Living

mukk_in said:

Mark 12:27 (NASB)

He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

The theology of "soul sleep" is both wrong and dangerous. Our God is both living and the God of the living. Upon our death, we give up our spirit, which does not sleep until the resurrection but ascends to God right away (Ecclesiastes 12:7, Luke 23:46). This is confirmed by both Moses and Elijah, who appeared as spirits to the Lord Jesus on the mount of transfiguration (Matthew 17:3). Moses had been dead for several thousand years, and Elijah was taken up into heaven. Yet they were alive when they appeared to Christ. As much as these mortal bodies wait for the resurrection and to be clothed with immortality (1 Corinthians 15:54), the eternal soul in us is either ushered into God's Presence by the angels (Luke 16:21) or dragged down into the fires of hell (Luke 16:23). Incidentally, the fires of hell are real and not metaphorical. Even renowned evangelists can water down the word of God and call it symbolic. That's blasphemy. The rich man was in such agony in the hellfire that he begged Abraham for water to quench his thirst (Luke 16:24). If the fire were just symbolic, he wouldn't have been thirsty. No, the wrath of God is real, as is the eternal soul that lives on forever. Our calling is to preach the word so that the Holy Spirit drives home the reality of an immortal soul and a very real hellfire.​

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Luke 16:24 is a parable. A parable is, literally, something “cast alongside” something else. Jesus’ parables were stories that were “cast alongside” a truth in order to illustrate that truth. His parables were teaching aids and can be thought of as extended analogies or inspired comparisons. A common description of a parable is that it is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.

For a time in His ministry, Jesus relied heavily on parables. He told many of them; in fact, according to Mark 4:34a, “He did not say anything to them without using a parable.” There are about 35 of Jesus’ parables recorded in the Synoptic Gospels.

It had not always been that way. In the early part of His ministry, Jesus had not used parables. Suddenly, He begins telling parables exclusively, much to the surprise of His disciples, who asked Him, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” (Matthew 13:10).

mukk_in said:

Mark 12:27 (NASB)

He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

The theology of "soul sleep" is both wrong and dangerous. Our God is both living and the God of the living. Upon our death, we give up our spirit, which does not sleep until the resurrection but ascends to God right away (Ecclesiastes 12:7, Luke 23:46). This is confirmed by both Moses and Elijah, who appeared as spirits to the Lord Jesus on the mount of transfiguration (Matthew 17:3). Moses had been dead for several thousand years, and Elijah was taken up into heaven. Yet they were alive when they appeared to Christ. As much as these mortal bodies wait for the resurrection and to be clothed with immortality (1 Corinthians 15:54), the eternal soul in us is either ushered into God's Presence by the angels (Luke 16:21) or dragged down into the fires of hell (Luke 16:23). Incidentally, the fires of hell are real and not metaphorical. Even renowned evangelists can water down the word of God and call it symbolic. That's blasphemy. The rich man was in such agony in the hellfire that he begged Abraham for water to quench his thirst (Luke 16:24). If the fire were just symbolic, he wouldn't have been thirsty. No, the wrath of God is real, as is the eternal soul that lives on forever. Our calling is to preach the word so that the Holy Spirit drives home the reality of an immortal soul and a very real hellfire.​

Click to expand...

Luke 16:24 is a parable. A parable is, literally, something “cast alongside” something else. Jesus’ parables were stories that were “cast alongside” a truth in order to illustrate that truth. His parables were teaching aids and can be thought of as extended analogies or inspired comparisons. A common description of a parable is that it is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. What is a parable? | GotQuestions.org

mukk_in said:

Mark 12:27 (NASB)

He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

The theology of "soul sleep" is both wrong and dangerous. Our God is both living and the God of the living. Upon our death, we give up our spirit, which does not sleep until the resurrection but ascends to God right away (Ecclesiastes 12:7, Luke 23:46). This is confirmed by both Moses and Elijah, who appeared as spirits to the Lord Jesus on the mount of transfiguration (Matthew 17:3). Moses had been dead for several thousand years, and Elijah was taken up into heaven. Yet they were alive when they appeared to Christ. As much as these mortal bodies wait for the resurrection and to be clothed with immortality (1 Corinthians 15:54), the eternal soul in us is either ushered into God's Presence by the angels (Luke 16:21) or dragged down into the fires of hell (Luke 16:23). Incidentally, the fires of hell are real and not metaphorical. Even renowned evangelists can water down the word of God and call it symbolic. That's blasphemy. The rich man was in such agony in the hellfire that he begged Abraham for water to quench his thirst (Luke 16:24). If the fire were just symbolic, he wouldn't have been thirsty. No, the wrath of God is real, as is the eternal soul that lives on forever. Our calling is to preach the word so that the Holy Spirit drives home the reality of an immortal soul and a very real hellfire.​

Click to expand...

