Is Hell Fair?

One chief objection atheists give for their unbelief in God is that hell is unfair. How, they ask, can a good God send people to hell who never heard of him? I'm sure this question bothers many sincere seekers as well.

Though many people never heard of God, Romans 1:20 (BBE) shows that they still know of him through creation. "For from the first making of the world, those things of God which the eye is unable to see, that is, his eternal power and existence, are fully made clear, he having given the knowledge of them through the things which he has made, so that men have no reason for wrongdoing:"

And if that isn't enough, the next verse shows that the various people groups throughout history rejected the Lord. Romans 1:21 (BBE) declares, "Because, having the knowledge of God, they did not give glory to God as God, and did not give praise, but their minds were full of foolish things, and their hearts, being without sense, were made dark."

There's also the thorny matter of God's sovereignty over whom he's chosen. The human mind rebels against this, yet it's true. Ponder what God said through the Apostle Paul in Romans 9:19 and 20 (BBE). "But you will say to me, 'Why does he still make us responsible? who is able to go against his purpose?' But, O man, who are you, to make answer against God? May the thing which is made say to him who made it, 'Why did you make me so?'"

The truth is that God is sovereign and everything was made by him. As Paul continues in Romans 9:22-24, (BBE), "What if God, desiring to let his wrath and his power be seen, for a long time put up with the vessels of wrath which were ready for destruction: And to make clear the wealth of his glory to vessels of mercy, which he had before made ready for glory, Even us, who were marked out by him, not only from the Jews, but from the Gentiles?"

But this view isn't Paul's alone. Isaiah 64:8 (BBE) expressly states, "But now, O Lord, you are our father; we are the earth, and you are our maker; and we are all the work of your hand."

God also told Jeremiah to go to the potter's house and watch him work. The man made a pot but something went wrong with it. So he reshaped the clay into another pot which pleased him. We read in Jeremiah 18:6 (BBE) that God said, "'O Israel, am I not able to do with you as this potter does?' says the Lord. 'See, like earth in the potter's hand are you in my hands, O Israel.'"

So those folks who criticize God are in the wrong and need to repent of their gross sin. This is one thing I must point out in my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? Puny humanity feels entitled to murmur against the Lord but all they'll receive in the end is a one-way trip to hell.

On Thursday, I plan on posting about how hell is a sort of jail where sinners await their final sentence.