Friday DIVE – March 1, 2024
Welcome and Thanks for joining.
Tonight, we continue our series on the subject of Hell.
THINGS YOU PROBABLY DON’T KNOW ABOUT HELL
SPS … To look at some things you probably didn’t know about Hell … more specifically, to look at 12 things that I believe Hell is NOT. To be clear, these are NOT that a person needs to believe in order to be a Christian … and they are NOT things that Grace Communion believes … These ARE things that I believe, personally, as part of my personal theology.
Two important points before we start …
- When I refer to HELL, in the context of this study, I’m referring to “a place of eternal, conscious torment.”
- Unless otherwise noted, I’ll be using the KJV … for two main reasons …
- First, the word “hell” appears in the KJV more times than in most modern versions of the Bible
- Second, the understandings that most people have of hell is based on passages in the KJV
- Many, if not most, Christians in Jamaica believe the KJV to the the most accurate of all the Bible versions
One other VERY important point … for me … with the exception of tonight’s study, I don’t plan to give my personal view (at least, I’m going to try not to) … so please don’t ask me what I believe. The reason for this is that I want us to try to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to us, individually and collectively.
That said, what are the 12 things that I believe Hell is NOT?
Hell is …
1. not easily understood … because it’s not easily explained… and that because the Bible does NOT say a whole lot about it … The result is a lot of different views, based on a lot of mistranslations, misrepresentations, editorial bias, etc.
2. not on (or in) Earth Hell is not mentioned in Genesis … where we read that God saw all that He’d created and it was very good … so I’m inclined to believe it wasn’t created by God If so, where? … If so, when? … Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25 … Genesis 1:31 — everything God made was very good
3. not what Christ saved us from … He saved from the wages of sin, which death, not hell
4. not eternal … cast into the lake of fire (Rev.20:14)
5. not the lake of fire (Rev20:14)
6. not scriptural, even though biblical … concept is not in the Torah … word not in the OT
7. not something Christ spoke about … because HELL is an English word and Christ didn’t speak English
8. not a Christian concept … though many Christians believe it … really pagan … concept in Egyptian mythology and in Greek philosophy
9. not literal … metaphorical … fire (Matt.5:2) … darkness (Matt.8:12) … destruction? (Matt.10:28) … separation from God (Matt.7:23)
10. not populated by living people … but by dead bodies (Rev.20:13)
11. not in existence now … no info as to where it is … no info as to when it was created
12. not Godly (not of God; not pro-God) … doctrine of HELL = a doctrine of demons … HELL (as ECT) puts God in a bad light … What kind of God would create a Hell? … John 14:6 … Acts 4:12 … John 6:65 … John 6:44 … Isaiah 46:10