"God is love." 1 John 4:8
"God is a consuming fire." Hebrews 12:29
"Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God." Romans 11:22

    These two attributes of God are shown most clearly at the cross. God's justice required judgement for our sins. "Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." (Galatians 3:10) Yet God's love moved him to take that punishment due each of us. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree." (Galatians 3:13)

    A place of "everlasting fire" exists and was spoken of by Jesus. He lovingly forewarned of his final words to those who reject his free gift of salvation and remain under the curse.

    As seen in the above scriptures, hell was not created for man, but "...hell hath enlarged herself" (Isaiah 5:14) to accommodate those of mankind who reject the love of God. The existence of hell does not diminish the love or loveliness of God. It speaks only of the rabid [fanatical] villainy [evildoing] of creatures--Satan, his angels, and mankind, who as Matthew records, could "spit in his face" (Matthew 26:67), the face of their creator. Often the unwillingness of man to face his own culpability [guilt] and sinfulness prompts him to saddle God with the burden of blame for the existence of hell. Truthfully, hell pronounces the malfeasance [wrongdoing] of the creatures, not of the creator. The doctrine of hell is an affront [insult] to proud mankind.

    Hell's presentation in the bible can hardly be extinguished, but recent [bible] versions have diluted it by submerging the reader in a welter of words, substituting 'death', 'grave', 'sheol', 'hades' and 'the depths' for the word, 'hell'. Using five additional ambiguous words fractures the impact. The shatterment flies in the face of clarity, obscuring God's warning. Descending progressively downward from "death," to the "grave," then to "sheol" or "hades," then "the depths," and finally to "hell," the NIV offers a station, waiting to prove the afterlife theory of every philosophy and cult afloat.

      It is no more God's will that we perish in hell than it is his will that we commit rape, robbery, murder or any other evil. Man was created with a free will to choose between right and wrong, good and evil, life and death. We are responsible for the choices we make and for the actions we take. God will often try to communicate with us through His word, the Holy Bible, but if we are caught up in the “cares of this life” and our own devices, doing things our way, we will usually ignore his voice (Luke 8:14; 21:34). “Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee.” (Deut. 8:5). Just as children don't like to hear their parents warn them of impending consequences when they are doing something wrong, some people don't like to hear preachers warn them about the fire of hell when they are doing something wrong. Someone said, “Oh, I just don't believe that God would send people to hell to burn forever in a lake of fire.” This poor lost soul does not understand that it is not God who condemns man to hell. It is man himself who is responsible for choosing salvation or condemnation: “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.... And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:17,19). Moreover, for God to allow all of the suffering that has occurred from the time man first sinned til now – pain and sorrow unimaginable by some, the horrific results of famines and plagues, innumerable numbers of people murdered, millions more brutally tortured and maimed – and to believe that the true scriptural literal hell does not exist is really an ignorant position to take. “But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.” the apostle Paul said (I Cor. 14:38). Ignorance is defined as:

      We can choose to be ignorant; or we can choose to be informed. We can choose to let the word of God teach us what is good and what is evil; or we can choose to “be as gods” deciding for ourselves what is good and what is evil “every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes”, just as our first parents, Adam and Eve, did (Gen. 3:5; Deut. 12:8). Lucifer boasted in his pride, “I will be like the most High” (Isa. 14:14). When Lucifer, “that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world” first enticed man, the temptation was not for man to be evil but to be good, to “be like the most High”, to “be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:3:5; Rev. 12:9). In the fourteenth chapter of Isaiah, Lucifer is in heaven; in verse fifteen Satan is in hell. The intervening verses expose his pride in the five “I wills,” each a rung in his descent into hell:

      Notice the similarities between Lucifer's boasting and proud man's self-righteous prayer: “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.” (Luke 18:11,12). Note that the letter “I” occurs the same number of times in both the Pharisee's prayer and in Lucifer's boast. How many times have you heard proud man saying some of the same things that the self-righteous Pharisee said? How many times have you heard proud man saying, “I fast”, or “I give tithes”, or “I am not as other men are”? How many times have you heard proud man saying, “I will do whatever I choose to do”, or “I deserve better”, or “I don't deserve punishment”? Proud fallen man has chosen to follow the proud fallen “god of this world” who “hath blinded the minds of them which believe not” (II Cor. 4:4). How many times have you heard proud man saying, “I will believe whatever I choose to believe”? But just because we choose to believe that something is true does not mean that it is true. And just because we choose to believe that something is false does not mean that it is false. A false perception of reality does not change the truth. “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” (Rev. 22:11). You and I are ultimately responsible for whatever choices we make in this life: and “every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” (Rom. 14:12). We can try to play the blame game, but it won't stick. Ever since the fall of man people have been playing the blame game. Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the serpent. The serpent blamed God.

