Would you still be a Christian if there was a heaven, but no hell?
Imagine for a moment that God set up reality differently, such that people could be as bad as they wanted without any risk of eternal punishment. When you die, you simply cease to exist. However, if you follow Jesus, heaven still awaits you. Would you still follow Jesus? Be honest. I encourage you to take five minutes to reflect on this question before reading on below.
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Now imagine a slightly different scenario. Imagine that there was no hell or heaven. Those who live morally upright lives and those who live morally abhorrent lives both have the same fate: they cease to exist at death. If you knew the same fate awaits both the righteous and the unrighteous, would you still follow the teachings of Jesus? Be honest. I would encourage you to take another five minutes to reflect on this question before reading on below.
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My guess is that most Christians would still follow the teachings of Jesus so long as there was a heaven to reward our good behavior, but would not do so if there was no heaven. After all, why life a life of self-sacrifice and limit our moral freedoms if the way we life our life neither results in reward nor punishment?
This perspective, while understandable, reveals a misunderstanding about Christianity. Christianity is not just a religion for the afterlife (rewards and fire insurance), but a religion for the here-and-now. The ultimate reason to be a Christian is not to gain an eternal reward or avoid an eternal punishment, but to have fellowship with our Creator in His creation as He intended. We should want to fulfill the purpose for which God created us, and that includes fellowship with Him in the here-and-now.
Also, godliness brings us gain in this life (1 Tim 4:8). God’s moral rules are meant for our benefit. He made us to function a certain way, and we will experience the best life possible if we follow His rules for life. We will avoid unnecessary hardships and realize our God-given potential. So even if there were no heaven or hell, we should still desire to be a Christian. How much more, then, should we be a Christian given the enormous eternal consequences as well?
Thinking to Believe 
September 5, 2019 at 10:34 pm
Interesting question. I think the brevity of life is what makes it precious, and an eternity of life would necessarily devalue it. However, if I were given the option to end my life whenever I wanted, then I would definitely be interested. But only as long as heaven is actually a lot more pleasant than the Bible describes it: https://youtu.be/0RT1DTpF_7w
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September 5, 2019 at 11:07 pm
1Co 15:19 KJV If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
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September 5, 2019 at 11:40 pm
I don’t believe I’m a Christian because of a “reward” – but because I have received the gift of faith and choose to act on it. Faith allow us to believe in the Word of God as truth. I want to avoid Hell, because I can’t think it will be bearable to have an afterlife (or nothing, for that matter) without being in the presence of God.
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September 6, 2019 at 2:51 pm
“Love your enemies, do good to those that hate you” would be foolish if that didn’t result in being rewarded with life after death.
No resurrection — Christianity crashes and burns.
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September 7, 2019 at 12:33 am
Bro, you ask a question that is baseless. There is a heaven and a hell just as there is a God and a devil. If you could do whatever you wanted and there were no heaven nor hell then there d be no God and no devil and no version of right and wrong but much like today it would be, do it if it makes you feel good. You should stick to some concrete factual questions and topics, not so much of lets imagine etc which can muddy the waters. What if a new believer stumbled on this and ended up mislead. I believe that would be the last thing you d want. Probably also not the best idea to have a person like john lennon who was one of the people that mocked our very God as a part of that group. Clearly the Bible states that being a follower of Jesus will make the world hate us for following him. There is NO apologizing for following Jesus and what he has taught us. After all is said and done you have to do you and we have to love each other as Jesus said is the greatest of the commandments even john lennon. So even though I disagree with what you re throwing down and that you need a nudge in a different direction, I love you in Christ!
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September 12, 2019 at 10:36 am
I don’t agree with the basic premise here or the idea that we are Christians because we get “rewarded” for our good behavior. This is elementary school theology not worthy of any real discussion.
I think we CAN do “whatever we want”. The question is, what do you want ?
Naz
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October 14, 2019 at 3:30 pm
As a follower of Jesus I feel without the relationship I have with Hesus and my friends and family who have a relationship with Jesus I would not have made it through the sudden loss of my husband. Who was a wonderful disciple of Christ. So the here and now is very important but also the hope and knowledge we have of knowing we will see our live ones again in eternity
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November 13, 2019 at 2:23 pm
B,
Jason’s questions in this post were mainly to experiment with a thought. The thought that a majority of Christians desire to be Christian because of eternal consequences. The point, like mentioned at the end of the post, is to “fulfill the purpose for which God created us, and that includes fellowship with Him in the here-and-now.”
If anything, new converts need to see this post so they can have a stronger theology that isn’t based on rewards in heaven or punishments in hell.
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November 13, 2019 at 2:30 pm
Naz,
Even if this is elementary-level theology, I think the thought experiment goes to show the theological motives of all believers, which is theologically crucial. Do such motives classify most of Christendom? Of course not. Do such motives show how there are some Christians who have bad theology? Absolutely. And I might add that we need to equip all believers with strong, good theology.–For that I may dare say is what supplements the endurance of the saints.
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November 13, 2019 at 11:37 pm
@A. J.
