This is part 2 of a guest post series by Franklin Beals

In my last article I addressed some of the problems with annihilationism and how it is a departure from the teaching on Hell found in the scriptures. One of the main arguments I put forth was that many Bible passages teach eternal conscious torment (ECT) for the unregenerate.  What annihilationists often do to defend their view is to take the words “destruction” and “destroy” and define them to mean “ceasing to exist.”

They do this by isolating clear passages that affirm ECT from the passages they cite. After answering the question, “Does the Bible teach ECT ?” I want to move to answering “why” ECT makes sense for finite beings.  Just to be clear, when I say we are finite I mean that we didn’t exist at one point in time: unlike God who has always existed.  Also, to be even more clear, I want to say that the only joy I find in writing this is that the truth and character of God be put forth in an ocean of uncertainty.  The famous Christian speaker that I mentioned in the first article ended his video by saying he hasn’t landed for sure on either position.  However, I believe his video questioned the historical beliefs of a majority of our church fathers. These men were far more learned than modern man.  While these men are still fallible, if your beliefs challenge such a rich collective of saints that largely agreed on a subject, those beliefs should be held in quarantine. 

One of the questions that annihilationists ask is. “Why would God require eternal punishment for 80 years of sin?”  I propose that this seems unreasonable to them due to one, or both of the following points:  1) A low view of sin.  2) an overemphasis or misunderstanding of God’s love.  I plan to answer these questions in the following discourse.

A Low View of Sin

I’m quite certain they would be hard pressed to admit it but wrapped up in annihilationist belief is the idea that eternal punishment in Hell is somehow unfair for those who would hold on to their sin and reject the free gift of salvation.  I don’t know how you could defend the annihilationist position without addressing this enormous problem.  At the very core of their argument is the belief that a sinner can pay God what is due Him in a finite period of time.  To show how this position errs, let’s look at what the Bible has to say about the seriousness of sin.

In James 2:10, the Bible tells us in no uncertain terms that one sin is worthy of death.

“For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.”  This literally means that if you were to only commit one sin, it would condemn you the same as if you had violated the whole law.  Now anyone who is honest would confess to far more than a single breaking of God’s law.  The Bible teaches (and history agrees) that men drink down iniquity like water and store up wrath for themselves.

This is stated in Romans 2:5-8:

“But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who “WILL RENDER TO EACH ONE ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS”: eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath,”

Along with the fact that this passage never gives the impression that “indignation and wrath” will end after a limited amount of time, the description of sin is extensive.  It’s called “hardness of heart”, “impenitent heart”, “self seeking”, “those who do not obey the truth”, and “those who obey unrighteousness”.  All of these descriptions mean the same thing.  A violating of the law of God.  This is expanded in Romans 1:20-22, which teaches that creation alone is enough to condemn sinners and leave them without excuse on the day of judgment.  

“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Professing to be wise, they became fools,”

Other key passages illustrating the permeant nature of sin are found in the book of Revelation. 

Revelation 9:20-21:

“But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk.  And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.”

Revelation 6:9:

“And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory.”

When you read these passages, it should grip you that they experienced things we cannot even imagine, yet it says, “they did not repent”. By their unwillingness to repent, the pervasive nature of sin is clearly put on display.  It is safe to assume that in Hell, under the Wrath of God, they will never repent.  This presents a problem.  If an unbeliever dies after storing up wrath for himself all his life and continues to be unrepentant in Hell, when will he ever pay in full what he owes God?  The truth is that he or she never will.  Sin is so pervasive in the unbeliever that they will never stop, thus their torment will never end.

A Low View of God’s Love

When considering God’s love, it should be noted that He owes His creation nothing.  That may seem like a strange way to start out talking about the love of God, but when you look at all He’s done on behalf of rebellious sinners you should be reminded of His great kindness to those that have earned nothing but His wrath.  After a person comes to Jesus Christ and receives forgiveness for their sins, they are also clothed in His righteousness.  Their position before God changes.  He then sees him or her as He sees His Son because they have been given a perfect righteousness that was earned by Jesus.

