Hell Fire

We have already seen two of the texts.

16. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

As I said, this is one of my favorite Bible texts, the real alternatives are to perish or to have eternal, everlasting life.

23. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

The consequence for sin is death, not burning forever. God's gift is eternal life, very different from the penalty of sin.

9. then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, 2 Peter 2:9.

10. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 2 Peter 3:10.

On the appointed day, all the elements will melt and the earth and the works on the earth will be burned up.

1. I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom 2 Timothy 4:1.

God will judge both the living and the dead when He appears.

36. Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.
37. He answered and said to them: He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.
38. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.
39. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.
40. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.
41. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness,
42. and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
43. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

49. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just,
50. and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 13:36-43, 49-50.

At the end of the age, when the harvest of the righteous occurs, all the tares (wicked) will be gathered and burned.

11. And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
12. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 1 John 5:11-12.

He, or she, who has the son, has life, but whoever does not have the son of God does not have life. The alternatives are not eternal suffering or eternal bliss, but literally eternal life or eternal death.

22. For a fire is kindled by my anger, And shall burn to the lowest hell; It shall consume the earth with her increase, And set on fire the foundations of the mountains. Deuteronomy 32:22.

A fire kindled by God's anger, will burn to the lowest hell, consume the earth including the mountains to its foundations.

7. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. 2 Peter 3:7.

The heavens and earth are reserved for fire, in the day of judgment of the wicked.

18. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.
19. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more. Ezekiel 28:18-19.

Many people think that Satan is in charge of Hell. However, this text in Ezekiel shows that Satan himself, will be burned up and be ashes.

Yes God can and does forgive our sins, but only to those who obey God! Jesus loves us so much that He rebukes and chastens us so that we might repent from our sins. It is to the one who overcomes these sins that God will save. For more information on how we are saved, click on Are You Saved? How do you know if you are saved? Is it a feeling or is there a more sure way to know?

Remember, the Lord truly loves us to the extent that He wants us to live with Him. This is not wishful thinking. He even now is working on our behalf to save us from sin. He is now preparing to take us home with Him. So let's plan to be among the saved. This will be the biggest homecoming that we will ever experience. I am sure that the whole universe of created beings are also looking forward to this event. We must not miss our chance to witness and feel the happiness of those who love the Lord by living with Him!

I have another web page that looks at this very problem. Click to see: Are we tormented day and night for ever and ever?

From various verses in the Bible, we see that living people have souls.

2. And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. Genesis 2:7.

Man becomes a living soul when the dust of the ground and the breath of life comes together. When we die, the soul no longer exists because the dust returns to the earth and the spirit or breath returns to God.

7. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. Ecclesiastes 12:7.

And when that happens all thoughts stop. The dead do not know anything.

4. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. Psalms 146:4.

3. All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;
4. My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit. Job 27:3-4

The righteous receive immortality as a gift from our Lord at His Second Coming. So when Jesus comes to take us home with him, those who are still alive will be changed, and those who have fallen asleep in death, Jesus will raise them up in new bodies. Their bodies will be immortal. So at that point, the righteous will have an immortal soul.

20. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
21. who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. Philippians 3:20-21

51. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed--
52. in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."
55. "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?"
56. The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
57. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:51-57.

The Bible is very clear about this issue of the soul. The word "soul" is found around 1600 times and never once uses the expression "immortal soul" The word mortal means subject to death. The word immortal means not subject to death.

In the Bible we see that the soul who sins shall die:

4. Behold, all souls are Mine; The soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine; The soul who sins shall die." Ezekiel 18:4

Its interesting the way it is said: "The soul who sins shall die". The word "soul" could be replaced by the word "person" The person who sins shall die. it means the same thing.

Jesus said that both the body and the soul could be destroyed in hell.

28. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28

God can destroy both soul and body. However man can only kill the body. That certain something, the soul, the actual person, can still be put together by God when only the body is destroyed.

Immortality is an attribute of Divinity. Only God is naturally immortal:

15. which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords,
16. who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. 1 Timothy 6:15-16

Satan's first lie in the Garden of Eden was about death. He stated that the effect of disobedience was not death but life. He said, "you shall not surely die"

4. Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die." Genesis 3:4.

God's word says, "the wages of sin is death"

23. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23.

Death is the absence of life. Sin brings forth not eternal life in hell, but total, absolute, banishment from the presence of God by annihilation. The Bible is clear. Man is mortal (Job 4:17) and we seek for immortality

7. eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; Romans 2:7.

The righteous receive immortality as a gift from our Lord at His Second Coming (1 Corinthians 15:51-54). Sinners receive their eternal reward as well. "Sin when it is finished, bringeth forth death (James. 1:15). The choice then is between eternal life and eternal death.

16. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

In the story of the rich man and Lazarus, it seems that the rich man is suffering in Hell. How would this story, that Jesus told Himself, agree with the idea that there is no hell?

All through the Bible, it talks about death as a sleep. Jesus Himself, when He heard of Lazarus's death, mentioned that he fell asleep.

