— Part #5 —
By: General James Green
Hell’s Justification
THE SEVERITY AND FINALITY of the Bible’s view of Hell unnerves today’s soft and pleasure-loving churchites. For the sinner, it is just too horrendous, too harsh/unloving/judgmental. Sorry folks, this is Truth, GET USED TO IT!
So, now you’re faced with either accepting this ABSOLUTE truth about Hell, or continuing to hurl out complaints, insults, objections in God’s face…and continue to hate those of us who remind you of what His Word says…you go about creating alternatives, some of which we have listed, e.g., no life after death, universalism (all eventually go to Heaven in the end), postmortem evangelism (the sinners in Hell get a second chance), annihilation (sinners will be destroyed in the fire)—these are some of the alternatives unbelieving believers have come up with.
Political Correctness
THIS LITTLE DEMON HAS CREPT into the very foundation of the Church like a swarm of termites, eating away at orthodoxy. According to them, Heaven, now, is open to any and all unrepentant sickos, perverts, and penurious misotheists. But, God’s real Heaven, where righteousness and the righteous are, well will be Hell for the unjust, filthy (Rev. 22:11), dogs (homosexuals), sorcerers, whoremongers, murderers, idolaters, and liars (v. 15).
Heaven, dear ones, is not a place where the redeemed enjoy pleasant sensations of the “self-life,” but where they are enjoying God, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and the other redeemed souls.
God’s justice and holiness demands the existence of Hell. Justice demands retribution, not remedial action. All men’s biases against God’s justice/holiness is of no avail. Men’s wish for a purgatorial re-incarnation is just that, a WISH! Men, by nature, are evil (Rom. 3:10-18) and no evil will be part of Heaven. God’s Heaven is not seeker-friendly, nor politically correct, it is in no wise a path of syncretism. All roads DO NOT lead to Heaven; the re-fashioning of God’s WAY-TRUTH-LIFE is a waste of time. You haters of God’s Truth, you who are busy manufacturing another WAY, will PAY!!
All you rebellious churchites who refuse to bow the knee to Jesus Christ the Lord can pray till you drop dead, you will not change the FACT about Hell…and all your mediumistic pleadings only add to your damnation.
Heaven or Hell—Turn or Burn!
TAKE YOUR PICK. There is NO second chance once you stand before your just Judge—there will be no grace, once in this place, man will give an account of all he/she did, and did not do.
Postmortem Evangelism is another invention of rebellious man. This is postmortem evangelism in a nutshell—if those in Hell desire Heaven at this point (and who wouldn’t!?!), God invites them into His Kingdom; those who don’t (only a complete fool wouldn’t!), God will annihilate.—Nice philosophy, but untrue. Even those who espouse such an unbiblical idea admit the scantiness of Scriptural support (like Pinnock; Ibid. 170-71, see also pp. 156-57).
“But,” you inquire, “What about 1 Pet. 3:19-20?” “By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.”
All of us must agree that this is a notoriously difficult passage. I’ve read many interpretations. Some, like Clark Pinnock, appeal to these verses for a “second chance.” Nevertheless, “1 Pet. 3 records no positive response to what was preached and therefore, provides no basis for salvation after death” (Larry Dixon, The Other Side of the Good News, 1992, p. 118).
Dr. A.M. Hunter (who does the exegesis of 1 Peter) and Dr. E.G. Homrighausen (who does the exposition of 1 Peter in Vol. XIII, The Interpreter’s Bible, 1957, pp. 132-134) comments “that some scholars view that Christ, in the course of His passion, and resurrection, ‘made proclamation’ to the powers of evil.” They continue, “What Peter and Paul assert of these powers of evil, as their divine Master had asserted it before them, is that in Christ’s death their end was sealed” (First Epis. of Pet., p. 360). They say, “This mythological view of Christ is expounded by Dr. Selwyn can be carried through only if we wrest the meaning of the Gk. words in a most unnatural way.”
There is no record that the evil spirits in Hell ever repented—NONE. Yet, scholars like Pinnock and others, base their case upon 1 Pet. 3:19, 20. And these texts only speak of the lost souls in Hell prior to the death of Christ, they say zero about persons who come after Christ (see Millard J. Erickson’s The Evangelical Mind and Heart, 1992, p. 140).
Most agree that Jesus descended into Hades and preached to the fallen angels of Gen. 6:1-4 or the rebellious generation who perished in the Flood of Gen. 6:12.
Psa. 16:10 Connection?
I HAVE RESEARCHED THESE TEXTS (1 Pet. 3:19, 20) over the years. Frankly, they seem obscure. Many have asked, “How did this tradition of a ministry of Jesus in Hades originate?” We can point to Acts 2:27 where Peter quotes Ps. 16:10: “Because thou wilt not leave my soul in Hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” This verse seems to indicate what most believe, Jesus descending into Hell. Did Jesus mean this when He quoted Isa. 61:1 / Lk. 4:17, 18, “to proclaim liberty to the captives?”
