Hell : Then the Lake of Fire

[Jan001]

Our works, including our obedience, are without power to justify; if it were possible for our works to justify then we could boast, but boasting is in every way excluded. No one who stands before the Lord on the future day will be able to stand there and say, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in Your name?" For He will say to them, "I never knew you". There is no righteousness before God in our works. None.

-CryptoLutheran

I have never, ever heard this scripture passage explained like you did!

Matthew 7:16-23 Be on guard against false prophets who come to you disguised in sheep’s clothing, but who inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 By their fruits you will know them. Does one pick grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but a rotten tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruits you will know them. 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my heavenly Father. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not perform many miracles in your name?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers!’

These wolves in sheep's clothing were condemned because they lived a double life. They, therefore, did not do the will of Jesus' heavenly father.

These evil Christians prophesied in Jesus' name, they drove demons out in his name, and they performed miracles in his name., but these Christians also ravaged the flock. Perhaps they committed adultery with some of the sheep. Perhaps they used the sheep's' offerings for their own personal, sinful endeavors instead of for the community's benefit. Perhaps they treated the poor as second-class Christians. Only God knows!

Evil-doing Christians will not be approved to inherit eternal life!

Luke 13:23-27 Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few be saved?” He answered, 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will try to enter but will not succeed in doing so. 25 “When once the master of the house has gotten up and shut the door, you may find yourself standing outside knocking on the door and begging, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ He will say in reply, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will protest, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!’

 

[RandyPNW]

Since God is omniscient, he knows in advance how people will choose. He does not make their choices for them. The past, present, and future actions of every human being are known by God. He sees all of these actions presently. There is only "today," the "present," in eternity.

You are declaring what you have yet to prove, namely that being "omniscient" means God is unable to let free agents make unpredictable choices. If everything was predictable there would be no free choice.

I resolve this by recognizing that God knows any outcome, regardless of how the free agent chooses. It is not a weakness for God to choose to not know what you will choose. He has any potential problem resolved in advance.

Please don't ask me to explain how God can make a rock too big for Him to lift?

 

[Jan001]

You are declaring what you have yet to prove, namely that being "omniscient" means God is unable to let free agents make unpredictable choices. If everything was predictable there would be no free choice.

I resolve this by recognizing that God knows any outcome, regardless of how the free agent chooses. It is not a weakness for God to choose to not know what you will choose. He has any potential problem resolved in advance.

God is all-knowing. God knows everything. God does not have to think like we humans do. He knows everything about every thing because he is omniscient. God could not be God if he was not omniscient. 15 Attributes of God

1 John 3:20 even if our hearts experience a sense of guilt. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

Please don't ask me to explain how God can make a rock too big for Him to lift?

Okay, I won't.

 

[Matt5]

Jesus shows us the criteria that he will use to judge us and determine if we are worthy to inherit eternal life.

Here is his criteria:

Mathew 25:31-46
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger and you welcomed me; 36 I was naked and you clothed me; I was ill and you took care of me; I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will say to him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you something to eat, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 When did we see you ill or in prison and come to visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brethren of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you did not give me anything to eat; I was thirsty and you did not give me anything to drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me; I was naked and you did not give me any clothing; I was ill and in prison and you did not visit me.’

44 “Then they will ask him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison and not minister to you?’ 45 He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you failed to do for one of the least of these brethren of mine, you failed to do for me.’ 46 And they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous will enter eternal life.”

Jesus will not ask us if we had faith in him. It is our good works or lack of them that will determine our eternal abode, heaven or hell.

I believe Jesus! He will be the judge.

So who is Jesus talking to here? Who is around when Jesus arrives?

We can see from the parable of the talents in Matthew 25 that our hapless Mr. 1-Talent Christian is tossed into hell for mostly being too lazy to avoid the harvests. The harvests are merely nuclear wars. Interestingly, the symptoms of hell are similar to the symptoms of a fatal dose of radiation: Intense pain inducing gnashing of the teeth and weeping/screaming. Anyway, the harvests wipe out many Christians.

Next we run into sleeping Christians in the parable of the wise and foolish virgins. Half get fooled by the fake bridegroom (false prophet.) They take the mark of the beast. The other half is killed.

Who is left?

Well, you don't believe me. Surely you must know that "all" take the mark of the beast? But there are always a few exceptions.

No Christians left, except for a tiny few hiding in the wilderness.

Who is Jesus talking to? Almost certainly Christians and others who took the mark of the beast.

 

[Hawkins]

It is a Jewish concept developed by the Jews who often wrote and spoke in the sense of God's absolute sovereignty.

