Where does it say that if you reject Jesus you will spend eternity in hell?
Question:
Where in scripture does it say that if you reject Jesus Christ as the Son of God you will spend eternity in hell? I have searched high and low and cannot find it. It does state in Revelations that if you are found with the mark of the beast you will go to hell. In the New Testament, it says you will perish if you reject Jesus Christ as the Son of God. For the one that accepts Jesus Christ as the Son of God, it says you will spend eternity in heaven.
Answer:
Come the end of time, people will be judged by God with only two possible results:
"But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left" (Matthew 25:31-33).
"And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (Matthew 25:46).
"Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth -- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation" (John 5:27-28).
"But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who "will render to each one according to his deeds": eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness--indignation and wrath" (Romans 2:5-8).
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).
Those who are wicked face punishment in fire:
"So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 13:46-47).
"And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:12-15).
That punishment is eternal according to Jesus' words in Matthew 25:46.
Jesus warned, "He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him -- the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day" (John 12:48). That includes Jesus' teachings as delivered by the apostles. "He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me" (Luke 10:16). Thus the continued warning, "See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven" (Hebrews 12:25). That rejection will result in punishment.
"For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. And again, "The LORD will judge His people." It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:26-31).
Question:
OK, when it states that all, living and dead, righteous and unrighteous, shall be judged according to their works what does that mean? I thought believers were saved by grace and not by works. When God looks at His children He sees only the righteousness of Christ. So what are we judged for and what is the end result? What are the wicked judged for regarding works? I thought simply rejecting Christ was judgment enough. What of the Jews? Are they judged according to the law?
Answer:
We are saved by God's grace (His gift). For mankind is unable to save itself. Thus, God in His mercy did what we could not do. "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life" (Romans 5:8-10). The usual mistake is to read verses like this and then assume that we are saved by this means alone. I wrote a short article listing what God says contributes to each person's salvation. Rather than repeat it here, please see: What Saves a Person?
Since Christ died for everyone, "And He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again" (II Corinthians 5:15), if that is all that God looked at was Jesus' death, then there would be no lost person in the world. But we know that isn't true. That is just further evidence that God has requirements that men must meet to be saved. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:8-10). We are not saved by our own works, but we are expected to walk in God's works.
Some stop at Ephesians 2:8 and say it is only by faith that we are saved, but again, they are adding a word that isn't in the text. The truth is that you can't separate faith from works.
"What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe--and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also" (James 2:14-26).
So what are we going to be judged by? By whether the things we do are in accordance with what God told us to do.
"If you love Me, keep My commandments" (John 14:15).
"For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome" (I John 5:3).
"So then each of us shall give account of himself to God" (Romans 14:12).
"Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one's praise will come from God" (I Corinthians 4:5).
"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad" (II Corinthians 5:10).
"And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality" (Colossians 3:23-25).
"And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear" (I Peter 1:17).
