The Doctrine of Hell

Introduction

What is Annihilationism?

Simply, it is the belief that, instead of suffering eternal punishment in hell, the wicked will ultimately be destroyed or cease to exist.

Kirk Cameron made quite a stir within the last few weeks when he state that he no longer holds to eternal conscience torment but rather annihilationism.

Beloved, this isn’t subtle change or denial; rather this comes from a long standing assault on God’s Word.

To deny this doctrine is to deny the teachings of prophets, Apostles, and ultimately the fundament teachings of our Lord.

Christ spoke on hell more than 70 times and when He spoke on this doctrine, He speaks on it very vividly often more vividly then heaven.

He says it is a place of eternal torment (Luke 16:23), of unquenchable fire (Mark 9:43), where the worm does not die (Mark 9:48), where people will gnash their teeth in anguish and regret (Matt. 13:42), and from which there is no return, even to warn loved ones (Luke 16:19–31). He calls hell a place of “outer darkness” (Matt. 25:30), comparing it to “Gehenna” (Matt. 10:28), which was a trash dump outside the walls of Jerusalem where trash was burned and maggots abounded.

So, there is no denying that our Lord knew, believed, and taught on the importance of hell.

Yet, we often deny it practically because we don’t teach on this doctrine in our modern age.

Where shall we go from here? We will unpack this doctrine by looking at the Wrath to Come, Hell’s Horror, Hell’s Purpose.

I) Hell to Come

In the opening pages of the Gospel of Matthew, John the Baptist confronts the religious leaders with a sobering question: “Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Matt. 3:7, LSB). The wrath to come refers to the righteous judgment of God that will be poured out upon the wicked. It is not a momentary displeasure, but the settled, holy opposition of God against unrepentant sin.

John goes on to describe this judgment as “unquenchable fire” (Matt. 3:12, LSB)—a fire that is everlasting, unrelenting, and never ceasing. This is the wrath to come. Throughout the New Testament, this theme is repeatedly affirmed and consistently tied to the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. Scripture speaks of “the wrath of the Lamb” (Rev. 6:16–17, LSB), a coming day when Christ Himself executes divine judgment upon all who remain in rebellion against God.

The apostle Paul warns that the wicked are “storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God” (Rom. 2:5, LSB). Judgment is not arbitrary; it is deserved, accumulated, and certain. Therefore, there must be a place prepared for the wicked—a place Scripture calls hell.

Simply defined, hell is the place God has prepared for the eternal punishment of wicked angels and unrepentant men (Matt. 25:41; Rev. 20:10, 15, LSB). It is a place of conscious, everlasting torment under the just wrath of a holy God.

Turn with me to Luke 16:19–31. In this account, we are given one of the most vivid and sobering descriptions of the horrors of hell found anywhere in Scripture. We will unpack this passage more fully later, but even at first glance several realities stand out.

First, notice the conscience of the rich man: “He lifted up his eyes and saw” (Luke 16:23, LSB). He is fully aware—aware of his condition, aware of his surroundings, and aware of the blessedness he has forfeited.

Second, observe his emotions: “being in torment,” he “cried out” and begged for mercy, asking even for a single drop of water to cool his tongue (Luke 16:23–24, LSB). His suffering is conscious, personal, and unrelieved.

Some argue that this passage is merely a parable. I would disagree, particularly because Jesus names individuals—Lazarus, and Abraham—something He does not do in His parables. Moreover, parables were often given as acts of judgment upon unbelief (cf. Matt. 13:10–15). But even if one were to insist that this account is parabolic, the conclusion remains unchanged.

Whether understood as a historical account or a parable, Jesus is describing a real and terrifying reality: hell exists, it is reserved for the wicked, and it is a place of eternal, everlasting torment. Nowhere in this passage do we see annihilation, cessation of existence, or relief from suffering. Instead, we see ongoing consciousness, irreversible separation, and unending anguish.

just as surely as heaven is real, so also is hell. It is the place where the just wrath of God is poured out upon Satan, his angels, and all the wicked (Matt. 25:41; Rev. 20:10, 15, LSB). There is no escape from it, no appeal beyond it, and no relief within it. This reality looms over every one of us by nature.

This is the message of Scripture—and it is the message of the gospel: “Flee! Flee! Flee from the wrath to come!” (Matt. 3:7, LSB). And in fleeing from wrath, flee into the everlasting arms of Jesus Christ, the only refuge from the judgment of God (Rom. 5:9; Heb. 7:25, LSB).