This is what I wrote to the atheists a while ago,

God is to build an eternity (not earth) we call Heaven where God will live with angels and humans happily forever and ever. Earth is just a stepping stone to achieve the goal.

On the other hand, God is completely sin-incompatible. He can't be happy in an eternity living with sins. That's why, for everyone's happiness, Law is set up to identify the so-called righteous who can live with such a sin-incompatible God eternally. Law followed by a Final Judgment defines who is qualified to enter Heaven. At the same time, Law serves as God's promise to say that, "if you pass this Judgment of Law, I will bear with you in eternity, no matter what".

Under this Law, 2/3 angels will pass the Judgment to enter Heaven, as hinted in the book of Revelation. However under the bad influence of the other 1/3 angels who are much more capable and intelligent than humans (like the crafty snake in Eden), no human can pass such a Judgment of Law. Just as said, no one is righteous (i.e., in front of Law) not even one.

As a result, either humans as a whole shall be destroyed, as demanded by Law, or God must provide an alternative salvation for human kind. Needless to say this alternative salvation is through Jesus Christ's self-sacrifice. Covenants are thus granted to humans (human only) and now humans are subject to the Judgment of Covenant instead of the Judgment of Law.

As shown in Genesis, the Eden story to be more specific, there are two crucial factors which caused the fall of Adam. First is the lack of obedience and the second is the lack of faith. Law is an assessment of obedience, which humans would fail. Covenants at the end are about the assessment of human faith. If humans failed again, naturally they will be condemned.

God is the God of living, not the God of the dead. God at the end will withdraw His knowledge as well as His influence from a place lying outside of God's own dwelling realm. While any realm outside of God's realm will inevitably decay to a hell where the most evil and the most powerful one will eventually rule. This happens to be Satan. Satan is your god in a realm where God's influence is absent, it is a thus a hell. So ask your god Satan for help in case you have any needs. That's actually the meaning of being condemned.

Moreover, our universe is not the nature, it's God-made instead. True nature is supposed to be filled with energy and fire. Without God's active maintenance, hell will return to the true nature at the end. Satan is incapable of countering being swallowed by the true nature. That's what the meaning of a burning hell is.

 

[Jan001]

So who is Jesus talking to here? Who is around when Jesus arrives?

We can see from the parable of the talents in Matthew 25 that our hapless Mr. 1-Talent Christian is tossed into hell for mostly being too lazy to avoid the harvests. The harvests are merely nuclear wars. Interestingly, the symptoms of hell are similar to the symptoms of a fatal dose of radiation: Intense pain inducing gnashing of the teeth and weeping/screaming. Anyway, the harvests wipe out many Christians.

Next we run into sleeping Christians in the parable of the wise and foolish virgins. Half get fooled by the fake bridegroom (false prophet.) They take the mark of the beast. The other half is killed.

Who is left?

Well, you don't believe me. Surely you must know that "all" take the mark of the beast? But there are always a few exceptions.

No Christians left, except for a tiny few hiding in the wilderness.

Who is Jesus talking to? Almost certainly Christians and others who took the mark of the beast.

There is only one judgment of all mankind and it is at the end of time. The judgment of the sheep and goats is the same judgment as the white throne judgment.

 

[ViaCrucis]

Who is Jesus talking to? Almost certainly Christians and others who took the mark of the beast.

That requires a whole lot of mental gymnastics to arrive at.

The Judgment scene in Matthew 25 is is Judgment. When Christ comes, He comes in Judgment. Two will be in the field, one will be taken (in judgment) and the other left; two will be grinding at the mill, one will be taken (in judgment) and the other left.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Jan001]

That requires a whole lot of mental gymnastics to arrive at.

The Judgment scene in Matthew 25 is is Judgment. When Christ comes, He comes in Judgment. Two will be in the field, one will be taken (in judgment) and the other left; two will be grinding at the mill, one will be taken (in judgment) and the other left.

-CryptoLutheran

Jesus uses eagles, birds of prey—scavengers— to show what will happen to the evildoers. The unbelieving Jews were trapped in Jerusalem and they were destroyed. The Christians fled Jerusalem when they saw the Roman armies building encampments around Jerusalem. Jesus had warned them to flee when this abomination of desolation—armies— began to surround Jerusalem.

I think Jesus confounded his apostles and disciples with many of his parables and some of his commands as well. We are blessed to be able to learn his explanation for some of them in our Bibles.

Luke 17:36-37 Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.” 37 And they answered and said to Him, “Where, Lord?”
So He said to them, “Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.”

Matthew 24:26-28 Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 28 For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.

Matthew 13:36-43 Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.”
37 He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. 40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, 42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!