(1) The aionion life & the aionion punishment refer to contrasting eonian destinies pertaining to a finite eonian period to come, e.g. the millennial eon. The verse has nothing to do, & says nothing about, final destiny. Regarding the endless life of the righteous in Christ, other passages address that topic, such as those that speak of immortality, incorruption & being unable to die.
Inasmuch as my point was about the obvious
parallel in
Matthew 25:46 that makes the eternal life of the righteous correspond to the everlasting punishment of the wicked, this quotation here has no pertinency. A parallel does not offer contrast, it emphasizes where two different things
are the same, where they are in correspondence to one another. And since the eternal life of the righteous
is the final destiny of the righteous, it stands to reason that Christ intended his audience to understand that the everlasting punishment of the wicked is their final destiny, too. This is the natural, straightforward reading of Christ's statement.
(2) Another universalist option in interpretating Mt.25:46 is that aionion life refers to a perpetual life that lasts as long as God Almighty wills it to last, so it is endless. OTOH, aionion punishment refers to a perpetual punishment that also lasts as long as Love Omnipotent wills it to last, which is until it has served its useful purpose in bringing the offender to the salvation in their Savior, Who died & shed His blood for their sins. While life is an end in itself, punishment is a means to an end.
This is just adding to Scripture to avoid its clear import. Christ offers no hint in
Matthew 25:46 or its surrounding context that the everlasting
punishment - not
discipline which is corrective (see
Hebrews 12:5-13) - of the wicked is merely part of a rehabilitative process. Such a rehabilitative reading assumes universalism when reading the verse rather than letting the verse speak for itself.
Furthermore, since aionion is an adjective, it "must therefore function like an adjective, and it is the very nature of an adjective for its meaning to vary, sometimes greatly, depending upon which noun it qualifies." A tall chair is not the same height as a tall mountain. Likewise, the aionion punishment is not of the same duration as the aionion life.
The nature of a parallel denies the construction this quotation is trying impose upon
Matthew 25:46. As I already pointed out, a parallel draws attention to where two things correspond, that is, they are
the same in some way, to each other. The adjectives in
Matthew 25:46 are functioning as a parallel - not a near-parallel - to each other and so are communicating sameness, not somewhat-sameness. Again, this is what is evident in a natural, straightforward reading of the verse, rather than on a reading relying on semantics and word-gymnastics to force the verse to a false universalist perspective.
1 Cor.15:27 For “He has put in subjection all under His feet.” But when it may be said that all has been put in subjection, it is evident that the One having put in subjection all to Him is excepted.
So there is only one exception to "all" to be "put...under his feet". Then God will be "in" "all", hence universal salvation:
1 Cor.15:28 And when all shall be subjected unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all under him, that God may be all in all.
You have
assumed universalism for the phrase "in all"; universalism, though, is not evident in the verse itself. I already gave a reasonable alternative to such a spurious reading. Nothing you assert here gives me good reason to take your view and abandon mine.
According to the immediate context of the KJV Bible (& many others almost exactly the same) it is children or "the sons of men" who the Lord will not cast off forever:
Lam.3:31For the Lord will NOT cast off FOR EVER:
32But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.
33For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve THE CHILDREN OF MEN. (KJV, emphasis mine)
As I already explained, which "sons/children of men" exactly are specified in
verse 25:
Lamentations 3:25
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the person who seeks Him.
Verse 33, then, is
not a universal reference and so does not serve your universalist view.
Micah 7:18b he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. (KJV)
Micah 7:18
18 Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love.
When the entire verse is seen, it is clear that, rather than supporting a universalist perspective, the verse is very limited and specific in the scope of its application to God's Chosen People, the Israelites, the "remnant of His possession." It's suggestive of the "wresting" character of your arguing that you purposely left out this important qualifying part of the verse.
Isaiah 57:16 For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls *which* I have made. (KJV)
Isaiah 57:16 (NASB)
16 "For I will not contend forever, Nor will I always be angry; For the spirit would grow faint before Me, And the breath of those whom I have made.
Again, in context, these are the words of Isaiah the prophet
to the wayward people of Israel. God is speaking to
His Chosen People, not to the whole world, through Isaiah.
Lam.3:31-33 KJV, therefore, contradicts Mt.25:46 KJV.
Nope. See above.
Of course the wicked have to become righteous in Christ before God will accept them. Nothing in Psa.1:5-6 or any other Scripture says any will fail to do so.
Psalms 1:5-6
5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.
What judgment is it in which the ungodly will not stand? Jesus offers some clarification:
Matthew 7:21-23
21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
22 Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'
23 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'
Taken together, these two passages indicate very clearly that not all at the Final Judgment will gain entrance into God's kingdom. And those "ungodly sinners," the Psalmist mentions and the "lawless" ones of whom Christ speaks will constitute those who do not. Where will they go, forbidden from the company of the righteous and ejected from Christ's presence? Christ himself gives us an answer:
Matthew 25:46 (NASB)
46 "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
In neither instance is there any qualification made indicating a rehabilitative purpose to the separation of the ungodly sinner from the righteous, the lawless from the lawful. Punishment does not serve a corrective purpose; that is the goal of discipline, of chastisement, in God's economy of things, not punishment. (see
Hebrews 12:5-13) In fact, no where in all of Scripture can I recall reading any explicit teaching to the effect that hell is merely purgatorial, that it's purpose is to effect the rehabilitation of the wicked. No where. The universalist must infer this entirely, as you've done, twisting Scripture to fit your view and doing incredible explanatory gymnastics to account for the utter lack of any explicit, concrete teaching concerning the universalist doctrine.
