Is Hell Fair, Part 2
Are There Any "Good" People?
The second issue raised is how could a loving God send "good" people to hell? The nature of this question is troublesome because it is subjective in its understanding and in its measurement. How would someone measure and record their good and bad deeds? It is impossible. Would such a recording, if possible, be subject to bias for at least a 51% ratio of good to bad? It is highly unlikely someone would willingly put forth a case to condemn oneself to eternal punishment. This problem is minor in comparison to the subjective nature man would judge goodness. One must ask, “What is good? What is bad?” Without an objective guide, cultures and individuals will determine good or bad. What this does is put an individual like Osama Bin Laden and his actions behind September 11th in comparison to the child who steals a piece of gum or Hitler’s attempted genocide of the Jews. Some would say “Bin Laden is bad compared to me, but he’s got a few more deaths to catch up to Hitler.” This position should make anyone uncomfortable. In this subjective prescription for determining a good or bad, a person could put Hitler in better position than Mother Theresa depending on a person’s opinion. This system of judgment seems unfair. The alternative to this is using objective morals and standards. It is God’s standards that all men are judged and thus deemed good or bad.
What standards would God put forth to guide and judge mankind? It is the Law – the 10 commandments. Exodus 15 puts forth God’s commandments:
"You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol…You shall not worship them or serve them…You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain…. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy… Honor your father and your mother...You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.[1]"
McGee explains “The Law is the expression of the mind of God relative to what man ought to be. There is no grace or mercy in the Law at all…The Law requires perfection on your part.”[2] The Law is perfect.[3] The Law is a mirror. When asking the question, “Am I good enough to avoid hell?” Look into the mirror and ask “Mirror, mirror on the wall, do I have a prayer at all?” When looking into the mirror of the Law, no one comes out clean. Romans 3:19 states “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.”[4] The Law exposes our sin and shows the separation from God.
Jesus was faced with the question of goodness and works to merit entrance into heaven. Matthew writes:
"And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” Then he said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother; and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
The man comes to Jesus sincerely wanting to know how to be saved. Jesus tells the man he needs to keep the commandments - God’s standards. This is of course impossible. The man then wants to know which ones. Perhaps he is thinking “I’ve kept most of those, so hopefully he’ll name the right ones.” It is possible the man did not externally commit these sins. However Paul reveals the internal thoughts condemn as well.[5] Jesus then, with great concern and care, tells the man if he wants to be perfect and complete, he must sell his things and follow Himself fully. This goes back to the first commandment: “You shall have no other gods before me.”[6] This is the commandment that no one can escape. To give up his money, meant to give up his idol.
This man’s response is similar to most people’s answer to the question of one’s goodness. In the film 180, street evangelist Ray Comfort surveys people on a boardwalk. He asks them “If Heaven exists, do you think you’d get there? Are you a good person?”[7] All questioned responded with a form of “Yes. I am a moral person.” What differs from Jesus’ discussion was after looking at the Law, those surveyed admitted breaking the commandments. Their self-prescribed goodness was a denial of the commandments to which they are accountable. Romans 1:18 stated this. It is not ignorance of the truth; it is the suppression of it.
Does mankind have a choice in the matter of sin and sinning? The answer is both no and yes. Roman’s 5 states:
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned…So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.[8]
In these passages, we discover original sin started by Adam. Paul laid out in Romans 5 that many died because of Adam. The judgment came from the first sin and condemnation was its cost. Adam’s first sin brought death to all. Adam’s first sin brought damnation to mankind. Now we are all sinners. This is why we all struggle with sin. McGee puts forward four points of why we are sinners. We are sinners because: “We commit acts of sin. Also, we’re sinners by nature (sin doesn’t make us sinners, but we sin because we have that nature). We are in the state of sin God has declared the entire human family under sin. Finally, you and I are also sinners by imputation. That is, Adam acted for t he human race because he was the head of it.”[9] This concept is not isolated to Romans 5. David wrote in Psalm 51:5 “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.”[10] Charles H. Spurgeon believes that David did not write this to justify his sinful actions; rather it was part of his full confession.[11] Spurgeon elaborates David’s thoughts, “My birth-tendencies are out of the square of equity; I naturally lean to forbidden things.”[12] For those who are parents see this while child-rearing. Upon birth, babies appear to be perfect angels. Then something happens. You provide instruction to your child and they look at you and say “no.” It is also seen when children are at play. One child pushes another child or takes their toy. I find it unlikely a parent told the child to act that way; rather it was the role of the parent to instruct and discipline to act rightly. Therefore in the matter of sin, we are burdened with it. We have no choice but to have a sin nature and the condemnation of sin. We do however have the choice to act on our sinful desires. Matthew 26:41 says, “Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”[13] 1 Corinthians 10:13 tell us we can escape temptation because God will not allow us to be tempted beyond our ability. Likewise, David instructed to study Scripture so we will not sin against God.[14] Therefore can we resist the urge to sin? Yes. Will we in our fallen state resist perfectly? Never.
