Sorry this is lengthy, but thought I would add in an excerpt from the book “23 Minutes in Hell’ by Bill Wiese, as it encapsulates a lot of the themes and thoughts discussed here, (disputed, denied and accepted) I have deliberately not included his actual stated experiences in hell, I don’t think anybody is ready to hear that:
‘Chapter 6; Can “good” people go to hell?’
‘You might bethinking,AmIagood
enough person to go to heaven? Yes, Ithink I am. Who goes to hell? Onlybad people, really bad people likeHitler, Stalin, murderers, rapists, andso forth. People who kill little children.Those are the really bad people.
This sounds reasonable to mostof us. But what standard is used todetermine if we are “good enough”to go to heaven and another is “badenough” to go to hell? Whatcriteria determines our eternalfate? Could it be based on a higherstandard? This is something we allneed to know for certain. What authority can give us definitive answers?
The Bible has much to say aboutthis widely misunderstood subject.Perhaps you have your ownopinion about the realities of hell.
Are you willing to risk your eternityon your own opinion? Since the Biblehas undergone such intense scrutiny, thorough investigation andthousands of years of testing, youmay want to at least see what ithas to say about this matter.
The qualification for entrance intoheaven (or hell) is not based onhow we compare to others. Youmay look pretty good to yourself,
but what if you were looked atthrough the eyes of one who is sin-less? What if you were judged notonly by your actions but also byyour thoughts? Would that make
you a little more uncomfortable? Ifwe are honest, we will admit thatour actions alone would condemnus.A girl was looking at a beautifulhillside covered with lush, green
grass. She noticed a herd of sheepstanding on the hill. They looked sowhite and clean, especially againstthe dark green grass. The girl wentto bed, and the next morning she
walked outside to look at the sheep. However, it had snowed all night.The sheep were still there, but now,against the unblemished whitesnow, they looked dingy, evendirty.¹Inthesameway,our“good-
ness” when compared to God’sstandard for good falls far, farshort.
Or perhaps you view your actionsand thoughts in the same wayDanny viewed his parking tickets.RayComfort,inhisbook‘HowtoLive Forever…Without Being
Religious’,explainswhathappened tohisfriendDanny.²“Whenhetoldme that he once went to prison forfailing to pay parking tickets, Iasked, ‘Why didn’t you just paythem?’ He answered, ‘They werejust parking tickets; it was no bigdeal.’ Then he told me that the police arrived at his home at 4:00
a.m., put him in a big black bus,and took him to Los Angeles County court. As he stood before thejudge, he said, ‘Your Honor, Ibrought $700 with me to pay thetickets and to cover the court costs.’The judge said, ‘Mr. Goodall, I’mgoing to save you all that money.You are going to jail!’” Danny was terrified.His big mistake was that he trivialized his crimes by thinking thatthey were “just” parking tickets, andhad so deceived himself. Had heknown the judge’s ruling (that hewould go to prison), he would havemade things right between himself and the law beforehand.
Most of us realize that we havebroken God’s law— the Ten Commandments, but it’s no big deal, everyone does it. So, let me ask you a few questionsabout the law you have broken and see if it is a big deal. Have you everlied? You say, “Yes. But they were
only white lies. They were nothing
serious.” Have you ever stolensomething? You say, “Yes, but onlylittle things.” Can you see what youare doing? You are trivializing yourcrimes, and like Danny, are deceiving yourself. What you are doingis saying that you haven’t actuallysinned and the Bible warns, “Hewho says he has no sin deceives
himself.” If you havelied or stolen anything (the value of theitem stolen is irrelevant), thejudge’s ruling is stated in Rev. 21:8 “All liars shall have their part in the lake which burns withfire and brimstone”You say, “I don’t believe in hell.” That’s like someonesaying to the judge, “I don’t believein jail.” What we believe or don’t believe doesn’t change realities. Nothiefwillenterheaven.Notone.³
Now look at this: Jesus said, “Who-
ever looks at a woman to lust for
her has already committed adultery
with her in his heart” (Matt. 5:28).
Have you ever looked with lust?
Then you have committed adultery
as far as God is concerned. Have
you used God’s name in vain? If
you have, then you have used His
holy name as a curse word to express disgust. That’s called blasphemy, and it’s very serious inGod’s sight. (*) So if you have been honestenough to admit that you have broken those commandments, you would be found a lying, thieving, blasphemous adulterer at heart on the day of Judgment. We would all be found guilty as we have all broken God’s commandments and fallen short of his perfect standard. Just as Danny was guilty of his crimes, we are all guilty of breaking God’s law and hell is our just sentence. Sowhat are you going to do? How canyou make things right between you
and the law?