What is it that is not understood about death? We are mortal (subject to death) .... living in a burning place is continuing to live a torturous life.

God torturing people .... good grief! Yeah .. like that idea brings one to the Lord .... this teaching is why so many reject "christianity" ... ie turn to Jesus else He will torture you for eternity? People instinctively know torture is not ok ..... and it's not .... by us nor by God.

The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

In your view death is never destroyed and torture is ok.

Sadly, the downplaying of hell also downplays the glory of the Gospel. This is what Satin wants. He himself wants to be as hidden as possible and he wants the consequences of following him minimised so that more people follow him. Also, by minimising the consequences, you can create lukewarm believers as they are a lot less grateful for what they are saved from. So, it belittles what Christ did on the cross.
A little visual scenario here:
Imagine you are walking in the dark and someone yells to you, "Watch out. There is a drop in front of you!" You then get your torch out and shine it in front of you and see a 1-foot drop. You then say to the person who warned you, "Thank you. I could have fallen".
Now again, imagine you are walking in the dark and someone yells to you, "Watch out. There is a drop in front of you!" You then get your torch out and shine it in front of you and see a 100-meter drop onto rocks. You then exclaim to the person who warned you, "Thank you so much! I could have died but you saved me! I am so grateful! How could I ever repay you. Thank you."
The person who sees the more severe consequences was more grateful for what he had been saved from.

Unbelievers already do not know God and so they are already separated from Him. If I was to evangelise a person at the park and say, "You have sinned and so therefore you will be separated from God", the unbeliever will just think, "That that is OK. l have lived my entire life already without God and I am happy."
We should not minimise the truth by making it metaphorical.

I believe that Christ saved me from eternal punishment in a place of fire and brimstone without God. (Maybe in the centre of the earth). This makes me eternally grateful. So, so grateful.

To be told that it is something less takes away from the greatness of His sacrifice and this saddens me a lot.

So yes, to hear this does break my heart. I wish for everyone to have an understanding of the fullness of His sacrifice.

I believe that downplaying hell is dangerous for a couple of reasons. For one, I know that Satan would be so happy to know that some believers downplay the reality of hell. By believing this it feels as though there is less of an urgency to share the Gospel with the lost because the punishment is not that bad. So, there is less of a motivation to share the Gospel. Personally, I look at the lost and I think to myself that I have to warn them because they will go to an absolutely awful place if I do not. I grieve terribly for them. It motivates me. I love the lost enough that I will not let it happen. Because of this love and knowing the severity of not sharing the full truth, it helps me to overcome my fear in sharing the Gospel.

The other reason is, the less severe hell is, the less likely people will turn from their sin to God. There is less fear of God because the consequences are not as bad. It is like when people say that hell is just one big party, they minimise the truth which makes it seem not so bad. Satan loves this saying. He tries to minimise himself as much as possible, so people do not acknowledge the truth of him or the consequences of following him. He likes to sneak under the radar if he can.

The teaching that hell is just an absence of God undermines the power of the Gospel. After all, unbelievers already live without God, and they love their lives, and their lives are good. So, really, why do they need to turn to God if they already love their lives? There is no reason and thus the Gospel loses its reasoning/power for turning to God.

What I want is for the Gospel to be raised up. Not to be downplayed by a teaching that some may have. I want you also to come to an understanding of the fullness of what Jesus saved us from. This will put a fire in you that no one can put out.

(Sorry, I cannot be bother debating either. I just get disheartened when I see people downplaying the magnificence of the Gospel and so I write to let out this sadness)

You also need to have an understanding of the culture and manner of speech that was used. Good expository Bible teachers while reading scripture, will constantly tell you what's being said in today's terms. Like when Paul says those who are stealing must stop doing so, he's talking about mooching.