The combination of God’s Holiness and granting mankind genuine free will to rebel, makes hell a necessary possibility.1

• God is Holy and will not allow unrepentant sinners to be in heaven. Below is a verse from the Old Testament that speaks to this point:1

  • Are You not from eternity, Yahweh my God? My Holy One, You will not die. Lord, You appointed them to execute judgment; [my] Rock, You destined them to punish [us]. [Your] eyes are too pure to look on evil, and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So why do You tolerate those who are treacherous? Why are You silent while one who is wicked swallows up one who is more righteous than himself? (Habakkuk 1:12-13 CSB)

• In order to have a genuine love relationship with His creation, God has granted all humankind free will to love Him or reject Him. The decision to love God must be done freely.1 It is clear from Jesus that He will not override our free will.1 Below is Bible verse where Jesus makes a statement confirming that humankind has free will.

  • "Jerusalem, Jerusalem! The city who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! (Luke 13:34 CSB emphasis added)

• Consequently, some people will rebel and God will punish sin because He is Holy. He will not destroy them because they are made in the image of God, but they will be eternally separated (quarantined) from those who choose to love and worship the Creator.

People will remain in hell forever because they are eternally unrepentant.2

• In one of Jesus’ teachings on hell (Lazarus and the rich man), Jesus states that there is a chasm that separate heaven from hell and the rich man, and even though he is in agony, is not repentant of his previous treatment of Lazarus.2

  • "There was a rich man who would dress in purple and fine linen, feasting lavishly every day. But a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, was left at his gate. He longed to be filled with what fell from the rich man's table, but instead the dogs would come and lick his sores. One day the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torment in Hades, he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off, with Lazarus at his side. 'Father Abraham!' he called out, 'Have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this flame!' " 'Son,' Abraham said, 'remember that during your life you received your good things, just as Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here, while you are in agony. Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that those who want to pass over from here to you cannot; neither can those from there cross over to us.' " 'Father,' he said, 'then I beg you to send him to my father's house- because I have five brothers-to warn them, so they won't also come to this place of torment.' "But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.' " 'No, father Abraham,' he said. 'But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' "But he told him, 'If they don't listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.' " (Luke 16:19-31 CSB)