Is the doctrine of Eternal Conscious Torment, biblical or not?

ReChoired · Dec 30, 2019

justbyfaith said:
...Biblically, hell is spoken of as a place of being subjected to fire and brimstone.

Mar 9:42, ...
Mar 9:50, ...

Also, the worm doesn't die there; what makes you think you will?

Carcases:

Let's look at this some more, and look at the word "carcases" as found in Isaiah 66:24 KJB, and see it in immediate context, and as used throughout:

Isaiah 66:6 KJB - A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the LORD that rendereth recompence to his enemies.

Isaiah 66:15 KJB - For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.

Isaiah 66:16 KJB - For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.

Isaiah 66:17 KJB - They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.

His "chariots" are all the hosts of angels, for they are flames of fire [see 2 Kings 2:11, 6:17, 7:6, 13:14; Psalms 68:17, 104:4; Joel 2:3,5; Hebrews 1:7 KJB], and in such glory, the very heavens and earth itself will melt at the presence of Jesus Christ, in His glory, His Father's glory and the glory of all the Holy Angels [2nd Advent, before/at the beginning of 1,000 years], and in the 3rd Advent [after/at the end of 1,000 years], all the gloriously transfigured righteous also are present.

This is like unto what Jeremiah said:

Jeremiah 16:4 KJB - They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.

The word Hebrew word [H6297] used in Isaiah is translated thus:

פּגר
peger

Total KJB Occurrences: 28

carcases, 13

Genesis 15:11; Leviticus 26:30 (2); Numbers 14:29,32-33 (2); 1 Samuel 17:46; Isaiah 34:3, 66:24; Ezekiel 6:5, 43:7,9; Nahum 3:3

bodies, 6

2 Chronicles 20:24-25 (2); Jeremiah 31:40, 33:5, 41:9; Amos 8:3

dead, 6

2 Chronicles 20:24-25 (2); Jeremiah 31:40, 33:5, 41:9; Amos 8:3

corpses, 2

2 Kings 19:35; Isaiah 37:36

carcase, 1

Isaiah 14:19

Here is how the bible uses the word English word "carcases", just in Isaiah, it is a dead person [lifeless person, a dead body, see Ezekiel 6:5; Nahum 3:3 KJB, etc]:

Isaiah 5:25 KJB - Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

Isaiah 34:3 KJB - Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.

Isaiah 66:24 KJB - And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.

Here is how the bible uses the word English word "carcases", throughout the scripture [KJB], it is a dead person [lifeless person, a dead body, see Ezekiel 6:5, Nahum 3:3 KJB, etc]:

Genesis 15:11 KJB - And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.

Leviticus 11:11 KJB - They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcases in abomination.

Leviticus 11:26 KJB - The carcases of every beast which divideth the hoof, and is not clovenfooted, nor cheweth the cud, are unclean unto you: every one that toucheth them shall be unclean.

Leviticus 26:30 KJB - And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.

Numbers 14:29 KJB - Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me,

Numbers 14:32 KJB - But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness.

Numbers 14:33 KJB - And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness.

1 Samuel 17:46 KJB - This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

Jeremiah 7:33 KJB - And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall fray them away.

Jeremiah 9:22 KJB - Speak, Thus saith the LORD, Even the carcases of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, and none shall gather them.

Jeremiah 16:4 KJB - They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.

Jeremiah 16:18 KJB - And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double; because they have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the carcases of their detestable and abominable things.

Jeremiah 19:7 KJB - And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives: and their carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.

Ezekiel 6:5 KJB - And I will lay the dead carcases of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars.

Ezekiel 43:7 KJB - And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, nor by the carcases of their kings in their high places.

Ezekiel 43:9 KJB - Now let them put away their whoredom, and the carcases of their kings, far from me, and I will dwell in the midst of them for ever.

Nahum 3:3 KJB - The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcases; and there is none end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses:

Hebrews 3:17 KJB - But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?

ReChoired · Dec 30, 2019

justbyfaith said:
...Biblically, hell is spoken of as a place of being subjected to fire and brimstone.

