Is hell the grave or a place of conscious torment?
Lets start with Matthew 5:27
If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.
Jesus refers here to the bodybeing cast into hell,and the psalmist speaks of bonesbeing scattered at the mouth of hell [sheol](Ps. 141:7). Jacob talked about his gray hairsbeing brought down to hell (Gen. 42:38; cf. 44:29, 31). However, Jesus referred to hell as a place where the soul goes after one dies and is in conscious torment (Luke 16:2223). Is hell just the grave, as the Jehovahs Witnesses and some other cults claim ?
The Hebrew word translated hell(sheol) is also translated graveor pit.It simply means unseen world,and can refer either to the grave, where the body is unseen after burial, or to the spirit world, which is invisible to mortal eyes.
Further, in the Old Testament, sheol often means grave, as indicated by the fact that it is a place where bones(Ps. 141:7), gray hairs(Gen. 42:38), and even weapons (Ps. 76:35) go at death. Even the resurrection of Jesusbody is said to be from hell(i.e., the grave), where it did not see corruption (Acts 2:3031).
There may be allusions to hellas a spirit world in the Old Testament (cf. Prov. 9:18; Isa. 14:9); hell(Greek: hades) is clearly described as a place of departed spirits (souls) in the New Testament. Fallen angels are there and they have no bodies (2 Peter 2:4). Unrepentant human beings are in conscious torment there after they die and their bodies are buried (Luke 16:2223). In the end those in hell will be cast into the lake of fire with the devil where they will be tormented day and night forever(Rev. 20:10, 1415). Jesus spoke many times of hell as a place of conscious and eternal suffering (cf. Matt. 10:28; 18:9; Mark 9:43, 45, 47; Luke 12:5; 16:23).
Ok. Lets take a look at Revelation for a minute. We will start with the judgment for the non believer. Revelation 20:10-15
10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, Rev. 19:5 small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
The Judgment of Satan and All Unbelievers
The devil himself is cast into the lake of fire to join the beast and the false prophet. It may seem surprising that Satan would be able to assemble an army of unbelievers at the end of the Millennium. However, it should be remembered that all children born during Christ Reign will be born in sin and will need to be saved. Not all will accept Him as rightful King, and these will scatter throughout the earth, trying to get as far away from Jerusalem as possible.
Note: that the beast and the false prophet are still in hell after one thousand years. This disproves the doctrine of annihilation, as does the statement, And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Next we are introduced to the great white throne judgment. It is great because of the issues involved and white because of the perfection and purity of the decisions handed down. The Lord Jesus is sitting as Judge ( John 5:22 , 27). The expression from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away indicates that this judgment takes place in eternity, after the destruction of the present creation (2 Pet. 3:10).
The dead, small and great, stand before God. These are the unbelievers of all ages. Two sets of books are opened. The Book of Life contains the names of all who have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. The other books contain a detailed record of the works of the unsaved. No one who appears at this judgment is registered in the Book of Life . The fact that his name is missing condemns him, but the record of his evil works determines the degree of his punishment.
The sea will yield up the bodies of those who have been buried in it. The graves, here represented by Death, will deliver up the bodies of all the unsaved who have been interred. Hades will give up the souls of all who died in unbelief. The bodies and souls will be reunited to stand before the Judge. Just as there will be degrees of reward in heaven, so there will be degrees of punishment in hell. This will be based on their works.
When we read that Death and Hades are cast into the lake of fire, it means the complete persons: spirit, soul, and body. The text explains that this is the second death, and the New King James Version margin adds, the lake of fire.
There is a difference between Hades and hell. For the unconverted who have died, Hades is a disembodied state of conscious punishment. It is a sort of holding tank, an intermediate condition where they await the Judgment of the Great White Throne.
For believers who have died, Hades is a state of disembodied blessedness in heaven, awaiting the resurrection and glorification of the body. When Jesus died, He went to Paradise ( Luke 23:43 ), which Paul equates with the third heaven (2 Cor. 12:2, 4), the dwelling place of God. In Acts 2:27 the Lords disembodied state is called Hades. God did not leave His soul in Hades, but clothed it with a glorified body.
Hell is the final prison of the wicked dead. It is the same as the lake of fire, Gehenna, and the second death.
