Should and why do good people that are non believers go to hell?

[Dr.J0sh]

Why do good non believers go to hell? If your a good person why should you be subjected to torment when you never really did anything wrong. What If you were the nicest most helpful person in the world would you still go to hell? Idk I don't think it's fair to be honest. Sure they messed up but maybe they were brought up differently or something you know.

 

[Cush]

That's the problem. You think God is no smarter, wiser, moral, or virtuous than you are.

 

[com7fy8]

Hi, Doc I'm Bill . . . good to meet you, God bless you

Ok, so there is the basic point of not thinking we are more than God, to judge Him, and we are not smarter than He is.

So, I have simply accepted how I discover that the Bible says there is the lake of fire which burns with fire and brimstone (Revelation 19:20, 20:10, 21:8) and Satan and his are going there (Matthew 25:41). Also, Jesus is very clear how a number of people can act outwardly religious and righteous and can act nice but deeply are evil and ruined people. So, Jesus says,

"'Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.'" (John 7:24)

So, yes Jesus does say to judge; so I am not going to give you that line that you aren't God and so who are you to be the judge of if those people really are nice? But if you are going to judge them, in God's way, you need to evaluate deeper than how they show and tell themselves to be.

And you might consider how certain religious people have been able to fool themselves into thinking a predator was a pastor of Jesus. We humans all can fool our own selves, like this. Evil people can put on the act and talk the talk that we are looking for. You have likely experienced how a movie actor can get you to experience that he or she is some person who that actor is not, at all. A character can be a hero, while the actor is immoral and an addict and maybe a murderer or a serial divorcer. Or, a nice person can have you experiencing him or her to be a character who is the world's worst enemy, if that person has some acting ability.

So, you don't know who is really nice, only by their acting.

Also, Jesus has warned us to not trust people who claim to be so great that they don't need God and Jesus. This is very conceited of a person, that he or she feels and shows that he or she is so nice that he or she does not need how Jesus died on the cross for all people. And when someone gets people to think they can be nice so they don't need salvation, this is helping people to miss out on how they could be sharing with God in His own love (1 Corinthians 6:17, Romans 5:5). And only God's love can deeply cure us so we are safe in our character against how cruel emotions and feelings would torture and control us (Philippians 4:6-7, 2 Timothy 1:7). So, when ones act like they are good enough without Jesus, their example can be helping people to be self-dependent so they do not have God's strength against all the different kinds of emotional torment which people suffer (2 Corinthians 3:5).

So, if people are making a big show of not needing God because they are even too good for Him, this can be very cruel, helping people to stay weak so they can give in to lusts and boredom and loneliness and fear and worry and unforgiveness and hurts and depression and other torment. So, they are not being nice, at all, by misleading people, like this.

Only God's grace through Jesus can make us deeply sound people (2 Corinthians 12:7-10), in real love which is not weak enough to let us suffer in personality disorder and torments >

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love." (1 John 4:18)

People's personality torments are because of fears, I would say I have noticed. And I have noticed how "nice" people without Jesus can be slaves of worry which is a pathological liar and very abusive. Yet, people keep believing and even trusting their worry, while they would never keep trusting some human who lied to them and abused them.

And Jesus heals us so we don't keep suffering about things of the past > this is a basic guarantee of salvation >

"'Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.'" (Matthew 11:28-30)

So, if we are not helping people to trust in Jesus and get His so sweet and kind rest for our souls, we are not nice, at all!! We are being very cruel. And hell is the flaming sewer for Satan and his cruelty and nasty stuff. So, we need to become vessels of God's lovingkindness and rest and caring for others by helping them to be with God in His own love. We need to not be sewer buckets of cruel and nasty things like worry and bitterness and lusts and unforgiveness which are going to the flaming sewer. Hell is good for keeping such nasty filth away from ones who trust in Jesus; so hell is good news, not a threat. Fire can control Satan and evil people; nothing can make Satan and conceited people be reasonable; so fire is needed to control them, plus keep their nasty filth away from us, when it is time to do this.

I must make a clarification, though. God does use un-Christian people to do good. People in authority, for one example, are used by God to keep the lid on evil in this world . . . even while the secular authority people themselves might not be nice and honest in how they do things > at least, what they do can be used by God to resist evil people, to at least slow them down > Romans 13:1-5.

And there are "nice" people who might help others, somehow. But only the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross is good enough to get us salvation. Only Jesus God's Son is pleasing enough (Matthew 17:5) to satisfy our Father to forgive us and reconcile with us (1 John 2:2).

 

[Lukamu]

Why do good non believers go to hell? If your a good person why should you be subjected to torment when you never really did anything wrong. What If you were the nicest most helpful person in the world would you still go to hell? Idk I don't think it's fair to be honest. Sure they messed up but maybe they were brought up differently or something you know.