Mar 9:42, ...
Mar 9:50, ...

Also, the worm doesn't die there; what makes you think you will?

Here is how the bible uses the word English word "carcase", throughout the scripture [KJB], it is a dead person [lifeless person, see Ezekiel 6:5, Nahum 3:3 KJB, etc]:

Leviticus 5:2 KJB - Or if a soul touch any unclean thing, whether it be a carcase of an unclean beast, or a carcase of unclean cattle, or the carcase of unclean creeping things, and if it be hidden from him; he also shall be unclean, and guilty.

Leviticus 11:8 KJB - Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you.

Leviticus 11:24 KJB - And for these ye shall be unclean: whosoever toucheth the carcase of them shall be unclean until the even.

Leviticus 11:25 KJB - And whosoever beareth ought of the carcase of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even.

Leviticus 11:27 KJB - And whatsoever goeth upon his paws, among all manner of beasts that go on all four, those are unclean unto you: whoso toucheth their carcase shall be unclean until the even.

Leviticus 11:28 KJB - And he that beareth the carcase of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: they are unclean unto you.

Leviticus 11:35 KJB - And every thing whereupon any part of their carcase falleth shall be unclean; whether it be oven, or ranges for pots, they shall be broken down: for they are unclean, and shall be unclean unto you.

Leviticus 11:36 KJB - Nevertheless a fountain or pit, wherein there is plenty of water, shall be clean: but that which toucheth their carcase shall be unclean.

Leviticus 11:37 KJB - And if any part of their carcase fall upon any sowing seed which is to be sown, it shall be clean.

Leviticus 11:38 KJB - But if any water be put upon the seed, and any part of their carcase fall thereon, it shall be unclean unto you.

Leviticus 11:39 KJB - And if any beast, of which ye may eat, die; he that toucheth the carcase thereof shall be unclean until the even.

Leviticus 11:40 KJB - And he that eateth of the carcase of it shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: he also that beareth the carcase of it shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even.

Deuteronomy 14:8 KJB - And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase.

Deuteronomy 28:26 KJB - And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away.

Joshua 8:29 KJB - And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide: and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcase down from the tree, and cast it at the entering of the gate of the city, and raise thereon a great heap of stones, that remaineth unto this day.

Judges 14:8 KJB - And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion.

Judges 14:9 KJB - And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion.

1 Kings 13:22 KJB - But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the LORD did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.

1 Kings 13:24 KJB - And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase.

1 Kings 13:25 KJB - And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcase: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.

1 Kings 13:28 KJB - And he went and found his carcase cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcase: the lion had not eaten the carcase, nor torn the ass.

1 Kings 13:29 KJB - And the prophet took up the carcase of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back: and the old prophet came to the city, to mourn and to bury him.

1 Kings 13:30 KJB - And he laid his carcase in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother!

2 Kings 9:37 KJB - And the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.

Isaiah 14:19 KJB - But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet.

Matthew 24:28 KJB - For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

In Isaiah 66, and in Mark 9 [quoting Isaiah 66], we see that the wicked are slain, dead upon the ground, and to be burned up in the fire, consumed away as "the fat of lambs", for it is through the Sanctuary [Psalms 77:13 KJB], that we understand all the teachings of God, including what happens to sin, sinners/wicked, they are to be filled with the terror of the LORD in His Holiness, to be slaughtered, cut into pieces, and burned up into smoke and ashes, that all such may have their end [2nd death], for sin, when it is "finished", bringeth forth "death", which is the wages of sin:

Psalms 37:20 KJB - But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.

Psalms 73:17 KJB - Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.

Psalms 73:18 KJB - Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.

Psalms 73:19 KJB - How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors.

ReChoired · Dec 30, 2019

justbyfaith said:
If that is the case, then John 6:47 teaches us not that we will have everlasting life; but that we will have life for precisely one eon of time; and then perish...

Also, the worm doesn't die there; what makes you think you will?

Real Bible study, considers every word, in every place in scripture, in its proper context. Isaiah 8:20, 28:10,13; Genesis 40:8; 2 Peter 1:20, etc.