Questions
WHERE WAS CHRIST’S SPIRIT in the interval between His death and resurrection? And, what was to be the fate of those who had died before the Gospel was preached? Some point to 1 Pet. 3:19 and 4:6 as the answer. Christ was giving the evil spirits/lost souls a chance for salvation, not a second chance as Pinnock says, if we’re to believe this tradition.
The Apostle’s Creed states: “He descended into Hell.” The apocryphal Gospel According to Peter (A.D. 130), among the wonders attending the Crucifixion we read: “Hast thou preached to those who have fallen asleep?”…from the Cross we hear, “Yes.”
Christ can save us from Hell now!
By Way of Illustration?
OTHER SCHOLARS SEE 1 PETER 3:19 as only by way of illustration (v. 20) to the disobedient souls who perished in the flood and that Jesus either preached between His cross experience and His resurrection, or in His pre-incarnate life. The age of Noah was critical, for out of that end and beginning, time in history, only 8 souls were saved.
So, those wicked spirits were imprisoned and confined by THEIR OWN CHOICES! The same holds true for those of our day—we preach, yet few respond. If they go to Hell, it is THEIR OWN CHOICE!! Gen. 6:3 says that God dealt with the pre-flood souls a long, long time.
If we’re to believe, as some do, that Christ gave some the chance to repent and He now gives some a second chance to repent, then we believe in some sort of purgatory; a universal salvation; which the Bible never states. We wish it were so, but to be honest, it does not.
1 Pet. 3:18 shows us the love of God—Jesus suffered/died for the unjust that He might bring us to God. By doing this, sinners have the opportunity to bypass Hell, get through to God…to pass from dis-grace into eternal grace. Yet, sinners still mock this divine plan of salvation. Why do you want to go to Hell??
The only people Christ took out of the place of departed spirits were those who had died in grace—the unrepentant are in Hell now and will be in the Lake of Fire forever—NO ESCAPE! NONE!
Hell Will Be Hell!
MEN SCOFF AT ALL THIS. Go ahead, Hell/Lake of Fire is one Hell of a reality. The body, soul, spirit of the damned will not only experience outer darkness of soul, but also the consuming (not annihilation) fire of rejected love, which is devastating (not extinction). God is WAITING, dear backslidden churchites. He is WAITING, sinner. 1 Pet. 3:20 says that, “God waited,” waited, and waited, for the sinners to repent. “Waited” (ἀπεδέϰετο): The tense of the Gk. verb suggests “waited, waited, waited.”
So, to appeal to 1 Peter 3:19, 20 in an attempt to prove postmortem evangelism which leads to universalism, is silly because 1 Peter 3 clashes with 1 Pet. 4; vv. 17, 18 which rules out the possibility that those who do not obey God’s Gospel will be saved.
I’ve searched and searched the N.T. for proof of the doomed being rescued out of Hell and going to Heaven—we wish it were true, but no proof can be found.
Watering Down His Word
OH, HOW THESE, “Love Wins Out” ministers love to water down God’s Word. But Jesus’ own Words tell us of the sinner’s fate (see Jn. 8:24; Heb. 9:27). The speculative doctrines of no life after death, universalism, postmortem evangelism, and annihilation must be rejected, they are not Biblical.
Our current culture may embrace political correctness, where individual liberties prevail; come what may — in the end all sinners will certainly pay. God’s holiness and justice demand for a place called Hell. Why does America have sooooooo many jails and prisons? Because justice demands the lawbreakers pay. Punishment is both sane and ethical.
John Hick claims that because of God’s goodness, mercy, grace, and love, “God will eventually succeed in His purpose of winning all men to Himself in faith and love” (Evil and the God of Love, 1978, p. 342). Well, I’m yet to find any Scriptural proof of his assertion.
God does desire all men to be saved (1 Tim. 2:4), but not ALL men will accept His free gift of salvation. Today is the day of salvation, NOW!! Once sealed in Hell, there is no second chance. And to teach this is sheer falsehood. Tell the sinners the truth, preachers! And it is lying to teach, as the Roman Catholic church does, a place called purgatory. This falsehood was designed to make $$ off of the hurting and ignorant. This false doctrine is theologically repugnant.
Think about this, you who believe in a “second chance:” Heaven is for people who really and truly wanted to be saved, who really loved God, His Son, and were willing to be led by the Holy Spirit. People who would “choose” a “second chance” would not really be choosing God, as the repentant above, but only would want to escape the torments of Hell-fire, no more. Don’t you think Christ knows this? Yes! Their repentance would not be genuine.
Note on 1 Tim. 6:15, 16
WE ARE TO REMEMBER above all that God ALONE/ONLY has immortality, in contrast to earthly kings, lords, who thought themselves to be immortal! Again, we must not place mere humans on the same level as the ONLY ONE TRUE God who is the SOURCE of immortality/eternal life, who is Holy, Pure, Undefiled, Uncorrupted.
