Does Hell even really exist? With the answers to each of these questions, it becomes possible to address this unpopular issue that indeed, a loving God could justly send people to Hell. .
Paul makes it absolutely clear that man has rebelled against God. According to Romans 3:11, "No one is righteous, no, not one; no one understands: no one seeks for God." In his natural state, man does not genuinely seek God. In his book Desiring God, John Piper writes, "Men do seek God. But they do not seek him for who he is. They seek him in a pinch as one who might preserve them from death or enhance their worldly enjoyments. "Because of his love for sin, man in his state of rebellion cannot delight in the holiness of God.".
In his rebellion, man can help but sin. Piper adds, "Everything they do is the product of rebellion and cannot be an honor to God, but only part of their sinful rebellion"" (69). Paul recognizes this truth when he states in Romans 7:18 that there is "no good that dwells in me, that is, in my flesh". Because of the state of rebellion man lives in, he is completely unable to submit to God. In Ephesians 2:1, Paul states that man is dead in his trespasses. A dying man can do nothing to revive himself. Early in Romans, Paul says that because God has revealed Himself to every man, man is "without excuse"." Man constantly chooses sin over God, and thus becomes "futile in his thinking and his heart darkened". In fact, throughout the entire first chapter of Romans, Paul repeatedly states that God gave man over to his sin. This is reason enough for God to have wrath upon man. A holy God requires perfection, and man cannot meet that appropriate standard. .
So, because of man's rebellion, man deserves eternal punishment. According to Paul, the wrath of God is completely against sinners and not just sin. This is a clear distinction that should be made, since another popular modern belief says that God "hates the sin and loves the sinner".