Joh 6:47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.

Hebrew 'olam, and koine Greek aiwn, can mean eternal (without end, no end in sight), and can mean limited unspecified period/distance, and always depends on context.

God is eternal. In both Hebrew 'olam, and koine Greek aiwn, is everlasting, without end. The righteous obtain this life through God by continuing ongoing living abiding faith in and of Jesus Christ.

The wicked never receive this life, as they believe not. Their death in the second death is also 'olam and aiwn. Their eternal death is just as eternal and long lasting as the everlasting life of the living. Yet their 'torment' (road) will be limited, as it is "unto" death (finality, destination - the punishment, wages for sin).

ReChoired · Dec 30, 2019

justbyfaith said:
...And if hell is not a place of conscious eternal torment, but is merely the end of consciousness, why even speak of it as hell? ...

Look up the word "hell", as the word means a pit, a hole, and is even used in old English to go rooting up potatoes from the ground, "I am going a helling for potatoes." In fact, it is even used in connection with the idea of a hole in the ground, a real "hell hole", as the saying is expressed.

The wicked are conscious until they are destroyed, or perish in the flames, even as Sodom and Gomorrah are set forth as a type, to torment and the final destruction that comes upon the finally impenitent, see Jeremiah 50:40; Lamentations 4:6; Amos 4:11; Zephaniah 2:9; Matthew 11:23; Luke 17:29; 2 Peter 2:6; Jude 1:7.

The wicked humanity, included satan and his angels, are all standing upon the earth in Revelation 20. Do you think that the fire and they shall live outside the City New Jerusalem forever? Do you think that the Lake of fire, exists there for ever? Th very next verses tell you in Revelation, there will be no more "sea", neither any more sorrow or crying.

ReChoired · Dec 30, 2019

justbyfaith said:
...And it seems to me that the only reason why anyone might object to the reality of these things would be because they know that they are going to hell and will not take the necessary steps to avoid the punishment that is going to be meted out. ...

Is there anything I did not address in your concern by scripture study? If so, please point to it, that that concern may also be addressed in detail.

Your reasoning is faulty. As a Seventh-day Adventist, I (we), acknowledge the very real and finality of hell and lake of fire, and the torment thereof. We faithfully warn all of this terrible ending., yet not only so, but of the tangible rewards of the very real Heaven.

Taken · Dec 31, 2019

quietthinker said:
The wily foe ...

Hey foe...never noticed the simplicity, like you, in Dead, Die, Death...mentioned over 1400 times in scripture.

Col 1
[9] For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;

Maybe next year.

justbyfaith · Dec 31, 2019

2Co 11:3, But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

Getitright · Dec 31, 2019

justbyfaith said:
If that is the case, then John 6:47 teaches us not that we will have everlasting life; but that we will have life for precisely one eon of time; and then perish.

Actually, that's not the case. The Hebrew word "olam" which is translated "aion: in Greek Old Testament means beyond the horizon. Here is a link to a site on ancient Hebrew. You can see that the concept doesn't mean eternity.

Hebrew Word Definition: Eternity | AHRC

The Greek word aion means an undefined period of time. This is why it was used to define the Olam. The problem is that translators and theologians have let their beliefs color their definition of the term. People already believe that the promise of God is eternal life so when they see aionios life they define aionios as eternal. If I said people with eternal life are going to life a long time, would the phrase "a long time" now be defined as eternal? Of course it wouldn't. The words Olam and aion are both used of shorter periods of time. They're used of someone's lifetime. Surely that's not eternity. Logic dictates that two opposing things cannot both be true at the same time. So, a word cannot mean eternal and finite at the same time. So, the life according to Olam would be to the horizon and beyond. According to aion it would age enduring life. The question is, how long is the age? The age for those who would receive life from God can be determined from Jesus' words.