I have struggled with this especially when family members who were good non-believers have passed away. If you compare them to other people, they looked good, but God knows our hearts, our secrets, and all of our mistakes. The reason why good non-believers go to hell is because God is holy, i.e., perfect, and perfection is His standard for getting into heaven (which is why Jesus is such a big deal for Christians). They may have looked good compared to other people, but not when you compare them to the standard of holiness and perfection. Jesus is the only one who lived such a life, and that's why he was able to make the payment for our sins when he died on the cross.

 

[Dialogist]

Why do good non believers go to hell?

Why do you believe this is true?

 

[KWCrazy]

Your answer is found in Romans 2.

12 All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. 14 (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.)

 

[Dialogist]

Your answer is found in Romans 2.

12 All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. 14 (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.)

EDIT: Sorry, I thought you were responding to me. I see we agree, I think. Good passage.

We might also look at the Lord's description of the Final Judgment in Matthew 25:31-46. Those who are condemned to hell are those who did not feed the hungry, nor give drink to the thirsty, nor took in any strangers (e.g. immigrants), nor visited the sick, nor visited those in prison; those who are not condemned are those who actually did these things. The Lord says nothing about being a Baptist, Catholic, Buddhist, atheist, or even American.

 

[Exordatius]

OK. So I have a hypothetical.

A person is without god. They have grown up in a society that doesn't have Christianity. However, they are an ideal person. They are selfless, loving, not boastful or with great pride. They are in all ways the perfect Christian; only they have not been exposed to the organised faith that is Christianity.

Why should this person go to hell?

Here is a second hypothetical.

A person is without god, not because they have grown up in a society that doesn't follow Christianity, but because they grew up with an awful application of Christianity. A community of false preaching and selfish and exclusionary action. They have been driven away from Christianity by the horrid representation that they have been exposed to. Yet, they are (in mind and action), the ideal personification of virtue.

Does this person go to hell? If so; why?

 

[Lukamu]

A person is without god. They have grown up in a society that doesn't have Christianity. However, they are an ideal person. They are selfless, loving, not boastful or with great pride. They are in all ways the perfect Christian; only they have not been exposed to the organised faith that is Christianity.

Why should this person go to hell?

God is just. To my mind this is unjust, so the only understanding I can make is that these people who were not exposed to Christianity are judge in another way or given a different chance. I am still thinking about this, but one idea is that Jesus himself goes to preach to these people after they die, just as he did when he was in the grave for three days. What about all of the people in the Old Testament, did they all go to hell because they were without Jesus? But again, God is just, and how can part of his creation fully understand him?

 

[SinnerInTheHands]

Why do good non believers go to hell?

"None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." [Romans 3:10-12]

 

[Exordatius]

"None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." [Romans 3:10-12]

Do you mind explaining what that means to you in this context? Merely quoting scripture can be ambiguous.

 

[Winken]

I generally don't respond to "why" questions about salvation. I'm led to respond now, briefly, with my "why" question:

Why would anyone reject the free gift of eternal life? It's free! No strings attached! God said it, you believe it (Romans 10:8-13), that settles it. Forever. Is there contentment in that? Peace? Life without fear? Life without questioning? Joy for self, family, friends, strangers?

John 14:6, John 3:16-17, John 5:24. Read those references. How hard is that?

 

[Exordatius]

I generally don't respond to "why" questions about salvation. I'm led to respond now, briefly, with my "why" question:

Why would anyone reject the free gift of eternal life? It's free! No strings attached! God said it, you believe it (Romans 10:8-13), that settles it. Forever. Is there contentment in that? Peace? Life without fear? Life without questioning? Joy for self, family, friends, strangers?

John 14:6, John 3:16-17, John 5:24. Read those references. How hard is that?

Simply, because those truths are based on the assumption that the scripture of John, and the Bible by extension, are flawless, which there is ample reason to question.

There are numerous other faith's and logical reasoning that can be held with equal conviction. Therefore, there needs to be a reason why Jesus' truth is superior other another truth. My personal experience has given me this conviction, but I'm fully aware that others may have been led to another conclusion.

 

[RDKirk]

OK. So I have a hypothetical.

A person is without god. They have grown up in a society that doesn't have Christianity. However, they are an ideal person. They are selfless, loving, not boastful or with great pride. They are in all ways the perfect Christian; only they have not been exposed to the organised faith that is Christianity.

Why should this person go to hell?

Here is a second hypothetical.

A person is without god, not because they have grown up in a society that doesn't follow Christianity, but because they grew up with an awful application of Christianity. A community of false preaching and selfish and exclusionary action. They have been driven away from Christianity by the horrid representation that they have been exposed to. Yet, they are (in mind and action), the ideal personification of virtue.

