Tim nailed this topic on the head actually. I can only add to it to assuage any fears concerning hell and the ideas of eternal torture associated with it.
I am also a deep devout Christian. Christ in me is my everything!
I also love truth and knowledge and wisdom and understanding.
and in truth, I will go to hell. My body will anyway. Yep, everyone goes to hell.
It is the grave.
Jesus was there in that grave with the stone rolled in front of it for three days. He was in hell. That is why you read;
(Act 2:31) He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
You are wrong here. The "hell" being referred to in this verse is not the grave that Christ was in, but rather Hades, which is the place of the dead spirits. Peter talks about this as well.
We are living souls. When we die, we are dead souls. It is really that simple.
Jesus dead soul was three days in hell.
He was dead. Not breathing. Not thinking. Not anything. Dead. In hell.
He suffered that death so that we dont have to!
Then He was raised up out of hell just like he said he would.
His soul left Hades, and was reunited with his body in the grave.
When one reads of "hell" and studies it out of scriptures with a little help from a concordance and some prayer, God isn't going to hide what it is. And it most certainly is NOT what you hear from hellfire and damnation type teachers.
Actually, it is just that. The "hell" that you are thinking of is Gehenna. Gehenna is used by Jesus Christ because it was a place where the OT Jews used to take their garbage to burn it. It is simply described as a lake of fire and brimstone:
"15And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was
cast into the lake of fire." Rev. 20:15
"30Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and
bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn." Mt. 13:30
"
42And shall cast them into
a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." Mt. 13:42
"
41Then 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:" Mt. 25:41
"
8In
flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:" 2 Th. 1:8
In the O.T. it was "sheol" meaning "grave".
In the KJV sometimes it was translated "grave". But other times for some reason, that same hebrew word was translated "hell".
So we are dealing with a translation issue right off the bat.
An issue with the English translation, but not the Greek. In the NT it's either Hades, Gehenna, or Tartarus. The "hell" that most people think of is actually Gehenna.
Now some people have a pre-conceived "eternal torture" concept of hell handed down to them from their parents or their church or some pagan or a "denominational seminary institute" where they bought the eternal torture idea. So now, of course, when they read the word "hell", they don't think of it as "grave". They think of it according to what their school taught them.
The eternal torture concept is 100% correct, because an eternal crime has been committed. If an infinite crime has been committed, then the punishment is also infinite.
Greek "Hades" was always understood as "grave". (until later when the greeks "olympisized it" lol).
No, it was not always understood as "grave." "Hades" was always understood as the land of the dead, i.e., the place where your soul/spirit goes when you die. Not the grave. See
Hades - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
So NO dear friend! Don't worry about people being aware in death and being tortured and all that nonsensical pagan "eternal fire" kind of gehenna thing!
Actually, yes, people will be aware, and there is eternal torture simply because an infinite crime has been committed. How else could someone "weep and gnash their teeth" unless they were aware? What of the dragon/beast/false prophet, who are cast into the lake of fire and brimstone and tormented day and night for all eternity? What of this:
"10The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be
tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
11And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they
have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." Rev. 14:10-11
Etc., etc. Eternal torment is real, and the lake of fire and brimstone is real. And nothing is going to change that.
