The Gospel is Proof of Hell

Allow me to clear up a few things at the outset:

1. This isn’t about Rob Bell’s yet-to-be-published book, “Love Wins: Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived,” the topic is on my mind because of the book but I haven’t read the book and- let’s be honest- I’m not shocked that he would write a book that challenges the orthodox view of hell.

2. This is a little bit about the aftermath (see here and especially here) of the Justin Taylor post about the book. A lot of things have been said- many of which were said by people I respect- that can’t be unsaid. Personally, I think the “young, restless, reformed” crowd jumped on this so quickly because Bell has been so wishy-washy in the past about his views. He is the master of saying a lot without saying anything at all. I think the hope is that, in this book, Bell will lay his theological cards out on the table so we can label him appropriately. If history is any indication, that won’t happen.


It’s easy to get caught up in the details when debating certain issues. Is there a real literal place called “Hell” to which God sends all of His enemies? Is hell actually just separation from God? Does hell last forever, or is it a temporal punishment that leads to the eventual annihilation of the soul? These are weighty questions that cannot be answered by a mere blog post. However, we can look at one truth of the Bible which explains a lot to us about what kind of “love wins” according to the gospel.

So here are some things we can know about hell in light of the gospel:

1. The fact that God was willing to kill His Son shows that hell really does exist.

If someone said to me, “the boss was really serious when he said he would fire the next person who forgets to put a cover sheet on their TPS reports” I would take them seriously. If they said, “yeah, the boss just fired Bill in accounting for forgetting to put a cover sheet on his TPS report” I would take them more seriously. But if they said, “Did you hear that the VP got fired for forgetting to put a cover sheet on his TPS report?” I would know the boss wasn’t messing around about this cover sheet stuff.

That was a pretty lame example but the point is that the Son of God be crushed for sin means something about God’s feelings toward sin. The fact that God would pour out His wrath on Christ, for whom He has infinite love and affection, shows that no sin will go unpunished.

2. Christ went to hell on the cross, not after the cross.

Those who would say that Jesus went to Hell after dying on the cross in order to take on more punishment seriously misunderstand the gospel. Those who say he went to Hell after dying on the cross to preach are wrong in my opinion, but it’s much more of a gray area. At the cross, Christ endured the full weight of the wrath of God, such that it was sufficient to save every human being who has or will ever live. If Christ went to hell in this sense while having sin imputed to him for those who would trust him as their savior, there will certainly be hell for those who choose to bear the weight of their own sin.

3. The fact that Christ’s saving work is tied to changed lives tells us that there are those who will bear the full weight of their own sin.

In case you are not inclined to believe in hell, please accept this argument on the assumptions that: (a) not everyone in history has trusted in Christ as their savior before their death, and (b) there is no opportunity for salvation given to those who have already died.

The Bible clearly ties Christ’s atoning work to the changed life of a believer. Of course, this would make it impossible for someone to make the claim that people can be saved by Christ without knowing he was their savior. Whether this is the argument that some are saved because of ignorance (which destroys missions), or the argument that a person’s devotion to one religion can be another form of devotion to Christ (which destroys sanctification).

To name a few things the Bible says about the results of Christ’s death:

a. Conformity to the image of Christ (Rom 8:28-29)
b. A new heart which is responsive to God (Ezek. 36:26, Jeremiah 31:31-40, Luke 22:20).
c. Freedom from the slavery to sin that we might live to righteousness (Rev. 1:5-6, 1 Peter 2:24)
d. The ability to live by faith in him (Galatians 2:20)

I could say more about this if I need to, but the point is that the gospel tells us that there is a hell, never mind the fact that the doctrine of hell can stand on its own. That is why this is a serious subject. Regardless of what Rob Bell says (or doesn’t say) in his book, this is an important subject to know, and even love, as it drives us to evangelism.

Grace and Peace,
Stephen