The two Scriptures we’ve looked at pertaining to “immortality”/athanasia, relate to the body—1 Cor. 15:53, 54, 2 Cor. 5:1-9. Let’s compare the wording of the two above with 2 Cor. 5:17, Gal. 6:15; Eph. 4:24 and Col. 3:10 to start with.
As stated before, scholars are divided on the issue of immortality of the soul—do Christians possess it now, or do they just have eternal life?
1 CORINTHIANS 15:52-54
For a background read vv. 35-56, which speak of the Christians’ glorified bodies. Verse 52 says, “…the dead will rise immortal (An American Translation — AAT; the King James Version uses “incorruptible”), and will be changed.” Verse 53 says, “This decaying body must be made one that can’t decay, and this dying body must be made one that can’t die.” Verse 54 states, “When this decaying body is made one that can’t decay and this dying body is made one that can’t die, then will happen what is written: ‘Death is destroyed in victory’ (quotes Isa. 25:8).” There is nothing said of the soul/spirit of man here, only of the body raised in the resurrection.
2 CORINTHIANS 5:4
For a background read vv. 1-10. Here Paul once again deals with the glorified body or the Heavenly body.
Verse 4 reads: “So while we are in this tent (AAT; KJV uses “tabernacle”), we sigh, feeling oppressed because we don’t want to put off this body, but put on the other and have life swallow up our death.” The KJV says, “…not that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.”
In verse one, Paul uses the term “earthly house” (KJV), a term referring to the believer’s earthly body, or to the earthly life of the believer. Note the “if” clause in v. 1. This conditional clause, “if our earthly house…were dissolved” because he knows that Christ could return in his life time (most believed that), his body would not experience physical death; rather, his body would be immortally transformed (changed). This same double possibility, death/transformation, exists for us today.
Our Building of God
THE “BUILDING OF GOD, an house not made with hands, eternal in the Heaven” likely refers either to a temporary body prepared for the believer in heaven while he awaits his resurrection body, or to the environment of the heavenly existence, some scholars believe.
Again, there is a debate among scholars that believers in Heaven are disembodied spirits, naked souls awaiting their resurrected bodies. Others believe what I said above. Some believe that the soul/spirit are the real person and the body reflects them or the body looks like the soul/spirit.
What are we to make of both Moses and Elijah (already written about) who appeared clothed with a heavenly body, even though they were awaiting their resurrected bodies? Furthermore, in Rev. 6:9-11, souls in Heaven are described as capable of being seen, wearing white robes.
To Be Present…
IN 2 CORINTHIANS 5:8 Paul was willing to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord—proving that the soul/spirit, not the body, is the real us/you/him. Again, nothing was said of the immortality of the soul, so we can assume Paul took it for granted that he already had it, not just “eternal life” (as described by many as only a quality of life. To me, they seem one and the same).
Also, from v. 8 and others (e.g., Lk. 23:42-43; Phil. 1:23), there is NO lapse of time between death and the life to come.
The believer’s death brings him immediately into Christ’s presence (1 Cor. 13:12). Thus, to die is gain (Phil. 1:21). This does not mean that Christ is not present with believers now, for the Holy Spirit’s work is to mediate the presence of Christ to the believer. V. 8 does indicate that we are NOW with the Lord, in our physical bodies, by faith and not thru appearance (Heb. 11:1).
Now Let’s Compare
2 CORINTHIANS 5:17:
We’ve already got the background leading up to v. 17: “Therefore (what has already been said) if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (KJV, the ATT uses “a new being”): old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Paul was stating that thru the creative command of God (4:6), those who accept Jesus by faith are made a new creation that belongs to the Spirit world (Rom. 8:14; Gal. 5:25; Eph. 2:10). Our bodies relate to this fallen world, our soul/spirit relates to the Spirit world. The believer a) becomes a new person (Gal. 6:15; Eph. 2:10, 15; 4:24; Col. 3:10); b) renewed after God’s image (4:16; 1 Cor. 15:49; Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10), c) sharing His glory (3:18), d) with a renewed knowledge (Col. 3:10), e) and understanding (Rom. 12:2), f) and living a life of holiness (Eph. 4:24). All these Scriptures relate to the “new man” or “born again Christian” or the believer who has “eternal life”/“immortality” of soul/spirit.
Now let’s break each of these texts down and separate body from soul/spirit.
New World Order
ACTUALLY, Biblically speaking, 2 Cor. 5:17 speaks of the “New World Order” (NWO).
Verse 17 is a takeoff of verse 16—“Wherefore” (Gk.ὥστε) introduces a statement that gives the result of what has just been said. Paul here is comparing the old life/man with the new life/man, i.e., the inferior transient nature of the present physical life with the future permanent spiritual body — not made with hands.
Verse 17 tells us that an inner transformation takes place at conversion: the sinner becomes a saint. He no doubt refers to 4:6 where he says, “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts (soul/spirit = inner man), to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” And no doubt he had in mind Gen. 1:3. The “light,” if we remember, blinded Paul when he was still Saul.