The deciding factor at this judgment is whether ones name is written in the Book of Life. Actually if a persons name had been inscribed there, he would have already been a part of the first resurrection. So this verse applies only to those who stand before the Great WhiteThrone.
Its important to note, that once you are condemned to Hell for all eternity, this means for ever and ever. There is no such doctrine as annihilation. There is no verse in the entire bible that teaches annihilation.. There are plenty of verses that speak of an everlasting Hell.
Dan 12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
Mat 25:41-46 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was hungry, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
2Th 1:5-9 This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering--
since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you,
and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels
in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,
Matthew 23: 13-33
13 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. 15 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are. 16 "Woe to you, blind guides! You say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' 17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 You also say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.' 19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22 And he who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it. 23 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. 25 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. 27 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. 29 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers! 33 "You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?
Woes against the Scribes and Pharisees
The Lord Jesus next pronounces eight woes on the proud religious hypocrites of His day. These are not curses,but rather expressions of sorrow at their fate, not unlike the expression, Alas for you!
23:13 The first woe is directed against their obduracy and obstructionism. They refused to enter the kingdom themselves, and aggressively hindered others from entering. Strangely, religious leaders are often the most active opponents of the gospel of grace. They can be sweetly tolerant of everything but the good news of salvation. Natural man doesnt want to be the object of Gods grace and doesnt want God to show grace to others.
23:14 The second woe 43 43 (23:14) The critical (NU) text omits the second woe. lambastes their appropriating of widows houses and covering it up by making long prayers. Some modern cults use a similar technique by getting elderly widows, sometimes undiscerning believers, to sign over their property to the church.Such pretenders to piety will receive greater condemnation.
23:15 The third charge against them is misdirected zeal. They went to unimaginable lengths to make one convert, but after he was won they made him twice as wicked as themselves. A modern analogy is the zeal of false cults. One group is willing to knock on 700 doors to reach one person for their cause; but the final result is evil. As someone has said, The most converted often become the most perverted.
23:1622 Fourthly, the Lord denounced them for their casuistry, or deliberate dishonest reasoning. They had built up a false system of reasoning to evade the payment of vows. For instance, they taught that if you swore by the temple, you were not obligated to pay, but if you swore by the gold of the temple, then you must perform the vow. They said that swearing by the gift on the altar was binding, whereas swearing by the empty altar was not. Thus they valued gold above God (the temple was the house of God), and the gift on the altar (wealth of some form) above the altar itself. They were more interested in the material than the spiritual. They were more interested in getting (the gift) than in giving (the altar was the place of giving).
Addressing them as blind guides, Jesus exposed their sophistry. The gold of the temple took on special value only because it was associated with Gods abode. It was the altar that gave value to the gift upon it. People who think that gold has intrinsic value are blind; it becomes valuable only as it is used for Gods glory. Gifts given for carnal motives are valueless; those given to the Lord or in the Lords Name have eternal value.
The fact is that whatever these Pharisees swore by, God was involved and they were obligated to fulfill the vow. Man cannot escape his obligations by specious reasonings. Vows are binding and promises must be kept. It is useless to appeal to technicalities to evade obligations.
23:23, 24 The fifth woe is against ritualism without reality. The scribes and Pharisees were meticulous in giving the Lord a tenth of the most insignificant herbs they raised. Jesus did not condemn them for this care about small details of obedience, but He excoriated them for being utterly unscrupulous when it came to showing justice, mercy, and faithfulness to others. Using a figure of speech unsurpassed for expressiveness, Jesus described them as straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel. The gnat, a tiny insect that often fell into a cup of sweet wine, was strained out by sucking the wine through the teeth. How ludicrous to take such care with the insignificant, then bolt down the largest unclean animal in Palestine! The Pharisees were infinitely concerned with minutiae, but grossly blind to enormous sins like hypocrisy, dishonesty, cruelty, and greed. They had lost their sense of proportion.
23:25, 26 The sixth woe concerns externalism. The Pharisees, careful to maintain an outward show of religiousness and morality, had hearts filled with extortion and selfindulgence. 44 44 (23:25, 26) The majority text reads unrighteousness (adikia) for self-indulgence (akrasia). They should first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that is, make sure their hearts were cleansed through repentance and faith. Then, and only then, would their outward behavior be acceptable. There is a difference between our person and our personality. We tend to emphasize the personalitywhat we want others to think we are. God emphasizes the personwhat we really are. He desires truth in the inward being (Ps. 51:6).
