The Importance of Hell

The sermon opens with the observation that while 64% of Americans expect to go to heaven, fewer than 1% think they might go to hell. Pastor Keller argues that the doctrine of hell is important first because Jesus himself taught about hell more than all other biblical authors combined. Jesus used the word 'Gehenna' — a valley where garbage and unclaimed corpses were burned — to describe endless spiritual decomposition. If the Lord of Love and Author of Grace spoke so frequently and vividly about hell, it must be a foundational truth.

The second argument shows that hell reveals humanity's complete dependence on God. The images of fire and darkness are symbols describing what happens when a person loses the presence of God. Separation from God is spiritual disintegration, because the human soul was built to worship and enjoy the true God. Even in this life, humanity is still sustained by 'common grace,' but when that sustaining presence is lost entirely, the result is hell — not annihilation but the complete ruin of the soul's intended purpose.

The third argument presents hell as the natural consequence of choosing to live for oneself. In Romans 1–2, Paul shows that God 'gives over' people to the sinful passions of their hearts. Hell is God respecting human free choice — giving people exactly what they most wanted, which is complete independence from him. Using an illustration from C.S. Lewis, Keller shows that hell begins with a grumbling, blame-shifting disposition, and if left unchecked, the soul gradually loses all capacity for repentance or seeking God.

The fourth and most powerful argument is that the doctrine of hell is necessary to understand the depth of Jesus' love on the cross. When Jesus cried out 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me,' he was experiencing hell itself — separation from the Father. Because our debt of sin is infinite yet Jesus declared it 'finished' in just three hours, what he endured was far worse than all of our deserved hells combined. Keller warns that a faith without a true cross — without a God who genuinely suffered — is mere sentimentality, not real love.

The conclusion stresses that the doctrine of hell must be preached in a balanced way: not only emphasizing God's active judgment but also explaining the self-chosen nature of hell. The goal is not to frighten people into moral reform for self-interested reasons, but to lead them to love and loyalty toward the One who endured hell in their place. This distinction makes all the difference between producing a mere moralist and a truly born-again believer.