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NASB | John 5:24 ¶ "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 5:24 ¶ "I assure you and most solemnly say to you, the person who hears My word [the one who heeds My message], and believes and trusts in Him who sent Me, has (possesses now) eternal life [that is, eternal life actually begins--the believer is transformed], and does not come into judgment and condemnation, but has passed [over] from death into life. |
Bible Question: Is Hell a literal fire that people burn forever and ever? What scares me that it is possible for any of us to go there even if we are believers. Even it their is a one percent chance, that alone scares me. Can you help me out please? |
Bible Answer: Imagine for a moment that you would like to communicate to a member of the insect world. You may have created an ant farm and you have a family or a whole entire "clan" of ants living in it. You'd like to tell them about their world and what they're all about. You'd like to see them improve their lot and maybe even mature into such a state so as to come join you in your world. Now you begin to see the difficulty our God has in communicating with us, His creation. He created us, the whole universe and everything in it. He loves His creation just as any parent loves his child. Parents have aspirations and goals for which they wish their child(ren) might accomplish in their lives. Parents also have fears about the harshness and cruelty of this world for their kids. Speaking as parents, I know my wife and I have these concerns as do all good and loving parents. Now there are a few scriptures that depict Heaven and a few more that describe Hell. Most of those descriptions are made up of hard, physical items. We see scenes like streets of gold or mansions of pearl and jewels for Heaven and for Hell we see fire and gnashing of teeth. But also we know that these ultimate places for our souls after Judgment Day, take place after the destruction of this universe as revealed by Peter in his 2nd epistle, Chapter 3:10. So it is a perfectly good valid reason to conclude that this language describing Heaven and Hell is figurative or symbolic. Now back to your question: "Is Hell a literal place?" I don't really know for certain. I think we can be assured that they really do exist as God has already stated Hell has already been prepared, as stated in Matt 25:41. In other verses, God tells Heaven has been prepared for those of us who obey and are faithful to Him. Please don't misunderstand. I believe very strongly in Heaven and Hell as I've been a christian for most of my life and grew up as a child in a christian home. My main point with this post is that we as God's children need to study His Word with an open mind and an open heart. We need to be receptive and completely willing to accept whatever Home in Heaven He's got prepared for us. Whatever the details about Heaven, we can be assured that it will be great as God will make certain it is. He knows us better than we know ourselves. So Heaven will be far better than all the descriptions in the Bible combined. On the other hand, I'm convinced Hell will be just the opposite, that is it will be far worse than all the combined descriptions from God's Word. So we all should be very much motivated to avoid Hell at all costs. Christ emphasized this point so very much in Matt 5:29 and for what it's worth, in my opinion, He meant those words very literally. I do sincerely hope these words help in your understanding but the important thing is that you and all Bible students need to study His Word and come to your own conclusion. God bless. --Rowdy |