Reflections on Hell and Repentance

[Shane R]

I received these sermon notes the other day from an associate of mine:

In our parable for tomorrow (Luke 16:19-31), The rich man had come to a place beyond the cross-roads of decision – to a place in which there is permanent suffering – to a place in which there is no redemption.

Note that the rich man doesn’t ask God to be delivered from the torment of the flame. He asks that Lazarus be sent to cool his tongue. He was willing to humble himself before a former beggar that had been vindicated but he was not willing to humble himself before God and ask for deliverance.

If he had asked for deliverance from hell and God had refused, I think that Christianity would completely collapse. Because Hell is not a place where God arbitrarily decides to stop giving the soul second chances. Salvation is not about chance. It is about repentance and God’s love for us. And Hell is a place where the unrepentant soul is allowed to live eternally in a place of its own creation – its will frozen in determined stubborn, hateful rebellion, forever apart from God. It is an answer to prayer, really. The unrepentant soul screams out to God – get out of my life forever! Hell is the answer to this prayer.
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What do you make of that? I will supply some thoughts later.

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[alexandriaisburning]

I received these sermon notes the other day from an associate of mine:

In our parable for tomorrow (Luke 16:19-31), The rich man had come to a place beyond the cross-roads of decision – to a place in which there is permanent suffering – to a place in which there is no redemption.

Note that the rich man doesn’t ask God to be delivered from the torment of the flame. He asks that Lazarus be sent to cool his tongue. He was willing to humble himself before a former beggar that had been vindicated but he was not willing to humble himself before God and ask for deliverance.

If he had asked for deliverance from hell and God had refused, I think that Christianity would completely collapse. Because Hell is not a place where God arbitrarily decides to stop giving the soul second chances. Salvation is not about chance. It is about repentance and God’s love for us. And Hell is a place where the unrepentant soul is allowed to live eternally in a place of its own creation – its will frozen in determined stubborn, hateful rebellion, forever apart from God. It is an answer to prayer, really. The unrepentant soul screams out to God – get out of my life forever! Hell is the answer to this prayer.
​

What do you make of that? I will supply some thoughts later.

​

On the whole, I think it's fairly solid--reminiscent of Lewis' thoughts in The Great Divorce.

However, there is one significant implication. If hell is not a place in which God "arbitrarily decides to stop giving the soul second chances", then the obvious conclusion is that the soul does have second, third...infinite...chances. This, coupled with the incompatibility of hell with the good purposes of God in creation, lead us to conclude that this "answered prayer" for the rebellious spirit is one that will not be prayed forever. As the "scourge" of God's love is brought to bear on the heart of the unrepentant, can there be any possible ending than reconciliation? Surely the will of God is greater in its persistence than that of the will opposed to the infinite beneficence of divine love.