Is it my fault if someone goes to Hell?

Wow. That’s a loaded question, posted by House M. Div. , by the way. You know what, though? I actually lived with that type of guilt for a while. I had many unfruitful attempts at “leading people to Jesus” in college. I am, by the way, a very persuasive individual. The question is, am I personally to blame if someone does not repent of their sins and become baptized?

Let’s break the question down. Why would someone go to Hell? As it is written, “There is no one righteous, not one, no one understands, and no one seeks God,” and “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3 ) and “The wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6 ) The direct consequence of our sin is spending eternity in Hell. So, people go to Hell because they are sinners. And, is it my fault someone else sins? Nope. Therefore, is it my fault if someone is going to Hell?

OK, so how would someone not go to Hell? “Repent and be baptized.” Become a disciple of Christ by baptism in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and learn to observe Christ’s Commands (Matthew 28 ). Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead (Romans 10 ).

There is a vast difference between reaching a culture and placing individual burden on a fellow Christian. It is not, I believe, heresy to place the words of scripture or creeds or theologically sound words to contemporary music, or if one is going of to a distant land, in placing the above words to music that is prevalent in the culture. Perhaps one should also learn the vocabulary of the culture one is trying to reach. However, I am not spiritually powerful enough to win souls. Only God can win souls through the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the prompting of the Holy Spirit which calls to repentance and baptism. As it is written, "Christ died for sins, once for all." (I Peter 3 )* To say otherwise is heresy. To say, “Well perhaps if you used the Roman’s Road , or The Four Spiritual Laws , or The Way of the Master , or if you knew more arguments from Stand to Reason , they may have been saved*” places undue and abusive burden on fellow Christians.

Think of how Methods Evangelism places abuse on those who have speech disabilities or are shy or are not eloquent with large vocabularies. Or what about those who just can’t memorize Bible passages? Is it not enough that people are proclaiming the gospel of Christ? And if we want to go to the logical conclusion… if people are really persuaded to convert to Christianity by a relevant and modern sounding message, should we also not start picking on the incredibly superficial? If someone’s voice is not like butter, they should not be preaching the gospel. Oh, no. And if someone isn’t pretty looking, nope. I mean, an ugly speaker may turn people away from God, and then it would be the speakers fault.

We cannot water down the message of repentance and baptism just because the culture dictates we must. And we cannot place abuse on people who are genuinely trying to proclaim the gospel message to others. The most powerful witness to Christ that I was part of was obtaining a Bible for someone in their own heart language when they did not have such a Bible. The Word of God stands alone. There is nothing I can add to the Word of God to convince anyone to believe. It stands alone.

*As an aside: Examine your life against the law of God and the commands of Jesus and see that you have sinned against a Holy God in thought word and deed. Your sins, as stated above earn punishment in Hell. However, God sent His Son into the world to receive the wages that we deserve. Christ died for sins, once for all. And Christ rose again from the dead. If you are sorry for your sins, ask the forgiveness of God in Jesus name and ask the Holy Spirit to help you leave your life of sin (this is called repentance). Be baptized. Join a church and receive the teaching of Christ’s commands. To find a church in your area, go here .

*As a second aside: I, in no way, want to criticize the witnessing techniques of others. But, as Christians, we often place undue burden upon each other because we don’t have defined quantities of “souls we’ve won.” I am pointing out errors in vocabulary that can often indicate deep theological problems, i.e. who wins souls.