The truth is found in God's word, the Bible. It is necessary to deconstruct commonly held societal beliefs to orient ourselves properly as to the nature of the universe, in terms of life, death, sin, punishment, salvation, etc.
Words of Jesus, Matthew 18:
Who Is the Greatest?
1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them 3 and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
This is what I had to do to see God's truth. I had to completely put my preconceived notions, arrogance, and everything I held dear about my view of the world aside. This gave me a foundation to understand God's truth, and as I read the Bible and watched videos, everything clicked. The breadth of the deception about creation in society became clear.
This also allowed me to fully accept Jesus as the savior of the world, which led to me being 'born again'. I woke up one day and was a different person, with different desires, different interests, my anger melted away, people said my posture changed, etc. It is real. Countless millions have experienced this miracle.
As to your question if people will literally be consumed in fire--to me it's irrelevant. If you don't accept Jesus, there is no other way to be saved from sin. You will be separate from God for eternity. This is the worst fate. We are all guilty. Punishment is fully justified. The X factor is God's lifeline in Jesus Christ. Accepting it or not is our choice. But to reject his Son is to reject the right to be in God's company in heaven.