Is God’s love still unconditional if He sends people to hell?
This is an important question to ask and one that thankfully, people have answered in the Biblical lens. This question echoes another common question, “how can a good God send people to hell?” Both are very good and challenging questions, but they are also presuppositional in nature. By that I mean that there are certain things that this question presupposes about man and God. Firstly, the question presupposes certain things about the nature of man. By asking, “how can a loving God send people to hell?” one assumes that man is deserving of gifts and undeserving of wrath. This is sensed in the nature of the question. There is no questioning whether or not man deserves love or salvation or even attention from God in the first place, it is just assumed to be true. This, of course, is contrary to what the Bible has to say about man. The Bible records man as sinful and separated from God (2 Thess. 1:9), following the influence of the Devil (Eph. 2:2), and deceitful above all other things (Jer. 17:9). So to ask the question, “how could a loving God send people to hell?” would be misleading and unbiblical. The better question, as many theologians have responded to this conundrum, is to ask, “how could a loving God save anyone from hell?”
Secondly, the question presupposes certain things about the nature of God. When asking this question, the asker assumes that God owes mankind either love or courtesy or anything. The Bible says that God does not owe anyone anything, but rather everything from Him is a gift of grace (1 Peter 4:10, James 1:17).
One thing that I have been learning as a Christian is that my posture matters. I am not talking about the way that I sit or stand, but the posture of my heart and mind. The aforementioned question assumes an upright, stiff-necked, entitled posture. The posture of a man who knows he has been saved by grace from what he truly does deserve, whether God’s love is unconditional or not, is that of humble service and endless gratitude to the Savior.
So, I pray you learn this. You are loved unconditionally in the sense that nothing you do can stop God’s love for you. But you are also committing sins that God hates, thereby invoking His righteousness. So, when He sends someone to hell for their sin, He does so out of justice and consistency. He is faithful to His nature. He is faithful to you. If He was not to punish sin rightfully, how could I trust that, “nothing can snatch them out of my hand?” (John 10:28).
Ask not why a loving God would send someone to hell, but why a just God would send someone to heaven. True love, that which is embodied in Christ, is the freedom to choose to love God. If God truly loves us, He gives us freedom to love or reject Him. Frank Turek argues that God will not force you into His presence, so He’s not going to force you into heaven. In this sense, you choose to go to hell. This is reinforced in Scripture in Romans 1 when Paul says that all of mankind has the Law written on their hearts, so there is individual accountability for sin. It is further supported in the passage when he claims that “they are without excuse” for what they know and what they do. It is unfortunate though, that many do not know or believe the severity of what they are choosing instead of God’s presence. Then follows the incentive to share the Gospel in its full and true light. To show that God is holy and man is sinful, thus separating themselves from each other. That sin, being detestable in the sight of Holy God, must be punished and accounted for. But God, exercising the highest attainable act of unconditional love, sent His son Jesus Christ to take the punishment and be held accountable for my sin that separates me from God. This is love! And what must I do? Choose to accept it. What must you do? Accept the gift of grace in Christ Jesus. Choose to follow Him with your life and He will bring you into His presence.
Hell will be what you deserve but never receive. Love will be what you receive but never deserve.
Comments