Hell: What Scripture Really Says

Why My Heart Trembles at Some of Today’s Teachings…

All Scripture KJV (King James Version of the Bible)

There is a growing trend in some churches to soften the doctrine of Hell. The message sounds gentle: Hell is just separation from God, nothing more. Yet when I open the Scriptures, I cannot find a single passage that supports this idea. Scripture does speak of separation, but it never speaks of only separation. Every biblical description of Hell carries the weight of judgment, anguish, and eternal consequence.

This is not a doctrine I approach lightly. It is not abstract to me. Whenever I speak with someone who rejects Christ, my heart tightens with sorrow. I feel the grief of knowing that, without repentance and faith, that precious person, someone made in the image of God, will face all the hideousness that Scripture associates with Hell. It is personal. It is painful. And it compels me to speak truth with compassion.

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus repeatedly warns about the danger of unbelief, the reality of separation from God, and the eternal consequences of rejecting Him. These warnings are acts of mercy. They reveal God’s desire for every person to repent, believe, and come under His saving grace before it is too late. The Scriptures leading up to Revelation emphasize that today is the day of salvation. Jesus calls us to give Him our hearts, souls, and minds now while grace is freely offered. Belief is not simply agreement; it is surrender, trust, and a turning toward Him. Jesus warns now so that no one has to face later what could have been avoided through faith today. The urgency is rooted in love: God wants people to choose Him before the time of grace closes and the time of judgment begins.

Jesus Himself spoke most plainly about Hell.
He described it as a “fiery furnace” where “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:42). “And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” He described it as “eternal punishment” (Matthew 25:46). “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. He warned that in Hell “their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48). “Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.” And in the account of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus portrays a man conscious, aware, and crying out: “I am in anguish in this flame” (Luke 16:24). “And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.”

These are not images of mere distance or emotional disconnection. These are descriptions of active suffering, the kind that grips the soul and shakes the heart of anyone who takes Scripture seriously. Hell is not pictured as a quiet void where one simply exists apart from God. It is portrayed as a place where the full weight of divine justice is felt, not for a moment, but for all eternity. When Jesus spoke of weeping and gnashing of teeth, He was not describing a metaphor for sadness; He was describing the raw, unfiltered anguish of a soul fully conscious of its fate. When Scripture speaks of fire that is not quenched and a worm that does not die, it unveils a reality so dreadful, so unbearably severe, that my spirit trembles to contemplate it.

And this is where the agony sets in for me. I cannot read these verses clinically. I cannot discuss Hell as an idea on a page. I see faces. I remember voices. I think of real people, neighbors, friends, loved ones, the cashier at the grocery store, the man who delivers the mail—men and women who laugh, who cry, who hope, who struggle, who may stand one day before the Judge without the covering of Christ. To imagine even one of them entering such torment is almost more than my heart can bear. It is a grief that does not let go, because Scripture does not allow me to soften the truth into something gentler or easier to accept.

The apostles and Old Testament writers affirmed the same truth.
Paul wrote that those who reject Christ will suffer “eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord” “Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.”(2 Thessalonians 1:9), a phrase that includes separation but plainly includes punishment.

John wrote that the smoke of their torment rises “forever and ever,” without rest “And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.”(Revelation 14:11).

Daniel spoke of “everlasting contempt” “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”(Daniel 12:2).

Isaiah wrote that their worm will not die and their fire will not be quenched “For their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.” (Isaiah 66:24).

Nowhere do the Scriptures suggest that Hell is simply a quiet place where God is absent. In fact, Revelation presents punishment occurring in the presence of the Lamb “The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.” (Revelation 14:10).

Hell is separation from God’s mercy, but not from His justice!

This truth is not something I cling to out of harshness; it is something that breaks me. The thought of a human soul experiencing this, someone with hopes, memories, fears, and loved ones, not being saved, cuts deeply into my heart. When I meet someone who does not believe, I do not see an argument to win. I see a person in peril. I feel the ache of knowing what eternity holds outside of believing in Jesus Christ as our Savior.

And yet, this is precisely why the Gospel is such breathtaking good news:
The cross is God’s rescue mission. Jesus bore the wrath of God so we could receive mercy. He entered the darkness so we could walk in the light. He suffered on the cross so we could live.

