But here's the question no one wants to ask out loud.
Is hell the same for everyone?
Portrait of Francis Dashwood by William Hogarth from the late 1750s, parodying Renaissance images of Francis of Assisi. The Bible has been replaced by a copy of the erotic novel Elegantiae Latini sermonis, and the profile of Dashwood's friend Lord Sandwich peers from the halo.
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View full-sizeDownload Hellfire Club was a term used to describe several exclusive clubs for high-society rakes established in Great Britain and Ireland in the 18th Century.
Does a dictator who slaughtered millions get the same fate as the teenager who doubted, the neighbor who gossiped, the skeptic who just couldn't believe?
If you really want to understand whether there are different levels of punishment in hell, you first have to know what hell really is.
And for that, we go to the only reliable source, God's Word.
Most people are shocked to find that hell isn't just one simple word in the Bible.
In fact, the Bible uses different words to describe what we call hell, each one with its own depth, its own warning.
First, there's Sheol.
In the Old Testament, Sheol is the shadowy realm of the dead, a place where the wicked and the righteous go, a holding place, not necessarily a place of torment.
It's somber, mysterious, but not the lake of fire imagery you might have grown up hearing about.
Next, there's Hades.
The New Testament Greek equivalent to Sheol.
Jesus himself used this term.
In Luke 16, Hades is the place where the rich man goes after death, a conscious state, a place of suffering separated from comfort.
Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not:Mat 11:20
Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.Mat 11:21
But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you.Mat 11:22
And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell:
for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.Mat 11:23
But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.Mat 11:24
Jesus looks at the cities that saw his miracles, heard his preaching, and yet shrugged it off.
And then he says something staggering.
But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the Day of Judgment than for you.
It will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for you.
Did you catch that?
More tolerable.
Jesus draws a clear line.
Some will have it worse than others.
Sodom was infamous for its evil.
Yet Jesus says, worse is coming for those who had more light, more opportunity, and still refused to believe.
The scale of judgment is real, and Jesus himself is the one who draws it.
This isn't set a stray verse. It sets not a one off.
But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;Rom 2:5
Who will render to every man according to his deeds:Rom 2:6
Each person according to what they have done.
This is not a mass faceless punishment.
It's precise.
It's individual.
God sees the full record:
actions
motives
opportunities
and weighs them with absolute fairness.
In 2 Corinthians 5:10, Paul reminds us again,
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.2Co 5:10
This isn't just for heaven's rewards.
It's for every consequence.
God's justice is as sharp as it is personal.
Some people think the Old Testament is all wrath and the New Testament is all grace.
But look again.
The prophets in the Old Testament understood degrees of judgment.
In Ezekiel 16, God tells Jerusalem that her guilt is even greater than that of Sodom.
In Isaiah 47, Babylon is told she will face judgment without mercy.
Daniel 12:2 describes shame and everlasting contempt awaiting some, while others shine forever.
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.Dan 12:2
Even there, the idea of differing outcomes is clear.
Now a story that shakes the comfortable, the rich man and Lazarus.
A rich man lives in luxury while a poor man, Lazarus, lies at his gate.
Detail from The Raising of Lazarus by Eduard von Gebhardt, 1896
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View full-sizeDownload Lazarus of Bethany is a figure of the New Testament whose life is restored by Jesus four days after his death, as told in the Gospel of John. The resurrection is considered one of the miracles of Jesus. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Lazarus is venerated as Righteous Lazarus, the Four-Days Dead. The Eastern Orthodox and Catholic traditions offer varying accounts of the later events of his life.
Covered in sores, longing for crumbs.
Both die.
Lazarus is carried to comfort.
The rich man wakes up in torment.
In Hades, suffering, desperate for relief.
He begs for a drop of water.
But there's a great chasm fixed.
No crossing over.
Now some hear this and think, is this about levels?
Maybe not directly.
But Jesus paints a picture of contrast.
There is reward.
There is punishment.
There is a boundary.
And there is regret.
The rich man's suffering is not an accident.
It's the direct result of what he did or didn't do with what he had.
Opportunity matters.
Compassion matters.
Choices echo in eternity.
Jesus often spoke of outer darkness.
