Is Hell Just?

I popped into Starbucks today for a consciousness-sustaining beverage and bumped into a sister from the church.  We chatted for a bit, and the conversation turned to the fairness of Hell, in light of our current sermon series in Revelation.  Does the punishment of eternal damnation really fit the crime of sin?  No believer relishes the idea of souls enduring infinite suffering, and we are tempted to question God’s justice in  casting unbelievers into the Lake of Fire prepared for the Devil and his angels.

Jonathan Edwards, the great 18th century pastor, preached about Hell with unmatched conviction, accuracy, and vividness.  And in his preaching he addressed the topic of the justice of Hell.  Below are six arguments for why Hell is fair and right, taken from his sermon “The Portion of the Wicked.”

• “The punishment, as dreadful as it is, is not more so than the Being is great and glorious against whom you have sinned.” In other words, you feel the punishment is unjust because you do not grasp the gravity of the crime. Were you to see the infinite value, majesty and preciousness of God against whom we have brazenly sinned, the punishment would seem fitting.

• “Your nature is not more averse from such misery as you have heard of than God’s nature is averse from such sin as you have been guilty of.” God has an infinite hatred of sin, but that hasn’t stopped you from sinning. So why should your hatred of misery keep God from judging? This is quite fair.

• “You have not cared how much God’s honour suffered; and why should God be careful lest your misery be great?” Is it not fair and just that your disrespect of God’s eternal honor should be answered with eternal misery and dishonor?

• “As great as this wrath is, it is not greater than that love of God which you have slighted and spurned.” God has offered his own Son, of infinite worth, as the sacrifice for sins. And yet you not only reject God’s unspeakable glory, but also the unparalleled grace-gift of his own Son who died to absorb the curse you deserve! There is no court of appeals left on the last day for those who spurn the gospel. Rejecting the cross is like burning the lifeboats on the Titanic to keep warm.

• “If you complain of this punishment as being too great, then why has it not been great enough to deter you from sin?” You can’t have it both ways. If you argue that Hell is excessive, then why keep on sinning and acting as if God and his holiness were nothing? Your own words condemn you.

• “You have no cause to complain of the punishment being greater than is just; for you have many and many a time provoked God to do his worst.” If you go to the airport with a gun in your pocket, passing sign after sign warning against carrying guns, should you be surprised when you receive no mercy from the security guards or the other passengers when the metal detector reveals the weapon? If you blow through school zones when children are present, and pull around busses with stop-signs extended, should you cry “unfair” when you find yourself in the back of a police car? And when you have spent a lifetime ignoring all God’s warning signs in nature, in your conscience, and in his Word, can you really complain when God pours out his holy wrath against your sin?

When on the last day we see God in his holy glory, sinners in their shameful unrepentance, and Jesus the mediator with nail pierced hands whom they have disregarded, no one will be able to accuse God of injustice when he opens the great shaft of Hell and executes judgment.