Back is 2015, a Jordanian pilot was placed in a cage by ISIS, doused with fuel, and set on fire. The incident was captured on film. If you’re a normal human being — one who is not sadistic — you immediately recoil at such a thing and see it as pure evil. Yet something far worse than this is what most Christians believe God is going to do to people who don’t accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. They believe that God will place such people in a fiery torment for eternity.
I have thought about this over many years and it really disturbs me. Such behavior seems utterly counter to a God who reveals himself as gracious, merciful, and lavishly loving,[1] and who tells us that He will judge people, nations, and the world with fairness, justice, and truth.[2]
This article shares what I believe the Bible really teaches about this topic. I pray that readers will acknowledge that it is at least a possible alternative interpretation of what the Scriptures say about the fate of people who reject God and His Son.
Let’s start by considering two of the most famous scriptures in the Bible. John 3:16 (NIV) states that, “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.” The second verse (Romans 6:23, NLT) reads, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Emphasis mine in both verses.) If eternal suffering is the fate of those who reject Christ, why don’t these well-known verses simply say that, especially since they explicitly mention eternal life for those who embrace Christ? This makes no sense.
The Apostle Paul explicitly writes that sin leads to death and that righteous behavior leads to eternal life.[3] In fact, the entire arc of the Bible emphasizes a choice between life and death. God warned Adam and Eve that they would “certainly die” if they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden. After they ate from the tree, God said, “Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!”[4] This strongly implies that we were not created immortal, and Paul echoed this when he wrote that Christ alone can never die.[5] In fact, the lie that Satan told Adam and Eve was that they would not die but rather “be like God,” who is immortal.[6]
All the way at the other end of the Bible, the book of Revelation describes the “second death” that awaits those who reject God.[7] Why call this a second death if it’s actually an eternal state of torment and suffering?
Many Christians believe that our soul is eternal, but this is contrary to the Bible’s teaching. Consider Jesus’ words in Matthew 10:28 where He is recorded as saying, “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” The Greek word for destroy is apollymi which means to fully destroy. The soul can be destroyed.
It’s worth noting that Luke 12:5 presents a somewhat different version of this verse, ending, “Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell.” An honest reading of this version, though, recognizes that Luke says nothing about what happens to the soul once thrown into hell, and an eternal suffering interpretation runs counter to the large amount of evidence presented herein.
The Bible tells us that every person is destined to die once and that people who rebel against God will experience a second death.[8] It also clearly teaches that Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins.[9] If that penalty is eternal suffering and torment, why is Jesus not suffering eternally right now?
There are also plenty of scriptures that indicate that people who rebel against God will be destroyed rather than suffer eternally. Here is a sampling:
- Matthew 7:13 (NIV) — [Jesus said,] “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.”
- John 10:28 — [Jesus said,] “I give [my followers] eternal life, and they will never perish.”
- Luke 9:25 — “And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?
- Luke 21:18–19 — “But not a hair of your head will perish! By standing firm, you will win your souls.”
- John 17:12 — “I guarded them so that not one was lost, except the one headed for destruction, as the Scriptures foretold.”
- Matthew 18:14 — “In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish.”
- 2 Peter 3:9 — [The Lord] does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent…
- Acts 20:26 — If anyone suffers eternal death, it’s not my fault…
- 1 Corinthians 1:18 — The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.
- 2 Corinthians 4:3 — If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing.
- Romans 9:22 — In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction.
- James 4:12 — [God] alone has the power to save or destroy. (Added to post on 10/14/20)
- Psalm 92:7 — …the wicked… will be destroyed forever.
- Psalm 145:20 — The Lord protects all those who love him, but he destroys the wicked.
- Psalm 73:27 — Those who desert [God] will perish, for you destroy those who abandon you.
- Psalm 1:6 — For the Lord watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.
- Psalm 37:9,20 — For the wicked will be destroyed… the wicked will die.