Well, here we go again:
1Co 15:19 KJV If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
Or, as the ESV says:
1Co 15:19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
Paul here makes is rather clear that Jason’s “thought experiment” that it is somehow wrong to incorporate the afterlife as the motive for our Christianity is off-target. If this life is all that there is, we are the most miserable of all men, and since Paul specifically ties the resurrection to the preaching of the gospel, he emphatically declares that all of it is in VAIN if Christ is not risen from the dead.
1Co 15:13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
1Co 15:14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.
And…
1Co 15:32 What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
There is a song which was popular in Pentecostal circles several years ago which contains the lyrics, “If heaven never were promised to me, neither God’s promise to live eternally, it’d still be worth just having the Lord in my life…” Perhaps that sounds lofty in some people’s minds, but it’s really “bad theology.”
It makes no sense to labor without hope of a tangible return. If this life is all that there is, then Christians are wasting both their a everybody else’s time.
Rom 8:22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.
Rom 8:23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
Rom 8:24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?
Rom 8:25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
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November 15, 2019 at 1:15 pm
Scalia, my thought experiment is not intended to convey “that it is somehow wrong to incorporate the afterlife as the motive for our Christianity.” My point is that the afterlife (either avoiding hell or gaining heaven) should not be the only reason we are Christians. We should also want to be Christians because of what it provides for us in the here and now: a relationship with God and a good life. Heaven is just a continuation of the relationship with God that we start here. If our desire for heaven is truly due to our desire to want to be in relationship with God, then we should want to be a Christian even in a world in which there was no heaven.
If you know this is a thought experiment about alternate realities, why would you think quoting Paul about the true reality would undermine the value of the thought experiment? The purpose of the thought experiment is to get at people’s motives, not to discuss whether the afterlife is a good motive to be a Christian. Of course it is. It’s just not the only reason to want to be a Christian.
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November 15, 2019 at 1:43 pm
Jason, thanks for your reply. You ask,
Because you said,
I contend that Paul is saying that the two are inexorably connected. Fellowship with Christ involves a passing from death (condition of sin) unto life (righteousness), which is our foretaste of the “afterlife.” Without the promise and assurance of the afterlife, Paul states that we might as well eat and drink (continue living in sin).
I agree that side-stepping Hell cannot be our “only” reason for being Christians. If we are to be saved, we must have a genuine relationship with the Lord. He must be the reason we do what we do. I simply object to separating heaven from the equation. Everything you talk about is a waste of time if we don’t have the promise of eternal life. That’s Paul’s point.
You are correct to note that there are tangible benefits to living for God in this life, but that’s only because we have hope in the resurrection.
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November 15, 2019 at 1:47 pm
I hit the post button too soon. Asking us to imagine living for God without heaven’s promise is like asking us to imagine water without hydrogen. It isn’t water without hydrogen, and it isn’t Christianity without the resurrection. The joy, fulfillment, and blessings of Christ’s presence in our lives is all due to the resurrection. Without that, everything falls apart.
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November 28, 2019 at 1:20 pm
Jason and Scalia, if I could weigh in, I would have to agree with Scalia that you cannot separate the resurrection (heaven) from living the Christian life. They are inseparably linked since it is Christ’s life in us that causes/motivates/inspires etc.. to live righteously. As the scripture says we are “slaves” to righteousness. We cannot avoid wanting to do good even though our flesh gets in the way and we stumble. But it’s the Spirit that gives life and gives us the “want to” and not the “have to” of religion. Big difference.
So to Jason’s point about alternate realities, the notion of living a Christian life without the resurrection is impossible ! Just as Scalia said, water without hydrogen is impossible. Therefore it is not a plausible reality.
I am in no way dismissing Jason’s assertion as it brings a very interesting point on the table that we need to digest. The notion that we can desire to live the Christian life without the resurrection, or without Christ, shows how futile the works of man are. Even unbelievers do “good” deeds but without Christ it’s all a bunch of filthy rags. Whereas if we give someone a simple cup of water it is considered a righteous act. In other words, it’s ultimately not a question of our works, although good works are beneficial, it’s a question of our faith and whether we’ve been made alive in Christ. That’s where the big difference lies and that’s the game changer between heaven and hell.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Naz
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November 29, 2019 at 12:27 am
Thanks for your comments, Naz, and a happy Thanksgiving to you as well.
It’s kind of odd for us to agree on something, so wonders never cease, I guess. 🙂
As you note, it’s not possible to view our experience outside the resurrection. In fact:
1Co 15:17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
Without the resurrection, we’d still be in sin. How in the world could we be truly happy in that condition?
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November 29, 2019 at 5:43 am
Scalia, yes it is odd for us to agree isn’t it ?
Further to the point, “Christianity” is not another philosophy or 10 step help program like many out there think it is. We do a great disservice to the gospel if we just make it into a self improvement program. Unfortunately that’s what a lot churches have turned this into. We wonder why the world will not “buy” our message but who can blame them if they can find the same message in a Tony Robbins book.
As you and I stated, this is all wrapped up in the resurrection and the new life that Jesus provides. Now that’s not religion or philosophy … that’s a game changer.
Naz
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July 10, 2020 at 1:16 pm
During my early life as an atheist I indulged in immorality, but i conducted my life in an ethical manner in my dealings with others even though I didn’t believe in God or Hell.
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