Q. Since the death and resurrection of Christ millions of people have died without hearing the message of salvation through Christ as personal Lord and Savior.  Does God automatically send those individuals to hell?  Is there a way God is revealed to these individuals so they may be aware of the existence of God, believe in God and have faith that He will provide spiritual security?  Must they hear the message of salvation thru Christ in order to trust God for eternal security?

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Q. I recently read that the idea of eternal punishment came about  “because of a preconceived, unbiblical notion that the soul is immortal (see 1 Tim. 6:15-16).  We have read eternal torment into the Scriptures when it was never intended for mankind.  Hell was created for Satan and his Angels, not for Mankind and it is Satan and his demonic hordes who will be consigned to Hell and its torments eternally.”   Do you believe 1 Tim. 6:15-16 actually means mans soul is not immortal and that it could be destroyed after serving a period of time in Hell?

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Q. I always thought Hell was forever, but I recently read another view called the conditional view.  It teaches that the unrighteous will be resurrected, judged, punished in Hell for a period of time proportional to their sins, and then suffer destruction (both body and soul).   The author mentions several points against eternal punishment but he states “the most convincing of all arguments against the traditional viewpoint relates to what Jesus Himself suffered on the cross. What was that punishment?  It was extreme punishment followed by death.  If Jesus did not suffer the full penalty for our sin, our debt has not been paid.  But the Scriptures say that He paid the full debt and it was not eternal torment.”  What do you think of that argument?

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Q. I discovered a site that offers articles on Conditional Salvation and The Two-Phase Atonement.   They claim “Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary was but the first half of the process, with the second phase still in the future.  The sacrifice has been made, they say,  and the blood has been shed, but the final atonement has not yet been made.

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Q. My question has to do with what the Bible refers to as “hardening of hearts”.  There are many examples in the Bible of people hardening their hearts toward God.  For instance Ephesians 4:17-18 (NLT) states, “Their closed minds are full of darkness; they are far away from the life of God because they have shut their minds and hardened their hearts against him”.  My understanding of verses like these are that our hearts are hardened toward God and accepting Jesus as our savior because of our sinful and ungodly behavior.

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Q. I was reading your comments on the column “More on Whose Choice Is It?”  By saying “God knew who would accept Him so He gave them the faith to chose just at the right time” makes God sound like He has a great crystal ball.  I hear people trying to explain this all the time.  Maybe just believing Almighty God is sovereign and taking literally the many verses stating that He “chose” us  would make the whole thing a bit more simple.  Since we have all chosen sin, we are all destined for Hell.  In His sovereign mercy maybe He chose to rescue some, for reasons and purposes known only to Him (Job 9:12-19), and only because of His grace–nothing in any of us.  Seems pretty simple to this simple mind.

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Q. I was reading my Bible again, (I’m trying to read the whole thing), and I was going from Genesis through Exodus. I used to wish that I could have lived during those times, but now you couldn’t pay me to go there. It seems like every time Israel messes up, they get wiped out. But then I started thinking; I’m just as guilty as they are, because I haven’t always put God first. I feel that I wouldn’t have lasted one day before being killed for my sin. Having seen how He dealt with them, I’m almost afraid to pray know. I mean, if one sin is enough to kill us, how much more do I deserve to die?  The New Testament is filled with God displaying His mercy and forgiveness, and I am grateful for that, but I can’t figure out why He is so easy on us, and so tough on the Israelites.

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Q. Does the Abraham Covenant with the Jews last forever – even through the Church age?  If yes, why are we to spread the gospel to the Jews first and then the gentiles? Are all non-believing Jews from the time Jesus died on the cross and rose again going to Hell?  Is it only the Old Testament faithful Jews, the believing Jews during the Church Age,  and  the 144,000 and the new converts during the tribulation that are or will be saved?

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A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

The first three Gospels are so much alike that people accuse Matthew and Luke of borrowing heavily from Mark, who supposedly wrote His gospel first. But no so with John.  His gospel is different from all of the others.

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Q. In several of your articles about eternal security you have said that even the faith to ask for salvation was a gift from Him.  However, salvation through Jesus is also our choice and we are responsible for making that choice.  We must ask for and accept it. But we can’t accept it until we first believe it and we can’t believe it until God gives us the faith to do so. Do you see where I’m coming from?

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