cents. A customer, Jack, said he would take one of them but only had 50 cents. The young man said he would trust him for the dime. Then, Jack stuck the 50 cents back into his pocket, picked up a watermelon and started to leave.
The boy said, “Wait a minute, Sir. Bring my watermelon back.” Jack said, “You said that you would trust me.” Then the young boy replied, “I said I would trust you for a dime but not for 60 cents.”
There are a lot of who are willing to take a ten-cent chance on Christ, but that is all they will take. You believe in Jesus; but you are baptized, you are a church member, you live a good life to be sure you will go to Heaven. That’s only taking a ten-cent chance on Jesus.
He is not a part of salvation; He is salvation.
He is not a part of the solution; He is the solution.
He is not somebody who helps you save yourself; He is the Savior.
And nobody helps Him save anyone at all. Do you see this?
Why is a person lost? Because he “believeth not the Son [so he] shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” (John 3:36)
The word believe means “to trust, to depend on and to rely upon” Him. It means to say to Jesus , “I have no hope of Heaven except You. If You didn’t die for me and pay my sin debt, I will go to Hell.”
My hope of Heaven is that Jesus Christ died for me. If I were asked why I deserve to get into Heaven, I would simply say, “I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for me and paid my sin debt. I have no claim to heaven except the fact that He paid my debt and I am trusting Him, one-hundred percent.”