06/04/2026
The Dominant Doctrine of Hell:
There has not been a topic so avoided by both the church and the world as the topic of hell. It is inconvenient to consider in our busy pragmatic lives. Yet without hell, there is no salvation. What are we saved from, being inconvenienced from the daily routine of our own will? No, hell carries a weight far darker than can be conceived. Perhaps the clearest view of this, are the very words of Jesus: found in Mark 9:42-48.
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"But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea. 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched— 44 where
'Their worm does not die
And the fire is not quenched.'
45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched— 46 where
'Their worm does not die
And the fire is not quenched.'
47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire— 48 where
'Their worm does not die
And the fire is not quenched.’
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Jesus notes the effect of hell upon a person. There is both an unquenchable fire and yet inability to die. A place of perpetual agony and pain without restraint and without end. These souls bare their own sin, rejecting the cross of Jesus and the entrance into life.
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This is where the good news comes in - there is salvation, a way of escape. By us turning to Jesus as the light, the way and the truth, (John 14:6) we are invited to see what God has revealed by His Son and follow His instruction. To what end is His instruction? “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. (John 20:31)