Does this person go to hell? If so; why?

Scripture advises me that God makes consideration for a man's knowledge in His judgment.

The book of Jonah tells us that God refused to destroy the Ninevites until they had a chance to hear about Him. He gives their ignorance as His explicit reason.

Jesus said to the scribes and lawyers, "If you were blind you would be innocent. But because you say, 'We see,' your guilt remains." Jesus further said, "The servant who does not know what to do and does not do it will be beaten with few strokes, but the servant who knows what to do and does not do it will be cut asunder and tossed into the outer darkness. To whom much is given, much more is demanded."

This is not to say "all religions lead to God." But scripture does say, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands," and of that Paul told the Greeks at Mars' Hill that God proclaims Himself in nature so that men may seek Him and perhaps find Him. And then it says, as has been quoted, "For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves."

The example of this is Job. Job is not a Jew. He is not in the lineage of Abraham. We cannot tell from the scripture exactly how Job knows anything about God, and in fact, that's brought out in the book itself: Job knows very little about the nature and plans of God, or even exactly how to worship God. But Job knows God exists and that God's character is good.

My speculation is that Job has learned this through nature. I think so because that's how God speaks of Himself to Job: Through the spectacle of the constellations of the heavens and the great creatures of land and sea. When God speaks to Moses, He speaks of the miracles He worked in the lives of the Hebrews; when God speaks to Job, He speaks of His creation. So I think that Job knows God exists by way of the speech of creation, which Paul speaks of to the Athenians and speaks about in Romans 1, that amount of information that no man can claim not to have been given.

But Paul tells us that God does this so that man would seek after Him and perhaps find Him...with the possibility of establishing "a covenant unto himself."

This is not to say that all religions lead to God. No, rather the man who has established with God "a covenant unto himself" will have already realized that the religion of his nation does not satisfy him. He is discomfited by the religion he's been taught. He may go through the motions, but like the Athenians who worshiped "the Unknown God," that man knows there is something else, not the god of his nation, that he's searching for.

Of the gap between God and man, Job cried out, "If only there were someone to mediate between us, someone to bring us together." Job did not know the name of Jesus, but he knew he needed Jesus.

 

[SinnerInTheHands]

Do you mind explaining what that means to you in this context? Merely quoting scripture can be ambiguous.

The OP has asked why good non-Christians go to hell. I was simply pointing out that there's no such thing as a "good" non-Christian, or any other human for that matter. We're all miserable, unrighteous sinners.

 

[cedric1200]

I agree in our human mind it seems so unfair. I have even question God about it myself. I don't understand why non-believers go to hell. But I am human, and I know God knows more than me. I still question my own salvation. But I know if I end up there, I deserve it.

 

[Exordatius]

The OP has asked why good non-Christians go to hell. I was simply pointing out that there's no such thing as a "good" non-Christian, or any other human for that matter. We're all miserable, unrighteous sinners.

OK, cool. That's far clearer. While I agree that ultimately we are all inherently flawed, I'd disagree with the tone of your statement, and would assert that our sinfulness does not diminish the meaning and weight of acting with virtue.

RDKirk; so you're saying that all vitreous living leads to god? (I like that idea.) I would certainly agree with this, though it may not be the case that people will inevitably recognise the holy spirit or God, and may be interpreted as something else.

 

[orangeness365]

I know that Revelation says that certain types of sinners won't make it into Heaven, Revelation 21:8, but I think we have to remember that we are all sinners, and the Judgment will ultimately be God's, not ours. None of us really know who is going to be allowed in and who isn't.

 

[SinnerInTheHands]

While I agree that ultimately we are all inherently flawed, I'd disagree with the tone of your statement, and would assert that our sinfulness does not diminish the meaning and weight of acting with virtue.

"Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil." [Jeremiah 13:23]

 

[Mountain_Girl406]

The problem is one cannot will themselves to believe or pretend to believe. There has to be something more, or else we'd believe in any and all. That something might be a personal experience, or the acceptance of some sort of evidence. For those of us who are seeking, but haven't found that something more, faith is impossible. Some think atheists and agnostics are people who reject God, who don't want to believe, but I'd venture it's more likely they can't believe any more than a Christian could choose to begin believing in Odin.

I generally don't respond to "why" questions about salvation. I'm led to respond now, briefly, with my "why" question:

Why would anyone reject the free gift of eternal life? It's free! No strings attached! God said it, you believe it (Romans 10:8-13), that settles it. Forever. Is there contentment in that? Peace? Life without fear? Life without questioning? Joy for self, family, friends, strangers?

John 14:6, John 3:16-17, John 5:24. Read those references. How hard is that?