Where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
And does their faith help us make sense of this terrifying, mysterious, and sobering doctrine?
Let's do it.
Let's walk through history, not to chase ghosts, but to see how believers just like you and me have struggled with the reality of hell and the justice of God.
The earliest Christians didn't shy away from hell.
Even Calvin, sometimes accused of being cold and severe, taught that the retributions of God's judgment are fitted to the measure of every man's iniquities.
No one is punished more or less than they deserve.
Let's pause for a second.
You've probably heard of Dante's Inferno, that famous medieval poem picturing hell as nine circles, each one reserved for a particular kind of sin, each one more terrible than the last.
The lustful swept by winds, the gluttonous wallowing in filth, the traitors frozen in ice.
But here's the thing.
As vivid and terrifying as Dante's vision is, it's not scripture, it's poetry.
Its imagination set loose.
Yes, it was shaped by Christian tradition, and yes, it influenced how many people picture hell even today.
But Dante's circles aren't found in the Bible, they're art, not doctrine.
Still, his influence matters, because his poem reminded the church, the world, and maybe even you that there's something in the human soul that knows justice demands a fitting punishment.
The worst evils cry out for a reckoning, and deep down we want a God who gets it right.
Fast forward to the present, and you'll find Christians all over the world still wrestling with these questions.
C.S. Lewis, one of the greatest Christian thinkers of the 20th century, wrote in The Great Divorce that hell is the greatest monument to human freedom.
Lewis pictured hell as self-chosen, a place where the doors are locked from the inside.
He believed in punishment, but he also believed that every soul receives exactly what it is chosen.
Others, like pastor and author Tim Keller, say the horror of hell is not about fire or torture, but about the soul getting what it has most wanted, freedom from God.
The punishment matches the desire.
The consequences fit the choice.
You'll find Christian thinkers today who debate the nature of hell, whether it's eternal torment, annihilation, or even a path to eventual restoration.
But one thing nearly everyone agrees on, God's justice, is not a blunt hammer.
It's a scalpel, and whatever hell is, it is perfectly fitted to each person's:
heart
choices
responsibility
Why bother with all this history?
Because it shows you're not alone in your questions.
The greatest minds and holiest hearts have asked the same things you're asking right now, and almost all of them have landed here.
God is not random.
He is not unfair.
He is not cruel.
If there are levels in hell, it's not because God enjoys suffering, it's because He sees the heart.
He knows the secrets.
He remembers the chances you had, the truth you heard, the choices you made.
His justice is:
personal
surgical
wise
and final.
So, as you wrestle with these truths, remember you are not at the mercy of tradition, imagination, or even your own guilt.
You are in the hands of a God who is both judge and savior.
His justice is perfect.
His mercy is still available.
And the story isn't set at finished yet.
Next, let's ask the biggest, boldest question of all.
How can a God of perfect justice also be a God of perfect love?
Stay with me.
This is where everything comes together.
Chapter 5. God's Perfect Justice and Perfect Love
Let's cut through all the confusion, all the debates, all the fear.
At the heart of every question about hell is a bigger burning question.
Can God really be both just and loving?
And if He is, what does that mean for punishment, for mercy, for you and me?
Because let's be honest.
Hell isn't just about flames and fear.
It's about the character of God.
And deep down, every one of us wants a God who gets it right.
We want justice for every hidden evil, every broken promise, every time someone's pain is ignored.
But we also want mercy.
We want second chances.
We want forgiveness.
So how does God bring both together?
First, don't fall for the lie that God's justice and God's love are enemies.
No, they're two sides of the same, burning passion in the heart of God.
Imagine a judge who lets:
murderers
rapists
thieves
walk free.
Would you call that love?
No, you'd call it a scandal.
Injustice isn't love, it's cowardice.
But God's justice is never petty.
It's not revenge, it's not rage, it's not God having a bad day.
His justice is precise.
He judges not because he delights in punishment, but because he is committed to the ultimate good.
He hates evil because it destroys the people he loves.
Real love demands real justice.
Here's where it gets beautiful.
If God is perfect, then his justice is perfect.
He doesn't over-punish.
He doesn't under-punish.
