Is Hell ETERNAL?

[Guest Calamity]

OH BOY! :oww: My favorite subject of late. Let's go! Yep, it's eternal.

[Guest dove2]

Its eternal for sure. Wouldn't you know someone would bump this thread. Tell them again Calamity.

[Guest charlie]

I've been trying NOT to think of hell lately, but here the word is again. I've always thought it was fire.... and forever. I'm so terrified of going there that I sometimes wake up thinking about hell.......but there are a couple of "nagging" questions I have concerning hell.

Why would anyone deserve to burn forever and always for the sins committed in a brief FINITE life here on earth? That doesn't sound like justice to me.

Why would God allow it to last forever when he was against some tribes in the OT for "burning their children in the fire". Doesn't that make God a hypocrit?.... You know,... do as I say, not as I do.

I don't think people seriously choose hell. Why would anybody choose to burn for all eternity? If you've ever had hot grease or hot water splatter on you, you know how much that hurts. I can't think of anything that hurts worse than a burn. I wouldn't wish a burning hell on my worst enemy, who I do not love, so why will God not rescue people from there or at least come up with some less tortureous punishment for all eternity? It makes it hard to think of God as someone who "loves" his creations when I started mulling these questions around.

Am I the only one that has these thoughts?

I really need to do a complete study on this, I've been meaning to for a while but I think it is a mentally and emotionally draining subject and haven't felt quite up to the challenge.

[Guest Calamity]

Charlie, have you read this whole thread?

[Guest charlie]

No not yet. I read a lot at the beginning and these last two pages... It's getting late I thought I'd maybe give it a try tomorrow. I must have been repetative....sorry.

[Guest Calamity]

No need to be sorry. I was just wondering if you'd read it. There's a lot of stuff here, and you're right, it is late. I need to be off here myself. I don't know why it was bumped back up, but since you're wondering about it, maybe that's the reason.

[Marilyn777]

God doesn't want to send anyone to hell. That's why He sent Jesus --- to pay the penalty for our sins by dying on the cross (John 3:16,17). Unfortunately, not all people are willing to admit that they sin and ask for forgivenesss. They don't accept the payment of Jesus' death for them. So God lets them experience the results of their choice (see Luke 16:19-31).

C.S. Lewis once said that in the end there are two groups of people. One group of people says to God, "Thy will be done." These are those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ and will live forever with God in Heaven. The second group of people are those to whom God says, sadly, "Thy will be done!" These are those who have rejected Jesus Christ and will spend eternity apart from Him.

Some believe the "fire" of hell is quite literal --- and that may very well be the case. Others believe "fire" is a metaphorical way of expressing the great wrath, of God. Scripture tells us: "The Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God' (Deuteronomy 4:24). "God is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:29). "His wrath is poured out like fire" (Nahum 1:6). "Who can stand when he appears? For He will be like refiner's fire" (Malachi 3:2). God said, "My wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done --- burn with no one to quench it" (Jeremiah 4:4). Whether the fire of hell is literal or metaphorical, it will entail horrible, horrible suffering for those who are there.

There are degrees of punishment in hell and will commensurate with one's sin against the light which one has received.

One good passage that indicates degrees of punishment is Luke 12:47,48: "That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked". Other verses on this issue include Matthew 10:15; 16:27; Revelation 20:12, 13; 22:12).

Jesus affirmed that the wicked "will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life" (Matthew 25:46). Notice that the eternality of the punishment of the wicked quals the eternality of the eternal life of the righteous. One is just as long as the other. This points to the "forever" nature of the punishment of the wicked. It never ceases.

The eternal nature of this punishment is emphasized all throughout Scripture. The fire of hell, for example, is called an "unquenchable fire" (Mark 9:43); the "smoke of their {sinners'} torment rises for ever and ever" (Revelation 14:11).

Come Soon Lord

Marilyn

[Guest shadow2b]

-I have not given it that much thought for many years, for I really didn't choose Jesus as a fire insurance policy, I really do want to be with Him and the Father for I think they will be, simply the best company ever. I won't mind doing whatever He asks me to do, and anyway, being God would be way to much stress for this old soul. I've really gotten spoiled with Him carrying the load. Some teach that we must fear God, but I must say that in trusting him I really don't fear him that much any more. He has the right to do with me as he pleases since he made me, and there is little I can do about it. So, I love Him, He must love me or he wouldn't have sent Jesus here in the first place, so what's to worry about.

That seems so simplistic it's scary, but it is really what I believe.

-IS this what you would call Simply"RESTING-IN-HIM"??THE"gospel in a nutshell sorta?? :hug: :oww:

[Guest shadow2b]

-Why would anyone deserve to burn forever and always for the sins committed in a brief FINITE life here on earth? That doesn't sound like justice to me.

Why would God allow it to last forever when he was against some tribes in the OT for "burning their children in the fire". Doesn't that make God a hypocrit?.... You know,... do as I say, not as I do.

-WeLLLLLLLL, dawwggonnnn-- YOU HAVE JUST GOTTA BE KIDDIN{I-HOPE}

-Consider for a moment WHY people go to hell--eternal punishment--eternal

-separation from GOD--Eternal-separation from JESUS-YESHUA---"They"Rejected"

-JESUS--HIS perfect--sinless-BLOOD was counted as unworthy of their acceptance

-for Eternal life WITH JESUS--

[Guest Calamity]

-Why would anyone deserve to burn forever and always for the sins committed in a brief FINITE life here on earth? That doesn't sound like justice to me.

Why would God allow it to last forever when he was against some tribes in the OT for "burning their children in the fire". Doesn't that make God a hypocrit?.... You know,... do as I say, not as I do.

-WeLLLLLLLL, dawwggonnnn-- YOU HAVE JUST GOTTA BE KIDDIN{I-HOPE}

-Consider for a moment WHY people go to hell--eternal punishment--eternal

-separation from GOD--Eternal-separation from JESUS-YESHUA---"They"Rejected"

-JESUS--HIS perfect--sinless-BLOOD was counted as unworthy of their acceptance

-for Eternal life WITH JESUS--