      In his 1976 book Born Again, Charles Colson, a successful lawyer who in the 1970's was one of the men closest to President Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal, wrote about his own personal experiences and questions about God and the Bible: “‘If He is good, why does He preside over such an evil world?’ Again my legal training suggested a useful parallel. In the beginning, God gave to mankind dominion over the earth He created (see Genesis 1:26-30). In other words, he made us, in lawyers' parlance, His agents. The theory of agency in the law suggests a freedom of action, something beyond being a servant or mechanical robot. The agent is given the power to act within the scope, lawyers say, of authority—within certain set limits. The limits of this authority—the delegation as we call it in the law—God also laid out in Scripture. But at the same time, He gave us free will. That is the point, of course; give someone less and he is no agent; the giver ends up doing it all himself. With a free will we can defy those limits and His instructions to us as readily as any agent exceeds the scope of his authority in civil law.... As Lewis put it, ‘The moment you have a self at all, there is a possibility of putting yourself first—wanting to be the centre—wanting to be God....’ How devastatingly I now saw that in my own life.” (Born Again, Charles W. Closon, pp. 122,123).

      Some people have stated that they believe in a "god" or a "higher power" and an "afterlife", but that they do not believe in a devil or the biblical hell. By their own philosophy and logic these people have unwittingly admitting that they believe in a fantasy. For they fail to see, that according to their own philosophy, that is, the philosophy of humanism and moral relativism, that it is just as ridiculous to believe in a god and an afterlife as it is to believe in a devil and a hell, places and things intangible and unprovable by their own admission. But not believing the truth is just as destructive as believing a lie. Just because someone claims to "believe in God" means nothing as far as the salvation of their soul is concerned.

      Everything that we need to know for the salvation of our souls in contained in the scriptures. “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.” (Deut. 29:29). Someone might say, “I just don't understand this.” or “I just don't understand that.” The things that we do understand, “those things which are revealed” unto us by the scriptures, are more important than the things that we don't understand. “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.” (I Cor. 14:33). Confusion and a lack of understanding the scriptures is a result of man's proud unconverted heart. “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:8). God has made known to us everything that is required for salvation: “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:” (II Tim. 1:9,10). “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;” (Titus 2:11,12). “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.” (I Pet. 1:23-25). God has revealed to us through the scriptures everything that we need to know to be saved: “and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:” (Rom. 16:26). And this is why Satan fights so hard to keep people away from the scriptures. This is why the devil tries so hard to discredit the pure words of the Lord contained in the Holy Bible.

      The Lord tells us in Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge”. The Bible tells us that there were conspiracies among God's people to compromise his laws and corrupt his word by intermingling with the pagan customs of the nations of the world. There are numerous references to conspiracies and conspirators in the Bible. Some people believe that such conspiracies only occurred in bible times and therefore we need not be concerned about such things in this modern day and age. But the Bible teaches us that “whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning”, and “all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition” (Rom. 15:4; I Cor. 10:11). The Bible warns us that in the last days there will be “strong delusion”, and people will be caught up in the “cares of this life” which will cause a “falling away” from true biblical Christianity and many will be deceived by “seducing spirits” and “doctrines of devils” (II Thess. 2:3,11; I Tim. 4:1; Luke 8:14; 21:34). To doubt the reality of hell is one such “delusion”. Lucifer boasted in his pride saying, “I will be like the most High.” (Isa. 14:14). Through the various occult organizations of the world Lucifer has launched an all out campaign to change his worldwide image from that of his truly evil nature as Satan to that of the most high God himself. The 1904 annual report of the Theosophical Society stated: “I believe it is through the churches, and not through the Theosophical Society, that Theosophy [that is the worship of Lucifer] must and should come to large bodies of people in the west.” (Transactions of the Theosophical Society, 1904, H. P. Blavatsky, Annie Besant). Fenton Hort, a nineteenth century occult mystic who worked on the corrupt bible revision committee of 1881, wrote, “At present very many orthodox but rational men are being unawares acted upon by influences which will assuredly bear good fruit in due time, if the process is allowed to go on quietly“.

      Satan's methods to deceive man are unchanged from Genesis 3:1, “Yea, hath God said...?”, to Revelation 13:8, when “all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him”. The subtle and not so subtle changes in new bible versions are no coincident. Modern bible versions will often cross reference Isaiah 14:12 with II Peter 1:19 & Revelation 22:16 giving the reader the false impression that Jesus Christ and Lucifer are one in the same. Corrupt bible versions and study aids “in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth” are at the forefront of the “falling away” of the churches from the “plain” “pure words” of the Holy Bible, and the “strong delusion” and deception that Jesus Christ and the apostles warned us would come (I Cor. 2:13; Psa. 12:6,7; Prov. 8:8,9; II Thess. 2:3-11; II Tim. 4:). To cast doubt on the pure preserved words of the Lord (the KJV), our adversary the devil is using occult literature, and the various new age bible versions (based in whole or in part on the corrupt Alexandrian Eusebio-Origen text types), and interleniers and lexicons who's texts agree with Luciferian doctrine (Psa. 12:6,7; Prov. 30:5). Incidently, like many corrupt new bible versions, the NKJV has omitted the word “hell” in no less than ten verses in the New Testament alone (see Matt. 11:23; 16:18; Luke 10:15; 16:23; Acts 2:27,31; Rev. 1:18; 6:8; 20:13,14).

