Hoping vs. Wishing for an Impermanent Hell

As I prepare this week to speak on the doctrine of Hell, I am struggling a bit with my feelings. I think Michael Wittmer summarizes well the tension I have:

Our hopes are only as strong as the reasons we have for holding them. Some hopes are nothing more than a wish—I hope that it doesn’t rain tomorrow or that my team will win the game. But Christian hope, the kind that makes the top cut with faith and love (1 Cor. 13:13), is grounded in the promises of God. Such hope is “an anchor for the soul, firm and secure” (Heb. 6:19), because it rests in what “God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time” (Titus 1:2).

I wish that God would empty hell, that he would save everyone who has ever lived. But I can’t say I hope for that, because I don’t have a promise from God to hang my hope on. Christians may have lots of good wishes for deceased atheists, but we don’t have hope. Not because we are mean or stingy, but because we dare not offer more hope than God promises in Scripture. That would be false hope, the cruelest hope of all.


Michael Wittmer, Christ Alone: An Evangelical Response to Rob Bell's "Love Wins," (Edenridge Press: 2011), Kindle Edition.

Is God Celebrating Osama bin Laden's Death? Should We?

There is a palpable joy in the streets because a man is dead.

This isn't going to win me any elections, or friends, but it needs to be said. God is not happy that Osama bin Laden is dead; not if you understand happiness to be a feeling of pleasure. God certainly brought about this death, as he does with all deaths. And in my opinion I believe both human and divine justice were served by this death. But there is no pleasure in this for God, and something sick in the human heart is revealed when we find there a pleasure that God himself does not share.


Consider Ezekiel 18:21-24
21 “But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 22 None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live. 23 Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? 24 But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does the same abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, for them he shall die.

The rhetorical question is answered explicitly in vs. 32, just in case you thought God was just asking questions and not communicating a proposition.

"For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live."

Osama bin Laden's death should be a somber, sobering occasion for anyone who knows the Lord, who understands the weight of sin because of the price paid for it. Justice glorifies God's holy character, his sinless perfection, and his utter rejection of all evil, but it brings him no joy at all.

So why are so many in the street celebrating justice like their team just won the Superbowl? There are probably lots of reasons. I'm not saying everyone standing in the street draped in a flag is sinning just like I'm not saying everyone who reacted calmly is righteous in their hearts. Instead, I think this occasion is a fine time to check our hearts to see how close to Christ we are on the issue of justice and joy, and I think Ezekiel can help us.

Meditate on this changed scenario and question:

Osama bin Laden is captured and imprisoned. He is tried and convicted of his crimes and receives capital punishment. During the trial, he has a change of heart. He hears a message of forgiveness in Jesus and understands the grave sin of his heart and life. He is transformed by the Holy Spirit. He puts his faith in Jesus and goes to the gallows with the peace of knowing he has been forgiven and will be with Jesus in a few short moments. He will never receive any punishment from God for the 9/11 attacks, because Jesus died for that sin.

Compared to reality, does this scenario bring you more or less joy?