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Tracts for Law Enforcement:
So Great Faith
By Your Words
Do You Know Your Rights?
It Is a Fearful Thing
The Great White Throne Judgement
Do You Know Him?
Tracts for Non-law Enforcement:
Jesus of Nazareth is He the Only Begotten Son of God?
Muhammad or Jesus the Prophet Like Unto Moses
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IT IS A FEARFUL THING
TO FALL INTO
THE HANDS OF THE
LIVING GOD Hebrews 10:31
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The thought of a place of eternal punishment, or hell as it is called in the Bible, seems strange to modern ears, even offensive. Many people mock and laugh at the concept of an eternal hell, and very few preachers speak about hell from the pulpit. While it is true God is love: “He that loves not knows not God; for God is love,” nonetheless, the Lord Jesus Christ clearly stated there is a real hell: “but rather fear him which able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Later in this article, I will show how a God of love has provided an escape from hell.
If you are tempted to throw this article away because it is about hell, please do not but finish reading it. What I am going to do is draw from my legal and biblical background and present the concept of hell as the logical result of the Divine legal system, and how God in love provided a legal escape from hell.
I have 26 years of legal experience in law enforcement. I have seen the entire legal system including, as a result of my investigations, convicted felons being sentenced to jail. With this background, I have studied the Bible, and by comparing the Bible with our legal system, it is clear that God deals with mankind through a Divine legal system. |
The US legal system closely parallels the Divine system, and tremendous insight into the legal workings of God can be gained by comparing the two. By understanding the purpose and function of our legal system, one can then fully understand how God’s system functions and what to expect from it. The Bible states that by understanding the workings of this world it is possible to understand the spiritual realm. Hell, then is a part and the logical conclusion of the Divine legal system:
The foundation for our legal structure is the penal code. This code structures our movements within society, and it is supposed to curtail socially destructive activity, murder, robbery, rape, bribery, etc. A person can know what he can or cannot do by the penal code.
This code is so important to society that penalties are given for breaking it. If everyone obeys the code, society will function orderly and there will be a high quality of life. However, if even a small percentage of society disobeys, anarchy results and society breaks down under the strain of crime.
God’s penal code serves the exact purpose as our government’s. This code is basically the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount. Much of our law comes directly from God’s law, for example: “Thou shalt not steal” is found in both; however, God’s law goes further, in that it covers your personal relationship with God: “Thou shalt have no other Gods before me.”
God’s penal code is so important for the orderly operation of the Divine government, that just like human law, a penalty is imposed for breaking the law. The penalty for breaking the Divine law is spiritual death. Violations of God’s law also introduces social anarchy and always leads to personal destruction, as well as the destruction of society.
The purpose of human law is to show guilt. The law is to show a crime has been committed and not to make a person righteous. A person can live for years and not break the law, but if on one occasion the law is broken, that person is subject to the full penalty. The States do not give yearly awards to its citizens for not breaking the law. A person is supposed to live by the law, and a person does not have an option to disobey the law; God’s law is identical. God’s law condemns and does not make a person righteous:
“Take this book of the law...that it may be there for a witness against you” Deuteronomy 31:36.
The purpose of God’s law is to reveal His holiness and the penalty for breaking the code. The Divine law does not make you righteous, but rather it condemns:
“Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: For by the law is the knowledge of sin.” Romans 3:20.
A person who breaks the penal code is called a felon, and is subject to the punishment of the law. A person who breaks God’s law is called a sinner:
“Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law” 1 John 3:4.
A person who sins is subject to the full penalty of the law:
“For the wages of sin is death” Romans 3:23.
In human law, to be sure someone is guilty of a crime, evidence is collected to be presented at a trial. This is to prove guilt beyond any reasonable doubt. The Divine system also will use evidence to prove guilt beyond any doubt. The Divine evidence will include words, actions, and thoughts. The following Bible verses reveal the evidence to be used on Judgment Day:
Words:“Every idle word men speak they shall give account thereof on the day of judgment” Matthew 12:36.
Actions: “For there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, neither hid, that shall not be known” Luke 12:2.
Thoughts: ”Whosoever looks upon a women to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart” Matthew 5:28.
