Hell Is Full of Baptized People by Jeff Callaway

Hell Is Full of Baptized People

By Jeff Callaway

Texas Outlaw Poet

Let me tell you something that will make you squirm in your church pew. Hell is packed full of baptized people. Folks who got dunked in holy water as babies. People who took First Communion with shaky hands and nervous smiles. Men and women who went to Mass every Sunday, who knew the Creed by heart, who could recite the Our Father in their sleep. They are there. Right now. Screaming in eternal flames while the baptismal mark on their souls burns like a brand of shame.

You think I am being harsh? You think I am some doom and gloom prophet trying to scare people straight? No sir. I am just reading you straight from the Book. This is what Jesus Christ Himself taught, and if His words do not terrify you, then you have not been paying attention. Our Lord spent more time warning His own followers about the fires of hell than He ever did warning pagans and tax collectors. That ought to tell you something.

The Catholic Church has always taught what Scripture makes crystal clear: baptism is not a ticket you punch and then coast to heaven. Baptism is the beginning of a lifelong battle, not the end of the war. The Catechism puts it plain as day: mortal sin destroys charity in the heart of man by a grave violation of God's law and turns man away from God. One mortal sin, committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent, and you have severed yourself from the grace of God. You are no longer in a state of salvation. Your baptism did not give you a free pass to sin with impunity.

Saint Paul himself, that great apostle who converted half the Roman world, told the Philippians to work out their salvation with fear and trembling. Fear and trembling. Not casual confidence. Not presumption. Not some smug assurance that once you said the Sinner's Prayer or got confirmed, you were set for eternity. Paul is talking to believers, to the baptized, to people who already knew Christ. And he is telling them to be afraid. To tremble. Because salvation is not a done deal until you draw your last breath and stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

The Sin Nobody Talks About

The deadliest sin stalking the Church today is not lust or greed or even pride, though those will drag you down fast enough. The deadliest sin is presumption. The Catechism defines it as a rash expectation of salvation without making proper use of the necessary means to obtain it. The Baltimore Catechism lays out how we fall into this trap: putting off confession when we are in mortal sin, delaying repentance, being indifferent about how many times we yield to temptation, thinking we can avoid sin without avoiding its occasions, and relying too much on ourselves.

Presumption is the sin that whispers in your ear, God will forgive me anyway. I can confess later. One more time will not hurt. God understands my weakness. It is the sin that turns God's infinite mercy into an excuse for spiritual laziness and rebellion. It is taking the unearned gift of grace and spitting in the face of the Giver.

The old Catholic Encyclopedia from 1911 describes presumption as the condition of a soul which, because of a badly regulated reliance on God's mercy and power, hopes for salvation without doing anything to deserve it, or for pardon of his sins without repenting of them. This is not the virtue of hope. This is its demonic counterfeit. Hope trusts in God's promises while doing your part. Presumption expects God to do all the work while you sit back and live however you please.

Here is what presumption looks like in real life: the man who uses contraception every time he sleeps with his wife, but keeps going to Communion because God understands. The woman who skips Mass whenever it is inconvenient, but figures she is a good person so God will let her in. The couple living together before marriage who rationalize it by saying they love each other. The businessman who cheats his customers but donates to the church. The teenager who watches pornography but still goes to youth group. They all presume upon God's mercy without repenting of their sins.

Christ's Harshest Words Were for Believers

Go read the Gospels with fresh eyes and tell me who Jesus warned most severely. Was it the prostitutes? No, He ate with them and forgave them. Was it the tax collectors? No, He called one to be an apostle. Was it the Roman soldiers? No, He healed their servants and praised their faith. The harshest words Jesus ever spoke were aimed directly at religious people. The Pharisees. The scribes. The teachers of the law. People who knew Scripture backward and forward. People who prayed three times a day. People who tithed down to their garden herbs. Jesus called them whitewashed tombs, full of dead bones and filth. He called them blind guides and children of hell. He said they travel over land and sea to make one convert, and then they make him twice as much a child of hell as themselves.

And if you think Jesus only condemned hypocrites who did not really believe, read Matthew 7 again. Read it slow. Jesus says, Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers.

Did you catch that? These are people who called Jesus Lord. They prophesied. They cast out demons. They performed miracles. All in Jesus' name. They were not atheists or pagans. They were believers. Active ministers. Miracle workers. And Jesus tells them He never knew them. They are going to hell. Not because they denied Christ, but because their faith was all words and works without a transformed heart. Their religion was external performance without internal conversion.

The Sermon on the Mount is packed with these warnings. Jesus tells His disciples to enter through the narrow gate because the gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Only a few. Not most believers. Not everyone who goes to church. A few. If that does not sober you up, nothing will.

