Heaven or Hell

This is based on some discussion going on on RO. A number of skeptics worry about God "sending" people to hell for eternity when they sinned for such a comparatively short time.

What did God do for us and to us and why

The crucifixion & resurrection:
It was not “just” death on the cross, and 3 days, and then all over. Jesus, the sinless One, paid the penalty and bore the sins of all man kind – from creation to now, and to the end, whenever that is. Can you imagine, being completely innocent, and yet bearing the guilt for the worst person you know? Multiply that to all the guilt of all people whoever lived and ever will live. I don’t think we are capable of even beginning to comprehend what Christ suffered from his arrest until the resurrection.

Heaven and Hell:
They are not simply “reward” and “punishment;” they are what we choose. We have the 70+/- years here on earth to make a decision. Make no mistake, it is our decision, not His. If we do not choose to make that decision for Christ, there is no place left for us except Hell. Hell was not originally meant to “house” human beings – it was made for “the devil and his angels.” But for people who refuse to choose Christ, the only way to Heaven, there is no other place for them. In Isaiah 5:14, it says that “Hell has enlarged herself.” This was necessary to accommodate the people who choose it. It is not necessarily a punishment. It is our choice. It is true that there are degrees of punishment and reward. The degrees of punishment seem to be based on knowledge more than the degree of the sin we commit – if we can even divide sin into degrees. Jesus said that more will be required of those who know more. This is in the Christian life, as well as in the non-Christian life.

We have all this life to make the decision. We can’t lay the blame on God if we make the wrong one. God is not punishing us for 70+/- years of sin. We have brought the punishment upon ourselves for refusing to accept the free gift he purchased with his blood, and is offering to us.

As for, why did God make us with free will? Because he wanted us to serve him by our own choice, not because we have no choice.

And who is eligible for salvation? The answer is in I Peter 3:9 – everyone – “He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” We all – every single one of us, every person who has ever lived and who will ever live – have that choice. If we make the right choice, we will spend eternity with Him in Heaven. If we don’t make a choice – well, that is impossible, because by not making the right choice, by default, we make the wrong choice.