The Bible describes hell as being like a lake of fire because that is what hell is like. We don't know exactly what hell will look like, but we do know that hell is a total separation from God. Those who reject God in this life, will be completely and totally separated from God for eternity.

What's the big deal about that?

Everything that is good comes from God. If you are totally separated from God, you are totally and completely separated from anything that is good. That means there is nothing good in hell... NOTHING! No cool drink of water. No freedom from pain. Just an eternity in a burning lake of fire.

Light is good. There will be no light in hell. Friends are good. There are no friends in hell. Joy is good. There is no joy in hell, it is a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 25:30).

It's interesting. God does not send people to hell. People choose to go to hell. They get exactly what they want. If you reject God in this life, that's what you get for eternity. You need to know this. Put your trust in God today, and you'll be with God forever. Reject God, and that's what you'll get... eternal separation from God.

Many Falsely Believe They Are Trusting In Jesus:

  Here are some very chilling words from Jesus in Matthew 7:21-23

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’"

These are people who claim to know Jesus. These are people who claim to be Christians. And Jesus says "I never knew you." They are going to hell. They truly thought they believed in Jesus. They even did miracles and cast out demons in Jesus' name. And they are going to hell. And these verses say there are MANY people like this.

Are you one of these many? How can you tell?

Do you love reading God's word? Do you love spending time with other believers? And here is a key point, are you growing in righteousness? To grow in righteousness means to turn away from sin and obey God. And by the way, sin is defined the way God defines it in scripture.

• Homosexuality is a sin
• Taking something that does not belong to you is a sin.
• Lying is a sin.
• Illegal immigration is a sin
• Looking at another person with lust is a sin Matthew 5:27-28)
• Believing that something in addition to Jesus (baptism, attending church, praying) is needed in order to be saved (go to heaven) is a sin
• Not believing Jesus is the one and only God is a sin
• Not believing Jesus bodily rose from the grave on the third day is a sin
• Not honoring your parents is a sin.

First, this is not a to do list. It is a list to help you look at your heart. Good works can deceive you. The underlying question is, do you have a relationship with the true creator God of the Bible? If you a willingly sinning, that is a clue you may not have a relationship with God. This leads to point number two.

Secondly, you are not perfect. But, if you are trusting Jesus Christ as your Savior, you should be growing in righteousness. You may still be sinning in some of the above areas, for example. But you should be sinning less and less. Growing in your understanding of sin. Accepting God's definition of sin. And obeying God more and more (sinning less and less). You should be growing in love for God (see John 14 & 15 for a definition of love.)

Yes, there are many false Christians3. People who think they are believing in Jesus Christ, but they are simply believing in an imaginary Jesus. Jesus describes how deceived they are in Matthew 13:24-30.

Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven [m]may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves *said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ But he *said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

The wheat represents true believers. The tares are false Chrtistians. They are those who believe they are saved by Christ, but in reality are not. However, on the outside they appear to be Christians. In their behavior they look just like a true Christian. But God looks at the heart, and He sees their false belief. Is this you? False believers have even deceived themselves. That's why scripture emphatically commands you to test yourself to see if you are in the faith.

Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?

This web page (by Rick Thomas) will help you see how to test yourself.