Hello Magenta,
I agree that the wages of sin is death, but it is the definition of "death" and "destruction" that you are not understanding. You think of death as nonexistence, but the word of God describes it as a state of being separated from God and a complete loss of well being. You continue to state that scripture supports annihilation, but it doesn't. I listed the definition of the Greek words for you and they state that they do not imply annihilation or extinction. Do you understand that you are teaching the same doctrine that the Jehovah's witness teach? They also believe that hell is only the grave. Not very good company.
People continue to use the scripture above from Ecclesiastes and it doesn't mean what you think it means. Not only that, but you ignore all the other scriptures that demonstrate conscious awareness of the spirit/soul after death. You have still to explain the meaning of how a person who is nonexistent can have no rest day or night or how the smoke of their torment can rise up forever and ever if they don't exist.
"For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; (their bodies which are sleeping) they have no further reward, and even their name is
forgotten."
For the believer, at the time of death, scripture states that the spirit departs from body and goes immediately to be in the presence of the Lord. While the body sleeps in the dust of the ground.
I have presented the 5th seal to you, which shows the spirits/souls of those saints under the altar who are having a conversation with the Lord and are given white robes and told to wait a little longer. That alone should be a proof to you that the spirit/soul is conscious and aware after death.
I presented the event of the rich man and Lazarus which says that they both died, but their spirits went somewhere else; but you ignore that as well opting for a parable. And indeed you would have to interpret it as a parable because completely destroys the concept of conscious awareness of the spirit after death and supports torment in flame for the wicked.
Neither conscious existence after death nor on-going punishment for sin, is a false teaching, as scripture supports them, but you ignore the context of scripture and the definition of the words.
Really?! Let's see if scripture supports your claim above:
"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels."
According to the scripture above, apparently it did enter God's mind to burn people in everlasting fire. So, who is the one ignoring scripture now? I do not promote an abomination, but I am zealous for the truth and accuracy of God's word. And the truth of the matter is that, those who die without Christ, will be thrown into the lake of fire, where the beast, the false prophet, Satan and his angels will all be, experiencing on-going punishment/torment. This is just what scripture says.