Hell offers only one thing: torment—unceasing, conscious, and just. “They will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Rev. 20:10, LSB). You may pursue your rewards now. You may indulge in the fleeting pleasures of this age while passing by the poor and the needy, as the rich man did (Luke 16:19–21). But Scripture warns that a day is coming when those temporary pleasures will be exchanged for eternal agony.

There is no pain relief in hell—only suffering. No comfort—only anguish. No mercy—only justice. “In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment” (Luke 16:23, LSB).

Beloved, the wrath of God is real. On the night of His betrayal, our Lord Jesus Christ—fully aware of what awaited Him—His suffering and crucifixion—cried out to the Father. “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will” (Matt. 26:39, LSB).

That cup was not merely physical suffering or the fear of death. It was the cup of the Father’s wrath—the righteous judgment of God against sin (Isaiah 51:17 “Awaken yourself! Awaken yourself! Arise, O Jerusalem, You who have drunk from the hand of Yahweh the cup of His wrath; The chalice of reeling you have drained to the dregs.” ; Jeremiah 25:15 “For thus Yahweh, the God of Israel, says to me, “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it.” , LSB).

The agony of that moment was so great that Luke tells us, “His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground” (Luke 22:44, LSB).

Christ did not ask for the cup to pass because He feared the cross alone, but because He was about to bear the full weight of divine wrath in the place of sinners. And yet, in perfect obedience and love, He submitted Himself to the will of the Father, drinking the cup to its very dregs (John 18:11 “So Jesus said to Peter, “Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?”” ).

As we have already noted, hell is a real and horrifying place, reserved for the wicked under the just judgment of God. Scripture does not soften this reality, nor should we.

Who, then, are the residents of hell? The Bible is clear: Satan, his demons, and all who die without repentance and faith in Christ. Jesus tells us that hell was originally prepared “for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41, LSB). Yet Scripture also teaches that fallen humanity, because of sin, now stands destined for the same judgment apart from redemption.

By nature, we are not innocent victims but guilty rebels. Through Adam’s sin, condemnation entered the world. Paul writes, “Through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men” (Rom. 5:12, LSB). Adam’s legacy for his descendants was not neutrality, but guilt—an inheritance of sin and death. Left to ourselves, we are not merely wandering toward hell; we are born headed there.

Hell’s punishment corresponds to the nature of our sin. Because sin is committed in both soul and body, judgment is experienced in both soul and body. Jesus Himself warns, “Fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt. 10:28, LSB). This is conscious, embodied torment—not symbolic, not temporary, and not annihilation.

And this is where our natural resistance often arises. We struggle to accept that hell is not reserved only for history’s most notorious evildoers—Hitler, tyrants, and mass murderers—but will also include people we would consider “good.” People who were kind, charitable, moral, and helpful to others. Yet Scripture leaves no room for such distinctions before a holy God: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23, LSB).

Good works cannot erase guilt. Moral decency cannot cancel rebellion. Adam stands as the representative head of all mankind, and through him condemnation came to all (Rom. 5:18). Therefore, unless one is united to Christ—the second Adam—by faith, they remain under judgment.

Hell is horrible not merely because of its suffering, but because it is just.

What does Jesus say? Depart form me, Depart from me. Depart from what? His presence “Cast away from my comfortable presence with all blessing...”

You see, this present world is filled with the blessings of God, even toward the wicked. Jesus tells us that God “causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matt. 5:45, LSB). This is what we call common grace—God’s undeserved kindness shown to all people in this life.

Another expression of this common grace is that God has withheld His full wrath for a time. Scripture tells us that God now “commands all people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30, LSB). This present age is marked by patience and mercy, not judgment poured out in full measure.

But this grace will not last forever. A day is coming when it will be withdrawn in judgment. Those who persist in unbelief will be removed from the comforts of God’s presence. Some teach that hell is the total absence of God’s presence, but Scripture does not support that idea. God is omnipresent—even in judgment.

What is removed is not God’s presence, but the comfort of His presence.

Hell is not the absence of God; it is the presence of God in wrath rather than mercy. Revelation makes this unmistakably clear: “He also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb” (Rev. 14:10–11, LSB).

This is a sobering truth: the one who executes judgment in hell is not Satan, but God Himself—holy, righteous, and just. Satan is not the ruler of hell; he is one of its prisoners (Rev. 20:10, LSB).

Therefore, the terror of hell is not merely suffering, but suffering under the unveiled justice of God, with no mixture of mercy—only wrath.

II) Hell’s Horror’s

The horrors of hell are described with striking clarity throughout Scripture. Let us consider some of the imagery Jesus Himself uses to communicate its terror.

First, hell is described as fire. Jesus speaks of the sinner being cast into “the fiery hell” (Matt. 5:22, LSB). There He warns, “Whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.” The word translated hell in this passage is Gehenna.

