20

“Why do you say that?” he asks you.

“Well,” you explain, “how could a loving God send people to hell just for not believing in him? That wouldn’t be very loving, would it?”

“You’re missing one thing,” he begins. “Yes, God is a God of love but also a God of justice, a perfect judge. In the Bible it even says: ‘God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day.1’ Now, would it be right for a judge to let criminals go free just like that without punishment?”

“Of course not.”

“Neither can a perfect God leave sin unpunished,” he says. “Now, would it be right for God to force someone who has rejected him, his righteousness, and his free gift of salvation their entire life to go and live with him in heaven? Re-jecting God is actually the worst sin you can commit, because it is blasphemy or calling his free gift of salvation worthless, even though it cost him his life.”

“Well, when you put it that way...”

“Obviously, as a loving God, he doesn’t want to punish people, but some-times he has to. He even says, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.2’ Besides, if we’re all going to be saved anyways, why did Jesus tell us to ‘Enter by the narrow gate3?’ and ‘For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter by it. For the gate is narrow and the way is difficult that leads to life, and those who find it are few.3’”

“Could you explain this to me a bit more?” you ask him. Go to page 22.

1 – Psalm 7:11, 2 – Ezekiel 33:11, 3 – Matthew 7:13-14