Will there be more people in Heaven or in Hell?

Excellent question, and I will give you a hedged answer because the Bible doesn’t say for sure in so many words.  

What we do know is that of the people who live out their lives on earth a decidedly small number will “seek” and “find” God’s salvation.   Here is what Jesus said:  “Enter ye in at the strait[narrow] gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:   Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)   

The reality is that finding life and ending up in heaven takes focus, effort, and purpose.   By default people will end up in hell if they are never saved by God, for that is where the curse of sin inherited from Adam will take us once we are old enough to understand we are sinners and then refuse to repent.  The good news is that God has made a way for us to escape through the blood of Jesus.  Once we have found salvation, we are rescued forever from Hell.  This is actually much better than what Adam and Eve originally had, being created on their way to heaven but with the ability to fall off that way and die spiritually.  But it does take earnest effort in this life to make sure we find and enter the right Door, which is Christ (John 10:9).

So that would leave us with “more people in hell than heaven”.

But this does not consider the reality of the huge number of infants that die, before or after they are born.  Yes, a person is a person from the moment of conception.  These will come into heaven by virtue of not having had the chance to sin, nor need to repent, protected by Jesus’ blood.  This group would also include those who grow up but whose brains never developed enough for them to be able to distinguish between good and evil.  They will all be there.  

So, especially with the modern outrage of abortion, I would switch the answer to “more people in heaven than hell”.  Only God knows for sure, but this would be a blessed fulfillment of the reality that the Lord Jesus “in all things <will> have the preeminence.” (Colossians 1:18)  In the end He wins by every measure.

Alfred Corduan

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• How can God be fair and send people to Hell for eternity?
• How do various Bible versions translate the words Sheol and Hades?
• Is Eternal Punishment a Biblical idea?
• Is the teaching of eternal punishment biblical?
• Should a pastor scare his congregation by preaching about Hell?
• what are the Gates of Hell?
• What do the phrases
• Where in the Bible are the Seven Deadly Sins?
• Where in the Bible are the ten commandments?
• Where in the Bible does it say homosexuality is a sin?
• Where in the Bible does it say not to swear?
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• Will there be regrets in Heaven for believers?
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