To Paul, the “old things” was his state of sinfulness; the emphatic “behold” introduces his new life in Christ — the beginning of the “New Age” or “One World Order” had come.
We can’t say that Saul/Paul was merely “improved” or “reformed,” but rather CONVERTED by the Power and Glory of God, thru Jesus Christ, thru the Holy Spirit. Paul was reconciled to Christ (v. 18).
The language of 2 Cor. 5:17 and 1 Cor. 15:52-54 relate insomuch as a CHANGE takes place, a change of one’s body in 1 Corinthians and a change in one’s nature in 2 Corinthians. Although Saul’s/Paul’s conversion (Acts 9) does not explicitly say anything about repentance, we know that the risen/glorified Christ blinded his natural eyes so that his inner spiritual eyes of soul/spirit were opened. Also, Acts 9:17, 18 tell of Saul receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, something no man receives unless he is born again.
Paul is called “brother Saul” by Ananias (v. 17), which proves Saul was already converted, and he prays for him to receive the Holy Ghost and be baptized in water. Saul, the religious hater of Christians, now becomes Paul, the Pentecostal missionary! So, what happened to Paul? A conversion, a receiving of eternal life; but could this also be called immortality of soul/spirit? Acts 9 implicitly points to this.
Galatians 6:15
AGAIN, PAUL WRITES about “a new creature” (v. 15). Κτίσις can mean either “creature” (KJV) or “creation” (RSV). “Act of creation” is preferable for many scholars.
Ephesians 2:10,15
“FOR WE ARE His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus…” “Having abolished in His flesh (Jesus’ physical body) the enmity…for to make in Himself of twain one new man…”
Again, Paul points out that we Christians are His “Workmanship,” “created” in Christ Jesus, (v. 10). He is not referring to the body but to the inner soul/spirit of converted man. God’s grace and man’s repentance creates a “new man,” a morality which is thus transformed. We are not saved by doing “good works,” but by God’s grace, afterwards we’re to do the “good works.”
My point is to point out that a MIRACULOUS CHANGE had been wrought in Paul’s inner life, he received eternal life, but why not immortality of that inner life?
“One New Man” (v. 15)
THIS “ONE NEW MAN” Paul speaks of was the conversion of both pagan Gentiles and unconverted Jews. The RSV states, “…that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two.” This “creative act” was not about bodies, but about souls in Christ, not about race, but about grace. The “one body” in v. 16 is not about a physical body, but about a spiritual body—the CREATION of a “New World Order,” e.g., “A New Humanity,” ALL having been born again, and receiving eternal life (immortality too?).
Ephesians 4:24,25
“AND THAT YE PUT ON THE NEW MAN, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.”
Note how Paul words these two verses, the same language he uses in 1 Cor. 15:53, 54=”put on incorruption,” “put on immortality,” speaking of the body. Why do we quibble over what Paul is saying in our Eph. 4:24, 25 texts? Again, Paul is not explicitly saying anything about either “eternal life,” nor “immortality,” but they are implied, suggested. The “former conversation” (lifestyle) in 4:22 is to be “put off;” verse 23, “be renewed in the spirit of your mind,” conversion of the soul. Verse 24 again uses “Put on the new man,” this meaning conversion of the “old man.”
So, “Put off—be renewed—put on.” Just as Paul uses the phraseology “put on incorruption”/“immortality” (1 Cor. 15:53, 54), he uses the same here. The literal sense of these verbs, which has to do with the change of clothing, is extended metaphorically to signify a change of character/nature. Greek language says these infinitives are aorists, referring to a change that is made once for all; be renewed, on the other hand, renders a present infinitive denoting a continuing process (see 2 Cor. 4:16=”our inner nature is being renewed day by day”). I must add, we must yield to the workings of the Holy Spirit for this “renewing,” if not, we’ll believe in the “once saved, always saved” lie; “Live like Hell—and still go to Heaven!!”
Why We “Put Off”
BECAUSE OUR OLD NATURE is corrupt, it is perishing (the present participle suggests a progressive decay, the consequence of a governing principle of decay). Sin decays body, soul, and spirit.
We’re to renew the spirit of our mind (v. 23), the faculty by which we commune with God (besides our spirit) thru reason/thought.
The “new nature” is created after the likeness of God (v. 24), expressed also in Col. 3:10 (which we’ll look at next).
The phrase, “according to God” or, “after the likeness of God” (RSV), seems to me, to suggest the IMMORTALITY of the new life, in contrast with the transience of the old, which “is perishing.” Since God has immortality and is immortal, it seems to me that we take on that nature at conversion.
To learn Christ means life in the fellowship, rebirth into a new world order (deathlessness, incorruptible, eternal, immortal). NO mere acquaintance with the Bible as biographical memoirs, no imitation of Christ, no ethical humanism can take the place of being born again of incorruptible seed. This is churchianity!
All the things Paul lists in vv. 25-31 are of the old nature, the old world order, whose head is Satan, not God.