- Deuteronomy 30:15,17–18 — Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death… But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen… then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed.
- Ezekiel 18:4 — For all people are mine to judge [says the Lord] — both parents and children alike. And this is my rule: The person who sins is the one who will die.
- Ezekiel 28:19 — [The King of Tyre] will exist no more.
- 2 Thessalonians 1:7–9 — And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. He will come with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:9–10 — [The man of lawlessness] will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them.
- Luke 13:3 — And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God.
The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are held up as examples of what will happen to those who rebel against God. An early New Testament church leader named Jude wrote, “Those cities were destroyed by fire and serve as a warning of the eternal fire of God’s judgment.”[10] The apostle Peter wrote, “God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and turned them into heaps of ashes. He made them an example of what will happen to ungodly people.”[11]
And what happened to them? The Lord “utterly destroyed” these cities with “fire and burning sulfur” and wiped out all the people.[12] The cities became uninhabitable, places of “eternal desolation.”[13] To this day, there are sulfur balls embedded throughout the soil and rocks of Sodom and Gomorrah that can be lit on fire, but the inhabitants are long gone.
Now admittedly, there are a number of verses in the Bible that could be used to counter my argument. But I believe that all of them have valid alternative interpretations. The parable of Lazarus and the rich man[14] could be an indictment of those who refuse to help the poor, sick and weak — and how the later find favor and health in God’s Kingdom — all told using symbolism and beliefs that resonated with Jews and Greeks during that time. The never-ending fire described in some Bible verses could represent the everlasting nature of the wicked’s destruction.[15] The “weeping and gnashing of teeth” described in several passages could describe the natural reaction of those who stand on the cusp of eternal destruction.[16]
One of the more difficult verses is found in the book of Revelation where it says, “Anyone who worships the [end-time] beast and his statue or who accepts his mark on the forehead or on the hand must drink the wine of God’s anger. It has been poured full strength into God’s cup of wrath. And they will be tormented with fire and burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb. The smoke of their torment will rise forever and ever, and they will have no relief day or night, for they have worshiped the beast and his statue and have accepted the mark of his name.”[17]
While I admit that this verse poses a challenge, I also realize it’s in a book heavy on symbolism and long on wildly varying interpretations. Why base an entire argument on one set of verses focused only on people living in the end-times when there is a mountain of evidence to the contrary throughout the Bible?
Another challenging scripture is Matthew 25:46 where Jesus reveals the fate of unrighteous people upon His return. Jesus will say to them, “I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.” He then notes that they will “go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.” Consider the following excerpt from an online article addressing this verse:
The assumption is [usually] made that “eternal punishment” means that the act of punishing the unsaved is what continues on for eternity… However, this assumption is unwarranted… [When] other nouns of action are qualified as eternal, it is often the results of the act, not the act itself, that lasts for eternity.[18] If this is even a reasonable possibility with Matthew 25:46, then we can no longer say that this proves the wicked always consciously exist; the one-time act of destroying them as punishment would yield the eternal result of them no longer being around.
What does “eternal judgment” mean? It’s pretty simple; God judges, and the result is everlasting… [It] at least could be the case that God punishes the unsaved by destroying them, and the punishment is the result, [a] result that last[s] for eternity.[19]
As we already noted, the entire arc of the Bible presents a choice between life and death. If we take the words “eternal life” at face value in Matthew 25:46, it seems clear that this is the only condition between the two outcomes being contrasted that involves living eternally. (I present scriptural evidence for this in an addendum at the end of the article.)
Not long after the Israelite exodus from Egypt, Moses asked God to show him His glory. God answered by revealing that He lavishes unfailing love on a thousand generations and punishment on three or four.[20] Why would a God who loves 250 times longer than He punishes subject anyone to eternal punishment? And why would a God who will eliminate all death, sorrow, crying and pain in His coming Kingdom[21] allow its residents to see the eternal suffering of people in hell as some believe the story of Lazarus and the rich man indicates? These things make no sense in light of who God reveals Himself to be.
