“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (John 3:16-18 NIV – NOTE: All verses quoted are from the NIV unless otherwise specified)
There has been an upsurge of discussions in print, Podcasts and on forums about the fate of those who die with unrepentant sin and have rejected Jesus as Lord and Savior (from this point on referred to as the Lost). This message does not address those who have never heard about Jesus (Please see the message “What Happens To Those Who Have Never Heard About Jesus?”), but those who:
“have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.” (Hebrews 6:4-8).
These people were never Born-Again because they naturally and habitually do the “better things that have to do with salvation” (Hebrews 6:9). Being “enlightened” by having heard about or experienced the illuminating light of God’s love or tasting versus consuming it completely are very different.
“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.” (1 John 4:16)
When one contemplates the merciful goodness and kindness of God, it is hard to reconcile with His judgment and the eternal destiny of the Lost in the place the Bible calls Hell. Whenever and wherever eternal judgment and hell are discussed, it always raises questions concerning God’s love and justice which causes strong emotional feelings. This message will address the three primary schools of thought.
C.S. Lewis once articulated that religious ambivalence about Hell could lead to misunderstandings about its significance and nature. He pointed out how diverging interpretations can complicate the conversation and emphasized how vital the importance of aligning feelings with, and grounding one’s beliefs in, and adherence to, the authority of Scripture, rather than letting emotions dictate understanding divine truths to avoid falling into spiritual danger. He emphasized that despite personal feelings of distance from God, truth remains unchanged. and God is always closer than we realize.
“Hell may well be unique amongst Christian doctrines, if not for the lack of attention that it has received in the past decades, then for the unwillingness with which many orthodox Christians believe in it. Fundamentalists may preach vividly about the fires of hell, and liberals have long heralded the downfall of eternal damnation, but what can we say about a doctrine which leaves many people highly embarrassed? More recently, the doctrine has received the renewed interest of a specific debate amongst evangelicals concerning whether hell is eternal conscious torment or whether the wicked are annihilated after judgment.
Truth remains the same, whatever our reactions to it or feelings about it may be. I may often feel that God is far away, but the experience of my feeling does not alter the truth that God is closer than I can ever imagine. It is when I make my decisions on those feelings alone, and ignore the witness of Scripture, that danger comes. So, be warned: hell is an emotional subject, but we must let the Scriptures be the final arbiter on the truth of the matter.”
ANNIHILATIONISM
Annihilationism (AKA Mortalism) is the name given to the belief that those who do not belong to Christ are raised bodily from their graves at an appointed day of judgment and are then finally tormented for a time and then eternally annihilated as punishment for their sin and cease to consciously exist, rather than suffer unending torment in Hell.
CONDITIONALISM
Conditionalism is the name given to the belief that human beings are not inherently immortal, but their permanent existence is “conditioned” upon faith in Christ rather have immortality conferred upon them as part of the experience of salvation because the Bible teaches that human beings have been mortal ever since the Fall. Therefore, in their fallen condition, human beings are incapable of living forever and doomed to die and then cease to exist, and it is God alone who possesses immortality innately and no other being, human or otherwise is immortal (imperishable, deathless) possesses immortality inherently but only as God’s specific gift.
Conditionalism is associated with Annihilationism which states that not everyone that has ever lived will be raised to immortality because only the ’saved’ will live forever. Conditionalists do not believe those who rejected Jesus will be punished in Hell forever, and their spirit, mind, and body will simply burn up and cease to exist and will be destroyed. They foresee death for the sinner, then subsequently resurrection, then punishment, and then destruction. Immortality means the inability of the person to perish and only the redeemed will be immortal, and life in Heaven will be everlasting and consist of a perfect and glorious existence both quantitatively and qualitatively throughout eternity.
The memories of the Lost will remain, but because heaven contains healing and understanding joy and regret can co-exist in the light of God’s glory because they will have come to the realization that not all want to embrace God’s love and heed His call to salvation through Christ.