Conclusion
Paul wrote “as it is written, ‘There is none righteous, not even one.’”[15] The word “righteous” comes from the transliterated Greek diakaios. It means just before God’s judgment.[16] Paul is saying that there is no human who was, is, or will be sinless. Paul is loosely quoting Psalm 14:1, which says “There is no one who does good.”[17] Spurgeon comments mankind is “fallen and debased, is a desert without an oasis, a nigh without a star, a dunghill without a jewel, a hell without a bottom.”[18] Mankind is without excuse for his or her sin. We are condemned first by general revelation in nature. It only condemns and does not offer the answer to our sin. We are also condemned by the law, which is written on each person’s heart. We may choose to deny its existence, but it is only a suppression of the truth. Last, no one is good. No one measures up to God’s standards. Romans 3:23 states “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”[19] 2 Chronicles 6:36 declares there is no one who does not sin. There are no amounts of good deeds that will make us look any better than Hitler or worse than the Boy Scout down the street. When we look into the mirror of the Law, we will have fallen short of its standards. When God asks “Have you kept my commandments?” Should we ask “Which ones?” He will ask “Have you broken even one?” No one will be able to say “No.” At birth are prepared to reject God.
There is good news. The good news is found in Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” God asks nothing of us in terms of works. He wants our hearts and love. There is no amount of cleaning up our lives, or accumulating good works to begin the process. We know that “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”[20] Romans tell us that “if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”[21] And once saved, we are no longer slaves to sin, but we are freed from sin.[22] Paul wrote to his brothers in Galatia “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”[23] And when we die, for those of us who are children of God, we will be able to say “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Amen!
[1] v. 3-17 NASB
[2] McGee, 265.
[3] Psalm 19:7 NASB
[4] NASB
[5] Matthew 15:19-20 NASB.
[6] Exodus 20:3 NASB
[7] Ray Comfort, 180 Movie, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y2KsU_dhwI. May 4, 2013.
[8] NASB
[9] McGee 678.
[10] NASB
[11] Spurgeon 239.
[12] Ibid.
[13] NASB
[14] Psalm 119:11
[15] Romans 3:10 NASB
[16] W.E. Vine, The Expanded Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, A Special ed. (Minneapolis, Minn.: Bethany House Pub, 1984), 969.
[17] NASB
[18] Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Psalms (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1976), 60.
[19] NASB
[20] Romans 6:23 NASB
[21] Romans 10:9 NASB
[22] Romans 6:7
[23] Galatians 5:16 NASB
What standards would God put forth to guide and judge mankind? It is the Law – the 10 commandments. Exodus 15 puts forth God’s commandments:
"You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol…You shall not worship them or serve them…You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain…. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy… Honor your father and your mother...You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.[1]"
McGee explains “The Law is the expression of the mind of God relative to what man ought to be. There is no grace or mercy in the Law at all…The Law requires perfection on your part.”[2] The Law is perfect.[3] The Law is a mirror. When asking the question, “Am I good enough to avoid hell?” Look into the mirror and ask “Mirror, mirror on the wall, do I have a prayer at all?” When looking into the mirror of the Law, no one comes out clean. Romans 3:19 states “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.”[4] The Law exposes our sin and shows the separation from God.
Jesus was faced with the question of goodness and works to merit entrance into heaven. Matthew writes:
"And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” Then he said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother; and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
The man comes to Jesus sincerely wanting to know how to be saved. Jesus tells the man he needs to keep the commandments - God’s standards. This is of course impossible. The man then wants to know which ones. Perhaps he is thinking “I’ve kept most of those, so hopefully he’ll name the right ones.” It is possible the man did not externally commit these sins. However Paul reveals the internal thoughts condemn as well.[5] Jesus then, with great concern and care, tells the man if he wants to be perfect and complete, he must sell his things and follow Himself fully. This goes back to the first commandment: “You shall have no other gods before me.”[6] This is the commandment that no one can escape. To give up his money, meant to give up his idol.
This man’s response is similar to most people’s answer to the question of one’s goodness. In the film 180, street evangelist Ray Comfort surveys people on a boardwalk. He asks them “If Heaven exists, do you think you’d get there? Are you a good person?”[7] All questioned responded with a form of “Yes. I am a moral person.” What differs from Jesus’ discussion was after looking at the Law, those surveyed admitted breaking the commandments. Their self-prescribed goodness was a denial of the commandments to which they are accountable. Romans 1:18 stated this. It is not ignorance of the truth; it is the suppression of it.
