Question 51 :: What is hell?

Answer:

Hell is a real place of eternal punishment and separation from God for the unbelieving.

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Children:

Hell is a place of eternal punishment.

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Matthew 25:41,46

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels… “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” 

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Commentary:

According to the Bible, hell is just as real as heaven. The Bible clearly and explicitly teaches that hell is a real place to which the wicked/unbelieving are sent after death. We have all sinned against God. The just punishment for that sin is death. Since each of our sins is ultimately against a holy God, and since God is an infinite and eternal Being, the punishment for sin, death, must also be infinite and eternal. Hell is this infinite and eternal death which we have earned because of our sin. The punishment of the wicked in hell is just as never ending as the bliss of the righteous in heaven. Praise God that, through faith in Jesus, anyone can escape the eternal fate we deserve.

Further Study:

Matthew 3:12, 25:31-46; Mark 9:44-49; Luke 16:23-24; John 3:16; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; Revelation 14:10-11, 20:10.