TRADITIONALISM
Traditionalism is the name given for the belief that God created humans to live forever in obedient fellowship with Him, however, because Adam and Eve disobeyed Him, they were punished by being evicted from the Garden of Eden and ended the intimate relationship they had with the Creator of all things. As a result “sin” entered into the DNA of all living things and entropy began that would ultimately cause sickness, disease and death.
Jesus alone is the truth, life, and the way (John 14:6), and there is no other way (Acts 4:12), so a person’s eternal life in His Kingdom depends on having a personal relationship with Him by becoming a Christian.
The teaching of Annihilationism and Conditionalism are the complete opposite of Traditionalism because they are contrary to the character and nature of God and His justice and mercy. The theory they posit is that those who intentionally reject Jesus as Lord and Savior will not spend eternity in conscious torment as punishment because of their free will choice but be utterly extinguished/destroyed/annihilated and cease to exist.
Traditionalism states that the punishment for the Lost must be the maximum possible because the sacrifice and suffering of Jesus was the maximum offering there could be to forgive sin, which is the complete opposite, and diametrically opposed, to God’s holiness and divine attributes.
“And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and LIVE FOREVER.” So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. “(Genesis 3:22–23 - emphasis mine)
The word ‘live’ in Hebrew is the verb ‘chayay’ and means to be alive and strong in the flesh, a living thing like a plant. The word “forever” in Hebrew is the noun ‘`owlam’ which means to be concealed in eternity, which is hard to fathom by any means because “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” He is does not want “anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (1 Peter 3:8-9).
God restored access to the Tree of Life to those who become Born-Again (from this point on referred to as ‘Christian‘s’) by makings a proclamation of total unconditional commitment to turn to God and turn from all that is against Him, in total surrender to His will. Genuine repentance leads to the awakening of a lifetime of natural and joyful obedience to God's will. by repenting of their sin and receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior, a person will remain alive as a living being forever (See Revelation 22:2).
“Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit b gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” (John 3:1-8)
Traditionalism says that the teaching of Annihilationism and Conditionalism is a result of misunderstanding the consequences of sin, the justice of God, and/or the nature of hell and the meaning of the “lake of fire.”
“And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” (Revelation 20:10 NIV)
The words “ever and ever” come from the Greek word ‘aiónios,’ an adjective, which means eternal, and is used throughout the Bible for eternal, everlasting, perpetually forever, as in eternity and not just a specific period of time.
“Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:14-15 NIV)
The “lake of fire” is both a physical and spiritual realm and the punishment includes the body, mind, and spirit. Only the body can be consumed by physical fire so both the Saved and Lost are resurrected with a body prepared for eternity (Revelation 20:13; Acts 24:15).
The Bible explicitly teaches that Hell is a real place to which the Lost are sent after death. The punishment of the wicked dead in Hell is described in Scripture as “shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2), “eternal” and “unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:12; 25:41), a place where “the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48), a place of “torment” and “fire” (Luke 16:23–24), “everlasting destruction” (2 Thessalonians 1:9), a place of “burning sulfur” where “the smoke of . . . torment will rise forever and ever” (Revelation 14:10–11), and a “lake of burning sulfur” where the wicked are “tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:10).
Every human being has sinned against God (Psalm 51:4, who is infinitely glorious (Romans 3:23), and the just punishment for sin is death that is infinite (Romans 6:23). Jesus warned about Hell (aka: the second death) being the punishment for those who reject Him as Lord and Savior (Matthew 5:22; Mark 9:47-48; Luke 12:5).
The Bible says the place called ‘Hell’ is eternal.
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” …. “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” (Matthew 25:42,46)
The word “eternal” is also derived from the Greek word ‘aiónios.’ The word is used to refer to the destiny of the wicked, those who reject Jesus, and the righteous, those who become Born-Again. If the wicked are only tormented for an “age,” then the righteous will only experience life in Heaven for an “age.” It is clear that Christians will be in Heaven with Jesus forever, and those who rejected Him will be in eternal torment forever because it carries an infinite consequence.