He sees every hidden motive, every wounded heart, every missed opportunity for mercy.
Remember the words of Jesus.
But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes.
For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required:
and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more. Luke 12.48
He sees what you know.
He remembers what you've been given.
His justice is tailored, personal, wise.
Think about it.
Would it really be loving for God to give a mass murderer and a misguided wounded skeptic the exact same fate?
No.
Would it be just for God to punish a child who never heard the truth as severely as the arrogant rebel who spat in God's face?
Absolutely not.
God's punishments are not random.
They are perfectly fitted like a surgeon's scalpel, not a butcher's knife.
Justice for God means giving every person exactly what is due, no more, no less.
But wait, there's more.
Because here's the miracle, God's justice and God's love meet perfectly at the cross.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
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:
Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
He says that even Gentiles who never received the law show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their conscience is also bearing witness.
Translation.
Every person is responsible for the light they have.
Some have the blazing light of Scripture, Sunday school, Christian parents.
Some only have the faint echo of God's moral law in their conscience.
But God judges justly.
He knows what each soul could have known, should have known, actually did with what they knew.
What about the child who dies before they can choose?
The person whose mind was never whole, the one in the farthest jungle who never saw a Bible or heard the name Jesus?
Here is what we know.
1. God's character is perfect justice and perfect mercy.
That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked:
and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee:
Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
God cannot make a mistake.
He cannot be cruel.
He cannot be unjust.
2. Children, infants, and those without capacity are always treated with compassion in Scripture.
David, after losing his infant son, said in Hope,
But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again?
I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.2 Samuel 12:23
Jesus welcomed children, called them the greatest in the kingdom.
There is a special tenderness in God's heart for the helpless.
3. No one is condemned for what they never could have known or chosen.
No baby goes to hell for Adam's sin.
No mentally handicapped person is lost for what they couldn't understand.
4. The unreached are judged by the light they did have.
Acts 17:27 says God determined the times and places of everyone so that they should seek God and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him.
That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
God is not hiding from anyone.
He gives every soul enough light to be responsible.
Never less, never more.
You may still feel the ache, the what-if, but here is your anchor.
God knows the heart.
He knows every pain, every fear, every barrier, every chance.
He knows who would have believed if they'd only heard.
He knows the tears of the broken, the cries of the helpless.
You can trust Him.
His justice is never harsh, never random.
His mercy is always ready, always available.
Let this settle your heart.
No one wakes up in hell surprised, saying,
"Wait, I never had a chance."
Every soul who ends up separated from God is there by a path of choices, choices they understood, opportunities they rejected, light they turned from.
And every soul who genuinely reaches in the darkness for God's mercy, he will not turn away.
He can reveal himself in:
a dream
a vision
a missionary
a whisper in the conscience
He can save to the uttermost.
You're not in the dark.
You're hearing the truth right now.
You have the light.
You have the chance.
You have the invitation of Jesus himself.
Don't waste it.
Don't gamble that God's mercy will cover you if you deliberately reject what He's offering now.
Run to Him.
Trust Him.
And rest in the fact that the judge of all the earth will do right always.
Let's go deeper.
If God judges by knowledge, by conscience, by opportunity, does that mean all sins are equal?
Or are some sins heavier, darker, more damning than others?
You might be surprised by what the Bible really says.
Ready for the hard truth?
Let's dive in.
Chapter 8. Famous Sins
Forgotten sins are all sins equal.
Let's get honest, because this is where so many people get tripped up.
You've heard it before.
All sins are the same in God's eyes.
Maybe it sounded like comfort.
Maybe like a warning.
Or maybe just like something church folks say when they're trying to sound humble.
But is it true?
Are all sins really equal?
Will:
the murderer and the liar
the dictator and the daydreamer
the thief and the gossiper
all face the exact same fate in eternity?
Let's take a deep breath and see what God actually says.
First, yes.
It's true in one critical sense.
All sin separates us from God.
All sin, whether big or small, creates a gap between us and a holy God.
A gap we cannot bridge on our own.
That's why we all need grace.
That's why the cross is the only way home.
But here's the hard truth.
Not all sins are equal in their seriousness or their consequences.
If they were, Jesus would instead have warned about greater condemnation.
