Who Is Going To Hell?
We do not know, and we must not guess. But the Lord told us plainly which people He warned, and almost every one of them was religious.
Read this first
This page is not about anyone else. It is about the reader and the writer. We are forbidden to assign anyone to hell, “Judge not, that you be not judged” (Matthew 7:1). God alone knows a soul, and His mercy is beyond anything we can measure. The thief on the cross was saved in one sentence at the last hour of his life (Luke 23:43).
But we are commanded to examine ourselves (2 Corinthians 13:5), and the Lord did not warn us about pagans, atheists and murderers. He warned about people inside, invited, dutiful, observant, busy in His name, who were nevertheless shut out.
That should frighten anyone who is comfortable. Including a Christian who is comfortable with a divided Church.
The seven the Lord warned
- The five foolish virgins: invited, waiting, holding lamps, and out of oil.
- The elder brother: who never once disobeyed, and would not go in.
- The rich man: accused of no crime, who simply did not see Lazarus at his gate.
- The guest without a wedding garment; the man who buried his talent; the Pharisee who fasted twice a week; the goats condemned for what they did not do; the barren fig tree; the lukewarm church of Laodicea.
What every one of them has in common
Not one is an unbeliever. Not one is charged with idolatry, murder or blasphemy. Every one of them is inside the household. Every one of them is doing something religious.
And in almost every case, the fatal thing is not something done. It is something not done. No oil. No joy. No mercy. No fruit. No garment. No love.
“Not every one that says unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of My Father which is in heaven.”
Matthew 7:21
And why this site puts these warnings here
Because a divided Church is full of people doing everything correctly.
We fast: more strictly than most Christians on earth. We pray the hours. We venerate. We confess. We keep the Creed without altering a word. We give. We build hospitals and orphanages.
And we will not eat at the same table as a brother who confesses the same Christ, over a word in fifth-century Greek that most of us cannot define.
Look again at the list. Lamps but no oil. Obedience but no joy. Wealth but no mercy. Fasting but no justification. Correct religion, and a door that does not open.
The question of this page is not who is going to hell. The question is: which of these am I?