Because God is just and fair, He cannot tolerate a person who dies in the state of rejecting Jesus. When King David committed the sins of adultery and murder, he prayed,
“Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.” (Psalm 51:4)
Any kind of sin is an affront to infinite worth and eternal glory and value of God and it demands an infinite and eternal punishment.
When Jesus died on the Cross He forgave every sin, past, present, and future. He was the final sin offering. A person appropriates His once and for all final offering by repenting of their sins and receiving Him as Lord and Savior. If a person doesn’t do that they will die as a sinner.
When a person become a Christian, they are saved, forgiven, cleansed, given eternal life and promised to spend eternity with Jesus, who is love, and He
“will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)
At the very moment of gazing upon the face of the Creator of all things the Christian will come to complete knowledge and agreement that God is just, merciful and exponentially good. His eternal glory will end any thought about Hell and why some people are not with them in Heaven because they made a free will choice that condemned them when they died refusing God’s eternal gift of Jesus (See John 3:18; 14:6).
“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can DESTROY both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28 – emphasis mine)
The word “destroy” is the Greek word ‘apollymi’ and is a verb (action word) that comes from ‘apo,’ which means ‘away from,’ and ‘ollymi,’ which means to ‘fully destroy by violently cutting off entirely, to die in ruin, which is final.
“He will PUNISH those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting DESTRUCTION and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed.” (2 Thessalonians 1:8-10 – emphasis mine)
The word “punish” is ‘kolasis’ in Greek, a noun that comes from the word ‘kolazo’, which means penal infliction, punishment and torment. It has eternal consequences and is the complete opposite of eternal life promised to the righteous, those who became a Christian because it is God’s love that is “perfected” in them “so that we may continuously have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment (Gk: ‘kólasis’), and the one who fears is not perfected in love." (1 John 4:17-18)
The word “destruction" comes from the same Greek word ‘olethros’ and has the same meaning.
“God will repay each person according to what they have done. To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.” (Romans 2:6-8)
Jesus emphatically said He was “the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well.” (John 14:6)
SALVATION BY GRACE
Human beings cannot do anything to earn Salvation. It comes only by the faith of Jesus Christ and faith in His shed blood on the Cross through repentance and conversion.
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -- not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9)
God's grace saves, and His mercy sustains the Christian every day. A human being cannot add to the work of God, nor can they be coerced or compelled to enter into the Kingdom of God.
"I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" (Galatians 2:21 - see also Galatians 3:5,31; Romans 3:5,20,4:5).
The proof that a person is a Christian is walking daily in repentant humility. The Bible defines repentance as a radical conversion, a transformation of nature, a definitive turning from evil, and a resolute turning to God in total obedience (Mark 1:15; Matthew 4:17; 18:3). This conversion is once-for-all; otherwise, it is works-based and not by grace.
For the Christian, repentance is a given because there can be no going back; only advancement is possible in responsible movement forward along the way. Repentance that leads to salvation first affects the whole person and then becomes the center of their personal life, logically influencing their conduct at all times and in all situations, including their thoughts, words, and deeds (Matthew 12:33, 23:26; Mark 7:15).
Salvation is impossible with human beings (Mark 10:27). Jesus proclaimed that His "yoke is easy" and the "burden is light" (Matthew 11:30). That being said, the arduous effort required to live under the curse of the 613 laws and avoid breaking just one of them while walking the road of works faithfully is very tedious and extremely difficult for those who prefer to take it (Galatians 3:10-14; Romans 6:14; 7:4-6). It is God's mercy and kind goodness that leads one to repentance (Romans 2:4).
