LOST! LOST! LOST!
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"LOST!" That is a word that seems to be increasingly in disuse as part of modern man’s religious vocabulary. When we talk to people, we are confronted with a muddled picture and a fuzzy mentality. To imply that people of a non-Christian religion, or even people in the world outside of the Lord’s church, are lost is an insult to many in our humanistic and multi-cultural society. To suggest such is to be instantly labeled as being judgmental and unloving. Subsequently, and perhaps consequently, the "church" of today seems to be more preoccupied with social programs.
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What It’s All About
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Thus, it appears that many have forgotten what Christianity is all about (if they ever knew). The very symbol of the cross implies that men are lost. That is why Christ died. The words "love" and "grace" are not properly understood unless understood in connection with lost humanity. To say that Jesus is the Savior is to imply that men are lost (and need saving). And the word "gospel" means good news (that man can be saved). This is what the religion of Christ is all about. The Lord himself expressly declared, "The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10).
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The Greek Word for "Lost"
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As we look into this matter of being lost, and what it entails, perhaps it would be good first to check out the Greek word itself translated "lost." That word is apollumi. It means to destroy, to perish, or to be lost. It is represented in the English New Testament with such words as "destroy," "marred," "perish," "lose," and "lost." We find non-religious usage of the word in abundance (examples: Matthew 2:13; 8:25; 9:17; 12:14; etc.), and uses where the word decidedly takes on specific meaning religiously. Such passages as Luke 19:10 (already mentioned), John 3:16, I Corinthians 1:18, II Corinthians 2:15 (4:3), and II Peter 3:9 stand out. The 15th chapter of Luke has three great parables of our Lord about being lost (the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son). Perhaps these parables were preliminary in crystallizing a technical concept in the word. Someone aptly has pointed out: "The idea [in the word] is not extinction but ruin, loss, not of being, but of wellbeing."
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The Religious Significance
Of Being Lost
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The significance of lost can be seen in the context and usage of the word. We find the words "saved" and "lost," as well as many other words like "salvation" and "damnation," thrown over against one another in bold relief. Their juxtaposition emphasizes the meaning of each word and the teaching of the Bible on this subject.
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The apostle Paul in Romans 1:16 declares, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth: to the Jew first, and also to the Greek [Gentile]." Next he proceeds to give a backdrop for such a statement. The rest of this chapter shows the sinful depravity of the ancient Gentile world. Then in the second chapter of Romans, Paul points his finger at the Jews. Although they had the Law, they were likewise nonetheless guilty before God. The third chapter sums it all up. "For all [Jew and Gentile] have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). So, this matter of being lost has to do with sin and separation from God.
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In Romans 2:6-11, Paul unveiled the eternal consequences of being lost and salvation. He wrote that God "will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and aslo to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God."
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Therefore, being lost involves (1) a present state of alienation from God as man lives a selfish life of sin to himself and (2) a coming dreadful reality, as mankind must face God in judgment, resulting in dreadful eternal consequences. To be plain, it is a matter of heaven or hell. Let us further notice Scriptures that verify this.
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Lost—A Present State
  •  "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost" (II Corinthians 4:3).
  •  "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish [apollumi, them that are lost] foolishness: but unto us which are saved it is the power of God" (I Corinthians 1:18).
  •  "For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish" (II Corinthians 2:15).
  •  "And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish (are lost, apollumi); because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved" (II Thessalonians 2:10).
  •  "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned" (Mark 16:15,16).
  •  "I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins" (John 8:24).
    • Lost—A Coming, Dreadful Reality
  •  "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
  •  "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, but that all should come to repentance" (II Peter 3:9).
  •  "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men…" (II Corinthians 5:10,11a).
  •  "Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels…And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal" (Matthew 25: 34,41,46).
    • Objections
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    Some will admit that perhaps man indeed is lost, that he has strayed from God’s purpose and plan for his life; that he has made pretty much of a mess of things. But it is a harder matter for them to "buy" the part about eternal punishment. They ask, "How could a loving God send a person to hell?" We heard a brother say that the wrong question was being asked. The question really should be, "How could an all-holy God let a sinner into heaven?" (Sin is more awful than we realize). Some will admit there is a hell, but would like to think that it involves annihilation of the lost, and then everything is over. They quote our Lord, "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy [apollumi] both body and soul in hell" (Matthew 10:28). They assert that everlasting life as promised in John 3:16 is in contrast with death. To not have eternal life is to experience eternal death (and by this, they mean ceasing to exist). 
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    Answers
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    What about these assertions? "To destroy both body and soul in hell" does not mean annihilation. As we said, "The idea [in the word] is not extinction but ruin, loss, not of being, but of wellbeing." In Mark 1:24 some demons cried out to Jesus, "Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? …" Some demons, crying out in Matthew 8:29, also said, "Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?" Although lost men are doomed to go there, "everlasting fire" was originally prepared for the devil and his angels (demons) (Matthew 25:41). And as connective thought, Revelation 20:10 states, "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimestone…and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." Likewise, in another context, Revelation 14:11 says "the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever." Hell does not involve annihilation, according to these verses.Then Revelation 21:8 tells us about the wicked, likewise, being cast into the lake of fire (where the devil and the demons are cast), and it is called "the second death." Before the judgment, in contrast with the "resurrection of life," the resurrection of the wicked is called the "resurrection of damnation" (John 5:29). It is not annihilation, a ceasing to exist, but death in the sense of eternal separation from God.
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    More Awful
    Than We Can Imagine
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    Another person suggests that when the Lord mentioned hell fire, he really didn’t mean fire, but was using fire to represent something else. Although we may not understand all that is involved, we simply take the words as they are spoken. Even if fire were used to represent something else, it wouldn’t diminish the awfulness of hell. It would probably be something worse than fire, as we know it. The heavenly city is pictured as having gates of pearl and the street of gold, using that which man esteems to be of utmost value to represent something greater. No doubt, this is suggestive, and heaven is more wonderful than we can imagine. Likewise, hell would be more awful than anything that we could imagine.
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    No Longer Be Lost
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    So, kind reader, if you are not a Christian, the Bible says that you are lost. There is no way that we can be saved until we accept the fact that we are lost—"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Every sin that we have committed is on the "books" against us. We cannot save ourselves. But John 3:16 tells us of God’s great love for the world in sending a Savior. He certainly "will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth" (I Timothy 2:4). Christ died for all, and this being the case, Paul says, "…If one died for all, then were all dead [implying that all were lost]: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again" (II Corinthians 5:14, 15). The sinless one takes away our sin (II Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 10:17) when we repent and are baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38). We enter into salvation and the fellowship of the saved. We have the throne of grace which to frequent (Hebrews 4:14-16) as we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord (II Peter 3:18; 1:4-11). And at the end of life’s way "an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." If we don’t make it to heaven, we have no one to blame but ourselves. Hell was really prepared for the devil and his angels. 
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    TheSwordANDStaff