God does indeed punish humans in fire. The NT mentions it several times.
Matthew 13:49-50 (NASB)
49 "So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, 50 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
And He doesn't have to ask permission.
you need to read the whole bible to understand about the meaning of 'fire' , all the saints are all bpltised with 'fire' too :-
Luke 3:16 John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost
and with fire:
Genesis 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and
a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
consider then how the saints get through the fire of thus flaming sword ...
read about the only way to paradise, the third heaven spoken of by Paul ...endless being of the spirit with God :-
Zechariah 13:9 And
I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them:
I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.
1 Peter 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
Revelation 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Is Jesus suggesting we buy real gold from him ? ...or wear only white clothes he will sell us one day? ... or that we need to put real ointment in our eyes to be saved ?
then you may like to consider what the fire that tries the saints is , if it is not real fire but symbolic also :-
Matthew 13:13 Therefore
speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Revelation 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
How can one throw 'death' or 'hell' into a literal lake of fire ?
one cannot pick up death or hell and cast them into a fire ...
so consider that it is death and hell ceasing before the word of God that is in our consciences a 'fire' against sin , a burning conflict inside when we sin...
not then that the flaming sword is in the MOUTH of Jesus ... is Jesus a sword-swallower or does it mena the sword is the words Jesus spoke, the word of God ... ?
what is the seal that one has to go through to get to the kingdom, it is spirit baptism once one stops sinning :-
2 Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this
seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ
depart from iniquity.
so what TRIES our Love which perfects it in trial , it is temptation to sin... and what fights the fire as conscience ? - the Truth of God about what is good [Love] and what is evil [sin]...
so that is what guards the way to the kingdom, we KNOW what the fire is that we have to go through, and it isn't literal fire...
Revelation 11:5 And if any man will hurt them,
fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
Revelation 9:18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone,
which issued out of their mouths.
Revelation 8:5 And the angel took the censer, and
filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth
---- would anyone be troubled by a a single censer of fire falling on the ground ?
I do not think so, so it seems likely we must look for what God SIGNIFIES by this ...
Revelation 2:18 And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his
eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass;
... are Jesus eyes really on fire, or is it his gaze penetrates , 'burns through one' because of the Truth in him ?
Jude 1:23 And others save with fear,
pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
are sinners really on fire that they have to be pulled out of a blazing fire around them, or is the sin inside them the fire they don't put out burning against their conscience ?
James 5:3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh
as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
at last the scrpture explains the metaphor of 'fire' , saying 'as it were' , meaning it is not literal... but then we can see it makes no sense if it were literal because of other scripture ...
Jesus says for imstance all are released from hell and death [Rev 20:13] so even if there were fire in hell it would not harm anyone endlessly ... and as I recall many folks are burned up with fire at death anyway ,the body incinerated ... do we think this is a punishment ? ... no it is just cremation ... one cannot hurt a dead body, one cannot punish a dead body , senseless to flog a dead horse or a dead man...
Jesus says we are all freed from hell and daeth, that it is just a SLEEP until resurrection ... no fire except in those cremated and no-one thinks that is punishment ...
and so what of our spirit :-
Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
so the spirit is of God , indestructible even when this earth and ehavens are destroyed by 'fire' ... just as God said let them be, and they were, so God says let them not be and they are gone... again the fire is the word of God and it surely is terrible for all sinners , but that is their choice to sin now, not to repent until the righteous new earth , for many are destroyed and few find the way now [Matt 7:13-14] but later countless many who cleraly were destroyed in the end of this earth are saved [Rev 7:9-10]
so we see too there is no endless fire because the earth and heavens are destroyed ... and there is no fire in hell , only in cremation , and that ends too...
and the lake of fire ? ... well we know that some are still sinners by judgement day although countless many are saved by works after death in the kingdom come in the new earth ...
so some die a second time to free them from sin
Romans 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
and we know all have been baptised of the spirit [Joel 2;28]by then as all are freed from hell [Rev 20:13] freed from sin in death and that is all that is required for spirit baptism, to stop sinning :-
2 Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this
seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ
depart from iniquity.
so they have had the first two baptisms , and only need the third to be saved, baptism of fire in the lake of fire ...
but how do we know that is what it is ?
because Jesus says all will accept him eventually , just as your hope of salvation is in accepting Jesus :-
Philippians 2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
Revelation 5:13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.
there we have it then , all three baptisms for even the most evil of men come to accept Jesus in the end ... but it is very different what God says in scripture from what sinners teach now, and Jesus even tells us that MUST be so too...