It came to me this morning that this verse does NOT say so that everyone will not go to hell and burn forever and ever, which is typically our standard approach.How can one perish if he/she is going to burn forever? Isn’t that pretty much the opposite of perishing? In fact, it seems to me that a person in hell would WANT to perish!At the same time, if Jesus’ story is giving us key truths about hell (i.e., the story about the rich man and Lazarus), then we are led to believe that a person does NOT perish in hell, but is cognizant, etc. But let’s say that line one more time another way: …a person does not perish in HELL.
Okay and also explain the term outer darkness. As in cast into outer darkness. I believe hell to be a place of eternal separation from God. As heaven is described in best of human terms…streets of gold, walls of Jasper etc. Hell is described in terms of worst in human terms.. torment and burning. Our souls are eternal. This is a biblical contextual truth and a truth taught in nature( Romans 1:17-20) There will be a judgment. It will be final and eternal. It will occur at the resurrection of the dead…all dead will be resurrected…those in Christ first. If the judgment is not eternal, why bother resurrecting unrighteous dead? Eternal separation from, He who is love, and right and good and light and life and peace… everything glorious and wonderful in our universe is much worse than the physical pain of fire just as being in the presence of that Great one who created us eternally is greater than streets of gold etc.And it is all because of the gospel. All because of Jesus!Wrath of God is revealed in nature and the Love of God was revealed on the cross. So let’s preach the gospel!
I challenge you to listen to Dr Edward Fudge. He teaches it exactly the way I believe it. youtu.be/oHUPpmbTOV4
Ok, I did.
Revelation 2:11New King James Version (NKJV)11 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by
This is what the Strong’s concordance says about perish: Definitionto destroyto put out of the way entirely, abolish, put an end to ruinrender uselessto killto declare that one must be put to deathmetaph. to devote or give over to eternal misery in hellto perish, to be lost, ruined, destroyedto destroyto loseI would say that this definition makes the most sense…to declare that one must be put to deathmetaph. to devote or give over to eternal misery in hellto perish, to be lost, ruined, destroyed.________________More of Him…less of me.twitter.com/camiracle77www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=691241499&ref=name
Ok, I did. Many teach tradition of men rather than doctrine of scripture, I agree. I guess I disagree the most regarding his view of eternality of the soul. The soul is not immortal. There is no scripture for it. John 3:16
I had an appt with my tax guy this morning who is a christian…
We were talWdoing tax stuff…anyway, he asked me some questions posed this….1) If you believe a family member is in hell, would you do anything to get them out? If so, does this not mean that persons mercy is greater than Gods?2) Would you have 2 children if you knew one was going to hell?
I have enough going on in my life that I can’t afford to devote mental resources to a complicated, largely unanswerable question like this one, especially when the outcome does not change my approach toward evangelism. Perhaps we have at times been motivated to share the gospel by a desire to see people avoid the fire of hell, but our motivation to share the gospel should always come from our desire to share our knowledge of Christ’s inexpressible glory. Not evangelizing so that people can avoid a bad outcome, but evangelizing so that people can enjoy a glorious one.However, I will share a struggle that I have on this issue. When discussing the attributes of God, theologians classify them broadly as
Just to be clear. My view is not that anyone escapes hell’s flames. Hell is a real place. I also don’t believe in soul sleep nor that when unbelievers die, they no longer exist at that point. There is still dying and then the judgement. I believe that unbelievers will be sent to the lake of fire where their souls will burn up and will cease to exist from that point. That’s why it is called the second death.
I tend to think that burning alive for a trillion years is a level of barbarity and torture that we would resist in other religions. But consider that the human sacrifice of the Aztecs is far more gentle than what we often teach will happen to unbelievers.I’m thinking God is better than that. It is MY OPINION that when hell is cast into the Lake of Fire, that is the end of those who were in hell. Again, my opinion. As with others, if perish means live forever in torment, that’s not actually perishing–in fact, it is the nightmarish opposite of it.AT THE SAME TIME, hell is so terrible that Jesus said to cut off your arm or foot, or pluck out your eye, to avoid hell. And while a person may indeed perish at some point, hell is so horrific that one should do whatever it takes to not spend even 10 second there!If nothing else, the enormity that you squandered the opportunity to spend ETERNITY with loved ones in the presence of the Lord, the opportunity to be reunited with old friends, etc., the opportunity to have everything restored in your body, mind, emotions, memories…that will truly be hell. Nothing will hurt more than knowing This didn’t have to happen this way–I could have gotten saved; and now I am seeing my loved ones for the last time.
Look, hell is a real place.One man, in a story told by Jesus, asked if Lazarus could dip his finger in water and drip it on his tongue to quench a thirst from the flames that were hot.What do we know:The good and evil folks were separated – even before Jesus had died for our sins. ( I wonder how big that good group was?)It was hot enough for a dude to be mighty thirsty. He didn’t say he was burning – but the visible flames were making it hot around there.The dude in hell didn’t want to be there anymore. Interestingly – he didn’t accuse Abraham or God of being unfair. He seemed to accept that he was there justly. He was also still compassionate enough that he really didn’t want any of his family coming there. So there was some good in the man in hell (they weren’t all Mansons and Hitlers) – yet he was still there. And he didn’t seem to know of a way to pray his way out of a temporary purgatory area – or whatever some fancy as being possible.Jesus didn’t seem to think it was unfair – and that God was not nearly as compassionate as the man in hell – but Christians today feel that way – WHY?
This is the clinching scripture for me. Matthew 10:28“Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul but rather fear Him who is able to destroy soul and body in hell.â€
So you guys are saying that there is hell for a long time (thousands of years possibly), but one day God wlll call it off on the Final Judgement and THEN they will just be burned up (the rest of the way)?
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. Ecclesiastes 12:7
Everlasting = Never ending = Eternal
Willy Wonka made the everlasting gobstopper and every kid can understand the meaning of that.People want to create a god in their own image. Nobody wants to think that sin has such serious consequences. Jesus came to live and suffer great torment so we would not have to experience everlasting seperation from God. If it wasnt so serious why did Jesus do what he did? “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.â€â€â€Matthew‬ â€25:46‬ â€KJV‬‬www.bible.com/1/mat.25.46.kjvOne of the first lies of the devil was, “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:â€â€â€Genesis‬ â€3:4‬ â€KJV‬‬www.bible.com/1/gen.3.4.kjv