In the human legal system, after evidence has been collected, a trial is held to prove the defendant guilty in a court of law. God’s Divine government is identical. All the evidence, words, actions, thoughts, are collected and will be presented by God on Judgment Day. The trial on Judgment Day is referred to in the Bible as the Great White Throne Judgment:
“And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.” Revelation 20: 11-13.
The trial will be just and all the evidence will tested against the Divine penal code. Jesus Christ said: “...the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” John 12:48. No sin will escape detection. Every sin of mankind, whether small or great, ever committed will be tried. This will be Eternal retribution.
After the conviction of a crime, the defendant is subject to the full penalty of the law. Often judges are lenient, but the defendant is subject to the full punishment of the law. In the Divine system, all sin results in total separation from God which is the spiritual death penalty: “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” Ezekiel 18:4; and: “Depart from me you curse....” Matthew 25:41.
The legal system has a place of punishment for convicted felons which is called prison. A criminal that has been sentenced to jail serves the penalty in prison - separated from society. Prison then has the function of keeping criminals off the streets and thus protecting society from the criminal element. God’s government also has a prison system, and it is call hell.
All the convicted felons from the Great White Throne Judgment will be separated from God in the prison called hell. The penalty imposed on Judgment Day, eternal separation from God, will be served in hell. Jail has the same function, as it keeps the socially unfit from mixing with society, and it serves as a place of punishment. Hell, then, is the end result of breaking God’s law, just as prison is the end result of breaking the human law. Mankind’s prison system, in concept, is a type of God’s eternal hell.
Hell is not something invented by Christians to scare people, but when viewed through a Divine legal system it fits logically into place. No sane person questions the concept of prison for felons; why then should the concept of hell be questioned? Is God less righteous than human government and law that He should not be able to have a place in eternity for convicted sinners!
What would happen if judges, the police, and politicians “full of love” closed all the prisons and stopped enforcing the law. The criminal element and anarchy would soon take control and the nation would be ungovernable. Is God less righteous? Should not He be able to strictly enforce His law and deal with anarchy?
To protect society and punish criminals, people demand strong law enforcement, but then by questioning the existence and/or the justice of hell, God is denied to do what is demanded of government!
The very concept of law and prison reveals the justice of a Divine hell. The history of mankind with wars, murders, abortion, sexual perversion, violence, crime, and God denying philosophies, including Nazism, Communism etc. demands an eternal hell. If a criminal killed your family member, destroyed your home, and stole your valuables, you would want justice for these crimes. Is God then denied that sinners who have broken His law and ruined His universal moral order should not receive the fullest punishment for their crimes?
Hell as revealed in the Bible is a place of eternal torment: “..Depart from me, you cursed into everlasting fire...” Matthew 25:41 and people will be totally conscious of this torment: “And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments...for I am tormented in this flame” Luke 16:23-24. The best example for the punishment of sin can be seen in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ was born without a sin nature, and He lived a sinless life. Because He was sinless, He pleased the Father and was not subject to the wrath of God’s law. However, Christ willingly became sin for your redemption. When Jesus Christ died on the cross, His body literally became sin: “Who in his own self bare our sins in his body...” 1 Peter 2:24.
Because Christ became sin, He then was subject to the punishment for sin. All the punishment for breaking God’s law fell on Christ. By His death, one can begin to understand the magnitude of hell. Many pictures of Christ hanging on the cross show Him with a beard, neat looking with a recognizable face. However, the Bible reveals a totally different picture.
The Bible states the internal pressure on Jesus becoming sin was so great that, in agony, He sweat blood. The Roman soldiers literally plucked the beard off His face. His back was ripped open and turned raw by the Roman whip. His face was beaten by the garrison of soldiers to the point He was not recognizable. He was spit upon and a crown of very large thorns was driven into His head. On the cross, His hands and feet were pierced by huge nails causing terrible pain. His tongue swelled and cleaved to His mouth. Spiritually, He was separated from the Father: “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” This is the picture of the punishment for breaking God’s law. All who die in their sin will face what Jesus Christ suffered and more. Their punishment will be for eternity.
Hell is no joke. The death of the Lord Jesus Christ is a testimony to the wrath of God for breaking His law. A person may be able to evade the full punishment for breaking man’s law, but when dealing with the Divine law, the punishment for sin is always the fullness of God’s wrath.
Fortunately, God has another side, which is mercy and love. Sin always demands wrath and justice, but the love of God shows mercy and grace. God loves you:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” John 3:16.
