chapter four An Attack on God’s Character
The logical conclusion when seeing through the lens of humans having an immortal soul is that, just as the righteous live on eternally with Christ, the wicked also live-on, in torment, throughout the ceaselessness of eternity. For if the soul is immortal, is this not reasonable to conclude?
But is this what the Bible teaches?
As a young man, I began to identify something that bothered me. I could not understand why I was being taught at church that the wicked will be tortured throughout all eternity in a place called hell, when the Bible had taught me from a child, through probably the most famous passage of scripture, that those who reject the salvation we have in Christ will “perish.”
“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
I’m not sure if I can think of any clearer passage of scripture than John 3:16. These are two clear outcomes for humanity that are distinctly opposites. Either we are given “everlasting life” to live in the presence of our heavenly Father, or we will “perish”.
perish ἀπόληται (apolētai) Strong's 622: From apo and the base of olethros; to destroy fully To eternally extend the life of someone who has turned their back on Christ in order to torture them throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity is not “to destroy fully” - No, in fact, this false teaching, which darkens the very Character of God, would also make God the propagator of sin itself. For consider what painfully bitter distain for God, what sin, would amass in the hearts of the wicked knowing that after a million years there still would be no reprieve from their torments... no, this is not God’s plan! “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” Romans 6:23
Though to “perish” (cease to exist) and living in conscious eternal torment (life) cannot be reconciled, this deep-seeded Greek philosophy of ‘soul-immortality’ still has Christians reaching for scriptural grounds that appear to support this false-doctrine, yet do not.
“For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.” Psalm 37:10
Just as Satan, eventually, “will exist no more.” (Eze 28:19), so too will be for the wicked…
“For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.” Malachi 4:1
Again, it would be remiss of me not to address Revelation 20:10
“And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” Revelation 20:10
In order to reconcile Revelation 20:10 with the clear teaching that Satan will “exist no more”, we simply must grasp what “forever” actually implies. Too quick are we to attribute “for ever” with eternity. But are we correct in doing so?
Throughout the Bible the term “forever” is used to mean “for as long as time lasts in that specific case.” Even today, this term is used to describe a downpour or a hot summer afternoon that “went on forever.” For instance, Hannah pledged to God that she would take her infant son Samuel to serve in the temple at Shiloh, where he would abide “forever” (1 Samuel 1:22). Hannah herself interpreted the statement as meaning that Samuel would serve in the temple for “as long as he lives” (verse 28). In the belly of the fish, Jonah cried out “...the earth with her bars was about me for ever...” (Jonah 2:6), and although it may have seemed to have lasted for eternity… “Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” Jonah 1:17 King David said, “Howbeit the LORD God of Israel chose me before all the house of my father to be king over Israel for ever” (1 Chron 28:4). - David was King for 40 years (2 Sam 5:4). Equally, the words “for ever” can mean “eternal”, as the time involved depends on the nature of the person or thing to which the word is applied. For when we read that God’s “mercy endureth for ever” (Psalm 106:1), it means that as long as God shall exist His mercy will exist, and because He is eternal in His nature, His attributes are also eternal. As such, to torture Satan in the “lake of fire” throughout all eternity would be to attribute to Satan immortality. From a rather simplistic perspective, if we were to apply the word “eternity” to the word “ever”, then Rev 20:10 would read that the devil “shall be tormented day and night for eternity and eternity.” This seems nonsensical, as adding eternity to eternity accomplishes nothing. However, adding a span of time deemed an “age” to another “age”, as some bibles render Rev 20:10, tells us that Satan will indeed suffer for a long span of time, but eventually Satan will “exist no more” (Ezek 28:19).
Here in lies God’s Truth: When we die, saved or lost, we all enter the sleep of death. Which, for all intents and purposes, can be likened to a state of non-existence, in that we “know nothing” - And, though it is also likened to a “sleep” (for we will be resurrected), it is, in a sense, our first death. With this understanding, we can see God’s plan and comprehend why the final outcome for the wicked is called their “second death” (Rev 20:14). And, just as in their first death, they shall again sleep in death, yet from it they shall not rise. For they shall “perish” having “their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Rev 21:8), and eventually be, eternally in a state of non-existence. Without a doubt, the false doctrine that God will torture people throughout all eternity has had Satan laughing at Christians, as this teaching has driven away many people from finding out Who God really is… for who would worship such a monster? Equally as sad, Christians, the world over, continue to use this false doctrine in an attempt to motivate through fear, but… “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:18 In a nutshell, God is the creator of all things. Nothing exists outside of Him. If we have chosen to turn our backs on God’s gift of salvation, then we will be granted our desire and be removed from him eternally. We will cease to exist throughout all eternity. This is what’s meant by “eternal Judgement” (Heb 6:2), in that the wicked will “go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life” (Mat 25:46).✞------------------------------------
But is this what the Bible teaches?
As a young man, I began to identify something that bothered me. I could not understand why I was being taught at church that the wicked will be tortured throughout all eternity in a place called hell, when the Bible had taught me from a child, through probably the most famous passage of scripture, that those who reject the salvation we have in Christ will “perish.”
“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
I’m not sure if I can think of any clearer passage of scripture than John 3:16. These are two clear outcomes for humanity that are distinctly opposites. Either we are given “everlasting life” to live in the presence of our heavenly Father, or we will “perish”.
perish ἀπόληται (apolētai) Strong's 622: From apo and the base of olethros; to destroy fully To eternally extend the life of someone who has turned their back on Christ in order to torture them throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity is not “to destroy fully” - No, in fact, this false teaching, which darkens the very Character of God, would also make God the propagator of sin itself. For consider what painfully bitter distain for God, what sin, would amass in the hearts of the wicked knowing that after a million years there still would be no reprieve from their torments... no, this is not God’s plan! “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” Romans 6:23
Though to “perish” (cease to exist) and living in conscious eternal torment (life) cannot be reconciled, this deep-seeded Greek philosophy of ‘soul-immortality’ still has Christians reaching for scriptural grounds that appear to support this false-doctrine, yet do not.
“For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.” Psalm 37:10
Just as Satan, eventually, “will exist no more.” (Eze 28:19), so too will be for the wicked…
“For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.” Malachi 4:1
Again, it would be remiss of me not to address Revelation 20:10
“And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” Revelation 20:10
In order to reconcile Revelation 20:10 with the clear teaching that Satan will “exist no more”, we simply must grasp what “forever” actually implies. Too quick are we to attribute “for ever” with eternity. But are we correct in doing so?
Throughout the Bible the term “forever” is used to mean “for as long as time lasts in that specific case.” Even today, this term is used to describe a downpour or a hot summer afternoon that “went on forever.” For instance, Hannah pledged to God that she would take her infant son Samuel to serve in the temple at Shiloh, where he would abide “forever” (1 Samuel 1:22). Hannah herself interpreted the statement as meaning that Samuel would serve in the temple for “as long as he lives” (verse 28). In the belly of the fish, Jonah cried out “...the earth with her bars was about me for ever...” (Jonah 2:6), and although it may have seemed to have lasted for eternity… “Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” Jonah 1:17 King David said, “Howbeit the LORD God of Israel chose me before all the house of my father to be king over Israel for ever” (1 Chron 28:4). - David was King for 40 years (2 Sam 5:4). Equally, the words “for ever” can mean “eternal”, as the time involved depends on the nature of the person or thing to which the word is applied. For when we read that God’s “mercy endureth for ever” (Psalm 106:1), it means that as long as God shall exist His mercy will exist, and because He is eternal in His nature, His attributes are also eternal. As such, to torture Satan in the “lake of fire” throughout all eternity would be to attribute to Satan immortality. From a rather simplistic perspective, if we were to apply the word “eternity” to the word “ever”, then Rev 20:10 would read that the devil “shall be tormented day and night for eternity and eternity.” This seems nonsensical, as adding eternity to eternity accomplishes nothing. However, adding a span of time deemed an “age” to another “age”, as some bibles render Rev 20:10, tells us that Satan will indeed suffer for a long span of time, but eventually Satan will “exist no more” (Ezek 28:19).
Here in lies God’s Truth: When we die, saved or lost, we all enter the sleep of death. Which, for all intents and purposes, can be likened to a state of non-existence, in that we “know nothing” - And, though it is also likened to a “sleep” (for we will be resurrected), it is, in a sense, our first death. With this understanding, we can see God’s plan and comprehend why the final outcome for the wicked is called their “second death” (Rev 20:14). And, just as in their first death, they shall again sleep in death, yet from it they shall not rise. For they shall “perish” having “their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Rev 21:8), and eventually be, eternally in a state of non-existence. Without a doubt, the false doctrine that God will torture people throughout all eternity has had Satan laughing at Christians, as this teaching has driven away many people from finding out Who God really is… for who would worship such a monster? Equally as sad, Christians, the world over, continue to use this false doctrine in an attempt to motivate through fear, but… “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:18 In a nutshell, God is the creator of all things. Nothing exists outside of Him. If we have chosen to turn our backs on God’s gift of salvation, then we will be granted our desire and be removed from him eternally. We will cease to exist throughout all eternity. This is what’s meant by “eternal Judgement” (Heb 6:2), in that the wicked will “go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life” (Mat 25:46).✞------------------------------------