Lukewarm Faith Makes Jesus Vomit

In Revelation chapter 3, Jesus addresses the church in Laodicea with some of the most disturbing words in all of Scripture. He says, I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other. So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. The Greek word translated spit is actually stronger than that. It means to vomit. Jesus is so disgusted by lukewarm faith that it makes Him want to puke.

What is lukewarm faith? It is not being on fire for God, but it is also not completely cold and dead. It is middle-of-the-road Christianity. Going through the motions. Checking the boxes. Showing up on Sundays but living like a pagan Monday through Saturday. It is calling yourself Catholic but using birth control. It is believing in Jesus but never talking about Him. It is knowing the truth but not living it. It is being comfortable in your sin while confident in your salvation.

The Laodicean church thought they had it all figured out. They said, I am rich, I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing. They were materially prosperous and spiritually bankrupt. Jesus tells them, You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. They thought they were fine. Jesus said they were damned. They were baptized. They were believers. They were a church. And Jesus was about to vomit them out of His mouth.

Laodicea had a water problem. The city got its water from hot springs six miles away through an aqueduct. By the time the water reached the city, it was lukewarm and disgusting to drink. Hot water is useful for healing. Cold water is refreshing. But lukewarm water? Nobody wants it. It serves no purpose. That is exactly what Jesus is saying about lukewarm Christians. You are useless to me. You are not healing anyone. You are not refreshing anyone. You are just taking up space and making me sick.

This applies to Catholics who think that just because they were baptized and confirmed, they are guaranteed heaven. Listen close: you can lose your salvation. The Catechism is explicit about this. Mortal sin results in the loss of sanctifying grace. If you die in a state of mortal sin without repenting, you go to hell. Your baptism will not save you. Your confirmation will not save you. Being raised Catholic will not save you. Only dying in a state of grace saves you.

The Narrow Gate and the Few Who Find It

Jesus said the road to life is narrow and only a few find it. Not most Christians. Not everyone who believes. A few. This is one of the most ignored teachings in all of Christianity because it makes us uncomfortable. We want to believe that most good people go to heaven. We want to think that as long as you try your best and are sincere, God will let you in. But that is not what Jesus taught. Jesus taught that the way is hard and few find it. Few.

The narrow gate requires conversion. Real conversion. Not just intellectual assent to a set of doctrines, but total transformation of life. It means putting to death the old man and becoming a new creation. It means taking up your cross daily and following Jesus, even when it costs you everything. It means dying to self and living for Christ. It means obeying God's commandments, not because you want to earn salvation, but because you love Him.

The narrow gate is not about earning your salvation through works. The Catholic Church has never taught that. What the Church teaches is that faith without works is dead. That we must cooperate with God's grace. That sanctifying grace can be lost through mortal sin and must be restored through confession. That we are called to work out our salvation with fear and trembling because it is not a done deal until we stand before Christ.

Paul warns in 1 Corinthians 9 that even he, an apostle who saw Jesus and planted churches all over the known world, was not presuming on his own salvation. He says, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. Paul is worried about being disqualified. If Paul was not confident of his salvation to the point of complacency, what makes you think you should be?

The narrow gate is rejected by most people because it is too demanding. It requires you to give up your favorite sins. It asks you to deny yourself and take up a cross. It means persecution from the world and sometimes even from family and friends. Most people choose the wide gate because it is easier. You can keep your sin, keep your comfort, keep your pride, and still call yourself religious. But the wide gate leads to destruction. And many, many people are walking through it right now, including baptized Catholics who presume they are saved.

Mortal Sin Destroys Grace

The Catechism teaches clearly that mortal sin destroys charity in the heart of man and turns man away from God. Three conditions must be met for a sin to be mortal: grave matter, full knowledge, and deliberate consent. Grave matter includes things like murder, adultery, theft, and missing Mass on Sunday. Full knowledge means you know it is a serious sin. Deliberate consent means you choose to do it anyway.

When you commit a mortal sin, you lose sanctifying grace. You are no longer in a state of grace. You are no longer in communion with God. Your soul is dead. If you were to die in that moment, you would go to hell. Your baptism cannot help you. Your past good deeds cannot help you. Only repentance and confession can restore you to a state of grace.

This is not some medieval scare tactic. This is basic Catholic theology rooted in Scripture. First John 5 distinguishes between sin that leads to death and sin that does not lead to death. Galatians 5 lists the works of the flesh and says those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. James 2 says that whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. The Bible is full of warnings that serious sin separates you from God and leads to eternal death.