God does not desire that anyone should perish separated from Him in hell:
“Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” 1Timothy 2:4.
God truly does not want anyone in hell, but the legal penalty for sin had to be paid. The solution was that Jesus Christ, the Son of God interceded on your behalf. On the cross, He became sin for you and took the full penalty for breaking the Divine law. Christ did this within His own legal system, as He became your Advocate (defense attorney.):
“And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” 1 John 2:1.
The human legal system provides a defense attorney for a person who has been charged with a crime. Everyone has the right to be defended during criminal proceedings. An attorney is your representative before a court of law. The attorney pleads your case. God’s legal system also provides for a court appointed attorney. The Advocate before the Divine court of law is the Lord Jesus Christ.
The gospel of Jesus Christ does not “hang in the air,” but it is tied directly into a Divine legal system. The Lord Jesus Christ’s death on the cross paid the legal price for sin. When He rose from the dead, He became the Advocate before God the Father. The love of God is truly amazing.
Although Jesus Christ is an Advocate, He is far different than any human attorney. He took the punishment for your sin in His body:
“Who in his own self bore our sins in his own body” 1 Peter 2:24.
He shed His blood to pay the price for your sin:
“In whom we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sin” Ephesians 1:7.
“That Christ should taste death for ever man” Hebrews 2:9.
He took the full penalty for your sin: “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us” Galatians 3:13.
In modern terms, Christ took the “rap” for your sin. He is the Judge who loved you so much that He stepped down as Judge to defend you. He is the Advocate who loved you so much that He became a substitute felon, and took your punishment for sin.
Before God’s court of law, Christ has done everything needed for you to obtain God’s forgiveness for sin and have assurance of eternal life. Your part is to receive, by faith, Jesus Christ as your Advocate-Savior. Only faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior-Advocate will pardon you from the punishment for the breaking of God’s law:
“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by the faith of Jesus Christ” Galatians 2:16.
Faith in the redemption of Christ on the cross and His shed blood is the only way to escape hell:
“Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved” Acts 4:12.
The traditions of a church will not save. Good works and personal righteousness will not save. Membership in a cult will not get you heaven. Other religions will not save you from hell. Only by faith in Christ as your Advocate can you escape hell and have assurance of eternal life with God:
“I am the way the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father but by me” John 14:6.
Is your conscience accusing you of some sin in your life? This is God’s Holy Spirit touching sin, and this should be a red warning light to you. Are there actions in your life which you are ashamed of and make you worthy of hell?
Without Christ as your Advocate on Judgment Day, these acts will be brought to the light. Are your thoughts a slave to lust, crime, drugs, alcohol, perversion, hate, jealousy, anger, depression, violence, etc.? These are signs you need Jesus Christ working in your life as your Advocate! Jesus Christ is waiting for you to turn your life over to Him.
Right now you can escape judgment and hell by completely trusting Jesus Christ as your Savior-Advocate. You can receive God’s forgiveness for all your sin. To receive Christ as your Advocate, you must confess your guilt to God. You must repent - turn away - from your past life of sin, and confess to God you want Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. When you trust Christ as your Savior, you are not only legally justified, but God puts a new spirit within you:
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things pass away; behold, all things become new” 2 Corinthians 5:17.
God has provided an escape from an eternal hell. Both God’s wrath and love were satisfied by the death of His Son on the cross. You now can receive a full Divine pardon, but how shall you escape if you neglect so great a salvation!
You have to come to God His way. If you say you do not need Christ as your Advocate, you are calling God a liar: “If we say that we have not sinned we make him a liar” 1 John 1:10. The scriptures have concluded that everyone is under the penalty for sin.
God does not require any more of you than the human legal system. If you refuse a court appointed attorney to defend you, then you will have to stand against the full power of the government by yourself. If you have not trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Advocate, then you will have to stand in judgment, defenseless, before the government of a holy and just God. You will have to answer for every sin, and then face the wrath of His law.
I have seen the agony on the faces of convicted felons as they were sentenced to prison. I can think of nothing more horrible than being sentenced to hell for eternity. Accept God’s love and pardon, by trusting in faith, Jesus Christ as your Lord and Advocate, right now: “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
“God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them...For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” 2 Corthinians 5:19, 21
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