Jesus Teaches Hell 101

by Pastor Rick Brentlinger
(Pace, FL, USA)

Jesus teaches Hell 101

Jesus teaches Hell 101

Go to Luke 16:19-31


Christians who truly follow Jesus believe what Jesus believed. If we claim to follow Jesus and reject what He believed, we are not really following Jesus. Here is a remarkable fact. 20 of the 23 times hell is mentioned in the New Testament, Jesus is the one who brings it up. Since Jesus believed it was important to warn religious people about hell, we need to understand what Jesus taught about the reality of hell.

FREE pdf of this Bible study.
Print it out and fill in the blanks.


In the New Testament, hell is mentioned in these verses: Matthew 5:22, 29, 30, 10:28, 11:23, 16:18, 18:9, 23:15, 33, Mark 9:43, 45, 47, Luke 10:15, 12:5, 16:23, Acts 2:27, 31, James 3:6, 2 Peter 2:4, Revelation 1:18, 6:8, 20:12, 14.

According to Revelation 1:1, John's information on hell in the book of Revelation came directly from Jesus Himself. Therefore 20 of the 23 times hell is mentioned in the New Testament, Jesus is the one who warns us not to go to hell.

We use the old King James Version for Bible study because it is the most accurate and because most newer versions leave out the word hell in many places in the Bible. If you do not have an old KJV you may use any Bible you have. Just be sure that you look up the verses as you answer the questions.

What Jesus Taught


In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus is teaching religious people, Luke 16:15, who mocked His views, Luke 16:14, and did not believe in Him. He tells the story of two men, one rich and outwardly blessed, the other a poor despised beggar with very few blessings. Both of the men in Jesus’ story die and enter the afterlife.

1. According to Jesus in Luke 16:22, when the beggar dies, where does he go? ________ ________, aka, paradise, heaven, the good place.

2. According to Jesus in Luke 16:22-23, when the rich man dies, where does he go? Luke 16:22-23. _______

3. According to Jesus, is hell a different place than the grave? Luke 16:22-23. ________

4. According to Jesus, is the rich man happy or tormented in hell? Luke 16:23. ____________

5. According to Jesus, what does the rich man beg for in hell? Luke 16:24. ________

6. According to Jesus how does the rich man describe his situation in hell? Luke 16:24. ________

7. According to Jesus what caused the rich man's torment in hell in Luke 16:24? _______________

8. Jesus describes the lost in hell as being cast "into a furnace of fire: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Matthew 13:42. Do you believe Jesus? Yes. No.

9. In Matthew 25:41, Jesus says: "Depart from me ye cursed, into everlasting fire." Do you believe Jesus was serious when He warned people about hell? Yes. No.

10. How does father Abraham describe the rich manʼs situation in hell? Luke 16:25. __________

11. According to Jesus, is it possible for someone in hell to get out? Luke 16:26. Yes. No.

12. In Luke 16:19-31, how many times does Jesus use some form of the word torment to describe hell? Circle the correct number. 1 - 2 - 3 - 4

13. According to Jesus, when we die, are we awake, aware and conscious or asleep and unconscious? Luke 16:22-23. _________

14. According to Jesus, is hell a good place to go when you die or a bad place? Luke 16:23-25. _______

15. According to Jesus, did the rich man in hell want others to go there? Luke 16:27-28. Yes. No.

16. Do you believe you will die one day? Yes. No. When you die, do you know for sure you will go to heaven? Yes. No. Would you like to know for sure? Yes. No.

17. Do you know that Jesus paid the penalty for your sins when He died on the Cross so you wouldn't have to go to hell? Romans 5:7-9. Yes. No.

18. Did you know Jesus rose from the dead so you could be sure that God accepted the blood he shed to pay the penalty for your sins? Romans 8:11, Revelation 1:5. Yes. No.

19. Have you repented of your sins and asked Jesus to save you from hell? Mark 1:15, Romans 6:23, 10:9-13. Yes. No.

20. Will you pray right now and ask Jesus to forgive your sins and save you from hell? Yes. No.

I will believe - I DO believe - that Jesus died for me, That on the cross He shed His blood, from sin to set me free, and right now I repent of my sins and receive Jesus as my Savior from sin and hell.


"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish (in hell), but that all should come to repentance."
2 Peter 3:9


You have permission to make copies of this Bible study to give away free as long as you do not copyright it, sell it or post it online.

Here's the FREE Hell 101 pdf


Return to Bible Boot Camp

Return to 101 Community

Return to
Gay Christian 101 Home Page

Can you tell me how to get saved?

What happens when you get saved?

FREE Bible Studies For You

Jesus believed in a literal hell

Does the Bible say homosexuals
will go to hell?

Is it true that I will go
to hell because I am a lesbian?

Surprises in hell

Does the Bible say
Jesus went to hell?

The Hell-bound Train


This page updated 12-08-2013

Comments for Jesus Teaches Hell 101

Click here to add your own comments

Jul 23, 2020
 Response to Anonymous' comment - "Only idiots believe in Hell"
by: Austin

And all those "idiots" are the ones who will live in Heaven with Jesus and His Bliss forever. If you don't want to trust in God's Word 100% then why bother being a Christian and following Jesus if you're going to call Him a liar?
Jun 22, 2019
 Confused about Gehenna and hell
by: Brianne

I am puzzled...you seem to look deeply and know a lot of the scripture, yet you seem to believe in hell in the pagan sense? Maybe I'm misunderstanding or missing something but if I remember correctly the original translations of the vast majority of what is written as hell does not actually mean hell, but ranges from Tartarus, to Hades to Gehenna, and seems to not always be referring to what literally comes after death, but is meant to send a message nonetheless...why does your view appear to be shaded by the view of hell that is associated with what pagans believed?

