July 29, 2025
Michael W. Dewar, Author
This is a question that is frequently asked, Will more people go to heaven or hell? It is asked in different ways, Will more be saved or lost? Who will get more people, the devil or God? This last question gives the implication that God is in some competition with Satan. So, let’s make it clear from the start, God is not competing with Satan because that would make them equal, and they are not. Satan is a creature, a created being, God is not! So, people going to heaven or hell is not a win/loose game between two titans. God is all-powerful and eternal, Satan is not.
I want us to consider the proposed question in three ways: 1) from the appearance of things, 2) from the appearance of what Jesus said, and 3) from a full biblical perspective.
From the Appearance of Things
It certainly looks like the masses of humankind is on a stampede to hell. We must admit that God has given us humans a wonderful creation, fortified with everything for a pleasant and joyous life. The air we breathe is already mixed with the right proportion of gases that we can breathe normally; there is no need to carry oxygen around with us. There is enough water and food to sustain life. The earth produces all we need, or it gives us the raw material to make what we need, using the wisdom God gives us.
The Creator puts in place a few fundamental laws for our safety. These laws are guardrails to protect us from ourselves. Laws are useless without consequences and a system of enforcement. We humans violate or uproot every law the Creator puts in place for our safety. We then accuse the Creator for our own wickedness. It appears to me that hell is at the end of the wicked choices we make (John 3:16).
The moral laws of God are summed up in love for God, and love for neighbor. If we love God, we obey him. If we love our neighbors, we will not take their lives or do any harm at all to them. But look at human history; it is a history of killing each other and destroying the earth that sustains life. We pull up every landmark that God said we should not remove. The best of us are wicked, so from the appearance of things, most of us might very well end up in hell, and it won’t be God who sends us there; it is the choice we made for ourselves (John 3:16).
From What Jesus Said
Jesus was asked the same question we are considering here today, Will more people go to heaven or hell? His answer will give you reason to pause, because if anyone should know about heaven and hell, Jesus should. So, let’s look at the question and the answer he gave (see Luke 13:22-24 NIV).
According to the preceding passage, Jesus was working the towns and villages preaching, teaching, and healing on his way to Jerusalem, where he would give his life for us all. Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved? (Verse 23). The question seems simple, but it is profound and staggering. It is asking, “Of all the people who have ever lived, plus the over eight billion that are alive today, and the millions that will be born in the future, will more go to heaven or hell?” If you have never thought about this issue, you should, because it involves you and me.
Here is Jesus’ long answer to a short question:
Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir open the door for us.’ But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’
Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will reply, I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evil doers!’
There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets n the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out.
People will come from the east and the west and north and south and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. Indeed, there are those who are last who will be first and first who will be last. (Luke 13:24-30 NIV)
The analysis of Jesus answer. First, Jesus did not answer the question with a direct yes or no; he gives a story. that some will get in and some will not. But the implication leans more to the answer of yes, more people will go to hell than heaven.
Second, his answer gives the implication that going to heaven involve some effort and responsibility on our part. Note the words, “Make every effort…” If you want to escape hell and go to heaven, you can’t just sit back and do nothing about it (John 3:16).
Third, going to heaven is not dancing down a broad street with many lanes; it is going through a narrow gate to a narrow path. In other words, there are not many paths to heaven, only one. It is a disciplined lifestyle. Jesus said, “I am the door,” “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but through me” (John 10:1-11, 14:5-6). If you have other ways of getting to heaven other than through Jesus, you won’t get there.
Fourth, the privilege or opportunity of going to heaven will not always be open. Notice the statement, “Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door….” Jesus is the entrance or door or gate or way to heaven. Once the door is closed, that means, the period of grace has ended. Those on the inside stay in and those outside stay out.
Fifth, those who think God is all love and he will throw heaven’s door open to everybody despite their immoral and wicked lifestyle better think again. There will be people on the outside knocking and pleading to get in, but they will be too late.
Sixth, the number of people that will be locked out is astounding; it will be millions if not billions. It’s not God’s fault why they are locked out. God gave them every opportunity to be rescued but they chose to save themselves. That plan will not work! You cannot save yourself, no matter how good you think you might be.
Seventh, those who are locked out will go to that place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The weeping group will blame themselves for having squandered away their days of grace. The gnashing of teeth group will point their fists at God and hiss in anger, who dare you send me to this awful place of torment, it is no fair!
From a Full Biblical Perspective
From a full biblical perspective, more people will reject God’s plan of salvation and end up in hell. That is not good news at all! They fall into two groups: people from outside the church, and people from inside the church. There are some people inside the church that have a false sense of security. They ignore what God says in his word, but they still think they are on their way to heaven. To them God is all love, he is not holy, righteous, and just. These people will have a rude awakening; they will find themselves at a destination that they did not expect (Matthew 7:13-14).
Yet, despite all that, I am hopeful. What seems humanly impossible is possible with God. Another great spiritual awakening can sweep millions into the kingdom of God in one day. The challenge for the Church is not to become distracted with the shifting sand of cultural change. Our mission is to make disciples of all nations, peoples, and cultures by preaching the uncompromising gospel of Jesus Christ. We will leave the number counting to God and be faithful in our assignment instead.
But if more people go to hell, they do because most of us in the church are doing little or nothing to prevent them from ending up in that awful place. The responsibility of registering people for heaven is placed in the hands of us who already know Jesus (Matthew 28:19-20). God has been looking for workers, are you available to serve?
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