Luke 13:2-3 “And Jesus answered and said to them, "Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? (3) I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”
As with believers, when unbelievers die, their inward man departs from their physical bodies and those bodies return to the dust from which they were formed. There is only one location set aside for unbelievers when they die, and that location is called hell. In the scripture quoted above our Lord Jesus plainly tells us that those who refuse to repent and believe the gospel, will perish. When our Lord speaks about unbelievers perishing, He is referring to people being cast into hell after they die. Many in the world foolishly believe that only the very wicked people will be cast into hell, while the relatively “good” people will make it into heaven. The Lord Jesus has stated very clearly however that all unbelievers will perish, not only the very wicked but also the relatively “good” people.
Luke 12:4-5 “And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. (5) But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!”
In this life God allows people to exercise their free will. And so when God presents the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ to people and they reject that, God allows that to happen, because in this life He will not override the free will that He has given them. Nevertheless, through His gospel, God warns people that there is a consequence to their rejecting His salvation, which is being cast into hell to suffer torment for all eternity. People still reject God’s salvation however, not because they want to suffer for all eternity, but because they do not want to submit themselves to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and they also do not believe that hell exists. And so when unbelievers die, they discover to their absolute horror that hell indeed does exist, and it is at that point that their free will is taken from them and they are cast into hell against their will. Our Lord Jesus confirmed this truth to us in the above quoted passage of scripture, when He said that people should fear God who has the power to cast into hell all those who die having rejected His salvation.
Michael E.B. Maher
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