Too many Catholics treat mortal sin like a minor infraction. They figure they can go to Mass on Christmas and Easter, skip confession for years, use contraception, shack up before marriage, watch pornography, get drunk regularly, cheat on their taxes, and still be in good standing with God because they were baptized. That is presumption. That is spiritual suicide. That is the wide gate that leads to destruction.

The Church gives us the sacrament of confession precisely because we need it. Christ instituted this sacrament for all sinful members of His Church, especially for those who, since baptism, have fallen into grave sin and have lost their baptismal grace. Confession is not optional for mortal sin. It is required. The Catechism states that all mortal sins of which penitents are conscious must be recounted in confession. You cannot just tell God you are sorry in your heart and skip confession. That is not how Christ set it up. He gave the apostles the power to forgive sins and that power continues in the priesthood today.

Baptism Is the Beginning, Not the End

Baptism washes away original sin and makes us children of God. It incorporates us into Christ and into His Church. It gives us sanctifying grace and the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love. It imprints an indelible spiritual mark on the soul that can never be removed. But baptism does not give you a free pass to sin. It does not guarantee your salvation if you turn away from God.

The Catechism teaches that certain temporal consequences of sin remain in the baptized, including an inclination to sin called concupiscence. Baptism does not remove this tendency to sin. It does not make you immune to temptation. You still have free will. You can still choose to reject God. You can still commit mortal sin. You can still lose your salvation.

Saint Paul himself addressed this in Romans 6. He asks, Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Baptism united us to Christ's death and resurrection. We died with Him and rose with Him to new life. But that new life requires us to walk in holiness, not to continue in the sins that Christ died to forgive.

The Fathers of the Church called confession the second plank of salvation after the shipwreck which is the loss of grace. Baptism is the first plank. It saves us from original sin and makes us members of the Church. But when we commit mortal sin, we lose that grace. We are shipwrecked. Confession is the second plank that God throws to us so we can be saved again. We must grab hold of it. We must repent. We must confess. We must turn back to God.

Too many Catholics treat baptism like fire insurance. They figure that as long as they got baptized, they are covered no matter what. That is not Christianity. That is paganism with a Christian veneer. Christianity requires conversion. It requires dying to self and living for Christ. It requires obedience. It requires fighting the good fight until your last breath.

The Bible Demands Holy Living

Scripture is filled with warnings that sinful living separates you from God. Jesus says in Matthew 5 that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. He goes on to explain that even anger, lust in the heart, and careless oaths can condemn you. The standard is not just avoid murder and adultery. The standard is holiness of heart.

In Matthew 25, Jesus tells the parable of the ten virgins. Five were wise and five were foolish. All ten were virgins. All ten were waiting for the bridegroom. But when he came, only five had oil for their lamps. The other five were shut out. Jesus says, Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour. These are believers who were not ready when Christ returned. They were shut out of the kingdom.

In the same chapter, Jesus tells the parable of the talents. A master gives three servants different amounts of money. Two invest it and double it. The third buries it out of fear. When the master returns, he rewards the first two and casts the third into outer darkness. The servant who did nothing with what he was given is thrown into hell. It is not enough to not do evil. You must do good with what God has given you.

Hebrews 10 gives one of the most terrifying warnings in all of Scripture: If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. This is written to believers. To people who have received the knowledge of the truth. If you keep on sinning deliberately after being baptized, after knowing the truth, there is no more sacrifice for you. Christ's death on the cross will not cover your unrepented sins. You become an enemy of God destined for the raging fire.

James 2 says faith without works is dead. It is useless. It cannot save you. You can say you believe in God, but even the demons believe and shudder. True faith produces works. Not to earn salvation, but as the natural fruit of a transformed life. If your faith has not changed how you live, it is dead faith. And dead faith does not save anyone.

Fear and Trembling Is the Right Response

Saint Paul tells the Philippians to work out their salvation with fear and trembling. Some modern teachers try to water this down. They say it just means reverent awe or being serious about your faith. But the Greek words phobos and tromos mean exactly what they sound like: fear and trembling. Terror and shaking. This is not casual reverence. This is holy fear of the living God who judges the living and the dead.

Why should we work out our salvation with fear and trembling? Because we do not know if we will persevere to the end. Because we could fall away. Because we could commit mortal sin and die without repenting. Because the road is narrow and few find it. Because many who say Lord, Lord will be turned away. Because it is possible to be baptized, confirmed, receive communion, and still go to hell.

This is not a lack of trust in God's mercy. It is a proper understanding of God's justice. God is merciful, but He is also just. He forgives those who repent, but He condemns those who remain in rebellion. He offers grace, but we can reject it. He gives us every opportunity to be saved, but He does not force anyone into heaven against their will. If you choose sin over God, He will let you have what you chose. Forever.

