The Proper Use of Hellfire and Brimstone

Plus, announcing something new

I’ve got an update to announce in the Notes, but first, here’s today’s article…

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There is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of God; there is hell’s wide gaping mouth open; and you have nothing to stand upon, nor any thing to take hold of; there is nothing between you and hell but the air; it is only the power and mere pleasure of God that holds you up.

• Jonathan Edwards, ‘Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God’

You don’t hear many lines like that these days. In fact, Edwards’ famous sermon is often pointed to as an example of Christian scare tactics that the church should not use.

But the popularity of an idea isn’t a valid measure of anything.

The question is, was it right? Is there a place for hellfire and brimstone preaching?

As I continue to consider and write about the lack of Christian assurance, the role of hell in the discussion is a significant factor.

Many struggle to feel assured of their salvation because they grew up on preaching that made them feel as though one wrong move would trigger a trap door that dropped them straight out of God’s grace and into the place of condemnation. A steady diet of graceless, hellfire and brimstone preaching caused droves of people to constantly doubt their standing with the Father.

And yet, Jesus Himself frequently warned about judgment and punishment (Matthew 13:41-42; Matthew 25:41-46, among many others). Preaching the whole counsel means preaching about hell. The challenge is not to under-do it, nor to over-do it. Of those two options, our current challenge seems clear.

For the thousandth time, I’ll tap the C.S. Lewis’ Fire Department sign—we’re hyperfocused on that which is not really a problem anymore, which leaves us unaware of the opposite problem which is marching in the back door.

The caricature that some paint, of current-day Christianity as a collection of pulpit-pounding, fire-breathing fundamentalists, is largely a fabrication. Many of the biggest churches in America are those which will not utter words like sin, judgment, punishment, or hell.

But it’s not just the Osteens, Furticks, and other megachurch personalities of the world who have an allergy to talking about punishment. There is a general softness toward these issues in today’s Christianity.

John the Baptist told people to “flee from the wrath that is to come” and warned that unrepentant, non-fruit-bearing trees would be cut down and thrown into the fire (Matthew 3:7-12). Peter called the Pentecost crowd to “be saved from this perverse generation” (Acts 2:40). Conversely, many today call evangelism “One beggar telling another where to find bread” or “Calling people to participate in God’s story.”

If we are guilty of anything in our day, it is in under-discussing hell—not over-discussing it.

But, ironically, avoiding the topic of hell creates its own issues with assurance.

There are two reasons for this.

First, fully understanding salvation means understanding the destiny from which we’ve been saved.

The promise of salvation isn’t a transfer from a decent life to a better life. It is a transfer from the domain of darkness to the kingdom of the Son (Colossians 1:13). To truly grasp your salvation, you need to know what’s at stake at the judgment. As Jesus said, “he who is forgiven little, loves little” (Luke 7:47b). A deep and abiding love for God starts with grasping Romans 5:8 - “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

As gratitude is at the heart of the Christian life, to truly grasp what it means to be a Christian we must know the dire fate from which we’ve been saved.

Second, a blurry line between the outcomes of the saved and unsaved will only confuse the saved and damningly comfort the unsaved.

When we downplay the fates of the lost and when we refuse to confront the unchanged and the backsliding among us, it makes it seem as though everyone is saved. And if everyone is saved, then it’s hard for anyone to feel saved. To be assured, Christians need to be confident in this fact: there are two, clearly-defined groups, and you are firmly in the group of the saved.

In Edwards’ sermon, he made it clear: “The use of this awful subject may be for awakening unconverted persons in this congregation.” He was not speaking to the faithful. He was speaking to those who would come to church and go home living entirely unchanged lives.

The faithful must be assured that they have been saved from this danger. The lost must be shown that they stand in this danger. And those on the fence must be reminded that they must not slide back into this danger. The binary nature of heaven and hell, salvation and condemnation, must be taught so everyone knows exactly where they stand.

The proper use of hellfire and brimstone

To be clear, we don’t need to hear about hell week in and week out. We don’t need to scare everyone and leave the members in doubt about their salvation.

Rather, a proper understanding of hell tells us the horror of where we were going, the joyous relief of where we are, and the glory of where we’re now going.

So, we need to affirm that the lost stand condemned and are in desperate need of the Gospel. We need to encourage each other with the good news that though we were children of wrath, God has made us alive together with Christ (Ephesians 2:1-7). And, like Edwards and the Hebrews writer, we need to remind the double-minded that it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31).

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Notes

I’m excited to announce the launch of The Bulletin, a new series of weekly mini-articles on

Bible 101

. Click through and subscribe to get them delivered each Monday for your own personal walk, or for your congregation to print in the bulletin.

And, as always, I hope you’ll consider supporting my work here on Substack and at Focus Press by becoming a premium subscriber. If you’d like to send support in another manner, please contact me at jack@focuspress.org.