35 "But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage;
36 "nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. (Lk. 20:35-36 NKJ)

Notice Jesus' words here, those who are worthy to attain "that age", aion. We're talking about age, aion, enduring life and Jesus speaks of those who are worth to attain that age, aion, shall die no more. That age, aion, here is the resurrection. So, those who attain that age, aion, the one at the Resurrection shall die no more. So, that age, aion, at the Resurrection is unending. However, the age we are in now is not unending. Jesus spoke of this age, aion, and the age, aion to come.

29 So Jesus answered and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife1 or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel's,
30 "who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time-- houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions-- and in the age to come, eternal life. (Mk. 10:29-30 NKJ)

Notice here Jesus says in the age, aion to come, they will receive age enduring, aionios, life. The age enduring, aionios, life comes in the next age or aion.

Getitright · Dec 31, 2019

Helen said:
Amen...maybe if we continue to say it enough times they 'may' just check it out for themselves, instead of just believing what someone spoon-fed them from some pulpit.

It's really plain to see if people will just look at it.

stunnedbygrace · Dec 31, 2019

Giuliano said:
Please get events in the proper sequence. The people devoured by fire falling from Heaven in Revelation 20:9 are not the same people thrown into the Lake of Fire in verse 15. Come now, this isn't rocket science.

First there is the conflict inspired by Satan as soon as he's released after being imprisoned for a thousand years. Those who actively support him are destroyed by fire from Heaven. Then the Devil is finally disposed of, being thrown in the Lake of Fire; and then the dead are judged. Those whose names are not in the Book of Life are thrown into the Lake of Fire.

The last chapter of the book tells us the people thrown into the Lake of Fire earlier are now outside the Holy City, unable to enter. Don't make this harder than it needs to be.

Emphatically both body and soul can be destroyed in hell. Completely. Totally out of existence. That does not mean both physical body and soul are being tortured eternally.

I'm guessing you may have a different definition of "soul" than I do. Nowhere in the Bible is the soul said to be immortal. Soul is used to describe the animating force of the body; and animals have soul too. The Bible says animals have soul. If people behave like animals -- or worse than animals even -- their souls certainly will not be preserved or made immortal. Why would God make wicked souls immortal?

And then there is the outer darkness. It seems to be a different place than the lake of fire...

justbyfaith · Dec 31, 2019

I don't know any other way for God to speak of eternal torments other than for Him to say that their punishment is for ever and ever; or, everlasting.

I believe that Ezekiel 13:22 speaks of a principle that the heart of the righteous is made sad over such doctrines as that tell a person that if punishment be meted out to him, it will not be everlasting, wailing and gnashing of teeth in a furnace of fire (see Matthew 13:41-42, Matthew 13:49-50, Matthew 25:46).

It should be clear that scripture declares that the punishment is such that they have no rest day or night for ever and ever (Revelation 14:9-11, Revelation 20:10).

What makes the heart of the righteous happy, is for doctrine to be preached wherein the sinner will turn from his sin.

For the one who does this, the nature of eternal punishment is not an issue.

But for the person who is going to hell, I can see how they might want to make an issue of it; and say that their punishment (the conscious torment) will come to an end someday. It is a false comfort for those who are headed to perdition.

Jer 23:20, The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly.
Jer 23:21, I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
Jer 23:22, But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.

justbyfaith · Dec 31, 2019

Indeed, the punishment of the lake of fire is defined in Revelation 20:10.

This is not speaking of two aions but of everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:46).

Giuliano · Dec 31, 2019

stunnedbygrace said:
And then there is the outer darkness. It seems to be a different place than the lake of fire...

I would say so too.

Giuliano · Dec 31, 2019

justbyfaith said:
Indeed, the punishment of the lake of fire is defined in Revelation 20:10.

This is not speaking of two aions but of everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:46).

The beast and false prophet are said to be tormented day and night forever. That is not said of the others thrown into it. It says the smoke of their torment goes up forever, but not that they are tormented forever.

How else can the same people thrown into the Lake of Fire be shown later outside the Holy City?

A punishment may last forever without the tears or torment being forever. Esau never got his birthright back. He didn't get the blessing he wanted; but his tears didn't last forever.