There are over 400 verses that espouse in one way of another that the security of Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone and not of any self-sustaining effort (Ephesians 2:8). Those who seek to be justified by keeping the law by working their way to Heaven will ultimately fall from grace (Galatians 5:4). Continuous good works that result from genuine conversion prove that the Holy Spirit lives within them and that their faith is truly alive and not dead (James 2:26; 2 Corinthians 1:22, 5:5).
God “is not willing that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). The Bible makes several references to God’s hatred of sin and unrighteousness and not individuals. While the Bible is considered the inspired and inerrant Word of God, not every single word or detail in it was directly dictated by God. It is essential to note that people such as King David wrote words that were not given directly from God. Therefore, when reading the Old Testament, it is crucial to identify the speaker.
“All their wickedness is in Gilgal, for there I hated them. Because of the evil of their deeds, I will drive them from My house” (Hosea 9:15)
“‘Let none of you think evil in your heart against your neighbor, and do not love a false oath, for all these are things that I hate,’ says the Lord.” (Zechariah 8:17)
“You must not live according to the customs of the nations I am going to drive out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.” (Leviticus 20:23)
God does not want the eternal death of the wicked,
"…He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked." (Ezekiel 33:10)
“But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.” (Luke 16:29 ESV)
The author of the Bible is God and not Paul, Matthew, Mark, Luke or John, etc. Nor are the opinions of the early Church Fathers God’s Word. Christians must not attribute their emotional psychology, (i.e., confirmation bias) which stems from the pride of the human heart, to the Word of God. That is making their thoughts God's thoughts and their ways, His ways. The Bible says the heart is "deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9).
Sadly, due to manmade denominational distinctives, Pastors have been trained to directly or indirectly overlook the plain meaning of the text in its grammatical and historical context when it conflicts with the confirmation bias of their organization’s doctrine. Nowhere in the Bible is it said that the Lost will NOT endure eternal torment.
Those who reject Jesus automatically chose to enter the eternal place of Hell are continually impenitent and consistently refuse God, repeatedly sin, and deserve conscious eternal punishment.
“Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.” (John 5:28-29)
“Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:11-15)
All the dead will be resurrected. However, only Christians are found in the Book of Life and will be raised to living eternally and will be unable to die ever again (See 1 Corinthians 15:50-53). Those who are not found in the Book; “those who rebelled against me; the worms that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind,” and will be raised in the ‘second death” eternally dying in conscious punishment with everlasting destruction (Gk: ‘olethros’) “drinking God’s wrath and “shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might” and “thrown into the lake of Fire” (Job 21:2 0–21; Jeremiah 25:15–33; Isaiah 66:24; Matthew 25:46; Revelation 20:14).
The Bible describes final punishment as conscious and ongoing warning there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:42). These are not metaphors for extinction, but expressions of deep, personal anguish. Annihilation and Conditionalism fail to capture the moral severity of sin, the holiness of God, and the eternal weight of judgment.
God has put eternity in the human heart and as a result every person by nature desires to live forever and will fight for their survival no matter what.
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
No one knows the very moment their life will end. We can yearn for perfect health and long life but, as with all living things our life will one day cease. The Bible says to each person the days of their life has been determined by God and “has appointed” their “limits that” they cannot pass” (Job 14:5; also Psalm 139:16).
“Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.” (James 4:13-17)
The eternal destiny of the Lost is not incompatible with God’s merciful love because both Heaven and Hell present no conflict in the Bible. They are two sides of the same coin. Whether a person believes in Annihilationism, Conditionalism, or Traditionalism the biblical threat of Hell must be preached as the legitimate deterrent from a final verdict and sentence of eternal judgement, torment, nothingness or annihilation for rejecting Jesus
Just performing good deeds, being a ‘good’ person or going to religious meetings or joining a church does not guarantee they will live eternally in Heaven and avoid Hell. A person can’t simply raise their hand at an alter call or repeat a prayer to become Born-Again in an emotionally charged atmosphere or on the “anxious bench.” For that to happen the Bible is very clear that a person must intentionally, honestly and contemplatively repent and stop habitually sinning and ask Jesus to be their Lord and Savior from that point on.