The Church has always taught that we can have moral certainty of salvation if we die in a state of grace. But we cannot have absolute certainty in this life because we still have free will. We could still fall. Peter denied Christ three times. Judas betrayed Him. Demas abandoned Paul because he loved this present world. If these men who walked with Jesus could fall away, so can we. That is why we must work out our salvation with fear and trembling.

This holy fear is actually a gift of the Holy Spirit. It is one of the seven gifts given in confirmation. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It keeps us from presumption. It keeps us humble. It keeps us dependent on God's grace rather than our own strength. It reminds us that we are servants, not the master. That we are sheep who need a shepherd. That without Christ we can do nothing.

No One Is Safe Until Judgment Day

The Catechism teaches that immediately after death, each person undergoes the particular judgment where their eternal destiny is decided. Those whose love for God has been perfected go straight to heaven. Those who die in God's love but still love Him imperfectly go to purgatory to be purified. Those who reject God's love by mortal sin and die without repenting are condemned to hell. There is no fourth option. There is no second chance after death. Your eternal destiny is sealed the moment you die.

This means no one is safe until they stand before Christ and hear the words, Well done, good and faithful servant. You could live your whole life as a faithful Catholic and then fall into mortal sin at the end. You could commit apostasy. You could give in to temptation. You could die suddenly without time to confess. None of us knows the day or hour when we will be called to give an account. That is why Jesus says to watch and pray, to stay alert, to be ready at all times.

The early Church Fathers understood this. They preached constantly about the danger of losing salvation through sin. Saint Augustine wrote that many who appear to be within the Church are actually outside it, and many who appear to be outside are actually within. Saint John Chrysostom warned Christians not to presume on their baptism or church membership. Saint Jerome said that the road to hell is paved with the skulls of priests and monks. The saints knew what modern Christians have forgotten: being baptized and religious is not enough. You must persevere to the end in faith, hope, and love.

The Second Vatican Council taught that the Church is necessary for salvation. All salvation comes from Christ through His Church. But being a member of the Church does not automatically save you. You must remain in a state of grace. You must use the sacraments. You must cooperate with God's grace. You must live according to the teachings of Christ and His Church. Membership alone is not enough.

Hell Is Real and Eternal

Jesus spoke more about hell than anyone else in the Bible. He described it as a place of outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. A place where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. A place prepared for the devil and his angels, but where unrepentant sinners will also go. Jesus was not using metaphors or exaggerations. He was describing a real place of eternal conscious torment.

The Catechism teaches that hell is real and eternal. It says that the chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God. Those in hell have definitively rejected God and refused His mercy. They chose themselves over God, and God gives them what they chose. Hell is not God being mean. Hell is God respecting human freedom. If you do not want God in this life, He will not force Himself on you in the next.

Many modern Catholics do not believe in hell. Or they think hell exists but no one actually goes there. Or they think God is too loving to send anyone there. This is not what the Church teaches. This is not what Jesus taught. Jesus said the road to destruction is wide and many enter through it. Many. Not a few. Not just Hitler and serial killers. Many. Including baptized Catholics who presumed they were saved while living in mortal sin.

The reality of hell should terrify us into repentance. It should drive us to our knees in prayer. It should make us flee from sin like we are running from a burning building. It should make us use every means of grace available to us: confession, communion, prayer, fasting, almsgiving, reading Scripture. It should make us examine our consciences daily and root out every sin that separates us from God. Because if we die in mortal sin, we go to hell. Forever. No second chances. No parole. No escape. Forever.

The Antidote to Presumption

The antidote to the sin of presumption is the virtue of hope. Hope is not wishful thinking. It is not presuming God will save you no matter what. Hope is the confident expectation of divine blessing and the beatific vision of God. It is trusting in God's mercy while cooperating with His grace. It is believing that God wants to save you, but also knowing that He will not force you into heaven against your will.

The Catechism says hope is also the fear of offending God's love and incurring punishment. Real hope includes holy fear. It includes working out your salvation with fear and trembling. It includes using the means of grace that God has given you. It includes frequent confession, regular communion, daily prayer, and living according to the commandments.

You cannot be saved by your own efforts. But you can be damned by refusing to cooperate with God's grace. Salvation is a gift, but it is a gift that must be received and maintained. You receive it through baptism. You maintain it by avoiding mortal sin. You restore it through confession when you fall. You strengthen it through the sacraments. You protect it through prayer and holy living. And you persevere in it until your dying breath, when you finally stand before Christ and hear your eternal sentence.