Rick's comment: Hi Brianne - The word, gehenna, occurs 12 times in 12 verses in the Greek New Testament, used by Jesus 11 times, in Matthew 5:22, 29, 30, 10:28, 18:8-9, 23:15, 33, Mark 9:43, 45, 47, Luke 12:5, and by James the apostle, one time, in James 3:6.

The Greek word, gehenna, is correctly translated as, hell, meaning, a place of eternal, fiery punishment for sin.

People in Jerusalem could see and smell the fires of gehenna, Jerusalem’s perpetually burning garbage dump, so gehenna-hell was an excellent object lesson by Jesus, to illustrate the reality of the hell that He created, Colossians 1:16.

Gehenna (the valley of Hinnom) was a place where bodies were buried, and were eventually burned, in Matthew 5:22 the actual meaning is not hell, but Gehenna, a physical place during Jesus' time, yet everyone (including translators) seems to be jumping to the idea that it means hell in the pagan sense of being tortured and punished for eternity?

Rick's comment: The eternal fire of hell is not a pagan belief. Isaiah 30:33 mentions the supernatural fire of hell, kindled by the breath of the LORD, 750 years before the New Testament was written.

In reality, it is a pagan belief that there is no eternal punishment for sin. Pagans take the words of Jesus and insist they mean the opposite of what Jesus said.

Jesus described hell as a place we should fear, a place of everlasting flames, torment and destruction of body and soul, destruction in the sense of making body and soul useless for anything but punishment.

Jesus taught that hell-gehenna is a place of everlasting fire, Matthew 18:8-9.

Jesus warns us four times in Mark 9:43-48, about the unquenchable fire of hell. He also tells us in that passage, that their worm dieth not. In plainer words, the fire and punishment of gehenna-hell, are unending and unquenchable.

Jesus foretold that this place would burn, allegedly "There is evidence however that the southwest shoulder of this valley (Ketef Hinnom) was a burial location with numerous burial chambers that were reused by generations of families from as early as the seventh until the fifth century BC. The use of this area for tombs continued into the first centuries BC and AD. By 70 AD, the area was not only a burial site but also a place for cremation of the dead with the arrival of the Tenth Roman Legion, who were the only group known to practice cremation in this region" Gabriel Barkay, "The Riches of Ketef Hinnom." Biblical Archaeological Review 35:4-5 (2005): 22–35, 122–26.

There is a lot of language in the bible that seems to be exaggerated to convey the weight and meaning, yet people seem to take hell literally while not taking other things literally..

I'm sure that I'm mistaken somewhere here, I'm just confused by it all.

Rick's comment: Final thoughts: When Jesus talked about hell, He never used exaggerated language.

Originally, the valley of the son of Hinnom (the location Jesus referred to as gehenna), was the place where pagans sacrificed their children to Molech the sun god, 2 Kings 23:5-10, 2 Chronicles 28:1-5.

Isaiah 30:33, with 2 Kings 23:10, makes it clear that the valley of the son of Hinnom was associated with judgment and supernatural fire 750 years before the New Testament was written.

Jesus is not exaggerating the reality of gehenna-hell. He is warning all of us that hell is a real place that we can and should avoid, by believing on Christ as our Savior.

What must I do to be saved?
Aug 21, 2015
 Kudos and Not terror
by: Jim

Well, I do like that you actually required people to read the verses and answer for themselves, rather than just tell us what you think of the matter. So many websites use the latter to try to push their agenda, rather than actually help people to learn. Kudos to you for that.

As to Jesus being a terrorist *eyeroll*. It isn't terrorism to state the law and the consequences of breaking the law. It doesn't make me a terrorist to go up to someone and say "By the way, if you do this, that's against the law and you can go to prison for a long time for that. So I strongly suggest you don't do that." What a truly anarchistic mindset a person must have to think that the mere presence of a law is terrorism.
Jan 21, 2013
 So Jesus is a terrorist plain and simple
by: Anonymous

He wasn't love. Love doesn't terrorize and threaten people. People threaten people. Weak people and bullies threaten people. So, I guess Jesus was a weak bully just like any weak bully. He was bullied; and like all who are bullied, he bullied. Bullies are almost always those who were bullied.

It is a weak person who threatens "My father will come and beat you up if you pick on me." That's exactly what Jesus was doing. You continue his bullying tactics. You are as bad as Jesus was because anybody who has a wrong teacher turns out just like their teacher. Some day you might stop being a bully and stop threatening people.

Jesus also said not to curse. Threats are curses and terrorizing people about Hell and damnation is a curse; yet you curse. Of course you won't repent from these sins. You will never change your mind. Repent, sinner.

Rick's comment: What a strange response to the teaching of Jesus. God will save you if you repent of your sins. My prayer is that you will get saved by the grace and mercy of God.
Jan 10, 2013
 Only idiots believe in hell
by: Anonymous

You people are crazy. Only idiots believe in hell. Its the 21 century man. Get real and start feeding the poor and housing the homeless. Ima christian but I don't believe hell fire. Scary religion went out in the dark ages. Nobody with a brain believes in hell anymore.

Rick's comment: LOL, I'll believe in Jesus and what He taught. How can you be a Christian and disagree with Jesus Christ? Think about it and get back to me. Many thanks.

Click here to add your own comments

Return to boot camp.
Enjoy this page? Get the html to share it with others.

Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

  1. Click on the HTML link code below.
  2. Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.
Site Build It! Site Build It!