I've been worrying lately...

Drewimus,

I wasn't saying I believed that God would send anyone to hell forever. I don't believe for one minute Jesus Christ died in vain.
Scripture tells us that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. And you can't truly confess Jesus Christ is Lord unless its by the Holy Spirit according to Paul.

So when God says He wills that all men be saved and none should perish I believe Him. No one can stand against God's will.

I'm very reluctant at carry on this conversation; the problem often lies in the fact, we only know what were told by others. I've already quoted four scriptures from the book of Revelation that clearly stated that unbelieving sinners that are cast in hell will die "the second death" and that doesn't happen until the Day of the second coming of the Lord Christ Jesus.

John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not PERISH but have eternal life."

Matthew 10:28, "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can DESTROY both soul and body in hell."

Malachi 4:1 - 3
1 "Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire," says the LORD Almighty. "Not a root or a branch will be left to them. 2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall. 3 Then you will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I do these things," says the LORD Almighty.

Truly, it's what makes the tragedy of Hell that much more heartbreaking. Each soul that goes to it, by all means, SHOULDN'T be going. God's gift of salvation is offered to EVERYONE but not everyone accepts it. What choices are left if God's offering on our behalf is rejected? No sacrifice remains for sins, as it says in Hebrews, only a fearsome judgment.

God is offering to us, right now, as He did then to the Old Testament age, a means of salvation, to be saved from the coming judgment of sin and wickedness. He's not 'winking' at sin as one person I heard put it as, He fully satisfied His judgment for it by what Christ endured on the Cross on our behalf. His Holiness is fully met and the wicked can be justified as righteous by His resurrection. With the death their is atonement, with the resurrection of Jesus there is justification.

So how severe of an insult is it to the Lord who doesn't rejoice in the destruction of the wicked, to REJECT what Jesus has done? Is it any wonder God is wrathful to those individuals? How insulted are you when someone rejects a gift you give as being insufficient or unwanted? And I don't mean gag gifts, but serious, well thought ones. How much more then, is it an insult to God to reject the greatest of gifts He's given us?

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Mark 9:23
23 “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”

I did a little soul searching regarding this a while back. I need to research some more but here is what I've come up with so far.

The word "hell" in the bible is translated from 4 different words/meanings. I included an example verse for each word translated to hell. Scripture is from the KJV (King James Version). Other translations such as NIV (New International Version) may use "grave" in place of "hell".

1. Sheol - Place of the dead or grave - Proverbs 5:5 - "Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell."

2. Hadees - Place of the dead or grave - Matthew 11:23 - "And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day."

3. Gehenna - Valley of Hinnom - Mark 9:43 - And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:

4 Tartarus - Prison or Dungeon. - II Peter 2:4 - "For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment"

It is Gehenna that gives many Christians the belief that hell will be a place of eternal suffering and torment. Gehenna or the Valley of Hinnom was a real place near Jerusalem. People sacrificed their own children to the god baal. The abominable acts caused the Jews to destroy the place. The Valley was then used as a dump or a place to dispose of all waste and dead animals. The place was constantly burning. It was a fire that was never doused. This is known as Gehenna Fire. In many pagan religions, this was the "Hollywood hell" so to speak. Wicked people went to hell (Gehenna) where they burned for all eternity while the devil poked them with a pitchfork.

The awe inspiring book or Revelation speaks of a place of eternal fire and suffering. Revelation 20:10 - "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever."

Here it mentions the lake of fire regarding all non believers who will have part in the second death - Revelation 20:14 - And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

Lets stop and think for a moment. We are flesh but we have souls. When we die on Earth, our flesh dies and our soul moves on. When we think of eternal fire and torment we think of burning pain. We are not going to have flesh to feel what we currently know as fire. Now God is all powerful and can do whatever he wants, but I have a hard time trying to imagine that he would recreate suffering of the flesh after we die on earth if we go to "hell".

God created Adam and breathed the breath of life in him and created his living soul. Likewise, God can destroy or kill our soul. Our soul can die. This is the second death. The souls of the non believers will be cast into the lake of fire and be destroyed.

If we don't believe that Jesus died so that our souls could live, then our souls will die. Jesus suffered and died in place of us. He didn't suffer eternally in place of us.

I'm not trying to sugar coat dying for non-believers by any means. I can only assume what might happen the moment a non-believer dies. Do they suddenly see the truth and remain imprisoned until judgement in which their soul will be destroyed? Who knows. I definitely do not want to chance it.

If you want to do further research on hell and are looking for good free reading, you can do a Google search for "The Bible Hell". Include the quotes and you'll find an 1888 publishing from an author J.W. Hanson. Awesome resource, but heavy reading.

Be strong and walk with Jesus!

Sorry, every knee will bow includes the devil, and it is not through the Spirit on that day, it is because we will see Jesus in His glory and have no choice. As for God's will, it is also God's will that no one sins, yet we know that God's will in this case does not come to pass, so in fact it's God's will all repent, but not all do. Jesus weeping over the cities shows this to be true.

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Some people have enough dust on their Bibles to write "Damnation" on it.

TravisD, welcome to CF.

Thanks Stelow! It's nice to find an online community where we can all help each other to learn and grow.

I think you are a minority opinion on the matter. If no one suffers, then why be a Christian at all? You can't say just be good for goodness' sake, because that doesn't require God.

To me it is not something I have to think intensely about, which causes me to wonder why some others vacilate as though they had missed out on an alternate choice to get to Heaven. I am likewise astounded that some call themselves Christians while blatantly rejecting the parts of Scripture which offend the community they have grown comfortable in. In fact I know some who fervently support homosexual marriage and the right to abortion. Fitting in with our depraved society would appear to be more important than believing God's Word.

I also wonder about those millions of others out there, the majority whom it appears are headed to hell.

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Love is the answer
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The history of these kind of debates here on this forum and all the others for the most part turn to heated arguments. I will agree with the majority that the lake of fire be true. And there you will find the fearful, unbelieving,etc.

So lets continue in our assured hope, walking in all love, fearing not the judgement of the Lord. Cause we are christians because we love the Lord not cause we fear His judgement.