I recently listened to an interview of a former worship leader who left the Christian faith. At one point he said, “If we really believed that people needed to… believe like we [do] or they were going to, for eternity, consciously burn forever in hell… How could you sleep? How could you do anything but try to get people to [believe]? One moment of not doing that is the most incredibly psychopathic, selfish, insane thing to do… You can’t look me in the eye as a fellow human being and think that the source of all of this is for eternity going to be torturing me.”[22]
Are we making it far more difficult for believers to love God, and unbelievers to discover him, by clinging to a belief that is, at best, a far less likely explanation for the fate of those who reject God and is incredibly counter to God’s nature? I challenge you to humbly think and pray about this.
December 28, 2021 — Addendum
The following scriptures indicate that there is one kind of eternal life, it’s a good life, and it’s reserved for followers of Christ.
- John 17:3 — “And this is the way to have eternal life — to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.”
- John 17:13–14 — The road that leads to destruction is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.
- John 8:51 — “I tell you the truth, anyone who obeys my teaching will never die.”
- John 3:36 — “And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.”
- John 3:15 — …everyone who believes in [the Son of Man] will have eternal life.
- John 10:28 — “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me.”
- Acts 11:18 — When the others heard this, they stopped objecting and began praising God. They said, “We can see that God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life.”
- Acts 13:48 — When the Gentiles heard this, they were very glad and thanked the Lord for his message; and all who were chosen for eternal life became believers.
- Romans 6:22 — But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life.
- 1 John 3:15 — Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.
- 1 John 4:9 — God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him.
- 1 John 5:13 — I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.
- John 5:24,25,28–30 — “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life. And I assure you that the time is coming, indeed it’s here now, when the dead will hear my voice — the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live… Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God’s Son, and they will rise again. Those who have done good will rise to experience eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to experience judgment.”
- John 6:47 — [Jesus said,] “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life.”
- John 6:58 — “Anyone who eats this bread will not die… but will live forever.”
- John 6:53 — So Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you.”
- John 6:68 — Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life.”
- John 11:25–26 — Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die.”
- John 12:25 — “Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity.”
FOOTNOTES: [1] Exodus 34:6–7, Joel 2:13–14, Nehemiah 9:17, Psalm 86:15, Psalm 103:8–11, Psalm 145:8–9, Jonah 4:2–3, John 1:17 [2] Psalm 96:10,13 and 98:9 [3] Romans 6:16 and 22 [4] Genesis 2:17 (NIV) and Genesis 3:22 (NLT) [5] 1 Timothy 6:16 [6] Genesis 3:4–5 [7] Revelation 20:6,11–15 and 21:8 [8] Hebrews 9:27, Revelation 21:8 [9] 1 Corinthians 15:3, Romans 3:23–24 [10] Jude 1:7 [11] 2 Peter 2:6 [12] Genesis 19:24–25 [13] Jeremiah 49:18 and 50:40, Zephaniah 2:9 [14] Luke 16:19–31 [15] See Matthew 3:10–12 and Jude 1:7 for examples [16] See Matthew 8:12 and 13:50 for examples [17] Revelation 14:9–11 [18] Consider the pairing of “eternal” with “judgment” in Hebrews 6:2; “sin” in Mark 3:29; “redemption” in Hebrews 9:12; “salvation” in Hebrews 5:9; and “inheritance” in Hebrews 9:15. [19] See Matthew 25:46 Does Not Prove Eternal Torment — Part 1 | Rethinking Hell [20] Exodus 34:6–7 [21] Revelation 21:1–4 [22] Do Those People Need Jesus? The Liturgists Podcast, 2/27/20, 11:20 to 12:55. Interview of Michael Gungor. See https://theliturgists.com/podcast.
Originally published at https://www.edmelick.com on August 29, 2020. A few additions have been made since.
