True Orthodox Faith Means The Doctrine of Hell

I have a friend that I used to go to school with who said (in so many words or at least my recollection of the conversation) that his goal in discipleship, and what he would like professed Christians to do is to do what it says in Jeremiah 6:16a which says, “Thus says the LORD: "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.” So I thought I would do that and point to one of these ancient fathers, and show his explanation of what the ancient path is. Irenaeus wrote a book called “Against Heresies” sometime between 182-188 A.D. This book was written before Constantine and before Nicaea so you can no accuse it of any conspiracy. If you wish to read the book, you may find it HERE. What was taught in the early church? What did they understand to be the faith once and for all delivered to the saints? This is what they confessed:

Chapter X.-Unity of the Faith of the Church throughout the Whole World.

"1. The Church though dispersed through our the whole world, even to the
ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this
faith:
[She believes] in one God,

The Father Almighty, Maker of heaven,

and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them;

And in one Christ

Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation;
and in the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets the dispensations of God, and the advents, and the birth from a virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the ascension into heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, and His [future] manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father "to gather all things in one," and to raise up anew all flesh of the whole human race, in order that to Christ Jesus, our Lord, and God, and Savior, and King, according to the will of the invisible Father, "every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess" to Him, and that He should execute just judgment towards all; that He may send "spiritual wickednesses," and the angels who transgressed and became apostates, together with the ungodly, and unrighteous, and wicked, and profane among men, into everlasting fire; but may, in the exercise of His grace, confer immortality on the righteous, and holy, and those who have kept His commandments, and have persevered in His love, some from the beginning [of their Christian course], and others from [the date of] their repentance, and may surround them with everlasting glory.


2. As I have already observed, the Church, having received this preaching and this faith, although scattered throughout the whole world, yet, as if occupying but one house, carefully preserves it. She also believes these points [of doctrine] just as if she had but one soul, and one and the same heart, and she proclaims them, and teaches them, and hands them down, with perfect harmony, as if she possessed only one mouth. For, although the languages of the world are dissimilar, yet the import of the tradition is one and the same. For the Churches which have been planted in Germany do not believe or hand down anything different, nor do those in Spain, nor those in Gaul, nor those in the East, nor those in Egypt, nor those in Libya, nor those which have been established in the central regions of the world. But as the sun, that creature of God, is one and the same throughout the whole world, so also the preaching of the truth shineth everywhere, and enlightens all men that are willing to come to a knowledge of the truth. Nor will any one of the rulers in the Churches, however highly gifted he may be in point of eloquence, teach doctrines different from these (for no one is greater than the Master); nor, on the other hand, will he who is
deficient in power of expression inflict injury on the tradition. For the faith being ever one and the same, neither does one who is able at great length to discourse regarding it, make any addition to it, nor does one, who can say but little diminish it."

We notice that everlasting fire for those who do not repent and come to the grace of Christ is one of those things that have been historically taught. The doctrine of hell is not some recent and novel idea introduced into the Church; it is a matter of essential Christian orthodoxy. To deny the doctrine of hell is to put one outside the bounds of the Christian Faith. This is and has always been the teaching of the Church, the Apostles, the Prophets and the Scriptures.

One thing Rob Bell said in his recent video about his new book on hell is true, “what we believe about heaven and hell is incredibly important because it exposes what we believe about Who God is, and what God is like.” I couldn’t agree more. For and infinite God to not punish Sin infinitely is not a good God. Sin and unrighteousness must be punished if God is to be righteous. Righteousness and holiness make no sense without hell. But God provided a way that sinners might not go to hell. Because God is good and God is Love and God is Holy, he sent his perfect and holy Son Jesus Christ to live on this earth under the law, the law that you and I failed to keep. He lived and died under the full wrath of God, the wrath that was rightly for you. Christ bore the whole wrath of God and curse of the law in his body on the tree, and died. But that’s not the end. Three days later he rose from the dead and conquered death, sin and the devil, and ascended to the right hand of the father and presented his own blood as the pure and true sacrifice for sin and then sat down at the right hand of God, signifying that his work is done. And we may share in his sacrifice by repenting of the sins we have done, to feel heart felt sorrow from them, to confess them to God and turn from our sins. And place all our trust in the saving work of Christ. That is the good news of the Gospel. It is not a matter of works, but it is a matter of the works of Christ. Christ has done it all that all that comes to him will not die but have everlasting life. Come to the grace of Christ and embrace the true Gospel.