Gehenna was a real location outside Jerusalem—the Valley of Hinnom—where refuse, filth, and the remains of sacrifices were burned. The fire was continual, the smoke constantly rising, and the stench unbearable. It was a place of corruption, decay, and destruction that never ceased.

This is the picture Jesus intentionally draws for us. Hell is not a momentary flame, but an unceasing fire. It is not a cleansing fire, but a punishing one. As Jesus says elsewhere, “their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48, LSB). The imagery is meant to convey ongoing conscious suffering, and irreversible judgment.

It is a fire that never goes out but goes on and on.

It is a fire that fuels and burns God’s Holy wrath.

Hell is also called a furnace of fire, "shall cast them into a furnace of fire:

...”there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth," Matthew 13:42

That weeping and gnashing of teeth is not symbolic language for extinction or unconsciousness. It is the response of those experiencing intense suffering, anguish, and regret under judgment. The gnashing of teeth reflects rage, despair, and pain—an unending reaction to unrelieved torment. There is no relief, no dulling of the senses, and no end to the agony.

Jesus uses this imagery to impress upon us the seriousness of sin and the certainty of judgment. Hell is not momentary, and it is not corrective—it is eternal punishment

Christ uses this language not to exaggerate, but to warn. If the imagery of fire, smoke, and stench is horrifying, it is because the reality is far worse than the picture.

econd, hell is also described as a place of “outer darkness.” Jesus warns that the wicked will be cast “into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 8:12; 22:13; 25:30, LSB).

This darkness does not mean that God is absent, for God is omnipresent. Rather, it signifies that the glory and comfort of God’s presence are withdrawn. There is no light of favor, no warmth of mercy, and no hope of relief. It is darkness without dawn.

To help us grasp this, think of a moment from childhood when the lights suddenly went out and fear set in. Or think of a time as an adult when the power failed, leaving you disoriented and uneasy. Panic can quickly rise when light is removed.

Now multiply that fear infinitely and remove all hope of rescue or relief. That is the picture Jesus gives us. Hell is a place of utter darkness—total isolation from comfort, joy, and peace—where despair is complete and unending.

Scripture consistently associates sin with darkness. Jesus declares, “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil” (John 3:19, LSB). Hell, then, is the place reserved for those who loved darkness over light and refused the truth.

It is also a place of utter isolation. Hell is not a gathering of sinners enjoying one another’s company, nor a place of reflection or rehabilitation. In Luke 16, the rich man is acutely aware of his own torment, yet he is entirely alone in it. There is no fellowship, no comfort, and no shared relief—only personal suffering (Luke 16:23–24, LSB).

This is not a place of conversation, contemplation, or camaraderie, but a place of separation and loneliness. Hell is a prison of isolation. To help us grasp this, consider the terror of solitary confinement—cut off from human contact, shut away from the outside world, locked in darkness and silence. Now remove all hope of release and add the full weight of guilt and regret.

In hell, there is nothing to distract from the reality of judgment. One is left alone with the consequences of sin, dwelling endlessly on the rebellion that led there. This is utter darkness—darkness of body, mind, and soul—with no light, no comfort, and no end.

Third, Jesus speaks of “the worm that does not die.” He says, “where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48, LSB). This language points to something ongoing, internal, and unrelenting.

The imagery comes from Gehenna, the refuse dump outside Jerusalem, where worms and maggots continually fed on decaying garbage. They never ceased their work. Jesus uses this image to describe the unceasing activity of the conscience under judgment.

We even use similar language today—we say that something is “gnawing at us.” That is the conscience bearing witness against us. In hell, that witness never falls silent. The mind continually brings to remembrance the countless opportunities given to repent, the warnings ignored, and the truth rejected.

in verse 25 of Luke 16, the rich man had his memory.

Abraham said, "Remember that thou in thy lifetime receivest thy good things."

One pastor noted on this that:

You will know all that you have done and those thoughts will accuse you, and your conscience, the worm, never dies, your conscience will never, ever die and really in view of that, who needs Satan to torment you? The Lord will have you witness against yourself and that will be part of his justice

This is what fuels the weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 13:42, LSB). The conscience replays these realities again and again under eternal torment, with no relief and no escape. All of this takes place in the fiery furnace that never cools, not even for a moment (Mark 9:48).

Lastly—fourth—Scripture speaks of hell as “the bottomless pit.” In Revelation 9 it is described as “the pit of the abyss” (Rev. 9:1–2, LSB). The imagery communicates endless descent with no foundation, no rest, and no escape.