When a sinner repents and trusts in Jesus, they become children of God and come under His fatherly care and protection.  One of the things that we know about God is that He is infinitely just.  One of the places this is shown is in Psalm 89:13-14:

“You have a mighty arm; Strong is Your hand, and high is Your right hand. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face.”

“Righteousness and Justice” are said to be the foundation of God’s throne.  This means that at the very core of who God is, He is righteous and just.  If God is righteous, it is not as a result of doing right things.  Whatever God does is right because it comes from Him and He can do nothing that isn’t right.  If God is just, then this also means that he will right every wrong one day.  He promises to His children that He will repay those who persecute them.  This is put forth in 2 Thess. 1:6-9:

“since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,”

These verses describe two groups of unrepentant sinners.  The first group is described as those who “trouble” the believers.  These are people who actively war and fight against Christians. But lest we think that normal folks who aren’t actively involved in persecuting Christians escape God’s notice, the second description includes them.  “Those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel.”  Both groups find the same end. “These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.”  And all of this is going to happen in the day when “the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance.”

The other thing we should take time for is to see how the Bible defines love.  To do this I will go to a very well-known passage that is usually reserved for weddings.  While it’s perfectly acceptable to use these verses to instruct a married couple how to treat one another, it also tells us about God’s character. 1 Corinthians 13:6 says this about love. (Love) “does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth.”  What does it mean to rejoice in the truth?  One of the truths taught in the Bible is that unrepentant sinners will be punished for eternity in Hell for their crimes against God (2 Thess 1:9).  Comparatively, we as humans are instructed not to “repay evil for evil” and to “leave room for the justice of God” (Romans 12:9). These two verses together show the contrast between how we are to deal with those who sin against us, and how God will one day deal with them.  It is noteworthy for us to understand that when this Romans passage calls our vengeance “evil”, it means that it is sin.  Yet God is good in all His judgements (Psalm 145:17) and for Him to judge unrepentant sinners in Hell for their crimes is also good.

This is where the rubber meets the road.  If you get your theology straight about who God is, then the idea of Hell doesn’t seem unreasonable.  If God has reserved a place for Satan, his angels and rebel sinners called the Lake of Fire, (where the smoke of their torment rises up forever and ever) then God is good and right to do so. Anyone who goes there does so because they are being paid the wages they earned.  Just to be candid, I personally knew people who warred against God all the way to the end.  These people are most likely suffering in Hell awaiting the final judgment.  That does not make me happy.  Especially knowing that many of them heard the truth repeatedly over the course of their lives and yet refused to repent.  One of them, who was very close to me, even saw my life completely changed by Jesus Christ, but he still persisted in his sin all the way to his dying breath. 

Jesus said to us in Luke 14:26:

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.”

At face value this is a difficult word from our Lord.  But reason would instruct us that Jesus is not saying that we should hate people, but that we should prefer Him over all these other relationships. As some have said, our love for others looks like hate when compared to our love for Jesus because we always choose Him.  Even if one of these beloved people were to try to make you pick between your faith in Jesus and them, you would willingly and gladly choose Jesus.  At the same time, it would break your heart.  But because you know God is good, and that He will wipe away every tear one day in heaven you press on.  I truly believe that we have no concept of what it will be like to have a glorified mind and body, but what I do know is that even if we struggle with these things here, one day it all will be made clear.

What Now?

So what do we do with all of this?  What’s the point of diving into this subject that makes many people really uncomfortable?  One thing is for sure, no matter if we like what the Bible says about Hell or not, it’s a reality that will not change. My prayer is that looking eternal Hell square in the face will urge Christians all the more to plead with sinners to turn to Christ and be saved.  Also, that you would be reminded of what it was that God saved you from.  He saved you by Himself, from Himself and for Himself.  Rejoice and be glad, dear Christian, and go share your faith.

Franklin Russell Beals