Giuliano · Dec 31, 2019

Getitright said:
he words Olam and aion are both used of shorter periods of time. They're used of someone's lifetime.

As in:

Exodus 21:6 Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever. <olam>.

justbyfaith · Dec 31, 2019

Giuliano said:
It says the smoke of their torment goes up forever, but not that they are tormented forever.

Of those of whom it is said that the smoke of their torment rises up for ever and ever; it is also said of them that they have no rest day and night for ever and ever.

Giuliano said:
The beast and false prophet are said to be tormented day and night forever. That is not said of the others thrown into it.

It should be clear that the nature of the lake of fire is that those who are thrown into it are tormented day and night for ever and ever. The beast and the false prophet are human beings; why would they experience the lake of fire differently from other human beings?

I wouldn't take chances if I were you...

I would live my life in such a way as to avoid the punishment of eternal torments.

Who hath ears to hear, let him hear...

Giuliano · Dec 31, 2019

justbyfaith said:
Of those of whom it is said that the smoke of their torment rises up for ever and ever; it is also said of them that they have no rest day and night for ever and ever.

They did not enter into God's rest; and no more time exists for them to do so. The filthy can remain filthy forever.

It should be clear that the nature of the lake of fire is that those who are thrown into it are tormented day and night for ever and ever. The beast and the false prophet are human beings; why would they experience the lake of fire differently from other human beings?

I don't know about the false prophet; but the beast isn't exactly a regular human since he comes from the bottomless pit.

Revelation 17:8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

I wouldn't take chances if I were you...

I would live my life in such a way as to avoid the punishment of eternal torments.

Who hath ears to hear, let him hear...

I think burning a while and then being told I could never become perfect, never enter God's rest, is terrifying enough. Your view about God isn't reasonable to me. You have a God who metes out punishment greater than the sin; and we are told we will be judged according to our works. When we are judged, God will take into account every deed we ever did no matter how small even down to every idle word.

Matthew 16:27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

What would you think of a human judge who condemned a jaywalker to prison for as long as he lived? You would think he was unjust. The sentence needs to fit the crime. We will be judged according to our works.

justbyfaith · Dec 31, 2019

Giuliano said:
You have a God who metes out punishment greater than the sin;

No; for the sin that is being judged is a nature of sin. Because we have a nature of sin, if we do not deal with it at the Cross, it will work itself out so that we are committing sins even after we have been judged according to our works. We will be adding sin to sin; and everlasting punishment would be the just penalty for having a nature of sin without repentance; for because there is no repentance there will be no end to the sins that we commit.

Hell is only for those who blaspheme the Holy Ghost; which is defined by some as rejecting Christ's offer of forgiveness to the day of one's death. I personally believe that they will be offered the same offer at the end of their GWT judgment; and therefore if they are cast into the lake of fire they are without excuse.

Again, the punishment does indeed fit the crime because without repentance, crimes will continue to be committed in the future that are deserving of judgment.

Consider:

Jer 13:23, Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.

Giuliano · Dec 31, 2019

justbyfaith said:
No; for the sin that is being judged is a nature of sin. Because we have a nature of sin, if we do not deal with it at the Cross, it will work itself out so that we are committing sins even after we have been judged according to our works. We will be adding sin to sin; and everlasting punishment would be the just penalty for having a nature of sin without repentance; for because there is no repentance there will be no end to the sins that we commit.

Hell is only for those who blaspheme the Holy Ghost; which is defined by some as rejecting Christ's offer of forgiveness to the day of one's death. I personally believe that they will be offered the same offer at the end of their GWT judgment; and therefore if they are cast into the lake of fire they are without excuse.

Again, the punishment does indeed fit the crime because without repentance, crimes will continue to be committed in the future that are deserving of judgment.

Consider:

Jer 13:23, Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.

I cannot fathom God judging us by the "nature of sin" when the Scriptures say we will be judged by our works. You are making things too complicated, if you ask me, especially when talking about crimes not yet committed.

justbyfaith · Dec 31, 2019

Eph 2:3, Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Is the doctrine of Eternal Conscious Torment, biblical or not?

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