The Reality of Heaven and Hell

After a Bible Study a few years ago, I spent many nights contemplating a question that had surfaced during our discussion. If you are discussing (or believing) heaven do you directly discuss (believe) hell?

A struggle I found myself in, along with many other Christians, was trying to comprehend a place of such misery, pain, and torture. The brutality of Hell is incomprehensible; however, it is utterly truthful. no matter how strongly I do not want a place, such as Hell, to exist, there is no denying it does (Psalm 73:12-19). One of the primary contributors towards the reality of Hell, lies within the attributes of God our creator. He is the Supreme Judge, a fair and loving judge (John 5:24-30; Romans 2:1-16).

There is much to be said of the wicked being cast into Hell within Scripture, this is undeniable, and the act of denying this aspect of Scripture is a sin. Numerous Christians in society today are guilty of picking and choosing what they want to believe from Scripture. It says in John 1 that the word was with God and the word was God, to deny any part of the word is to deny a part of God. The Bible is complete truth, revealed to us through many means by God, and we are meant to believe the wholeness of it's truth. For me, it is quite easy, I came to a sense of clarity in this: When discussing the theology of Heaven, you directly discuss the theology of Salvation; because, only through Salvation is there Heaven and Heaven is only obtained through Salvation (John 3:14-17). Also, while discussing the theology of Salvation you come to realize the truth of evil, Satan, and ultimately Hell. You conclude this based on the necessity of Salvation. The Gospel's declare that you only have life through Salvation otherwise you are considered dead (spiritually). Salvation means there must be a Heaven that you obtain once saved, which also means there must be a Hell that you are being saved from. You cannot separate the two in your reality, if you do, if you do not believe in one then Salvation ceases to be important or necessary in our lives. I, in the completeness of my heart, believe that Salvation is the only source of life. Only once I believed that Christ's death on the cross and resurrection was for me and my sins, I finally was alive. Through Christ's sacrifice, God see's me only through blood of his son, allowing me to obtain an eternal Salvation, sealed by Holy Spirit. From the top of my head to the soles of my feet, I believe in all of who I am in the reality of Heaven and Hell, because I am confident that one day, I will be in Heaven for eternity looking into the face of my Father (Revelations 22:4).