Is Eternal Punishment Fair?

Why Hell?
Is everlasting punishment in hell unfair? What do you say to someone who thinks that the punishment doesn’t fit the crime? Meaning, our finite sin here on earth is receiving everlasting punishment in hell. It seems unbalanced or unfair.

Here are a few bullet point thoughts about this question:

• The criminal never gets to choose his punishment. Even in this world.
• We may think the punishment is disproportionate to the crime because we do not realize the severity and utter sinfulness of our deeds. (See Romans 7:13)
  
• In calling the punishment unfair, we appeal to our own sense of fairness as sinful, fallen, imperfect human beings instead of a holy, just, perfect God.
• The duration of punishment never has anything to do with the duration of the crime. It has to do with the severity of the crime. Compare committing fraud or embezzlement for years and years to a single moment of murder.
• If a person sinned once per waking hour from age 18 to age 70, that person would have committed 227,760 sins. Not that the quantity is important. I just thought the math was interesting.
• We under-estimate our sin.
• We under-estimate the impact, severity and magnitude of our sin.
• We under-estimate the holiness and justice of God.
• We over-estimate our own goodness.
• The ultimate and unfortunate irony for many people is that they had every opportunity to gain complete forgiveness and declined.

What’s even more of a mystery than the question of fairness in punishment, is the mystery of the quality and quantity of forgiveness offered to the un-deserving. But I guess no one is complaining about how unfair that is. :)

Antidote

Have you ever heard a statement like this one:
“I can’t believe you worship a god that would send someone to hell just because he doesn’t believe in Jesus.”

I think that statement totally misses the point.

Is it true that God sends people to hell for not believing in Jesus?
My answer is yes and no. Here is what I mean:

Usually, the reason people raise this question is because they have heard Christians explain it that way. We often haven’t been careful to communicate exactly what's going on here and why belief in Jesus is so important.

It's because belief in Jesus solves a problem.
The problem itself is what condemns people to hell, and if Jesus doesn't solve the problem then the problem doesn't get solved.
He's the only one capable of dealing with it.

The problem is sin.

Sin is like a disease that infects every single person on the planet.
And it has a 100% mortality rate.

One way of looking at this is to see mankind as desperately, deathly ill. What is the antidote? The antidote is forgiveness. It's available to everyone from the very One whom we have offended--God Himself. He offers forgiveness to the great and the small, to those who are the greatest sinners and the least sinners. Now you have a choice. Take the medicine or don't.

That's the answer to the question. The offer of forgiveness goes out to everyone. The antidote to the deadly disease is available to each and every person. It's up to us to accept it or not. If we don't, we perish, not because we don’t believe in Jesus but because we have refused the forgiveness of God.

Judgment=Condemnation?

When someone hears the word, “judgment”, they sometimes understand it as the word, “condemnation.” In other words, the definition of the word, “condemnation” is applied to the word, “judgment” in the mind of some.

The Day of Judgment is when the deeds, attitudes, thoughts, and words of all people will be judged (evaluated) and exposed for what they are.

In a court of law, there are several stages to a trial. There is the presentation of the case, at which time, the evidence is reviewed and witnesses are brought forward to testify. The judge hears the case and makes a judgment. His judgment leads to a verdict. After judgment and verdict come sentencing or punishment.

So, in this case, judgment is the process by which a verdict is reached. For believers, the verdict is one of “no condemnation” for Jesus had the penalty for sin poured out on Him. (Romans 8:1) For unbelievers the verdict comes back “condemned”. (John 3:17-18)

So, we see that judgment is not another word for condemnation but could result in condemnation.
When someone is on trial, the Day of Judgment can be a good thing if that day produces a “not guilty” verdict!