Does "For Ever" mean forever?

[justbyfaith]

Does forever mean forever?

NO, not the 'forever' that we think of as "forever.".

How long do those live who have everlasting life, before they perish?

 

[Helen]

How long do those live who have everlasting life, before they perish?

So? Does all mean all?

You don't believe that ALL means ALL.
You believe what suits your theology .

1 Cor
22 "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."

 

[justbyfaith]

So? Does all mean all?

You don't believe that ALL means ALL.
You believe what suits your theology .

1 Cor
22 "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."

You didn't answer the question, @Helen.

I don't know about you; but I don't want to live for merely an aion and then perish.

I believe that Jesus promises everlasting life in the way that we normally understand that word in English.

It is the making of cults to attempt to change the definitions of words so that members of the cult perceive common sentences differently than the rest of society.

There is also the "itching ears" factor spoken of in 2 Timothy 4:1-5.

 

[justbyfaith]

As for 1 Corinthians 15:22, I believe that the words "in Christ" are telling of the reality of the matter.

Some are not in Christ, having not believed in Him. Therefore they are not made alive.

 

[Hobie]

Correct. They receive eternal death (separation from God).

They are separated and cease to exist and sin comes to an end.

 

[justbyfaith]

They are separated and cease to exist and sin comes to an end.

I don't think that they cease to exist.

But if you want to take chances on eternity, go right ahead.

I think that your pov is conducive to many degrees less of the fear of the LORD (not only for you but for those to whom you are preaching); and this could very well result in a person not going to heaven.

Even if you are right, that is not a good thing.

 

[Hobie]

If the Doctrine of eternal punishment is lost, the Doctrine of the cross will also be lost.
If hell is too extreme, if God is unjust to inflict eternal punishment, then the cross is too extreme, and our Lord's sufferings too great for what we are being saved from.
If annihilation is the penalty for sin, then Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Vlad the Impaler etc., etc. are now experiencing exactly what they thought they would - nothing.
Our problem is a low view of sin. If a group of people are in a restaurant together, one may admit to having had an abortion, another may have a same-sex partner and no one will bat an eye-lid. But let one of them light up a cigarette and the management will descend upon him at once and he'll be thrown out. We do not understand what the Puritans called the 'Sinfulness of sin;' nor do we see sin as God sees it.

No one is burning right now under our feet, they have to come before God's judgment then receive their reward or punishment accordingly.

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.

1 Peter 1:17
And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:

Revelation 20:13
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

Revelation 22:12
And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

 

[Hobie]

no your not, you wouldn't have posted this in the first place if you did. and its not how I feel its simple observation of your posting.

your god should be what you think he ought to be, its common as dirt in today's churches.
but its the other way around, man should be what God thinks man ought to be, and you disagree, which is apparent by your posting to justify to others your view of what God ought to be.

I don't know what to tell you..

 

[justbyfaith]

There are some who believe that 2 Thessalonians 1:9 indicates annihilation because it refers to everlasting destruction.

However, there is a formula in algebra that on the graph, as x increases, y gets cut in half with each new number of x.

It results in a curve on the graph in which there is a continual moving forward in time and a continual decreasing of essence and the essence never reaches zero; where x = time elapsed and y = the essence of the person perishing.

Thus "everlasting destruction" does not necessarily refer to annihilation.

 

[Hobie]

Oh, forever isn't forever and eternal isn't eternal. That must mean God had a beginning, was created and will not live eternally. All the elect in heaven will only be there for a little while.

Its a period of time, and sometimes that can be till it come to the end of that time as we see in Sodom and Gomorha, or shorter depending on the context.

 

[justbyfaith]

@Hobie is preaching a false gospel that amounts to everyone who is saved living for one aion and then perishing. For all I know, he may also be trying to get Universalism into the picture; but I don't know.

At least, in his view, it is oblivion that we are all headed to, so we will not be conscious of having perished.

Still, to me that isn't good news.

 

[Hobie]

"For ever" or "everlasting" doesn't mean for ever but only a limited time?

Then we do not have everlasting life (life that will prosper into eternity).

Our life will end after precisely one aion at which time we shall perish.

This is no gospel at all; and also perverts what Jesus was plainly trying to convey when He said that He who believeth on Him hath everlasting life (John 6:47).

You got to understand that the wicked receive a punishment, they get the wages of sin and are destroyed and perish for the ceaseless age of time, the saints are taken to heaven get a reward of life that last for the ceaseless age of time. Its that simple...

 

[Steve Owen]

No one is burning right now under our feet, they have to come before God's judgment then receive their reward or punishment accordingly.

Really? The rich man in the parable of Luke 16:19-31 had brothers living, yet he was still being tormented. There is such a thing in this present world as being remanded in custody, and '.....The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgement' (2 Peter 2:9). The immediate context is the men of Sodom and Gomorrah who certainly died at the time of the destruction of those cities.

 

[justbyfaith]

You got to understand that the wicked receive a punishment, they get the wages of sin and are destroyed and perish for the ceaseless age of time, the saints are taken to heaven get a reward of life that last for the ceaseless age of time. Its that simple...

If everlasting or for ever means only a limited period of time (as it refers to everlasting punishment), then it follows that our everlasting life is only for a limited period of time also.

 

[Helen]

Some are not in Christ, having not believed in Him. Therefore they are not made alive.

So how come everyone was "In Adam" ? But you then switch and say it won't work as In Christ.

No one was asked if they wanted to be "in Adam".

 

[justbyfaith]

So how come everyone was "In Adam" ? But you then switch and say it won't work as In Christ.

No one was asked if they wanted to be "in Adam".

However, we must certainly receive Christ to be in Christ (John 1:12).

 

[Preacher4Truth]

Its a period of time, and sometimes that can be till it come to the end of that time as we see in Sodom and Gomorha, or shorter depending on the context.

Nope, sorry, you're incorrect. When one applies your errant take consistently to other usages it fails the test of consistency and is proven inaccurate. The conclusion would be that God isn't eternal (existing forever with no beginning or ending.)

 

[prism]

These examples should be ample to illustrate that “for ever” according to Biblical teachings does not mean the ceaseless ages of eternity.

I guess 'eternal life' is not forever either?

 

[prism]

No one, not even me, would worship an unloving God that burned people in an ever-lasting torment for the ceaseless ages of eternity.

If God is God and requires worship, it wouldn't matter how unloving you judge Him to be. He is God to be worshipped regardless and He is Judge to be feared regardless..

 

[justbyfaith]

If God is God and requires worship, it wouldn't matter how unloving you judge Him to be. He is God to be worshipped regardless and He is Judge to be feared regardless..

Indeed, the Lord is a just judge.

Pro 28:5, Evil men understand not judgment: but they that seek the LORD understand all things.