Answers to Questions to the Sermon on Hell

by Steve Mathewson 

Here are several follow-up questions I received in response to the April 26 sermon about hell. I have tried to answer these as concisely as possible.

What does Mark 3:29 mean when it says that God will not forgive those who blaspheme against the Holy Spirit? Why is this an eternal sin? In Matthew 12:31-32, Jesus makes the same claim and goes on to say that anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. What does this mean?

Mark 3:29 and Matthew 12:31-32 both describe the same event. Jesus is responding to the charge that he has an evil spirit and that he is casting out demons by the power of Satan (Beelzebub). He accuses those who make this charge of “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” or “speaking against the Holy Spirit.” The term “blaspheme” refers to slander or abusive speech. The verb tense of “saying” in Mark 3:30 indicates that this was an ongoing and not just an isolated statement. So, the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the sin of deliberately rejecting the truth of the gospel communicated by the Holy Spirit through Jesus. This amounts to slandering God! It is not just a one-time statement, but a fixed attitude of mind.

What is the difference, then, between blasphemy against the Son of Man (Jesus) and blasphemy against the Spirit? In Matthew 12:32, Jesus says that the sin of speaking against the Son of Man (himself) can be forgiven, but the sin of speaking against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven. New Testament scholar Darrell Bock provides the answer: “One can speak, in a moment of weakness, against the Son of Man and be forgiven, but blaspheming the Spirit – decisively rejecting what the Spirit says about Jesus – will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the one to come. To reject with a determined, hard heart the evidence of God’s Spirit, who has empowered the work that Jesus is doing (Matt. 12:28) is to face the judgment of God (Jesus According to Scripture, 191).

To summarize, God will forgive our sin if we turn to Jesus, but the one sin he does not forgive is a refusal to turn to Jesus and accept him for who he is. 

If you are continually in sin and lying and you can’t break the habit, does that guarantee hell?

Until Christ returns, God’s good work in us will not be complete (Philippians 1:6), and so we will struggle with sin. 1 John says that Christians simultaneously will sin (see 1 John 1:8-10) and will not sin (see 1 John 3:6-10). In other words, there is balance between the reality that Christians will sin and the expectation that they will not sin. 1 John presents a series of tests that indicate whether or not we genuinely know God. These include a social test (whether or not we love other believers), an obedience test (whether or not we obey Jesus’ commands), and a truth test (whether or not we know who Jesus is). We must take these tests seriously. If our faith is genuine, we will see a growth in holiness. 

At the same time, genuine Christians will have a growing awareness of their sinfulness. J. C. Ryle says it well: “How true it is that the holiest saint is in himself a miserable sinner, and a debtor to mercy and grace to the last moment of his existence!” (Holiness, 10).  We must not despair over this and fear hell. In my experience, those who claim to be Christians and continue to wrestle with, fight with, grieve over, and repent of their sins demonstrate that they are genuine believers who need not fear hell. Those who need to worry are those who show no concern for holiness and persist in sinful behavior without showing the least bit of remorse or concern.

Can we pray for the salvation of people who are already gone and did not know the gospel? Will they go to hell even though they were good on earth?

Scripture does not instruct us to pray for people who are already gone and did not know the gospel. Hebrews 9:27 says that “man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” Rather than giving people a second chance after they die, God is patient, giving people plenty of opportunity to turn to Him (see Romans 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9).

We should also note that no human being – with the obvious exception of Jesus – is good enough to be accepted by God. Rather, “there is no one righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10). The fact is that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). A careful reading of Romans 1-3 shows that this is true of religious people and non-religious people – what we might consider the “best” and the “worst” in society. All of us, then, need to believe in the gospel – the good news that Jesus died for our sins and rose on the third day so we can experience eternal life (see 1 Corinthians 15:1-11). Once we believe, we are in Christ and are free from condemnation (Romans 8:1)! 

Revelation 20:12-13 says twice that people were judged “according to what they had done.” Aren’t we saved by grace through faith? If so, then why are the things we’ve done being judged? Is this a judgment only for non-believers?

Some respected Bible teachers believe that both believers and non-believers appear at the “great white throne judgment” in Revelation 20:11-15. Theologian Wayne Grudem holds this view and argues that this is the same judgment described in Matthew 25:31-46 and in 2 Corinthians 5:10. Other scholars, like Craig Blomberg, see the judgment in Revelation 20:11-15 as a judgment of the wicked dead. Prior to this, the judgment at the second coming of Christ includes believers – both the dead in Christ and those alive at Christ’s return – and nonbelievers who are alive at Christ’s return. According to Blomberg, this judgment, described in Matthew 25:31-26 and 2 Corinthians 5:10, takes place at Revelation 20:4.

Whatever the case may be, you are absolutely right that believers are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). Romans 3:22 makes it clear that the righteousness of God comes through faith in Jesus Christ (see also Romans 4:3 and Philippians 3:9). This is what makes all the difference when we stand before God on judgment day! The One who will judge us is the one who has legally declared us righteous (Romans 8:33-34). New Testament scholar Grant Osborne at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School says it well: “We are saved by grace but will be judged by works. . . [At the final judgment] we will be faced with our evil deeds and then forgiven” (Revelation, 722). 

Obviously, God does not judge believers to find out the condition of our hearts or the way we have lived our lives. He already knows this in every detail. Rather, he does it to display his glory – all of his perfections including his holiness, justice, righteousness, purity, grace, mercy, and forgiveness.

