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newton3003
Guest
In Matthew 25:41-46 41, Jesus says “…[God] will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the ETERNAL FIRE prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into ETERNAL PUNISHMENT, but the righteous into ETERNAL LIFE.”
Ordinarily, as 2 Timothy 3:16 says that all Scripture is breathed out by God, and Proverbs 3:5 says to trust in God with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding, we are to accept what God has in store for us and not question why things like punishment will last for eternity. But as Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge, the resulting inquiring minds ask why one’s punishment is to be eternal.
The short answer is that with God we accept the bad with the good. Nobody has a problem with dwelling in the House of the Lord forever, so it isn’t much of a stretch that those who are punished are punished forever. But what could the rationale possibly be?
With God, things are eternal. He is eternal, so His House is eternal and the angels and spirits who reside there, do so eternally. Punishment, then, is also eternal, or so long as God exists which is eternally. Punishment in this regard does not serve as a lesson, it just is.
The Bible does not explain why God is eternal, let alone why He offers eternal life and makes punishment eternal.
Ezekiel 18:4 says, “Behold, all souls are [God’s]; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is [God’s]: the soul who sins shall die.” But since the souls of the righteous return to God, it has to be implied that all souls are eternal. So when God says the souls of sinners shall die, He most likely means not that they cease to exist, but that in relation to going to His House forever the dead are simply those that don’t go there; they end up in the lake of fire forever.
The Bible does bring up that souls who die will do so with their flesh, but in considering other parts of the Bible, that doesn’t mean that the soul remains part of the flesh upon flesh’s death.
In short, eternity under God has no known reason, it just is, along with anything else that is associated with that eternity. The bible does not appear to offer any obvious reasons.
Ordinarily, as 2 Timothy 3:16 says that all Scripture is breathed out by God, and Proverbs 3:5 says to trust in God with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding, we are to accept what God has in store for us and not question why things like punishment will last for eternity. But as Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge, the resulting inquiring minds ask why one’s punishment is to be eternal.
The short answer is that with God we accept the bad with the good. Nobody has a problem with dwelling in the House of the Lord forever, so it isn’t much of a stretch that those who are punished are punished forever. But what could the rationale possibly be?
With God, things are eternal. He is eternal, so His House is eternal and the angels and spirits who reside there, do so eternally. Punishment, then, is also eternal, or so long as God exists which is eternally. Punishment in this regard does not serve as a lesson, it just is.
The Bible does not explain why God is eternal, let alone why He offers eternal life and makes punishment eternal.
Ezekiel 18:4 says, “Behold, all souls are [God’s]; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is [God’s]: the soul who sins shall die.” But since the souls of the righteous return to God, it has to be implied that all souls are eternal. So when God says the souls of sinners shall die, He most likely means not that they cease to exist, but that in relation to going to His House forever the dead are simply those that don’t go there; they end up in the lake of fire forever.
The Bible does bring up that souls who die will do so with their flesh, but in considering other parts of the Bible, that doesn’t mean that the soul remains part of the flesh upon flesh’s death.
In short, eternity under God has no known reason, it just is, along with anything else that is associated with that eternity. The bible does not appear to offer any obvious reasons.