Colossians 3:9, 10
“LIE NOT ONE TO ANOTHER, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him:”
Verse 9 is a take off of v. 8: “But now ye also put off all these…,” which refers to v. 5. All these sinful habits are alien to our new life in Christ that Paul mentions…they MUST BE “PUT OFF” or “AWAY” as a garb that is wholly unsuited to the estate of the wearer. I ask, why do we still find all these sins still in the “Christian” church? Someone or some ones have LOST their salvation, dear ones (see v. 5, 8 for a list of sins).
Once again, Paul uses the phrases “put off”/“put on.” Seems to me that the “new man,” created in God’s image has “immortality” in it. It does not grow old or decay; it is endless. Paul is relating to us in this chapter that the putting to death of the old nature/man (dying in the sense of being born from above, as in Jn. cpt. 3) which he proclaimed in v. 5 (“mortify” the sins of the flesh and sins of the spirit vv. 5, 8) has now been accomplished. The transformation has (past tense) taken place (v. 1, “If then you have been raised with Christ,” remember our study on the resurrection? Here Paul uses the words “raised with Christ,” referring to the spiritual resurrection. If the natural body will be “raised up” in the last resurrection and receives immortality, why is it hard to believe that the soul/spirit here cannot receive the same? This is not a teaching of Plato, but of Scripture.
“If” or “since” we’re dead (to our old life of sin), and our life is hid with Christ in God (v. 3). Why is it hard to believe we do not have immortality NOW!?! I believe Paul, in his relating all this to us, was giving his affirmation of the life everlasting/eternal, which has lifted all our hopes higher thru all generations—1 Cor. 15—the experience of immortal life before physical death. This hope is available to ALL who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus. The Christian who lives now with Him, will also, (unless backslidden) abide everlastingly with Him.
Note how Paul words verse one, “seek those things which are above;” writing this to those who are already believers. This shows us that there is more to being “Christian” than mere repentance—there is the seeking, praying, going, fighting, believing, resisting, denying, crucifying, mortifying, sanctifying, devoting, separating…all the way to final salvation. Do we see this in today’s churches? Hardly!
Colossians 3:12
“PUT ON THEREFORE, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;”
Here we go again—“put on” (v. 12, 14). As new creatures, we’re to relate to those still in death/darkness. Since we have now become the “elect of God” (KJV; RSV = God’s chosen ones), we’re to act different towards one another, and towards the lost.
Galatians 3:27
“FOR AS MANY OF YOU as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” Let’s go back to Galatians for a minute. Here Paul uses the phrase “put on Christ” connecting v. 26 and v. 27.
Just what does he mean “put on Christ?” Simply put, to clothe one’s self with His character. Col. 3:12-17 describes this new garment of the Christian, like Eph. 6:11 describes the Christian’s war armour: “Put on the whole armour of God…” (v. 11).
The Mystery Cults used this “putting on” as a way of being initiated into one, e.g., to “put on” a robe symbolical of the deity, which was supposed to endow one with the character, dignity, and power of his/her god/goddess.
Baptism was “putting on Christ.” Some scholars see two kinds of baptisms, 1) into Christ’s body; His church, 2) into water; changing the water by pronouncing the name of Christ, into a celestial water of His glorified resurrection body, which conveyed His presence. Paul was baptized into His Light at Damascus, later, into water.
Frankly, I do not believe, if we’re speaking of strictly water here, sprinkling is a real baptism, but immersion. When I was first baptized (1971) in water, it was in the Bitter-root river in Montana, in December, at ten below zero that day.
And, to be frank again, I do not believe that being baptized in water is some kind of magical rite whereby one is made immortal as some teach and practice. Salvation first, baptism second. Regeneration first, immersion second. Carrying one’s cross and producing fruits of the Spirit is Christianity.
Water baptism is like going into a watery grave, leaving your sins there, being resurrected into a New World Order. The Spirit Baptism (which is another long drawn out study itself) is another baptism, having the Holy Spirit fill you.
1 Corinthians 12:13,14
“FOR BY ONE SPIRIT are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many.”
Here we are—Spirit baptism.
Baptism, water or Spirit, means dying and rising with Christ (see Rom. 6:3, 4), and incorporation into His many-membered body. The figure is that of a liquid poured out from which a person might drink. The language used here of the Spirit shifts from personal to impersonal analogies (Rom. 8:26).
When we are baptized into ONE body, this breaks down the “race” thing (Jew vs. Gentile). The “body” is animated, through and through, by His indwelling Spirit; giving gifts as He wills.
Romans 2:7,8
“TO THEM WHO BY PATIENT CONTINUANCE in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath.”
We’re back to these verses, which are contrasted (v. 7=glory, honour, immortality, eternal life; v. 8=contentious, non-obedient, unrighteous, indignation, wrath).
Eternal life/immortality are both gifts and rewards; gifts, not our achievements; rewards, what we earn by keeping ourselves for Christ till the end. Those who faithfully follow the right objectives will finally receive the appropriate reward—if not, damnation and eternal death will be the reward.