Are Christians in any way held accountable for not reaching those who might believe?

Yes. Christians have a responsibility to evangelize, and with responsibility comes accountability. Our responsibility to evangelize (share the gospel) is clearly stated in passages like Matthew 28:19-20 (“make disciples”), Acts 1:8 (“you will be my witnesses”) and 1 Peter 3:15 (“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have”).

As far as accountability, 2 Corinthians 5:10 says this to believers: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” Interestingly, Paul’s next words (5:11-20) have to do with evangelism – persuading people and serving as ambassadors for Christ! So, this is certainly one of the areas for which we have to give an account. Paul certainly believed that he was accountable for reaching the lost when he said: “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16). New Testament scholar Gordon Free notes: “Since this [preaching the gospel] is a divinely appointed destiny, he thereby would stand under divine judgment if he were to fail to fulfill that destiny” (The First Epistle to the Corinthians, 419). Of course, he is writing as an apostle who had a unique commission. But our situation is certainly similar to Paul’s!

Paul’s perspective reminds me, too, of the prophet Ezekiel’s call to be a watchman to warn God’s people of coming judgment. If Ezekiel warned the people and they refused to listen, their “blood will be on their head” (Ezekiel 33:5). However, God says in Ezekiel 33:6: “But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes the life of one of them, that man will be taken away because of his sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood.” Notice that the watchman’s failure does not excuse the sinner from being judged. 

Mark Dever, a godly pastor, is certainly right when he says: “Our silence is a matter of guilt and sin.” This should be sobering, but it should not cause us to despair. First, at the final judgment, God will make us face our evil deeds – including our failure to evangelize – and then forgive us. Second, while we can never use God’s sovereignty as an excuse for a lack of urgency or effort, we must remember that ultimately, salvation is God’s work. Though he chooses to use us in the process, he can overcome our weaknesses and limitations. I recommend J. I. Packer’s classic, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, for more on the tension between human responsibility and God’s sovereignty in evangelism.

Of course, our motivation for evangelism should flow from love, not fear. Our love for God and our love for our neighbor is what compels us to share the gospel! As J. I. Packer writes, “If we ourselves have known anything of the love of Christ for us, and if our hearts have felt any measure of gratitude for the grace that has saved us from death and hell, then this attitude of compassion and care for our spiritually needy fellow-men ought to come naturally and spontaneously to us” (Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, 76).

If God really is "loving" and "merciful" and he is "not willing that any should perish" why can't He let those who have lived a relatively good life into heaven and only send the really bad people to hell?

All who reject God will suffer at some level throughout eternity to show the eternal value of the love and grace and mercy of God! Here are three ideas to consider. First, while God wants all to be saved and is not willing that any should perish (see 1 Timothy 2:4 and 2 Peter 3:9), He has an even greater agenda or desire. Ray Van Neste explains this in his note on 1 Timothy 2:4 in The ESV Study Bible: “Arminians hold that God's greater desire is to preserve genuine human freedom (which is necessary for genuine love) and therefore he must allow that some may choose to reject his offer of salvation. Calvinists hold that God's greater desire is to display the full range of his glory (Rom. 9:22–23), which results in election depending upon the freedom of his mercy and not upon human choice (Rom. 9:15–18).” Second, the sin of those who have lived relatively good lives is still awful to a God who is pure, holy, and perfect in every way. A person who seems “relatively good” when compared with someone else still falls far short of God’s perfect standards (see Romans 3:9-20). Third, God accounts for the varying degrees of sinfulness through varying degrees of punishment in hell (see Matthew 11:20-24; Luke 12:47-48). So, God in his justice is not going to let a guy who cheated twice during his life on his income tax and Hitler suffer the same fate.

Since Jesus paid the penalty on the cross why can't God forgive everybody? That would seem to be the loving and merciful thing to do.

There is definitely a tension here! As Mark Driscoll observes, “Objectively, Jesus’ death was sufficient to save anyone and, subjectively, efficient only to save those who repent of their sin and trust in him” (p. 172, Death By Love). For God to take away this tension and forgive everybody, he would have to forgive those who refuse his forgiveness! Essentially, this compromises God’s justice and diminishes his love. The loving and merciful thing to do is to extend this offer of forgiveness to everyone. But God will not force people who refuse this offer to receive his love and mercy against their will. To look at this from another angle, God cannot forgive those who refuse to receive his forgiveness because the sin of rejecting God’s Son is eternal (see Matthew 12:32; Mark 3:29). D. A. Carson says: “Hell is filled with people who, for all eternity, still want to be at the center of the universe and who persist in their God-defying rebellion” [as quoted in The Case for Christ, p. 165].

Why would a loving God send someone (like a tribal person deep in the jungles of South America or Africa) to hell who had absolutely no way of knowing about Jesus or the Gospel?

I am convinced from my study of Scripture that people must hear and respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ in order to be saved. I base this on Romans 10:14: “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” This highlights the urgency of sharing the gospel with our friends and neighbors! Strictly speaking, the Bible denies that there are people who have never heard of God. His power and goodness are on display for all to see (Romans 2:4; Acts 14:15-17 and 17:30). So what about those who respond to God at this level? I doubt that they would not have an opportunity to hear the gospel. Rather, I suspect that God would raise up someone to share with them the gospel, much like He did by sending Philip to an Ethiopian who was open and ready to hear the gospel (see Acts 8:26-40).