Why God Sends Good People to Hell

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”
–John 14:6

In the Bible, there are many sobering truths about hell. But the one that bothers me the most is that hell is populated not only by evil people but also by good people, even religious people. In Matthew 7:22–23, Jesus said, “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.’”

We understand why God sends evil people to hell, but why does God send good people to hell?

The answer is that nobody is truly good. We are all sinful, and without the forgiveness that is available only through Jesus Christ, nobody can enter heaven. We see this truth illustrated in the story of Peter and Cornelius in Acts 10. Cornelius was a good man, yet his good actions and good intentions weren’t enough to save him. So God sent Peter to share with Cornelius the only way of salvation.

I think it’s interesting that it was Peter’s job to share the gospel with Cornelius, the first Gentile convert. This was predicted by Jesus. In Matthew 16:15, He asked His disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (v. 16). After commending Peter for giving the right answer, Jesus said, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven” (v. 19). Some people conclude that Peter is standing at the pearly gates like a heavenly bouncer. But that’s not what Jesus was saying. Only God decides who goes to heaven and hell. Jesus was saying that Peter would be the one to announce what had already been decided in heaven. It was Peter who opened the door of the gospel to the Jews on the day of Pentecost, and it was Peter who announced in Acts 10 that Gentiles could be saved as well.

We don’t get to decide who goes to heaven and hell. Our job is to announce what Jesus declared in John 14:6–that only those who trust in Him for salvation are going to heaven.

Today’s devotion is adapted from “Why God Sends Good People to Hell,” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2022.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.