We only have two choices.......Life or Death...All will die or either be changed,so Im not talking about the psysical,rather the Soul...
For those of you who believe in eternal suffering here is a excelent study for you....
Life and Death: The Two Polar Opposites
The apostle Paul summed up the whole matter of peoples reward for sin when he wrote:
ROMANS 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternallife through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Could anything be clearer than this text? The wages for sin is shown to be death, and eternal life is stated to be a gift from God, not something people already have. This is consistently expressed from Genesis to Revelation, notice:
MATTHEW 7:13-14
Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it, (14) but small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
JOHN 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
ROMANS 8:13
For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
GALATIONS 6:8
The one who sows to please the sinful nature from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the spirit, from the spirit will reap eternal life.
PROVERBS 11:19
The truly righteous man attains life, but he who pursues evil goes to his death.[2]
All these passages clearly describe the two separate destinies of the righteous and the unrighteous. The righteous are people who are in-right-standing with God because theyve accepted his sacrifice for their sins, the unrighteous are those who are
not in-right-standing with their Creator because theyve rejected his offer of salvation.
[3] The former will inherit eternal life, whereas the latter will reap the wages of sin and be destroyed.
Yet those who adhere to the eternal torture doctrine mysteriously dont accept this blatantly clear biblical truth. They dont believe that the two polar opposites are life and death; they believe the two polar opposites are eternal life in heavenly bliss and eternal life in burning torment. Sounds ridiculous, doesnt it? They may not phrase it in such an open manner, but this is what they actually believe when it comes down to it.
Eternal Life and Immortality Only Available through the Gospel
The offer to receive eternal life as opposed to suffering everlasting destruction is what the gospel of Christ is all about. We see this plainly expressed in this passage:
2TIMOTHY 1:10
But (Gods grace)
has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
Notice that life and immortality are
only available through the gospel. What exactly is the gospel? The gospel literally means good news. Its main message is summed up in the famous passage John 3:16: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Note, once again, what is clearly being contrasted in these passages: In John 3:16
perish is contrasted with the gift of
eternal life; in 2Timothy 1:10
death is contrasted with both
immortality and
life, which are said to be made available through the gospel. If the eternal torture doctrine were true, these verses would be contrasting eternal life and eternal life being tortured, or immortality and immortality in fiery torment. I realize this sounds absurd, but the bible would certainly speak in such honest, blatant terms
if this teaching were true. Or do you think God would be misleading or ambiguous about such an important issue in his Holy Scriptures?
The reason the bible doesnt speak in such a ludicrous way is simply because this doctrine of eternal conscious torment in not a biblical teaching. The above passage, 2Timothy 1:10, makes it plain that until Jesus was raised for our justification, the power of death was
not destroyed and hence, immortality was not available to us life was not available to us. This is because we are all sinners (see Romans 3:23 and Ecclesiastes 7:20) and therefore all deserve death, for the wages of sin is death. God cannot overlook this because he is perfectly just. One person cannot pay the penalty for another because both are sinful and deserve death. The only way we can escape this imminent death penalty is if a sinless person, who does not deserve death, dies in our place (Griesmeyer 8:1).
So what did God do? Because he so loved the world and didnt want anyone to perish, he gave his Son as a sin sacrifice in order that we may have the gift of eternal life. The difference between wages and a gift is that wages are earned while a gift is free. Jesus paid the death penalty that weve all earned so that we can have the free gift of eternal life. The Lord did this so that we could fellowship with him forever instead of reaping the wages of sin, which is death.
This fact that God Himself wants to have a
relationship with us explains why the gospel is also referred to as the message of reconciliation (see 2Corinthians 5:17-21). The gospel is good news indeed because, not only does it grant eternal life to those who accept it, but, more importantly, it enables us to have a
relationship with the Creator of the universe!
Notice what John the Baptist declared would happen to those who reject the gospel:
JOHN 3:36
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for Gods wrath remains on him.
The passage could not be plainer: those who reject the Son
will not see life. Gods word is absolute, and this is an absolute statement: Those who reject Jesus Christ
will not see any life at all. This includes even a sadistic life in conscious agony for all eternity. Such people will be justly-but-mercifully put to death, absolute death, for this is the wages of their actions. But our loving Creator doesnt want
anyone to perish like this; he has provided a way to eternal life through his Son, Jesus Christ.
Do you see the simple, beautiful, clear message of the gospel here? God is just trying to save his beloved fallen creation, humanity, from the wages of sin. Ezekiel 18:32 reveals the heart of God well on this matter: For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD, Repent and live!
Jesus Taught Everlasting Destruction
Didnt Jesus preach that those who reject the gospel and refuse to repent will suffer never-ending torment in hell? Many ministers adamantly insist on this, but what did Jesus say as recorded in the bible itself? By all means, lets examine what Jesus himself taught on the issue starting with a statement weve already looked at:
MATTHEW 7:13-14:
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it, but small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Seriously, how much clearer could Jesus possibly be here?
Destruction is the fate that awaits the many that are thrown into the lake of fire, not perpetual undying torture in flames of torment. And please notice, again, that this is in contrast to
life that will be granted to the few.
Jesus repeatedly made this very clear. For example, consider his simple statement, Unless you repent, you will all likewise
perish (Luke 13:3,5 NASB). This mirrors Jesus statement in John 3:16 regarding the fact that those who believe in him
shall not
perish, but have eternal life. Perish in both these texts is not referring to the death we all must face at the end of this present earthly life. No, Jesus is obviously referring here to a perishing that those who believe in him will
not have to suffer the
second death, which takes place on the day of judgment when the damned are cast into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:11-15 verifies this; verses 14b and 15 of this passage state: The lake of fire is the second death. If anyones name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
In Matthew 10:28 Jesus solemnly declaredwhat would happen to people when they experience this second death:
MATTHEW 10:28
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One (God)
who can destroy both soul and body in hell.[4]
Notice that Jesus is telling us explicitly what God will do to unrepentant sinful people on the day of judgment: he will
destroy both soul and body in the lake of fire, his chosen instrument of destruction.
Jesus is dealing
specifically here with the subject of the second death and yet he says absolutely nothing about spending eternity in undying conscious torment. If this were true Jesus would tell us to fear the One who is able to
preserve the soul in hell. But this is not what Jesus taught. He didnt teach it because it is not a biblical doctrine.
Religion may very well teach it, but the
bible does not. God is going to unenthusiastically issue out the wages of sin and justly destroy the unrighteous, not sadistically torture them forever. Scripture clearly states:
JAMES 4:12
There is only one lawgiver and judge, the One (God)
who is able to save and destroy.
You see, God is going to do one of two things with people: hes either going to
save them, that is, grant eternal life to those who respond favorably to his love and gracious gift of life, or hes going to justly but mercifully
destroy them. He may or may not necessarily be the one who
personally executes this sentence, but he is certainly the One who
authorizes it. In this sense, at least, it is indeed God Himself who destroys the ungodly.
This fact that God is either going to
save or
destroy people based upon their freewill decision to accept or reject the gospel is clearly illustrated in this passage from Hebrews:
HEBREWS 10:39
But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
Those who believe will be
saved from the second death and granted eternal life, those who do not will be
destroyed, both soul and body, in the lake of fire. Its that simple. Why do religionists insist on making this simple truth so complicated and perverse?
I encourage you all to read this entire study which can be found at the below link.....
Dispelling the myth of eternal torment biblically
