THE JUSTNESS OF ETERNAL PUNISHMENT

Many claim that eternal judgment, as presented in the Bible, is cruel and unjust. They charge that if we are unable to believe in the Gospel, even though it violates reason and evidence, we will be thrown into a place of eternal torment. An atheist just rephrased it this way:

·       So the believers are rewarded with eternal blissful afterlife and the unbelievers deserve only eternal torment, no matter how decent their lives were?

How can we answer these charges against the justice of God in view of the fact that we are limited in our understanding of the final judgment? However, I think that we must try to answer our critics and even our own doubts. Therefore, here is my fumbling attempt.

First of all, none of us are decent enough to come into the presence of God (Psalm 15, 24). Only those who receive the offer of His mercy can receive the “eternal blissful afterlife” (Romans 6:23). Besides, when we reject the Lord, we are morally culpable. Why? Because the evidence in favor of God and His nature is simply overwhelming, as the Scriptures affirm:

·       For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. (Romans 1:18-20)

This means that when we reject the Lord, we do this culpably and condemn ourselves:

·       For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. (John 3:17-20)

Therefore, the judgment or condemnation is a matter of what we do to ourselves. If we hate the Light of God in this world, we will definitely hate His Presence in the next when His proximity makes it far more intense. We will even flee from His presence, even if it takes us into a place of darkness and suffering:

·       Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; (Psalm 1:5)

·       Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Revelation 6:15-17)

·       The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless: “Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?” He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking on evil, (Isaiah 33:14-15)

Even the Jews could not tolerate the presence of their God at Mt. Sinai:

·       “Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, we shall die.” (Deuteronomy 5:25)

For believers, God’s presence will be like the healing and comforting rays sun, but, for the unbeliever, like burning fire. In view of these verses and many more, it doesn’t seem that God has to force any into condemnation. We do it to ourselves, and God merely rubber stamps our own decisions. Consequently, heaven and hell are merely a matter of God allowing us to have what we want.