Do not presume you are saved because you were baptized. Do not presume you are saved because you go to Mass. Do not presume you are saved because you are a good person. Do not presume at all. Instead, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Examine your conscience. Confess your sins. Receive communion in a state of grace. Pray without ceasing. Flee from temptation. Resist the devil. Die to yourself. Take up your cross. Follow Jesus no matter the cost.

The Terrible Truth We Must Face

Here is the terrible truth that no one wants to hear: hell is packed with people who thought they were going to heaven. People who said Lord, Lord. People who prophesied and cast out demons and did miracles in Jesus' name. People who were baptized and confirmed. People who went to Mass and confession. People who believed in Jesus and called themselves Christians. They are in hell right now because they presumed upon God's mercy while refusing to repent of their sins.

Jesus did not die on the cross so you could live however you want and still go to heaven. He died so your sins could be forgiven if you repent. He died to make it possible for you to be saved if you cooperate with His grace. He died to open the gates of heaven for those who follow Him in faith, hope, and love. But He will not drag anyone into heaven kicking and screaming. If you want hell, He will let you have it.

The wide gate is popular because it lets you keep your sin while still calling yourself religious. You can fornicate and take communion. You can contracept and call yourself Catholic. You can miss Mass and think you are fine. You can live for yourself and presume God will overlook it. But God will not overlook it. He will judge you according to your works. And if your works testify that you loved sin more than you loved Him, you will be condemned.

The narrow gate is unpopular because it demands everything. It costs you your life. It requires total conversion. It means obeying God even when it is hard. It means confessing your sins. It means changing your life. It means being willing to lose everything for the sake of Christ. Most people are not willing to pay that price. So they choose the wide gate and convince themselves they are still going to heaven. They are wrong. Dead wrong. Eternally wrong.

Wake Up Before It Is Too Late

I am not writing this to condemn you. I am writing this to wake you up before it is too late. If you are living in mortal sin, you need to repent right now. Today. This hour. Do not wait. Do not presume you have time. You could die tonight. You could die in five minutes. And if you die in mortal sin, you go to hell. Your baptism will not save you. Your Catholic upbringing will not save you. Only dying in a state of grace saves you.

If you have not been to confession in months or years, go this week. Examine your conscience. Confess every mortal sin you can remember. Make a firm purpose of amendment. Receive absolution. Do your penance. Then stay in a state of grace by avoiding mortal sin and going to confession regularly. Do not wait for a convenient time. Go now. Hell is full of people who waited too long.

If you are missing Mass on Sundays without a grave reason, you are committing mortal sin. If you are using contraception, you are committing mortal sin. If you are living with someone before marriage, you are committing mortal sin. If you are watching pornography, you are committing mortal sin. If you are getting drunk, you are committing mortal sin. These are not minor infractions. These are grave sins that destroy your relationship with God and put your eternal soul in jeopardy. You need to stop. Today. Now. No excuses. No rationalizations. No presuming God will understand. Stop sinning and start obeying.

The Church gives you everything you need to be saved. She gives you the sacraments, the teaching, the grace, the example of the saints. She tells you exactly what you need to believe and how you need to live. You do not have any excuses. You cannot claim you did not know. If you reject her teaching and live in sin, you are choosing hell. If you cooperate with her teaching and live in grace, you will be saved. It is that simple and that serious.

Enter Through the Narrow Gate

Jesus stands at the door and knocks. He offers you salvation. He offers you mercy. He offers you grace. But you must answer the door. You must turn from your sin. You must follow Him. You must enter through the narrow gate and walk the hard road that leads to life. Few find it. But it is there for anyone willing to seek it.

Do not be one of the many who enter through the wide gate that leads to destruction. Do not be one of the baptized Catholics who end up in hell because they presumed they were saved while living like pagans. Do not be one of the people who stands before Jesus and hears Him say, I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers. Be one of the few who finds the narrow gate. Be one of the faithful who perseveres to the end. Be one of the saints who hears Jesus say, Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your master.

Hell is full of baptized people. Do not be one of them. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Use the sacraments. Confess your sins. Live in grace. Obey the commandments. Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. Take up your cross daily and follow Jesus. Do not presume. Do not delay. Do not make excuses. Repent and believe the Gospel before it is too late.

The narrow gate stands before you. Enter through it while you still can. Because the day is coming when it will be shut and no one will be able to open it. And if you are on the outside when that day comes, all your crying and begging will not change your fate. The time to choose is now. Choose Christ. Choose holiness. Choose life. Choose the narrow gate that leads to eternal joy in the presence of God. And pray that when you stand before Him, you will hear those beautiful words: Welcome home, my good and faithful servant. Well done.

~by Jeff Callaway

Texas Outlaw Poet

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