Scriptural Help Needed...Please :)

[CNU Erik]

Hello to all,

I have a co-worker that I talk to frequently and he believes that hell is only a temporary holding place for those who did not choose Jesus during their time on Earth. He believes that all will eventually be in heaven, and that hell is a place where people go temporarily to be punished temporarily until they ultimately turn to God and recieve repentance. I personally know that heaven and hell are eternal and that once you are in hell that is where you remain eternally and after Jesus comes for the second time satan and all who are in hell will be thrown into a lake of fire forever. Hence..weeping and gnashing of teeth. I don't have time to look up scriptures to support this stance and I would greatly appreciate it if someone could help me out as to finding supportive scripture that I could present to him.

[nanasimmons]

Here is one to get you started Luke 16:19-31 The rich man and Lazarus

I'm sure you'll receive plenty more,good luck

[ayin jade]

He is partly right.

Drop the stones and let me explain lol.

Hell is a temporary holding cell for those who die unsaved BEFORE Jesus returns and there is final judgement. Now when the final judgement happens, it is quite clear that those who have not believed in Jesus will go to the Lake of fire. Hell is also thrown into the Lake of Fire, with the devil, the antichrist, and all of those whose names are not written in the book of life. Most people today confuse hell with the Lake of Fire. The bible is clear that there is a place of eternal torment, that many people will be condemned to.

Revelation 20

10 And the Devil who deceived them was cast into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet were . And he will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

11 And I saw a great white throne, and Him sitting on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And a place was not found for them.

12 And I saw the dead, the small and the great, stand before God. And books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

13 And the sea gave up the dead in it. And death and hell delivered up the dead in them. And each one of them was judged according to their works.

14 And death and hell were cast into the Lake of Fire. This is the second death.

15 And if anyone was not found having been written in the Book of Life, he was cast into the Lake of Fire.

Jesus spoke more about hell than He did about heaven. Why? If all are saved, why did He warn people about eternal torment? Universalism (the all are saved doctrine) is a heresy.

Other passages that speak of some being condemned.

"Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. 14"For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it," (Matt. 7:13-14).

"For many are called, but few are chosen," (Matt. 22:14).

"And He was passing through from one city and village to another, teaching, and proceeding on His way to Jerusalem. 23And someone said to Him, "Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?" And He said to them, 24"Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25"Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying,

[Guest kylesmith]

Jade you beat me to it. We just talked about this in our bible study this past week. It is very important for us as Christians to understand the differences here before we try and explain it to others. I was unclear on this topic until I went to bible study. LOL. Revelation, chapter 20 is an excellent place to look at the truth on this topic. I will be praying for you to convey clear words of wisdom to your friend.

[Keith]

Beautiful job, Jade!

The challenge is, how do you communicate to a generation whose motto is "Live for Today" the reality of eternal decisions that they are currently making, whether they realize it or not?

Job 36:26 says that "No one can begin to understand eternity." Eternity can't be mentally comprehended because our minds are finite. God lives in the infinite. How can the finite define or comprehend the infinite? But, eternal judgments are just that. Eternal and never changing. Our judgment of heaven or hell is eternal. Never-ending. No end... ever. Part of hell's description is a "bottomless pit". Can you imagine falling into a hole where you never stopped falling? You would never hit or even see the floor. You just keep falling and falling forever. Look at it. An endless time of falling and no bottom. That's enough to short-circuit anyone's mind.

Imagine the most vile places that ever existed. Concentration camps, intensely over-crowded prisons, etc., Imagine the pungent odors, the dangers, the pain, the mind torture, etc., that accompanies these places! We couldn't imagine living a week in those places, much less any significant amount of time like months, years or decades! Yet, these places would be like a country club compared to what awaits those sentenced to an eternity in hell!

There are several names given to hell in Scripture. Sheol (in the Old Testament), Hades, and the grave are a few names given to the intermediate hell. Gehenna and the Lake of Fire are the names given to the eternal hell.

The intermediate hell, Hades, is the not the eternal hell of people who are outside of salvation. It's a kind of waiting place of torment until the Great White Throne Judgment. After the judgment, the permanent and forever hell is called the Lake of Fire.