It is as though the floor has fallen out from beneath you, and you are forever falling—sinking—descending, with nothing to stop the fall and nowhere to land. There is no stability, no relief, and no sense of arrival—only perpetual terror.

This picture reinforces the unending nature of judgment. Hell is not a place where one eventually reaches the bottom and finds rest. It is an abyss without end, a punishment without conclusion, an existence marked by continual fear and despair.

III) Hell’s Purpose

We have already described something of the nature of hell; now we must consider its purpose. Scripture teaches that hell was originally prepared for Satan and the fallen angels, yet it now also includes all sinners who die apart from repentance and faith in Christ. Jesus says that the wicked will be cast “into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41, LSB).

Hell is therefore a place of eternal judgment and conscious torment for the damned. This is stated plainly just a few verses later: “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matt. 25:46, LSB). The same Greek word (aiōnios) is used to describe both eternal punishment and eternal life, making it impossible to argue that one is temporary while the other is everlasting. Hell involves ongoing, conscious existence under judgment.

It is important to say clearly: the doctrine of eternal conscious torment does not diminish who God is—it magnifies Him.

First, hell displays the justice of God. For God to be righteous, He must punish sin. Scripture declares, “He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished” (Exod. 34:7, LSB). Justice demands that sin be addressed, judged, and punished. A God who does not judge sin is not just.

Second, it would not be loving of God to excuse sin or simply erase the sinner through annihilation. Scripture tells us that God is love (1 John 4:8), but it also tells us that love does not rejoice in unrighteousness (1 Cor. 13:6, LSB). To dismiss sin without punishment would be to deny God’s own moral order and the seriousness of rebellion against Him.

Third, hell upholds the holiness of God. God is “holy, holy, holy” (Isa. 6:3, LSB), utterly set apart from sin. If God did not punish sin and did not reserve a place for judgment, He would deny His own holy nature. Hell testifies that God does not compromise His holiness, excuse evil, or lower His standard.

Hell exists, not because God is cruel, but because God is holy, just, righteous, and true. And it stands as a solemn warning that there is only one escape from judgment—the Lord Jesus Christ, who bore the punishment of sin for all who trust in Him (Rom. 8:1; 2 Cor. 5:21, LSB).

The gravity and magnitude of sin demand punishment. Sin is not a small mistake or a moral weakness—it is treason against a holy God. When we sin, we violate God’s eternal law, and justice requires that a penalty be paid. Scripture is clear: “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23, LSB).

When we seek to soften sin, we inevitably begin to soften God’s holiness. And when God’s holiness is diminished, hell is denied. But hell exists precisely because God is holy. Scripture tells us, “Our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29, LSB). His holiness burns against all that is evil, corrupt, and rebellious.

The apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 9 that God is sovereign in His purposes and that His glory is displayed in both mercy and judgment. He speaks of “vessels of mercy” prepared beforehand for glory, and “vessels of wrath” prepared for destruction (Rom. 9:22–23, LSB). In both cases, God is glorified—whether through the salvation of sinners in heaven or the righteous judgment of sinners in hell.

This does not make God unjust; it magnifies His righteousness. Hell is not a contradiction of God’s character—it is a revelation of it. And it stands as a solemn reminder that there is only one refuge from divine judgment: the Lord Jesus Christ, who bore the penalty of sin for all who believe (Isa. 53:5; Rom. 5:9, LSB).

Conclusion

Beloved, as we close on this vital doctrine, do not ignore the gravity and weight of what Scripture teaches about hell. Many struggle to grasp that we serve an infinite, holy God—a God who is not only merciful and gracious toward us, but also righteous and just, and who must punish sin (Ps. 89:14; Rom. 3:25–26, LSB).

At times, we must set aside our emotions and allow the biblical text to speak for itself. How can the gospel truly be good news if we do not first understand the bad news? The bad news is this: the wrath to come—the wrath of the Lamb—is real (Rev. 6:16–17, LSB). It is described as a reality from which no one can escape except through Christ.

Our only hope and refuge is Christ Himself. As we are reminded this Christmas season, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29, LSB). This makes sense only if we take seriously the reality of hell. Why else would Christ leave the glory of heaven and take on flesh, enduring suffering and death, if sin did not deserve eternal punishment (Isa. 53:4–6, LSB)?

The gospel is powerful because it delivers sinners from what they deserve—hell—into what they cannot earn—salvation in Christ. Understanding the reality of hell magnifies the glory of God’s mercy and the significance of Christ’s sacrifice.

Let this truth drive us to repentance, faith, and urgent trust in Jesus Christ—the only one who can save us from the wrath to come (Rom. 5:9, LSB).