Is Hell a real and eternal place?

I was in a discussion some time back and someone made a statement to me along the lines of; "The fact is hell is not an eternal place of torment." As nice as that would be to believe, especially if you have ever lost a love one who was not saved, the truth is hell is indeed eternal.

The concept of a Purgatory or “temporary hell” actually finds its roots in Judaism or more accurately Jewish tradition. It then managed to worm its way into the church. Orthodox Jewish thought and tradition believes the most someone will be in hell is one year with exception of the utterly wicked who is destroyed. The time can be shortened for a dead loved one via "good works" and prayers, etc. on their behalf. This teaching is not found in the Bible or in the Jewish Tanach. Of course the Jewish Tanach is the first half of our Christian Bible. The concept of a “temporary hell” is based totally on rabbinical tradition and it was later adopted by the Church of Rome.

It is nice to believe this theology but it is a lie straight from the pit of hell. It seems to try and argue that as long as you are a good person then you will be ok in the “after life”. But in addition to making more references to hell than He did Heaven there is a reason Jesus made statements such as:

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matthew 7:13-14

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6

Jesus warned about hell because it is eternal and without faith in Him you will end up in hell. Don’t believe me? Do away with your religion for a moment and let’s see what Scripture has to say about hell. We can read about the judgment of those who died without Christ will face in Revelation…

"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 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" (Rev. 20:12-15).

First point is that hell is a literal place but Jesus said hell is eternal:

"And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched" (Mark 9:43-48).

If you will notice in the above verses from Mark and Revelation we find that not only is hell a literal place but Jesus says several times that the fires of hell will not be quenched.

Please note you can die only one time and then you will be judged. There are no second chances after you die, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” Hebrews 9:27

The judgment that will keep you out of hell for eternity is based on accepting Jesus as Savior. You can choose to try and earn your way to Heaven based on good works but the Bible tells us "all our righteous acts are like filthy rags in the eyes of the Lord." We die once and then we are judged once. There is no coming back after we die with our choice made. God gives us free will to choose Heaven or Hell and no one will go to hell without climbing over Jesus to get there but God isn’t going to drag anyone to Heaven kicking and screaming against their free will either.

Everyone has a choice to make now based on what is in God's word. Won’t you choose Jesus and eternal life right now today? You are not promised you will get another chance tomorrow or even later today.