The doctrine of Hell is not meant to crush hope! It is intended to reveal the magnitude of God’s love and why he divested Himself of His GLORY to come to this earth.

Hell shows us what we have been rescued from. Without a true understanding of judgment, the cross appears merely symbolic—an inspiring gesture rather than a saving intervention. But when Scripture unveils Hell as the just penalty of sin, the love of God in Christ becomes almost incomprehensible in its depth. The more severe the danger, the more astonishing the rescue. The more frightening the wrath, the more breathtaking the mercy. Hell magnifies hope, because it magnifies the cost Christ bore and the lengths to which God went to save us from it. When we see Hell clearly, we see the cross clearly—and when we see the cross clearly, the love of God overwhelms us with hope, gratitude, and worship.

A diminished Hell leads to a diminished cross.

If Hell is minimized, softened, or reinterpreted as something less than what Scripture teaches, then the cross itself loses its power and meaning. Christ did not suffer the wrath of God merely to save us from mild discomfort, spiritual emptiness, or emotional distance. He suffered because sin demands justice, and that justice is as eternal and severe as the Scriptures declare Hell to be. To shrink Hell is to shrink the penalty Christ bore; to shrink the penalty He bore is to diminish the glory of His sacrifice. The cross becomes less radiant, less costly, less staggering when Hell is reduced to a metaphor or emotional separation. Christianity’s central message becomes blurred, and the Gospel loses its urgency. When Hell is diminished, Calvary is diminished with it.

A softened judgment leads to a softened Savior.

If God’s judgment is portrayed as gentle, symbolic, or merely experiential rather than punitive, then Jesus becomes a soft Savior who rescues us from nothing more than spiritual discomfort or moral confusion. But Scripture does not present Christ as a life coach, a moral example, or a therapist. He is a Redeemer. He is the Lamb who was slain. He is the One who bore the wrath of God in our place. He drank the cup of judgment so fully that not a single drop remained for those who trust in Him. When judgment is softened, the intensity of His saving work is blurred, His suffering is trivialized, and His mission is reshaped into something sentimental rather than bearing the judgment that should have fallen on us. A softened judgment inevitably creates a softened Christ.

And when we remove the weight of eternal consequence, we remove the urgency of grace.

If Hell carries no true danger, then salvation carries no true urgency. Why flee to Christ if there is nothing terrible to flee from? Why repent if judgment is merely symbolic? Why embrace grace if sin leads only to separation rather than eternal wrath? The apostles preached with urgency because they believed in judgment: “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men” (2 Corinthians 5:11). Remove Hell, and evangelism becomes optional. Minimize Hell, and repentance becomes delayed. Redefine Hell, and grace becomes an accessory instead of a lifeline. But when we understand the eternal consequence Scripture sets before us, the urgency of grace becomes unmistakable. Christ is not one option among many—He is the only refuge from the full, holy, righteous judgment our sins deserve.

In the end, we do an injustice to Scripture, to the Gospel, and to lost souls if we preach anything less than the truth about Hell.
If we soften it, even with compassionate intentions, we risk leaving unbelievers with no sense of danger, no awareness of wrath, and no understanding of what Christ came to save them from. For if Hell is merely distance, then the cross becomes unnecessary. But if Hell is what Jesus said it is: eternal, conscious, fearful torment, then the urgency of salvation becomes unmistakably clear.

And that truth must not be hidden, diluted, or reshaped. Not when eternity hangs in the balance. To my brothers and sisters who preach and shepherd God’s people: I appeal to you with sincerity and respect. Before adopting or promoting a softened view of Hell, please search the Scriptures with fresh seriousness and holy caution. This doctrine is not ours to reshape, reinterpret, or reduce. When we adjust the severity of Hell, even with good intentions, we risk adjusting the words of God Himself—and that is something no faithful servant of Christ should ever do. Let us handle this truth with reverence, humility, and fear, remembering that our calling is not to refine Scripture, but to proclaim it exactly as it has been given.

Father, have mercy on those who do not yet know Your Son. Open their eyes, soften their hearts, and draw them to the saving truth of Jesus while there is still time. And, Lord, strengthen us who believe. Give us boldness, compassion, and urgency to speak the Gospel clearly and faithfully. Let us not shrink from the truth, and let us not miss a single opportunity to point someone to Christ. Use us, and save them, for the glory of Your Son’s name. Amen.