Why Does God Send People to Hell?

One of the greatest joys of teaching students is allowing them the freedom to ask any question—no matter how offensive, difficult, or controversial. However, I will admit that there is a degree of angst standing in front of hundreds of students and handing them an open microphone.  But worth it in every way when you see them wrestle with some of the great questions life and faith throw your way.

Recently, I was asked, why God sends people to hell just because they don’t believe the right thing. Like many of these kinds of questions, her question pierced through the whispers and side conversations. Suddenly, this room full of students only partially paying attention had become laser focused.  

Here is what I told her.   

First, I asked everyone in the room to take a breath. Then another. And another. When was the last time you thought about the breaths you took? Where they came from? How many you have left? Chances are, most of you wake up in the morning and think nothing of it. You just breathe, effortlessly. Now, feel your pulse. Same thing right? When was the last time you thought about each heartbeat? My guess is, is that if you are relatively young like me, taking a breath or the beating of your heart rarely if ever, crosses our minds.

But what you and I almost never think about, God is providing for us every minute of every day. For all people. For all time.

We call this common grace.  

These are the essentials of life that God provides us, whether we choose to recognize him for it or not. Each day that we wake up and take a breath, we are receiving a gift of common grace from God. He gives out this grace equally upon his creation. Yet, he can remove it any time. God can stop the world from spinning, let the sun loose from its place, stop the rain from falling and watering the ground, and even change the chemistry in the air we breathe from live giving to lethal. God's desire is that we glorify him for what he has provided. So, it seems only fair to worship the one who gave me the ability to think the words, and the breath to utter the words, of the very worship God desires.    

But why send us to hell for not believing?

Short answer…He doesn’t.  

If you have lived a life disbelieving in God, as in, you actively choose not to believe in God, Jesus, etc.; then God is honoring your request. Imagine, living here on earth, not wanting God, rejecting him at every turn, denying his existence to the point of trying to convince others to think like you. But all along God is giving you a heartbeat, giving you air to breathe, the sun to keep you warm, and a stable environment to live. Just simply allowing you to wake up each morning. God is gracious enough that he doesn't force his presence or will on you. Hell is God simply giving you exactly what you wanted—an existence without him and an existence without common grace.  

Hell is the end of freeloading on the graces of God while denying his existence. And the reality is, is that you send yourself.  Our decisions now have a tremendous impact later, and there are consequences for getting it wrong.  God clearly deserves nothing short of our unending praise, admiration, and worship. Not doing so, is not some undeserved prison sentence, but the result of a conscious choice to deny God what he deserves.