“Verses where Jesus addresses eternal punishment.”
[all Bible quotes from the KJV]
Matthew 13:42
“And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” No problem – God characterizes Himself as a refining fire (and as soap) many times in His Word. The “furnace of fire” could be the Lake of Fire or Hell, but it is not specified. the wailing & gnashing are just reactions to the fate, whatever it is. This verse makes just as much sense to the Salvation of All as it does to Damnationism.
Matthew 13:50
“And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” Same story here…
Matthew 17:21-23
“Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.” Does this have anything to do with our Question?
Matthew 18:6
“But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and
that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” Again, this does not address our Question, except perhaps in a tangential way. The fate of someone who did the deed Jesus mentioned is not stated, so anyone can fill in the blank. I fill it in with punishment and further refining, and others read Hell into it. However, the fate and its duration is not given to us.
Matthew 25:41
“Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:” There is just no reason to think this fire is anything other than the Lake of Fire, given who is in it. As to the duration, I know by now that we will just continue to disagree.
Matthew 25:46
“And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.” OK, same comment as per 25:41.
Matthew 26:24
“The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.” Jesus did not care to specify the details (duration, place of punishment, nature of punishment, if there was punishment), so I don’t care to either – it would be to put words in His mouth.
Mark 9:43-48
“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: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.” I’m not going to fall into any Gehenna trap here. In my view, Jesus is simply telling His hearers that it is better to be born (enter into life) minus a part or two, than to be born whole and end up executed and denied a decent burial. He even goes on to say that it is even better to cut a part or two off than to remain whole and risk of life of sin and crime and, again, end up executed and denied a decent burial. There is no need to bring Hell into it unless you already believe in Hell.
Revelation 21:8
“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” That looks really final when you read it, but it is not the end of the story. This wicked group is not left in the lake, but refer back to First Corinthians 15:24-26 - “Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God…when he shall have put down all rule and authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” With death destroyed, the Lake of Fire MUST give up its dead, just as the sea and the grave did so long before. This leads me to three critical questions:
1. How can anyone still be dead and/or in Hell after Death itself has been destroyed?
2. With Death destroyed, will the Lake of Fire not give up its dead?
3. How can anyone still be dead and/or in Hell if God is going to become All in all? (I Corinthians 15:28).