God brings a person to the place of repentance, but it is up to them to repent of their sins and putting their trust in Him by becoming Born-Again. At that moment they receive eternal life, but those who reject Jesus will receive eternal and endless death that is beyond human comprehension and description.
The human body is mortal, but the soul is immortal. There was a time when humans did not exist, but there will never be a time when they do not exist. Just as the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man showed, the Rich Man will remember his past life, have eternal regrets, will still feel thirst, and pain, and heartbreak, but he was not able to move from where he was to those in the Kingdom, nor to go back to his family (Luke 16:19-31). Both those who receive Jesus and those who reject Him still remain immortal and live eternally because the human soul is immortal, but eternal separation from God is conditional based upon a person’s choice of rejecting their only hope to be saved. Their condition is sealed after death when their judgment comes (Hebrews 9:27).
Jesus “will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41) where the worm “does not die and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48). Jesus said;
“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched.” (Mark 9:42-48)
Jesus parallels "eternal punishment" for the wicked with "eternal life" for the righteous (Matthew 25:46). As previously discussed, the word “eternal” describes both the duration of punishment and life, suggesting that just as eternal life is unending, so too is the punishment.
The Bible depicts physical death as the separation of the spirit from the body (James 2:26), and reveals that both the “righteous” and “wicked” have a conscious eternal existence after they die with differing outcomes. The “righteous” have “everlasting life” and the “wicked” when they die with have a “second death” by spiritually living consciously separated from God like an “undying worm” in “everlasting” contempt and “destruction” that is “unquenchable” in eternal conscious suffering in “fire” as the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever” (Daniel 12:2; Matthew 25:46; Mark 9:28,43,48; James 2:26; Ephesians 2:11; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; Revelation 20:10,12-15).
As with too many within the church today, Annihilationism and Conditionalism indirectly teach the Bible was not written by God through human scribes, but by human interpreters who were influenced by Plato and Greek philosophy because the notion of eternal torment is not compatible with God and His character and nature. Therefore, all people, who repent of their sins and receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, as well as the wicked, will be saved from the eternal penalty of rejecting Him, even though the Church has taught the unending punishment of those who die rejecting Jesus since day one.
The Bible says that humans were created with three parts, a spirit, mind, and body, to exist and fellowship with God for all eternity (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Rejection of Jesus ends the eternal fellowship with God but not eternal existence (See Ecclesiastes 3:11,21; 12:7, Job 32:8, Ezekiel 32:31, Luke 16:19-31; 23:43, 2 Corinthians 5:6, Revelation 6:9).
God is not a vindictive and sadistic punisher. He is Love, good, and just (Jeremiah 50:7; John 3:16, Romans 3:25-26; 5:8, 8:35-39; 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a; 1 John 4:8-19; Revelation 15:4; 16:7; 19:2). The righteous verdict of eternal torment is simply incompatible with God’s character and nature because it is not vindictive and ruthless. Righteous punishment of any kind is just and deserved by the guilty perpetrator.
There are no inconsistencies between the teaching of the Bible and the Church fathers throughout history. Far too many people who call themselves Christian have a distorted understanding of the sin nature and the holiness of God. They need to be thoroughly convinced that God is far more just and holy than ever imagined and His character absolutely hates sin in any manner, shape or form.
The physical death of Jesus is what atoned for sin to make amends with God (1 Peter 3:18). The Christian will not die the second death, since Jesus died for them. However, the Lost must die this second death, since they rejected the substitute.
Sin is what separates a person from God,” which is the biblical definition of death. Every human being will stand before their holy Creator naked and all things who be exposed. This reality is “great and terrible” (Malachi 4:1-6). However, those who have repented of their sins and received Jesus as Lord were washed in the blood of the Lamb and are considered spotless and clean without fault and will not “suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might” (2 Thessalonians 1:9).
