PTM WEEKLY UPDATE -- MARCH 23, 2009
Can "people" in hell repent and get a transfer to heaven?
Q. You have defined hell as eternal separation from God. Can those people who are separated from God change their minds (repent) and live the rest of eternity with God? I believe they can. God tells us that it's not his will that any should perish. My hope is that Satan will one day repent.
A. Generally speaking, when I attempt to explain what I believe about heaven and hell, I call attention to the words themselves which carry extraordinary baggage. The words have taken on a variety of meanings, which vary from person to person, culture to culture and religion to religion.
When I talk about hell, I also attempt to show that the Bible gives us virtually no detail at all, in terms of actual "conditions" that are, or will be present in heaven or hell. Can "people" who are separated from God change their minds? Well, first of all, we need to define "people." Are we talking about souls/spirits -- which is generally the idea when heaven, in particular, is discussed as an intermediate state, between death and the resurrection? In that case, "people" would certainly be an inadequate term, for no bodies are present, that we do know. We can prove that bodies decompose during this "time" in which we live here on earth.
Is Jesus running rehabilitation programs right now in purgatory, for notoriously evil souls, who left behind a legacy of earthly mayhem, who absolutely rejected God and his grace, on earth? We don't know. The Bible doesn't tell us such a thing.
If your question concerns the intermediate state, then it would be more correct to ask if souls/spirits may change their mind -- at some period before the Second Coming. Some have such a teaching, under the general heading of "purgatory." Their teaching, however, I find unbiblical, for it is based, as I understand it, on works righteousness. I don't believe that souls in purgatory, in a spiritual holding pen, if you like, will go either into heaven or hell based on their deeds during that "time" -- or, in some combination of what they do in the afterlife along with what their human relatives on earth do, religiously and ritualistically (an idea which of course serves the earthy needs of religious authorities).
Is Jesus running rehabilitation programs right now in purgatory, for notoriously evil souls, who left behind a legacy of earthly mayhem, who absolutely rejected God and his grace here on earth? We don't know. The Bible doesn't tell us such a thing. Are we free to believe such a thing? Of course we are. Are we free to tell others that they must also believe such thing, and/or that our belief of such a thing makes us "better" Christians than those who don't "believe as we do"? No, we are not. That's completely un-Christlike, in my opinion. Majoring in the minors. Exalting unknowable non-essentials to a higher level than they should be given.
Or, are you talking about a time after the resurrection, when, according to the Bible, soul/spirit is reunited with the body, only this time the body is eternally glorified? Again, in terms of the details the Bible provides, we are talking only about heaven here. But, back to your question about hell and whether "people" can change/repent. Is this (the time after the Second Coming) the general time period about which you ask? If it is, then we must ask, if people who are eternally separated from God, at some point, can change their mind and effectively transfer from eternal separation from God to eternal enjoyment in communion with God, we would assume that their bodies would then also be eternally glorified when they are given this "transfer." If that is the case, did they have those same bodies in hell? We don't know of course, for the Bible does not comment.
Further, if those who are eternally separated from God in hell (whatever hell means) can change their mind, then what about those who are "in heaven" (whatever that means)? Can they change their minds too? If not, why not? What's good for the goose is good for the gander. That is, if there is a road between heaven and hell in the afterlife, then surely it must be a two way street. It seems that you may be proposing that the road is one way. But why? If souls have a choice, in the afterlife, and can move from one polarity to the other, then why would that choice exist only in hell?
I am not attempting to be absurd, but I am attempting to show that our speculations about heaven and hell, at the end of the day, are only just that. We don't know such details because God doesn't reveal such details. I know that many like to fill in the picture for those who listen to and read their preaching and teaching. For example, there are many people who don't like the idea that "my" hell is not hot enough -- they seem to want or even need a hell of eternal torture. I cannot accept such a teaching. I reject that idea of hell as being without biblical foundation, and further, absent specific biblical teaching, without any basis in the nature of God that is revealed in the Bible.
In this case, I believe the devil is in the details. Speaking of the devil, can he (or maybe the devil is a she -- why not, in this day of political correctness and gender equality? Why must men take the fall for being the only sex related to the devil?) repent? The Bible doesn't seem to leave such that door open. It doesn't seem that the devil or his/her demon minions will change.
Of course I would love to believe that everything will be great and nice and wonderful in some utopian future. But just because some idea seems to be humanly right and true doesn't mean that it is or will be right and true. God is God and we are not. We don't fathom all that there is of his righteousness, love, and grace.
It would be a wonderful idea if everyone who had ever lived (human) and ever existed (spiritual creations/spirit entities/spirit beings) would all link arms around a future, celestial camp fire and sing Kumbayah. However, it seems to me that the Bible speaks of much of the evil that exists as being so entrenched, so that some seem to have willed themselves to be predisposed toward evil, always, and in every case choosing evil. Given the entrenched evil from which those who choose it will not change, God will judge evil and determine its eventual end.
Of course, as the Bible says, it's not God's will that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9). But in case you missed the history books, or the daily newspaper or newscast, humans have choices, and humans exercise them, because God has designed us with that capability and responsibility. Some humans choose hell. It appears, from the biblical record, that Lucifer and his angels made that choice long ago.
In Christ
Greg AlbrechtRETURN TO PTM WEEKLY UPDATE CONTENTS PAGE
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