If they were, the Bible wouldn't stalk about the greater sin.
If they were, the logic of justice would collapse.
Let's get it from Jesus himself.
Standing before Pontius Pilate, Jesus answered,
Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above:
therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. John 19:11
Did you catch that?
Greater sin.
Not all sins are the same.
He also warned the religious hypocrites in Matthew 23:14.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer:
therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
Not damnation.
Greater damnation.
Some sins are more toxic, more stubborn, more damning, more destructive.
And God sis justice will deal with them as such.
Look at the law God gave Israel.
Stealing was punished, but murder was punished more severely.
The consequences fit the crime.
In Ezekiel 8, God shows Ezekiel greater abominations.
In Proverbs 6, God lists six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him.
Not all sins are weighed the same.
Then there's the unpardonable sin, the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. Mark 3:28-29.
Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:
But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:
What is it?
At its heart, it's a willful, settled, final rejection of God's saving work, calling evil what God calls good, closing your heart for good.
It is possible to cross a line with God, to reject him so fully, so finally, that no more chances remain.
That's not a common sin.
That's a final fatal choice.
But let's us turn the spotlight on ourselves.
Because sometimes we want to believe all sins are equal, not because we said are worried about justice, but because it lets us feel better about our own little sins.
Gossip
jealousy
pride
those respectable sins.
But Jesus said on the day of judgment, people will give account for every careless word they speak.
But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
Don't kid yourself.
No sin is small.
All sin is deadly.
But some sins, when fueled by knowledge, pride or malice, become heavier, darker, more damning.
Here's Simon's the gospel truth.
No sin is too small to separate you from God.
No sin is too big for the blood of Jesus to cover.
If you repent and trust him, the world grades on a curve.
God judges with perfect sight.
He sees the difference between the one who falls and gets up, and the one who digs in their heels, hardens their heart, and refuses to repent.
Why does this matter?
And it means you're never trapped by your worst moment.
You don't have to hide behind excuses or despair over past failures.
Grace is available, no matter your sin, no matter your shame.
Today, God calls you to honesty, to repentance, to let his spirit search you not just for the obvious sins, but the hidden ones, to run to Christ, not away from him.
The cross is big enough for every sin.
But God's justice means he won't ignore any sin, yours, mine, or the world's.
Let this keep going.
Let's discover the true purpose of hell, because what you find may surprise you, and may open your eyes to the depths of God's justice and mercy.
Ready?
Let's go.
Chapter 9 Hell's Purpose Punishment, Purification, or something else.
Let's face it, hell is the doctrine everyone wants to avoid, rewrite, or soften.
Some people are desperate to erase it, others twist it into a carnival of horror.
Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Not a brief flicker, not a momentary event, but an unending reality.
The point is not pain for pain's sake, its separation, loss, the full weight of rejecting God forever.
Then there's the universalist view, the hope that somehow all will be saved in the end, that God's love will win and every rebel will eventually bow in repentance and be welcomed home.
It sits an attractive idea.
But it sits not biblical.
Jesus himself spoke of a place where 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.
In Revelation 20:14-15, those not found in the Book of Life are cast into the lake of fire, after every chance, every mercy, every call to repentance.
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.
This is the second death.
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Hell isn't about God giving up too soon.
It's about God honoring the final hardened know of a soul that rejects him to the end.
Let that say it plainly.
Hell is not God's first choice.
Hell was not created for people, but for the devil and his angels. Matthew 25:41.
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
God's heart breaks for the lost.
He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
But God will not force love or drag rebels into His presence, kicking and screaming.
Hell is the end of a long road of:
rejection
pride
rebellion
It zeps the final terrifying answer to the soul who says,
"My will be done."
God says,
"So be it."
Here is what you must know.
Hell is real.
Hell is final.
Hell is just.
Hell is avoidable, because of Jesus.
God's judgment is not revenge.
It's not gleeful torture.
It's justice, measured, righteous, exact.
It's God's final yes to human freedom and His final no to evil.
Because hell shows us the gravity of sin and the glory of grace.
It's not there to scare you into religion, but to wake you up to reality.
If there were no hell, there'd be no need for the cross.