"Then I saw a great white throne and the One Who was seated upon it... And the sea delivered up the dead who were in it, death and Hades surrendered the dead in them, and all were tried and their cases determined by what they had done [according to their motives, aims, and works]. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's [name] was not found recorded in the Book of Life, he was hurled into the lake of fire.

-- Revelation 20:11 from the Amplified Bible.

Those in Hades, the intermediate place of torture, were brought before the judgment. Once judgment was complete, those whose names weren't found in the Lamb's Book of Life will be hurled into the Lake of Fire, including the fallen angels, and even Hades itself.

[CNU Erik]

Thank you very much for your help! Ayin Jade I have understood hell exactly as you have so beautifully articulated, but it has been a while since I have read relevation and needed my mind refreshed so thank you. I will present this info that you all have blessed me with after I study it more and pray about it. My friend is very bright but he thinks too deep and the last three verses in first timothy describe him perfectly. Where it says that "avoid those who seek so called knowledge and in doing so have wondered from the truth" (not verbatum). He sees hell as temporary in as much that even satan will one day be in heaven again. He says that God's mercy is limitless so then it would extend to those even in hell. Also he uses "Jesus died so that ALL men might be saved." Which I know is wrong. God's mercy is limitless but we have a choice of life through Jesus or rejection of Jesus and truth leading to death. And nana the story of the rich man and lazurus was the first thing that popped into my head when this issue came up . I wish I had more time to go in more depth but between full time college and work my time is slim. But I know that the Holy Spirit guides me and will teach me what to say. Many times in other areas we have debated (he originally thought there was no afterlife at all as well), the Holy Spirit would quicken something to me that would just silence him completely and it is something I wouldn't have thought of on my own. But praise God because he humbles the wise and guides them to His truth. Thanks again for your time and prayers.

[ayin jade]

....the last three verses in first timothy describe him perfectly. Where it says that "avoid those who seek so called knowledge and in doing so have wondered from the truth" (not verbatum).

Oh how often have I seen this! Even on these boards, you can find those who seek so called knowledge and wander away. Just so sad to see it.

He sees hell as temporary in as much that even satan will one day be in heaven again.

There isnt any verse in the bible that says anything remotely like that. In fact the bible is quite clear that the devil is doomed for eternity. Im sad your friend is caught up in that belief.

Many times in other areas we have debated (he originally thought there was no afterlife at all as well), the Holy Spirit would quicken something to me that would just silence him completely and it is something I wouldn't have thought of on my own. But praise God because he humbles the wise and guides them to His truth. Thanks again for your time and prayers.

Yes, He gives us words! Love the way He does that. Praise Him indeed!

[Christian]

So would you consider "Abrahams bosom" or "Paradise" to be empty?, and that the souls that were there were liberated by Christ and reside in Heaven currently? Also, do you think that these souls return with Christ to be "reunited" with their glorified bodies?

1Th 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will also bring with Him all those who have fallen asleep through Jesus.

1Th 4:15 For we say this to you by the Word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall not go before those who are asleep.

1Th 4:16 For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first.

[RGR]

I don't remember the exact chap. and verse but Jesus warned the Pharisees about blasphemy of the Holy Spirit saying that the person who did so would not have forgiveness in this life or the life to come!

[CNU Erik]

So would you consider "Abrahams bosom" or "Paradise" to be empty?, and that the souls that were there were liberated by Christ and reside in Heaven currently? Also, do you think that these souls return with Christ to be "reunited" with their glorified bodies?

1Th 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will also bring with Him all those who have fallen asleep through Jesus.

1Th 4:15 For we say this to you by the Word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall not go before those who are asleep.

1Th 4:16 For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first.

So are you saying you believe that no one will be in eternal punishment?

-fallen asleep through Jesus

-dead in Christ shall rise first

notice fallen asleep through Jesus specifically refers to those through Jesus not those who reject Jesus/ fallen asleep is commonly used to refer to those who are dead on Earth not dead as in going to hell

dead IN CHRIST refers to those whose physical wordly bodies are dead but those whose name's are in the book of life (those who followed Jesus)/ it specifically denotes those who are in Christ and through Jesus for a reason, it doesnt say "all the dead" but all the dead in Christ/ and it doesnt say only "all who have fallen asleep" but those who have "fallen asleep through Jesus----think and pray about that