Does mankind have a choice in the matter of sin and sinning? The answer is both no and yes. Roman’s 5 states:
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned…So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.[8]
In these passages, we discover original sin started by Adam. Paul laid out in Romans 5 that many died because of Adam. The judgment came from the first sin and condemnation was its cost. Adam’s first sin brought death to all. Adam’s first sin brought damnation to mankind. Now we are all sinners. This is why we all struggle with sin. McGee puts forward four points of why we are sinners. We are sinners because: “We commit acts of sin. Also, we’re sinners by nature (sin doesn’t make us sinners, but we sin because we have that nature). We are in the state of sin God has declared the entire human family under sin. Finally, you and I are also sinners by imputation. That is, Adam acted for t he human race because he was the head of it.”[9] This concept is not isolated to Romans 5. David wrote in Psalm 51:5 “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.”[10] Charles H. Spurgeon believes that David did not write this to justify his sinful actions; rather it was part of his full confession.[11] Spurgeon elaborates David’s thoughts, “My birth-tendencies are out of the square of equity; I naturally lean to forbidden things.”[12] For those who are parents see this while child-rearing. Upon birth, babies appear to be perfect angels. Then something happens. You provide instruction to your child and they look at you and say “no.” It is also seen when children are at play. One child pushes another child or takes their toy. I find it unlikely a parent told the child to act that way; rather it was the role of the parent to instruct and discipline to act rightly. Therefore in the matter of sin, we are burdened with it. We have no choice but to have a sin nature and the condemnation of sin. We do however have the choice to act on our sinful desires. Matthew 26:41 says, “Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”[13] 1 Corinthians 10:13 tell us we can escape temptation because God will not allow us to be tempted beyond our ability. Likewise, David instructed to study Scripture so we will not sin against God.[14] Therefore can we resist the urge to sin? Yes. Will we in our fallen state resist perfectly? Never.
Conclusion
Paul wrote “as it is written, ‘There is none righteous, not even one.’”[15] The word “righteous” comes from the transliterated Greek diakaios. It means just before God’s judgment.[16] Paul is saying that there is no human who was, is, or will be sinless. Paul is loosely quoting Psalm 14:1, which says “There is no one who does good.”[17] Spurgeon comments mankind is “fallen and debased, is a desert without an oasis, a nigh without a star, a dunghill without a jewel, a hell without a bottom.”[18] Mankind is without excuse for his or her sin. We are condemned first by general revelation in nature. It only condemns and does not offer the answer to our sin. We are also condemned by the law, which is written on each person’s heart. We may choose to deny its existence, but it is only a suppression of the truth. Last, no one is good. No one measures up to God’s standards. Romans 3:23 states “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”[19] 2 Chronicles 6:36 declares there is no one who does not sin. There are no amounts of good deeds that will make us look any better than Hitler or worse than the Boy Scout down the street. When we look into the mirror of the Law, we will have fallen short of its standards. When God asks “Have you kept my commandments?” Should we ask “Which ones?” He will ask “Have you broken even one?” No one will be able to say “No.” At birth are prepared to reject God.
There is good news. The good news is found in Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” God asks nothing of us in terms of works. He wants our hearts and love. There is no amount of cleaning up our lives, or accumulating good works to begin the process. We know that “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”[20] Romans tell us that “if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”[21] And once saved, we are no longer slaves to sin, but we are freed from sin.[22] Paul wrote to his brothers in Galatia “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”[23] And when we die, for those of us who are children of God, we will be able to say “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Amen!
[1] v. 3-17 NASB
[2] McGee, 265.
[3] Psalm 19:7 NASB
[4] NASB
[5] Matthew 15:19-20 NASB.
[6] Exodus 20:3 NASB
[7] Ray Comfort, 180 Movie, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y2KsU_dhwI. May 4, 2013.
[8] NASB
[9] McGee 678.
[10] NASB
[11] Spurgeon 239.
[12] Ibid.
[13] NASB
[14] Psalm 119:11
[15] Romans 3:10 NASB
[16] W.E. Vine, The Expanded Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, A Special ed. (Minneapolis, Minn.: Bethany House Pub, 1984), 969.
[17] NASB
[18] Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Psalms (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1976), 60.
[19] NASB
[20] Romans 6:23 NASB
[21] Romans 10:9 NASB
[22] Romans 6:7
[23] Galatians 5:16 NASB
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