Eternal life (Jn. 17:3) brings us into a new quality of life, a life that is everlasting. Christ gives eternal life to all who seek for it (not as the Calvinists tell us, only the “elect” are chosen for it, the rest of lost humanity are destined to Hell-fire—a BIG LIE!)
Eschatology
IT ALL BOILS DOWN TO THIS in the end, “Where will man, saved or lost, spend eternity?” The Bible is clear: Heaven for the saved/redeemed, Hell-fire for the unsaved/unredeemed. The eschatology of the N.T. is given by Christ Himself. He speaks plainly and distinctly of the final reward for the “saved,” and the final penalty for the “damned.” All these made up wishes/hope so-s have no place in the end.
The recompense of the “saved” is described as an eternal inheritance, entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven/God, treasure in Heaven, Father’s House, joy of the Lord, eternal life, immortal life, and so on.
“Once saved, always saved” is only true when one receives immortality of the body—soul, and spirit already having eternal life/immortal life. There is no Scripture saying that in finality the reward for the just/unjust is capable of change. I hope I’ve made this plain.
The reward for the unsaved/wicked/damned is described as spiritual death, eternal death, outer darkness, undying worm, quenchless fire, exclusion from God’s Kingdom, eternal punishment, destruction, and perishing—never annihilation.
Also, different measures of rewards and of penalties are intimated, according to different degrees of merit and demerit (see Lk. 12:47, 48).
I have found NO certain terminableness of the penalty of the finally impenitent, NO indication either of an intermediate purgatorial process (like the Roman Catholic church teaches) or of an ultimate universal restoration=ALL will eventually be saved, Satan and his demons along with ALL the damned souls. These are mere conjectures of carnal minds.
It is a SIN to change God’s Word to fit our personal wishes/desires/agendas/hopes/beliefs etc.
The Terms
WE HAVE, in this series, learned that the term Hades referred to the place of the departed souls; Paradise and Hell. After Jesus died, the future abode of the damned is in Gehenna/Lake of Fire. So, Gehenna/Hell is applied to the future condition for the lost/damned (Mt. 5:22-30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15, 33; Mk. 9:43-47; Lk. 12:5). The retributive state after judgment is FINAL! (Some non-canonical books describe this state also.) Christ taught, and His Word declares (and I repeat), the PERMANENCE of the penal condition resulting from the judgment—the DURATION and DEGREES of PUNISHMENT are frightening indeed!
Exclusive / Explicit Terms
WE CAN’T TAKE WHAT WE AGREE WITH, or like, in God’s Word; we must take it ALL. We’ve got to set aside our “feelings” in this serious matter at hand. Proper exegesis must be our rule of interpretation, not eisegesis (reading into a text what we think or want it to say).
Many extrapolate; perform extrapolation; when denying the reality of finality (extrapolate means to infer an unknown from something that is known; conjecture).
The Bible uses exclusive/explicit terms when expressing the finality of the damned—there can be NO forgiveness after judgment—Hell forever.
As our study has proved, the distinctive terms, “eternal” and “punishment,” mean never-ending punishment—never annihilation. Finality of destiny is unmistakably expressed in eschatological terms. The discourse of moral issues of life are summed up in Matt. 25:46, “And these (the disobedient ones) shall go away into EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT,” in contrast with, “but the righteous into LIFE ETERNAL” (v. 46).
Again, in Matt. 25:41, Jesus declares “…depart from Me, YE CURSED, into EVERLASTING FIRE, prepared for the devil and his angels.” That’s not very “nice” of Jesus! Well, Jesus was, and is, no Mr. Rogers either, as our “love” brothers and sisters want Him to be. He’s not “Politically Correct,” nor “religiously correct,” He is “Logos Correct!”
Banishment from Christ
THIS IS HELL! You “no Hell” folks out there will find out if the Bible is true or not—Matt. 7:21-23 deals with, not raw sinners, but with religious sinners; they will be BANISHED from Jesus’ presence forever! And what of Matt. 10:33? “Whosoever shall deny me (Jesus) before men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in Heaven”—rejected! And what about the LOSS of the soul or the life in Mk. 8:36?…dying in one’s sins (Jn. 8:21, 24)? Perishing (Jn. 3:16)? Being already judged (Jn. 3:18)? Its being good never to have been born, (Matt. 26:24; Mk. 14:21) etc., etc.? Jesus isn’t very nice, is He? Yet, this is the real historic, risen, glorified Jesus.
Both the Jews, and Christians, believed in “eternal punishment.” The Jewish books relevant to the question of Eternal Punishment contain no belief in the final restoration of ALL, nor any belief in the annihilation of the wicked. Death, perdition, destruction, and the like, might be taken to point to annihilation, if interpreted apart from the old popular ideas of Sheol (see Psa., SOS, Ezek., Apoc. Bar., et al.). But in most cases, the language is definitely expressive of the finality of the retribution (AND YOU MUST BE STILL EXISTING IN ORDER TO RECEIVE RETRIBUTION! — see Jth. 16:17; 4 Mac. 9:8, 9; Enoch 5:5, 6; 10:11-14; 12:3-6; 22:4-11; 27:2-3, etc.).
Hillel and Shammai
THESE TWO JEWISH SCHOLARS taught, to a degree, in different ways, the immediate sealing of certain classes of sinners in Gehenna, and their punishment there to “ages of ages.” So, in Christ’s time, with certain variants and exceptions, the belief was generally in an ENDURING PENALTY for evil, unrighteous Gentiles, and apostate Jews.
Jesus taught, as I have shown, the CERTAINTY of the retribution of sin with an eternal penalty. The apostles agree with Christ’s teachings.
Jude’s speech is really horrific. He uses language like “blackness of darkness” and “doom reserved for ever.”
Even though we find many texts describing eschatological realities, the exegesis of these passages has many uncertainties according to scholars. But how one can read into certain passages that clearly teach eternal punishment, annihilation or universalism is beyond me. I can’t find any text that teaches after-death repentance and salvation. If you can, send it to me. The “restoration of all things” (Acts 3:19, 21) that Peter spoke of has been offered as proof. I have already refuted that in other writings. Peter did not contradict Jesus’ teachings; he never taught the restoration of all men (see Mal. 4:5, 6) to which he is referring. Neither does Jesus’ Word in Matt. 17:11 refer to universalism. The restoration is of either the moral renewal of Israel, as some explain it, or the renovation of the world, as others think. It is, in any case, a “restoration;” not of persons, but of conditions. So, Peter’s eschatology is in accord with Jesus’.
Come Forth
JESUS MAKES IT EXPRESSIVELY CLEAR that His Father “hath given Him authority to EXECUTE JUDGMENT also…marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done GOOD, unto the resurrection of LIFE (eternal / immortal); and they that have done EVIL, unto the resurrection of DAMNATION” (Jn. 6:27-29). This resurrection settles the account!
One scholar said that John has a distinct and peculiar character in his doctrine of the end, speaking of his epistles and his eschatological writings; the Epistles of John, with their ideal teachings, find the future in the present…their great concept is “life,” and that as opposed to “death” and “perdition” (Prof. S.D.F. Sulmond, Dict. of the Bible, 1911, p. 754). True, “life” is a present thing (1 Jn. 5:12, 13), and it is also a thing of the future (1 Jn. 2:25), and it is an “eternal” life, life after the divine order, life with the ethical quality of real, perfect life…and it is a life that looks to a future—to a manifestation yet to be made of what the children of God shall (future) be (1 Jn. 3:2).
John’s epistles also speak of the “last hour” (1 Jn. 2:18); of an “anti-Christ” that cometh (future) as well as of “antichrists” that already are (present) (1 Jn. 2:18-22; 4:3; 2 Jn. 7); of a future “full reward” (2 Jn. 8); of a vision of Christ and a conformity to Him which are not of the present (1 Jn. 3:2, 3); of a manifestation of Christ yet to be made, of His expected (future) “Parousia” (1 Jn. 2:28). Paul also spoke of this “Parousia.” The “Parousia” had already come in the act of grace/judgment (present), yet it will come in the future.
As we have already seen in John’s writings, the Resurrection and the Judgment are for the most part, spiritual processes, and present conditions. They are also events of the future associated with the Parousia (1 Jn. 2:18; 4:17).
The Apocalypse of St. John (Revelations) is a book most hard to discern, but one trait is that it is a book of the future. Its whole context centers upon the event of the Parousia (and has the symbolism of the Jewish Apocalyptic books). Both Christ and God are Judges (Rev. 20:12 and 1:18; 6:16, 17; 22:12). There is just too much in the Revelation of St. John to go over. Personally, I just don’t understand a lot of it—it can be interpreted many ways. I’ll leave the experts to do this. But for our current study, it does contain THE END of all things, which to me, can’t be interpreted any other way. It has the reward of the righteous conversed in a varied imagery of the O.T. order, e.g., “hidden manna,” a “new name,” “crown of life,” “right to the tree of life,” “the place of a “pillar” in the temple,” “a reign with Christ,” “a position before the throne,” “entrance into the city,” “the vision of God’s face,” “the heir-ship of all things” (2:7, 13, 17; 3:12, 21; 7:15; 21:7; 22:4, 16).
Revelation has a very clear pronounced doctrine of the final “awards”—both for the redeemed and the damned.
The penalty of the lost/damned (by choice, not by decree) is described as “great tribulation,” being “without,” “killing with death, burning with fire” (2:22, 23; 18:8, 9; 22:15); but above all by two distinct terms, 1)”the second death” (2:11; 20:6, 14; 21:8), which are peculiar to the book of Rev. among the N.T. writings. They appear in one form or another in The Rabbinical and Apocalyptic Literature (e.g., Enoch 18:11; 21:7-10 and 90:42). In this book they appear to denote a LASTING RETRIBUTION! Furthermore, the Apoc. expresses the doctrine of a perfected world as well as that of a perfected society, e.g., new Heaven/new earth (21:1-6) as well as that of a perfected city of God (21:1-22:5).
