Why Would a God of Love Send Someone to Hell?

I’m often asked why God  would send people to a place of torment. Since God is loving, why would he send  people to hell? Why should we think  that God has a lesser of justice than  mankind? God is loving. Yes. But that’s not  all. He is also a good judge. Should  a loving human judge allow criminals to  go free? Of course not. If we, with our finite justice system,  think it’s necessary to punish criminals  in civil court, how much more should an  infinite God judge our crimes, our sins  against him? 

The Bible tells us that God  alone is holy, he is the standard of all  that is right, virtuous and good, his  nature is pure. If  I were to light a match and I were to  place that flame next to a dried-out  leaf, what would happen? The fire  would consume the leaf because  they’re different, their natures are  opposed one to the other. In the same way,  God and man’s natures are opposite. On  the day of judgment, sinful men will not  be able to stand in the presence of a  holy God because of their opposing  natures. 

The issue is not God’s love, the  issue is His Holiness. He is described as  a consuming fire who dwells in  unapproachable light. In our sinful state,  there is no way that we can approach him. Our only hope is to somehow take on the  same nature as God, we must be born again. When we turn from our sins and we place  our faith in the resurrected Christ, God  imputes his righteousness  to us. It’s imperative that we are given  this new nature since each of us are  headed towards our own personal Judgment  Day. The Bible says in Psalm 96:3 that he  is coming to judge the world and he will  judge the world in righteousness. The problem isn’t with God; the problem  is our sin.