The Bible says that the sin of rejecting Jesus will end in destruction and the torment of eternal death for the Lost who will not go out of existence. Both the Christian and the Lost face unending conscious consequences post-judgment, with the Christian enjoying eternal life in the presence of God and the Lost suffering severe and infinite punishment and separation from His presence. The human concept of annihilation undercuts what the Bible teaches about divine justice, the soul’s immortality, and the profound reality of eternal separation from God.
When the biblical doctrines of grace, mercy, judgment, wrath and Hell are watered down the natural fear of God is diminished. Holy and reverent fear of God shows His Word is taken seriously. It is a fact that the message of the Gospel will offend the Lost.
“But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task? Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God.” (2 Corinthians 2:14-17)
The Bible unequivocally indicates that everlasting LIFE spent in the presence of Jesus are gifts given ONLY to Christians who made the proclamation of total unconditional repentant commitment to turning to Him, and unconditional turning from all that is against Him, in total surrender to His will, which results in the awakening of a lifetime and through eternity of natural and automatic joyous obedience to His will.
Fallen human beings are morally deficient and fully incompetent to judge God. His ways are not our ways. Any other teaching diminishes the value of the great sacrifice that was offered by Jesus to redeem every human being.
Eternal Non-Existence is not punishment (Matthew 25:41; 2 Thessalonians 1:8; Jude 1:7). Eternal Hell is not meaningless, cruel, sadistic, or incompatible with the love of God, but a place of fair divine justice that is a meaningful, merciful and necessary verdict of the righteous Creator God who revealed that He is both love and just, which was settled securely and unconditionally by the sacrificial death of Jesus, and is infinitely redemptive when a person is reconciled with Him through His blood shed on the Cross by repenting of their sin and receiving Him as Lord and Savior. The infinite punishment for rejecting Jesus must be never ending and everlasting because sin in the eyes of God is infinitely abhorrent and offensive.
“For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.” (Colossians 1:19-23)
Human beings have a vastly diminutive knowledge of the ways of the eternal Creator of all things. Their dignity emanates from Him because they were created in His image, and part of the gift of His grace will be removed when they die in their sin (Genesis 1:26-7; 9:6; James 3:9). Victory over evil does not require the existence of the Lost ending but when they submit in defeat, are justly dealt with and the righteousness of God is vindicated and His unimpeachable holiness and enmity towards sin is demonstrated in the victory over evil (See Romans 9:22-23).
The arduous effort required to live under the curse of the Law and avoid breaking just one of them while faithfully walking the wearisome road of works, is beyond measure and extremely difficult for those who prefer to take it (Galatians 3:10-14; Romans 6:14,7:4-6).
The free will God gave all human beings is in fact, the freedom of willful choice to enter into an eternal contract with Him. He will not arbitrarily usurp or overrule their free will to prove He is sovereign, but He will also never break His contract with them. If, how, or when that line is crossed, can be known only by God and not by personal observation or anecdotal stories.
As for me, I choose to continue to focus on the love and merciful kindness of Jesus, the author, finisher, and giver of my free gift of His super abounding grace (Ephesians 2:8-9; Hebrews 12:2; Titus 3:3-7; Romans 3:19-28; 4:4-5; 11:6). He ruined me for anything, and anyone else, nearly 60 years ago, and many times, in the midst of angry agony and desperate despair, ambushed me with His love and captured my heart again and again, proving to me daily He is trustworthy of all my worship, honor, and praise.
It is because His “yoke is easy” and “burden is light" (Matthew 11:30 ESV), He compels me to do nothing less but trust Him new each day so that I can effortlessly fulfill the Great Commandment as a devoted worshiper and lover of the Triune God. The least I can do is give Him my whole heart, soul, and mind and rest in the knowledge that He has righteously and lovingly determined the fate of those who accept or reject Jesus as Lord and Savior (Ephesians 3:14-21).
