Part 3 – ‘Everlasting DESTRUCTION’ is NOT ‘Eternal LIFE’ in Torment
| This Article is part of a multi-part Study Series called What Exactly is Death and Hell?. |
Some may be surprised to learn that the so many of the religious ideas about what happens when we DIE are NOT what the Bible teaches at all.
The Apostle Paul wrote that all men possess ‘Sin as a nature’ in the flesh of their physical bodies. Romans 8:3b; refers to “sin in the flesh” as a noun, speaking of the ‘Sin’ as the ‘nature’ in all mankind. ‘Sin’ is as a viral infection that was passed to all mankind as the lineage of the first man who sinned, Adam (Rom. 5:12).
The ‘Sin nature’ prompts and provokes our willful acts of ‘sinning,’ and this is sinful nature attended with the “sentence of DEATH in ourselves” (2Cor. 1:9). Every honest person knows they are self-seeking self-serving sinners by nature.
“The sting of [the sting that causes] Death is SIN; …” (1 Cor. 15:56a (KJV).
“Wherefore, as by one man [Adam] sin entered into the world [Grk. kosmos, the present arrangement of mankind], and death by sin; and so [physical] DEATH passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” (Romans 5:12 (KJV)
Thankfully, Christ death of the Cross has already paid for ALL our sins and He will forgive the Sins of those who believe and He will give them new life, His Eternal LIFE.
Contrary to the common religious belief, the Bible does NOT say that DEAD UNbelievers are to be ‘tormented ALIVE’ neither in a place of fiery torture nor in a dark place of ‘isolation from God,’ as most sects of Christendom teach. These Pagan ideas and many more were adopted by Romanism (The RCC) and later passed to most of Protestantism. This idea directly contradicts one of the plainest statements in the Bible about the result of UNadmitted and therefore UNforgiven sin in a human life.
“... the wages of [result of] SIN is DEATH, but the GIFT of God is Eternal LIFE IN Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23)
Thus, the Apostle Paul (above) describes ‘the result of sin being DEATH’ as opposed to “the result of the righteousness” being Eternal LIFE.’ When one places their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ’s Cross-work, DYING on their behalf, ALL sins they have committed and those that they may yet inadvertently commit are immediately FORGIVEN.
“And you [the believers], being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened [made Alive] together with him, having FORGIVEN you ALL trespasses; Colossians 2:13 (KJV)
God then sees every BELIEVER “IN Christ” and therefore as being as “Holy and blameless” as Jesus. Their LIFE is then “hid [securely] with Christ in God.” “For ye [the believers] are dead, and Your Life Is Hid With Christ In God.” (Col. 3:3 (KJV)
Forgiveness and New LIFE is the free gift of gifts; we could never ‘work’ enough to earn such a salvation.
“For By Grace are ye saved Through Faith; and that not of yourselves: it is The Gift of God: 9Not of [our religious or good] works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9 (KJV)
The Bible then makes it clear that “the wages” or the result of UNforgiven sin in the life of a human is ‘Eternal DEATH’ – NOT ‘Eternal LIFE in Torment.’ The Bible directly Contradicts the Pagan Religious LIE held and taught by most all CHRISTENDOM. They teach falsely saying ‘the wages of sin are to SUFFER in an ETERNALLY CONSCIOUS State of LIFE in a so-called Firey HELL.’
But the Bible clearly says there is No Consciousness or awareness in DEATH in “the Grave.”
“For the living know that they shall DIE: but The DEAD KNOW NOT ANY THING, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. 6Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5-6 (KJV)
“For in DEATH there is no remembrance of thee: In The Grave who shall give thee thanks? Psalm 6:5 (KJV)
“… for there is NO work, nor device, nor KNOWLEDGE, nor wisdom, In The Grave, …” Eccl. 9:10 (KJV)
Paul’s words of “the wages of sin is DEATH” agrees with John’s Revelation 20:14 concerning the ultimate fate of the irredeemably lost UNbelievers. They will be resurrected from “the grave” to “stand” at the “Great White Throne Judgment” of all the UNbelieving dead of all ages (Rev. 20:12). The result of this final judgement is called “the Second DEATH.”
Note that in the end, with their purposes already served, “death” and “the grave,” are no longer needed; they are disposed of in “the Lake of Fire.”
