DID JESUS SUFFER IN HELL FOR OUR SINS?

By Pastor Art Watkins of Coden Bible Church (Coden, Alabama)

April 27, 2010

Believe it or not there are a number of preachers today who actually believe that Christ suffered in hell for our sins. This is an old heresy that has been brought up from the pit of hell by charismatic preachers like Kenneth Copeland and the Word Faith preachers. What makes the Word-Faith teachers' version of this heresy (if not blasphemy), is their teaching that our redemption comes not from Christ's death upon the cross, but from His being tortured by Satan in hell for three days and nights! Copeland has, thus, embraced a heresy known as the "Ransom theory of the atonement." It is the view that Christ's death was a ransom paid to Satan to settle the legal claim the devil had on the human race because of Adam's sin. But that view contradicts the clear Biblical teaching that Christ's death was a sacrifice offered to God, not to Satan (Eph. 5:2)

Copeland, for example, says:

"He allowed the devil to drag Him into the depths of hell as if He were the most wicked sinner who ever lived... Every demon in hell came down on Him to annihilate Him... [They] tortured Him beyond anything that anybody has ever conceived... In a thunder of spiritual force, the voice of God spoke to the death-whipped, broken, punished spirit of Jesus... [in] the pit of destruction, and charged the spirit of Jesus with resurrection power! Suddenly His twisted, death-wracked spirit began to fill out and come back to life... He was literally being reborn before the devil's very eyes. He began to flex His spiritual muscles... Jesus Christ dragged Satan up and down the halls of hell... Jesus... was raised up a born-again man... The day I realized that a born-again man had defeated Satan, hell, and death, I got so excited...!

It is both fanciful nonsense and heretical to teach that our redemption comes through Satan torturing Jesus in hell. That would make Satan our co-redeemer. If he didn't torture Jesus enough, we wouldn't be saved -- and if he did, do we thank Satan? Incredible! Moreover, Satan isn't even the proprietor of hell. He hasn't even been there yet. Nor will Satan torture the damned but will himself be tortured with "everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matt. 25:41) when death and hell have been "cast into the lake of fire" (Rev. 20:14).

Before He died, Jesus cried in triumph, "It is finished" (Jn. 19:30), indicating that our redemption has been accomplished on the Cross. Christ told the thief on the cross who believed in Him, "Today shalt thou be with me in paradise" (Lk. 23:43), not in hell! He said, "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit" (Lk. 23:46). Yet Hagin, Copeland, et al., say He ended up, instead, in the hands of Satan in the depths of hell! What blasphemy!

Writen by Dave Hunt

(If your church or preacher preaches this heresy either fire your preacher or get a new church.)