Posted on 01/04/2014 6:19:57 PM PST by pastorbillrandles
thank you and bless you pastorbillrandles :)
Our soul is quite valuable, but our soul is NOT immortal without Christ.
1 Cor. 15:53 “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”
We “put on immortality” when we accept Jesus’s immortality through faith.
The souls of the unsaved will be destroyed in the Lake of Fire. That is the “Second Death”.
Rev. 20:11-15
Thanks Jim, and also thanks for what you do-
Scubie, Thanks for commenting. Your own tagline is a testimony to my point that both the saved and lost last forever. The destruction of the unsaved shall last forever, to meet the demands of infinite Justice.
I concur. John 3:16 "...shall not perish..." Rev 20:14 "...the lake of fire. This is the second death..." Psalm 92:7 "...their end may be eternal destruction..."
To reinterpret these and other verses to mean eternal life in a tormented state separate from God is inventive, to say the least. The human soul is not immortal, for God alone is immortal - 1 Timothy 6:16.
Regarding your tagline, our choice is actually the New Earth or the Lake of Fire. Heaven is not our eternal destination.
That's an interesting argument, but it is not biblical. John 10:28 (NIV) states "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish". The dichotomy here is eternal life or perishing. Websters defines perish as "...to disappear or be destroyed : to cease to exist". Greek is Appolumi, which means kill, destroy, perish.
One has to contrast these and other plain statements against phrases like in Mark 9:46 "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." which does not contradict perishing, nor does it explicitly support eternal torment, as it says nothing about the souls themselves. One then must fabricate more unbiblical ideas like God cause the damned bodies to ever be regenerating so they can ever be consumed, which is preposterus, and completely unbiblical.
I am trying to communicate a needed truth to a worldly generation who have too often been inadequately evangelized with a very reduced ‘gospel’. These are people who have received a false kind of eternal “fire insurance” but have not ever been shown their own sinfulness or the need to break off from this world. They chose the world over true conversion and discipleship because they believe that the gospel is merely salvation from hell. As for the final destination being the new earth, You are right, but Heaven is coming down to earth. My slogan isn’t meant to be a systematic study of the “Last things”, I am merely trying to make a point to a lost and falsely converted generation.
“Lately I have leavin’ on my mind” http://www.patburt.com/
Well said, I retract my previous statement in light of your clarification. I am thankful for your passion for the lost!
The worm never dies and the fire is never quenched...how can this be if the souls no longer exist?
Grace and Peace to you brother-
Thanks for the post pastor bill.
I agree. I am certainly not against that mission of reaching the lost with the truth of the Gospel of Christ.
Like your first main topic (our soul is valuable), I completely agree. I believe that at the Great White Throne Judgement, the lost will finally see what is truth and how valuable their soul really is, and it will crush them when they realize what they gave in exchange for their soul (which Christ died for and Satan lies for).
Amen brother. People have no idea until God opens their eyes. We have to Pray and faint not!
Analyze Scripture with Scripture. Hold to the major themes,( like John 3:16) to decipher confusing themes. Realize that Scripture has many examples of symbolism.
For example, if a smoke cloud from a burning city went as far as the eye could see, it was and is common to say that the smoke cloud goes on “forever”, when in reality it doesn’t. Also, the garbage pit at Gehenna burned for many, many years and worms fed on dead animals there for many years. Gehenna was known to Israelis as a place of national punishment, however the worms that always seemed to be there, aren’t there today.
Here are a few good links to look at for more in depth study.
http://www.jeremyandchristine.com/articles/eternal.php
http://www.brethrenofchrist.net/expounding-biblical-subjects/119-gehenna
Thank you for this.
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