“And DEATH AND HELL [Grk, hades, ‘the grave’ containing the dead] were cast into ‘the lake of fire’ [Gehenna]. This is the Second DEATH.” (Revelation 20:14 (KJV)
The term “the Second DEATH” (Rev. 20:14) clearly suggests that the lost UNbelievers DIE Twice. The lost UNbelievers who have DIED physically then go to “the grave” (Greek, hades). They will then be resurrected ALIVE once again to ‘stand’ and be “judged” at the end of all ages. Being judged and their names not found in “the Lamb’s book of life,” they then will go to their 2nd DEATH. They will have already lost their “spirit of man” that had given them life for a time. Their ‘remains’ will go to “the lake of fire” to be consumed by fire … while Already Unconsciously DEAD.
- Recall how that originally; “the LORD God formed man [physically] of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath [Heb. ruach, ‘spirit’] of LIFE; and man became a living soul [an enlivened being].” (Gen. 2:7 (KJV)
- But then at Physical DEATH: “... the dust [of the physical body] return to the earth as it was: and THE SPIRIT Shall RETURN UNTO GOD WHO GAVE IT.” (Ecclesiastes 12:7, cf. Gen. 2:7 (KJV)
“His breath [Heb. ruach, spirit] goeth forth (Heb yasa, DEPARTS], he [the body and soul] returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts [of his Soul’s Mind] perish.” (Psalm 146:4 (KJV)
Recall that Jesus had said;
“And fear not them which kill [only] the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him [the Lord] which is able to DESTROY Both SOUL and BODY In Hell [Greek, gehenna, “the lake of fire” (Matthew 10:28 (KJV)
Psalm 37:20 clearly says, “But the wicked shall perish [Grk. apollymi, be utterly destroyed]; and the enemies of the LORD, like the splendor [as grass] of the meadows, shall VANISH. INTO SMOKE they shall Vanish Away.” Nothing will remain of the lost except smoke and ash.
The actual “lake of fire” described in the Bible is far from the common religious concept of ‘hell.’ It is a place of hell-fire that will utterly destroy and Totally Consume the ALREADY DEAD REMAINS of the UNbelievers.
- Their “spirit of man” which had given them life will have “return[ed] to the Lord who gave it” (Eccl. 12:7)
- Then being ‘DEAD Physically’ and ‘Spiritless,’ their Souls are snuffed out.
- The remains of their DEAD physical bodies of UNBELIEVERS will Consumed in “the Lake of fire.”
The prophet Malachi prophesied of the total destruction of the bodies of the lost;
“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 (KJV)
Thus, all three of the parts of man are accounted for (cf. 1Thes 5:23) with the ‘2nd death’ of the lost Unbelievers.
The truth of the Bible in all this is that God in His love has provided the Cross of His Son, Jesus Christ, desiring that none would be lost. He has been patient, acknowledging man’s free will, holding off the judgment and end of the age that “whosoever believeth in him should not perish.”
“God so loved the world [Grk. kosmos, the people of this fallen world’s arrangement], that he gave his only begotten Son, [so] that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have [His] everlasting life.” (John 3:16 (KJV).
Thus, God is ultimately just and merciful to those who are ‘Humbled sufficiently to Believe’ and receive the God’s Grace-Gift of the Cross-work of the Lord Jesus Christ… the Savior... on their behalf.
As the above scriptures clearly demonstrate, God will punish the irredeemably wicked, but He will do so in a merciful way. Only the residual of the already DEAD physical bodies of the lost will be burned up, Consumed, being dead forever — they are NOT TORTURED for eternity.
“Who shall be punished with EVERLASTING DESTRUCTION from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; 2 Thessalonians 1:9 (KJV)
Thus, if we likely have loved ones who will to Not Believe, though perhaps sad for a moment, we will not have to contend with the ridiculous Pagan religious idea of them suffering eternal torment.
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For an explanation of “The Rich Man and Lazarus” go to these two places to read and/or listen;
Read: http://www.artlicursi.com/articles/real-meaning-%E2%80%98-rich-man-and-lazarus%E2%80%99-0#
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJ8JlVyPFxY
A fuller explanation of “Life, Death, and Eternal Life” is found in this online article: