Aunty Jane
Well-Known Member
Please read the reply to @Brakelite above.But God's mercy involves Him withholding the punishment the sinner deserves. God's mercy is never deserved/warranted. I agree that God's justice is not watered down by His love. That is why in His love He sent Jesus Christ, to bear the punishment of His peoples' sins.
Mercy is extended to those who warrant it. IOW, God has his reasons for extending mercy when it is encompassed in his will and purpose. No one is extended mercy if they show no repentance.
Even those who were executed for their crimes in this world, have the hope of a resurrection. Even the thief who was hung alongside Jesus was given that hope….to be “with Jesus in paradise”…but not heaven.
Jesus will call all the dead who are in their tombs and bring them back to life. (John 5:28-29)
If “the wages of sin is death” (Rom 5:23) and “he who has died is freed from sin“ (Rom 6:7) then those resurrected have paid sins wages, and are resurrected with a clean slate. The highest penalty under God’s law was death, not ‘eternal conscious torture in a fiery hell’…..once the sentence is served, the sinners are free to resume their lives.
Christ has ransomed them from their graves. His death means that they have another chance at life……perhaps their only chance if they lived at a a time or in an era where the true God was not known to them.
We cannot dictate God’s justice.
The Bible speaks of “hades” and “Gehenna” (both of which are erroneously translated as “hell”) and careful study will reveal where a person who has lived and died in this world ruled by the devil, will be found on the day of judgment. Only God knows the heart.…and those in “Gehenna” will never see life again. Jesus sentenced the Pharisees to “Gehenna” (Matt 23:33) and they knew in the Jewish view exactly what he meant. ”Gehenna” is a “judgment”….sentence in an eternal prison from which no one can escape, because it represents a death from which there is no resurrection.
Everlasting life in the Bible is contrasted with everlasting death…these are the opposing destinations for all humans.