- Malachi 4: 1-3. The fire burns up the wicked. They become ashes and stubble
- Psalm 37: 9-10. The wicked ceases to exist
- Psalm 37: 20. The wicked perish; turned into smoke
- Psalm 104: Sinners will be consumed; the wicked shall be no more
- Ezekiel 28: 18, 19. The devil is devoured by fire; turned into ashes; ceases to exist
- Revelation 20: 9. Fire devours the wicked
- Romans 6: 23. The wages of sin is death
The man-made doctrine of eternal punishment is inspired by Satan. Because of this fallacy, many would-be converts are repulsed by what seems to a hateful, monstrous, sadistic God who takes pleasure in roasting those who don’t side with Him.
On the other hand, many have been converted by this false doctrine. They accepted the preacher’s hell-fire preaching. It scared them, and out of fear they came to the Lord. That they’ve come to the Lord, of course, is a good thing, but it is not the way the Lord would have it.
God wants people to come to Him because they are attracted to His loving character, as personified by Jesus, the express image of Himself. God wants people to come to Him from a heartfelt appreciation for what Jesus has done for them.
To believe the devil’s lie is to believe that God is brutally unkind. He is not. Our God is a merciful God. His treatment of the wicked is akin to what we humans do when a sick or hurt animal can’t be healed. We don’t leave them to suffer in pain. We put them out of their misery by euthanizing them.
Are we more loving and caring than God? Of course not! In the same way, God has provided for sin-sick, sin-hurt people. He will not torture them for being ill and crippled. He will not let them linger in distress and suffering.
God is love and love is what His actions are all about. He loves even the sinners who are lost. Because He is love, He will love them forever. Because He is love, He will not torture them forever in a forever fire. Only a hateful tyrant would do that to those who had no choice about being born into a sinful nature—a situation He allowed to happen.
That’s why He has revealed Himself to us on this matter. He has given us hell-fire’s proper doctrine, as composed by His word; not the current, misleading, popular opinion and tradition of man.
As Christians, we should always be seekers of the truth. God’s word is truth: all that is sin will die in the lake of fire called the second death (Rev. 20: 14, 15).
xxx
There are three other posts that are relevant to this one.