      Many people believe in the philosophy of moral relativism, the idea that everything is ‘relative’ and nothing is ‘absolute’. This concept is not new. In fact, this philosophy is thousands of years old, and can be traced as far back as the book of Genesis, where the serpent uttered these infamous words: “then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”(Gen. 3:5). Adam and Eve were the first humans to embrace the philosophy of moral relativism as they chose to “be as gods” and decide for themselves what is “good” and what is “evil”, thereby opening the door of sin to the human race: “as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”(Rom. 5:12): “For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.”(Eccl. 7:20):. Some people believe that man is changing or “evolving”, and that there is no absolute standard of right and wrong, and that our laws and our ordinances must also change to accommodate each individual's concept of right and wrong. Adam and Eve changed and the consequences were disastrous: “The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.”(Isa. 24:5). When man broke God's commandment and sin entered into the world, they “became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened”(Rom. 1:21). Sin causes the heart of man to become darkened and hardened, his “understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart”(Eph. 4:18). A man may choose to change his view of good and evil as often as he will. But, truth does not change: and God's “word is truth” (John 17:17). And the true God, the righteous judge, does not change: “I am the LORD, I change not;” “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” (Mal. 3:6; Heb. 13:8). Man is given a free will by his creator to be able to choose which path to follow. People change by choice, for better or for worse.

      Someone might say, “But that doesn't sound ‘fair’ to me.” Well, just what exactly is fair? After all, most people determine what is and what is not fair based on their own personal standards of morality. However, moral relativism is a philosophy that is based on faulty foundations. For if morals are truly relative, then the slaughter of millions of people in Nazi Germany during WW2 and the murder of thousands of citizens on September eleventh 2001 by Islamic terrorists would have to be accepted as acts of "good". Adolf Hitler believed that what he was doing was “right”. Islamic terrorists today believe that what they are doing is “good”. But, thank God, most people still understand that these are not acts of good, but acts of evil. Sadly, many of the same people who condemn genocide and terrorist attacks choose to believe that so called “lesser” sins, such as adultery, fornication, abortion, stealing, profanity and lying, are not really evil. Moses warned the children of Israel saying, “Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.”(Deut. 12:8). God warned us that “the customs of the people are vain”(Jer. 10:3), and not to be confused with his ordinances: “Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs...[morals]”(Lev. 18:30). “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”(Prov. 14:12). King David said, “Thy word”, meaning Gods word, the Holy Scriptures, “have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”(Psa. 119:11). If, however, we repeatedly allow temptation to be conceived in our heart, our conscience will become seared, and we will no longer feel conviction of sin. “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”(I Cor. 10:13). God will make a way for us to escape temptation, but it is up to us to choose whether or not to escape: for the decision is ours and ours alone whether to choose good or whether to choose evil. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”(Rom. 6:23).

      The first message that Jesus Christ preached was, “Repent ye, and believe the gospel.” (Mark 1:15). To “Repent” simply means to confess your sins with sincere remorse and forsake them (Prov. 28:13). To “believe the gospel” simply means to believe God's word, the Holy Bible. Jesus said, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”[and “all have sinned”] (Luke 5:32; Rom. 3:23). “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins” (Acts 26:18). “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” (Prov. 28:13). “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19).

      Since the fall of man in Genesis chapter three when the serpent first tempted man to “be as gods”, man has chosen to decide for himself what is “good” and what is “evil” “and their foolish heart was darkened.... For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:” (Rom. 1:21,26). The New Century Dictionary of the English Language defines Lesbianism as “Un-natural sexual relations between women.” (The New Century Dictionary, page 943, Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc. New York, 1952). “And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman” (Rom. 1:27). But “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil” (Isa. 5:20). Fallen man has exercised his free will and has chosen evil over good, “for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Gen. 8:21). “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes” (Prov. 21:2); but “The heart is deceitful above all things” (Jer. 17:9), and “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool” (Prov. 28:26). “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Prov. 16:25). Man has received ample warning from his creator and is without excuse: “Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.” (Deut. 12:8). “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (II Thess. 2:11,12). Lucifer said, “I will be like the most High”, and fallen man has followed suit to “be as gods” (Isa. 14:14; Gen. 3:5). And the religious people of the world, from Hindus to Muslims, from Buddhists to apostate Christians, all will worship Satan (Lucifer) believing that they are worshipping the true God. “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him”, “the great dragon”, “that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world”; all but the remnant of faithful Bible believing Christians who refuse to receive his “mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads” (Rev. 12:9; 13:8,16); “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”; the remnant of faithful Bible believers who refuse to “add unto” or “take away from” or “change” any word of the “pure” “preserve[d]” “words of the LORD” in our beloved English Authorized KJV Holy Bible (Eph. 1:1; Deut. 4:2; Psa. 12:6,7; Prov. 24:21; 30:6; Rev. 14:12; 22:18,19): “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” (Rev. 12:11)

      The choice is simple: “everlasting life” ? (John 3:16) or “everlasting punishment” ? (Matt. 25:46): “therefore choose life” (Deut. 30:19).