I
received this good Bible question today from a web visitor...
QUESTION: Since Jesus
died for ALL people on the cross and ALL sins past present and future have
been forgiven and judged 2000 years ago for everyone... then God cannot send
anyone to Hell for the sins they commit, only for rejecting Christ for being
savior?
ANSWER: It is true that effectively, the only reason why a
person goes to Hell is because they reject Christ as their personal Savior.
Albeit, the gift of forgiveness of sins and eternal life must be received by
faith alone in Christ alone. 1st Timothy 4:10 says that Jesus is
the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe. So Christ is the
Savior of ALL men, but that doesn't mean all men are saved. The gift is
waiting, and MUST be accepted by faith in Christ. So if a person refuses to
obey the Gospel, by believing it, then they are still in their sins. It is
true that Christ died for all sins (past, present and future), but until a
person receives that free gift, they are still in their sins. John 8:24, I
said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not
that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
So God does send the unbeliever to Hell for the sins that they commit, to be
punished for those sins for ever (and the books were opened, Revelation
20:12-15); but as you say, since the only way of escape is through believing
on the blood of Christ (Romans 5:9), then effectively, from a certain
perspective, the only reason a person really goes to Hell is because of their
rejection of Jesus Christ. The only sin that can keep a person out of Heaven
is not believing (trusting) the Gospel. I hope that helps.
