Chapter 1
Everlasting Torment
In this chapter we want to look at all three destinies of the wicked that are taught
in the usual translations of the Bible. Let's look first at the doctrine of eternal torment
which was what I was taught when I was a child. The following set of verses I want you to consider teaches the doctrine
of eternal torment. I suppose this has been the generally accepted belief of
most Christians through the years. The Bible (that is, the English versions of
the Scriptures which is common used) teaching is so obvious and definite:
"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" (Mark 9:43,44); "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" (Matt.25:41). "And the beast was taken, and
with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he
deceived them that had the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his
image. These both were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with
brimstone" (Rev.19:20).
"If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark
in his forehead, or in his hand, the 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, and the smoke of their torment ascends
up for ever and ever; and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the
beast and his image, and whosoever receives the mark of his name"
(Rev.14:9-11); "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of
fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be
tormented day and night for ever and ever" (Rev.20:10).
These and other references, if taken as they read in the above
quotations, clearly teach the eternal torment of the wicked. This is the
teaching that I was taught as I was growing up. In fact, I used to teach it in
no uncertain terms when I first began to preach. But the time came when I began
to think a bit more deeply about the nature of God and to study more carefully
certain other statements of the Holy Bible, at which time a second set of verses
were drawn to my attention.
Extermination
The following texts seem to teach extermination just as clearly as the
preceding verses eternal torment: "Whose fan is in His hand and He will
thoroughly purge His floor and gather His wheat into the garner but He will
burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire" (Matt.3:12). "As therefore
the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of
this world. The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather
out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity and shall
cast them into a furnace of fire there shall be wailing and gnashing of
teeth" (Matt.13:40-42).
Note that the chaff and tares are burned up--not burned forever.
"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul
but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell"
(Matt.10:28).
Again, the wicked are to be gotten rid of, just as bad fish are to be thrown
away to decay and disappear, as Jesus taught in Matthew 13:47-50. Similarly:
"But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak
evil of the things that they understand not and shall utterly perish in their
own corruption" (2 Pet.2:12); "...who shall be punished with
everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His
power" (2 Thess.1:9); "...even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities
about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going
after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of
eternal fire" (Jude 7).
Please note that Sodom and Gomorrah are not burning today, though their
destruction is spoken of as an example of "eternal fire." If the verses
above, too, are taken as they read, then the wicked will be exterminated. And,
it must be remembered, these verses are just as Biblical as any others.
Reconciliation
Still another set of verses, however, seems to clearly teach that all
men will ultimately be saved: "For God so loved the world, that He gave
His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but
have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the
world but that the world through Him might be saved" (John 3:16,17).
"Love never fails" (1 Cor.13:8). Will God's love for the whole world
fail?
"And He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only,
but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2). "All we like
sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way and the Lord
has laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isa.53:6). "Behold the Lamb
of God that takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). "For the
love of Christ constrains us because we thus judge that if One died for all,
therefore all died" (2 Cor.5:14).
"And, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to
reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in
earth, or things in heaven" (Col. 1:20). "And I, if I be lifted up
from the earth, will draw all unto Myself" (John 12:32).
"Well, then, just as the result of a single transgression is
condemnation for all mankind, so also the result of a single deed of
righteousness is a life-giving acquittal for all mankind; and if, through the
disobedience of one individual (Adam), the mass of mankind were made sinners,
so also through the obedience of One (Christ) the mass of mankind will be made
righteous" (Rom.5:18,19; Weymouth).
"But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first
fruits of them that slept. For since by man (Adam) came death, by man (Jesus)
came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in
Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Cor.15:20-22). "All the ends of
the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord and all the kindred's of the
nations shall worship before Thee" (Psa.22:27). "All nations whom
Thou hast made shall come and worship before Thee, O Lord; and shall glorify
Thy name" (Psa.86:9).
"Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I
am God, and there is none else. I have by Myself, the word is gone out of My
mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto Me every knee shall
bow, every tongue shall swear" (Isa.45:22,23). "He shall see of the travail
of His soul, and shall be satisfied" (Isa.53:11).
Would God's love, infinite in its reach, be satisfied with just a
fraction of those for whom Christ died for? If you paid the purchase price for
one hundred acres would you be satisfied with a deed for only one acre?
"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name
that is above every name: that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of
things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father" (Phil.2:9-11).
Would a confession wrung out of the lost by compulsion--"writhing
in the torments of hell" be to the glory of God and could such tormented
souls confess Jesus as Lord? " Wherefore I give you to understand, that no
man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that
no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. (1 Cor.12:3).
"Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom
to God even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority
and power. For He must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet. The
last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. Because He hath put all things
under His feet. But when He says, all things are put under Him, it is manifest
(or revealed) that He is excepted, Who did put all things under Him. And when
all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be
subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be All in
all" (1 Cor.15:24-28).
For
every verse in the Bible that seems to teach eternal torment or extermination,
one can find many verses that teach universal reconciliation. Remember, one
text is just as Biblical as another. Unless there is a way to explain them all
correctly we will be left with hopeless confusion. Which one of the three sets
of verses would you like to be true?