Does God send good people to Hell?
Matthew 19:16-22
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.” But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.
Question: Does God send good people to Hell?
Answer: Jesus states: “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
If you think that you are a righteous person, and that you will stand before God on Judgment Day, completely innocent in His eyes, then it is not you that Jesus has called unto salvation. However, if you recognize that you are a sinner, and in need of salvation, and indeed you are a sinner, and you do need salvation, then you may plea the blood of Christ. The Bible states: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1st John 1:9)
For sinners, rather than the righteous who have never sinned and are not in need of salvation, which such a person does not exist, except for Christ who knew no sin (2nd Corinthians 5:21), Jesus is the “the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6) Upon hearing John 14:6, one person described Christianity as being “elitist.” However, this person is also depraved, and on another occasion, openly admitted that he was definitely going to “Hell.” What’s amazing is that while he had admitted that he was a sinner, and going to Hell, he didn’t want to stoop so low as to submit himself to Jesus for salvation. Instead, he’d rather complain about Christianity, and insist that God should just accept him for who he is, rather than to accept him in Christ. However, God doesn’t accept us for who we are. He accepts us for who were are in relation to His Son. That’s the place of God’s grace, and instead of complaining about elitism, we would be better off celebrating the fact that God has bothered to provide us with a way of salvation at all.