Further, keep in mind that a goodjudge must carry out justice.There was a judge in a town thathad a case brought to him one day.A girl was speeding in her carthrough an intersection that hadsigns posted warning drivers todrive slowly and watch for blind,disabled children crossing thestreet. A police officer stopped hervehicle and gave her a ticket. Thejudge set the fine at the maximum—$25,000. Since the girl was
unable to pay the fine, the bailiffprepared to take her away to jail.Just then, the judge did somethingvery strange. He got up from his
bench, went over to the bailiff, andpaid the $25,000 for her! Peoplewondered what was going on; onlylater did they find out that the girlwas his daughter. Even though itwas his daughter, the judge still imposed the maximum fine. He had tocarry out justice. However, his lovefor his daughter would not allowhim to leave her in thatpredicament.⁵In just the same manner, God didnot leave us in a hopeless state concerning our eternity. Just as thejudge paid the fine for his daughter,so Jesus paid the penaltyfor all of our sins. Jesus was brutally beaten, severely whipped, and nailedto a cross where He suffered anexcruciating death. He paid the finein His life’s blood for the crimesthat we committed: “God demonstrates His own love toward us, inthat “while we were still sinners,Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). ThenHe rose from the dead and defeated
death.
Ray continues, “Now here’s thedifference between being religiousand being a Christian. There aremillions of people on this earth whohave never seen the serious natureof sin. They are in the dark aboutthe judge’s ruling. They have noidea that they will end up in hell forcrimes that they consider trivial.
They know that they may have to faceGod after death, but they think thattheir religious works (like Dannywith his $700) will buy their way outof any trouble in which they may
find themselves if theytrivialize their sin, they will deceivethemselves into thinking that theycan work their way into heaven by
their religious works. But it is futile. God Himself has thrownus a life rope in Jesus Christ. He is the only One that can save us fromdeath and hell. But we must let goof our own efforts to save ourselvesand take hold of the rope, that’s when we find peace withGod.”⁶
The Bible says, “For by grace youhave been saved through faith, andthat not of yourselves; it is the giftof God, not of works, least anyoneboast” (Eph. 2:8–9).You still may wonder how a goodand loving God could send someone to that horrific place called hell.To put it plainly, He doesn’t. It isyour rejection of the provision(Jesus) for your sin that sends youthere. We all have a free will, and wecan choose not to repent. (Repentmeans “to turn or change.”) In
Deuteronomy 30:19, God says, “Ihave set before you life and death,blessing and cursing; thereforechooselife”(emphasisadded).Jesussaid, “I am the way, the truth, andthe life: no one comes to the Father
except through Me” (John 14:6).
Will you believe Jesus? Or will you
reject Him?
By choosing to do nothing, you
have already made a choice. You
choose death and hell eternal.There are no “fence” positions. InJohn 3:18, Jesus says, “He who believes in Him is not condemned;
but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he hasnot believed in the name of the onlybegotten Son of God.” I am horrified at the thought of anyone spend-
ing an eternity in hell. Please don’ttake this lightly, but believe what theBible has to say. It is your eternityyou are dealing with.Some may think that they havedone too many things wrong in thepast and that God could not forgivethem. The Bible clearly says that
God has plenty of mercy foreveryone. Psalm 86:5 says, “ForYou, Lord, are good, and ready toforgive, and abundant in mercy to
all those who call upon You.” Hewill forgive all of your sins the moment you ask, and He will rememberthemnomore.⁷ToreceiveJesusas your Savior, you can pray some-
thing along these lines:
Dear God, I confess I am a sinner.Thank You that Jesus took mypunishment upon Himself whenHe died on the cross for my sins,and then rose from the dead, defeating death. Today I repent andplace my trust in Jesus Christalone for my salvation. In Jesus’
name I pray. Amen.
If you have prayed this shortprayer, then you have made the wisest decision you will ever make.Get a bible and start reading, starting
with the Gospel of John. Find aBible-believing church to attend and go and tell someone what youhave done, as Jesus said to do inMatthew 10:32. Pursue Him, and
you will fulfill your purpose in life.’
(*) just to add, in Matthew 5:22 Jesus also taught that to be angry with someone is to murder them in your heart. So God equates hateful anger to murder which is a sin. Who hasn’t expressed anger towards someone in their life at some point?