Hebrews
FORGIVE ME for carrying on here, but I’m summing up what all my articles contain. Hebrews (whoever wrote it?) carries some eschatology, e.g., “the world to come” is there, the “resurrection of the dead,” and “eternal judgment” are dealt with as things that should be well understood (6:1). Hebrews does speak of the “day of Christ’s coming” (9:28; 10:24, 25).
But God is the Judge, not the Son (12:23; 10:30, 31). Also, Hebrews has a definite doctrine of FINAL AWARDS—the righteous are awarded for their faithfulness (4:4; 6:19, 20; 9:15; 10:34, 36; 11:16; 12:28). The opposite is the judgment and awards for the unrighteous, e.g., “fierceness of fire” and “perdition” (10:27, 39).
Two Things…
WE CAN COUNT ON in the N.T.: 1) The Parousia (Christ’s coming / appearing) and 2) judgment. Christ’s second coming involves the resurrection of the dead; a real bodily resurrection, a return of the complete man to life for the saved, second death for the unsaved—both will be conscious forever: (Rom. 4:17; 8:11; 1 Cor. 15; 2 Cor. 1:10; 4:14; 5:1-4; Phil. 3:11, 21). The judgment is the judgment of God (Rom. 2:3; 14:11; 3:19), of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10; 2 Tim. 4:1), of God thru Christ (Rom. 2:16); a future, FINAL JUDGMENT (Rom. 2:5; 1 Cor. 3:13); a righteous judgment, discovering the secrets of all hearts, giving to every man according to his/her works (Rom. 2:5; 2 Thess. 1:5; 2 Tim. 4:8); a universal judgment, for both alive and dead (Acts 17:31; Rom. 14:11; 2 Tim. 4:1). I’ve covered all this in other writings.
Eternal
WE’VE SEEN what this Gk. word means (it has several meanings, but always means never-ending when used in the context of finality), particularly as Paul used it—of duration (e.g., Rom. 16:26; 2 Cor. 5:1 etc.).
The lot of the damned is expressed as “wrath,” “wrath to come,” “death,” “punishment,” “destruction,” “perish,” etc. (Rom. 2:5; 1 Thes. 1:10; Rom. 2:6; 6:21; 2 Thes. 1:9; Phil. 3:19 etc.). The lot of the redeemed is a salvation “with eternal glory,” a “prize,” a “crown,” an “inheritance,” a “manifestation,” a “reign,” a “life with Christ,” “eternal life,” etc. (Rom. 2:7; 5:9, 21; 6:8, 23; 1 Cor. 9:25; Gal. 5:5; 6:8; Phil. 3:14; Col. 1:12; 3:24; 1 Tim. 1:16; 6:12, 16 (v. 16 is our main text that started this present article); 2 Tim. 2:1, 10; 4:8; Titus 1:2 etc.).
Descent/Ascent
FOR FINALITY OF ESCHATOLOGY I see only two main themes: the sinner’s descent into eternal punishment and the ascent of the saved into eternal bliss. There is nothing about a Gehenna/Hades ministry of Christ for the damned, nor anything about annihilation of the dead, nor is there any hint of a universal restoration of the dead. The possibility of the damned getting out of the Lake of Fire is zero!; the possibility of losing one’s eternal salvation, once resurrected and ascended into Heaven is zero.
Man’s future life and future home is Biblical. The Word of God consistently affirms for man a real and complete continuance/duration of body, soul, and spirit—not an incorporeal immortality like that of the Greeks, but a risen bodily immortality, a permanence of life in man’s entire nature. Man will live in a newly created earth, a renovated earth and a ransomed creation (Rom. 8:19-23).
We need no fancy theories, nor wishful thoughts, concerning what is written here. The N.T. books are in harmony with the O.T., and all are in affinity with Christ’s teachings, and with the Hebrew faith, and NOT, as some argue, with Greek thought.
We may glean some thoughts from the Greek world, the Essenes or Alexandrian (Philonic) ideas, but Christ’s teachings are what we draw from (some even borrow from Zoroastrian theology). True, some points in the N.T. have been influenced to a certain degree by external modes of thought, but that is to be expected, too.
Conversion
ARE YOU A CONVERT of Jesus the Christ? Time is short! Why waste any more time serving other gods? Get saved! Turn around! Change your direction, your purpose, your life. (It is worth noting that “convert” is merely a synonym for “turn around.”)
Repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21),is the starting point; God’s divine grace is the cause of conversion (it leads us to repentance, although it is our choice to repent).
Why do you want to go to Hell? There is a WAY OUT — Jesus! I’m not speaking of joining or going to church—I speak of a personal relationship with Him. Religion is not Christianity; Christianity is knowing Him.