11. These things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up."
12. Then His disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps he will get well."
13. However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.
14. Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead". John 11:11-14. NIV

So it should be clear that Jesus knew that dead people are as if they were asleep. Also since the whole Bible, over and over, refers to the dead as sleeping (over 60 times); If we took the Rich Man and Lazarus story of Luke 16:19-31 literally, It would go against all the rest of the Bible. We would be making one part of the Bible go against all the other parts of scripture. It doesn't make sense that Jesus would say one day that the dead sleep, and in another time, He says they think and do things. Since the Rich man and lazarus story seems to go against all the rest of the Bible, it would seem that there is something wrong with our interpretation of the story.

There is another point that the story does not fit with the rest of the Bible (if we take a literal point of view of the story). At the second coming of Jesus, He will sound the trumpet, and all the dead will rise.

15. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.
16. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
17. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord for ever.
18. Therefore encourage each other with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18

If the righteous dead are already alive and doing things, why does Jesus have to wake them up when He comes the second time? They would already be awake.

Lets look at the Rich Man and Lazarus story itself. The story that Jesus gave about the rich man and Lazarus is either a literally description or it is just a story or a parable.

Here are 4 reasons why it could not possibly be literalistic:

1. The beggar died and was taken by the angels to Abraham's bosom. No one believes that Abraham's literal bosom is the abode of the righteous dead. It is a figurative or parabolic expression. By the way, the angels will gather the saints, but according to Matthew 24:31, this will take place at the coming of Jesus, not at a person's death.
2. Heaven and hell were separated by a gulf, and yet the persons in each could converse with each other. There are probably few individuals in the world who believe that this will be literally true of the saved and the lost (Luke 16:26).
3. The rich man was in hell with a body. He had eyes, a tongue, etc. (Luke 16:24). How did his body get into hellfire instead of into the grave? I know of no one who teaches that the bodies of the wicked go into hell as soon as they die. This story could not be literal.
4. The request for Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and come through the flames to cool the rich man's tongue is obviously not literal. How much moisture would be left and how much relief would it give? The whole story is unrealistic and parabolic.

Jesus told this story to make a point. That even if people came back from the dead, it would not convince anyone! Sure enough, when the real Lazarus was raised from the dead, they still did not believe. The Jews only wanted to kill him to hide the evidence.

So, what is it like to be dead? and, why doesn't God raise his people up when they die. Some time ago, I answered a girl's question concerning her brother who died quite suddenly. She could not seem to be able to think of her brother as not doing anything at the present time.

I told her that when her brother died in the accident, everything went black. He lost consciousness. The very next second, as far as he knows, he will wake up to see the second coming of Jesus who is coming to get every one of us.

He will be very amazed to know how long he was asleep. It doesn't matter to him because he didn't experience any time. Its as if it never happened. When we experience the sleep of death, time doesn't matter.

Monty, a friend of mine told me this story. He is a native american.

He said that when he was small, their family use to go to their grandparents farm. They would have fun playing with the animals and experiencing all the sights and sounds of a farm. Late in the evening, they would start for home in their car, but the kids would get sleepy on the long drive and soon would be fast asleep in the back of the station wagon.

When they arrived home, their parents would pick up the sleeping children and put them to bed. The next morning the kids would wake up and be surprised that they were in their own bedroom. The last thing they remember is that they were in the car. How did they get in here.

When we die, it is just like what the kids experience when they get really tired. There is no sense of any time.

There is another issue. If we have a brother or sister, mother or father, and they were alive in heaven right now and was able to see you and your family and see how you are suffering right now, would they be happy. They would be able to see your condition, but not be able to help you like they did before.

It reminds me of people who are tortured by seeing their children or wives tortured. I think God knew what He was doing when He chose to do what He did. He loves us very much and is planning to take us to live with Him as family!

When we die, there is no concept of time. So the very next thing we see is when we wake up to see Jesus.

19. Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
20. Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.
21. For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain. Isaiah 26:19-21

In this text, Isaiah specifically says that God's people will enter into the chambers of the grave until the indignation is past, until the misery, war, sickness, and sadness is finished and done away with. It is clear that this is an act of kindness. God let's His people rest until all this trouble is past. It is then that God comes out of His place to punish the wicked, It is also then that the righteous will be raised up from the dead.

Now, what happens to the wicked dead. They sleep just like the righteous, except they will rise up in a different ressurection. The rightous dead are raised to life when Jesus comes. the wicked dead will be raised up 1000 years later in the ressurection of the dead for judgement.

For additional information on the wicked dead Click to see: Are the wicked tormented day and night for ever and ever?

Let's look at the verse:

22. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. 1 Corinthians 15:22.

It does seem like the verse says that Jesus shall raise all people! However, let's look at more of the surrounding verses:

20. But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
21. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.
22. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.
23. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming.
24. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. 1 Corinthians 15:20-23.

If we look at verse 23, we see that it tells who the "all" are. All will be made alive, first Jesus, who is the firstfruits, then those who are Christ's at His coming. It is only those who belong to Jesus, they alone will be raised to life and be made immortal.

So, all sons of Adam will die, but all those who are Christ's at His coming will be made alive!