23:27, 28 The seventh woe also strikes out against externalism. The difference is that the sixth woe castigates the concealment of avarice, whereas the seventh condemns the concealment of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Tombs were whitewashed so that Jewish people would not inadvertently touch them and thus be ceremonially defiled. Jesus likened the scribes and Pharisees to whitewashed tombs, which looked clean on the outside but were full of corruption inside. Men thought that contact with these religious leaders would be sanctifying, but actually it was a defiling experience because they were full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
23:29, 30 The final woe was against what we might label outward homage, inward homicide. The scribes and Pharisees pretended to honor the OTOT Old Testament prophets by building and/or repairing their tombs and putting wreaths on their monuments. In memorial speeches, they said they would not have joined their ancestors in killing the prophets.
23:31 Jesus said to them, Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. But how did they witness this? It almost seems from the preceding verse that they dissociated themselves from their fathers who killed the prophets. First, they admitted that their fathers, of whom they were physical sons, shed the blood of the prophets. But Jesus used the word sons in the sense of meaning people with the same characteristics. He knew that even as they were decorating the prophetsgraves, they were plotting His death. Second, in showing such respect for the dead prophets, they were saying, The only prophets we like are dead ones.In this sense also they were sons of their fathers.
23:32 Then our Lord added, Fill up, then, the measure of your fathersguilt. The fathers had filled the cup of murder part way by killing the prophets. The scribes and Pharisees would soon fill it to the brim by killing the Lord Jesus and His followers, thus bringing to a terrible climax what their fathers had begun.
23:33 At this point the Christ of God utters those thunderous words, Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? Can Incarnate Love speak such scathing words? Yes, because true love must also be righteous and holy. The popular conception of Jesus as an innocuous reformer, capable of no emotion but love, is unbiblical. Love can be firm, and must always be just.
It is solemn to remember that these words of condemnation were hurled at religious leaders, not at drunkards and reprobates. In an ecumenical age when some evangelical Christians are joining forces with avowed enemies of the cross of Christ, it is good to ponder the example of Jesus, and to remember the words of Jehu to Jehoshaphat, Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord?
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How to avoid Hell.
John 6:35-40
35 And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do notbelieve. 37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day. The New King James Version. 1982 (Jn 6:35-40). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
Jesus, the Bread of Life
6:35 Now Jesus stated the truth simply and clearly. He is the bread of life. Those who come to Him find enough in Him to satisfy their spiritual hunger forever. Those who believe on Him find their thirst forever quenched. Notice the words I am in this verse and recognize that the Lord was making a claim to equality with Jehovah. It would be folly for a sinful man to utter the words of verse 35. No mere man can satisfy his own hunger or thirst, much less satisfy the spiritual appetite of the whole world!
6:36 In verse 30, the unbelieving Jews had asked the Lord for a sign in order that they might see and believe. Here Jesus said that He had already told them that they had seen Himthe greatest sign of alland yet they did not believe. If the Son of God could stand before them in perfect manhood and not be recognized by them, then it was doubtful that any sign He would perform would convince them.
6:37 The Lord was not discouraged by the unbelief of the Jews. He knew that all the Fathers purposes and plans would be fulfilled. Even if the Jews to whom He was speaking would not accept Him, then He knew that all of those who were chosen by God would come to Him. As Pink puts it, The realization of the invincibility of the eternal counsels of God gives a calmness, a poise, a courage, a perseverance which nothing else can.
This verse is very important because it states in a few words two of the most important teachings in the Bible. The first is that God has given certain ones to Christ and that all those whom He has given will be saved. The other is the teaching of mans responsibility. In order to be saved, a man must come to the Lord Jesus and accept Him by faith. God does choose some people to be saved, but the Bible never teaches that He chooses some to be damned. If anyone is saved, it is because of the free grace of God. But if anyone perishes forever, it is his own fault. All men are condemned by their own sinfulness and wickedness. If all men went to hell, they would be receiving only what they deserve. In grace, God stoops down and saves individual people out of the great mass of humanity. Does He have the right to do this? He certainly does. God can do as He chooses, and no man can deny Him this right. We know that God will never do anything that is wrong or unjust.
But just as the Bible teaches that God has elected certain persons to salvation, it also teaches that man is responsible to accept the gospel. God makes a universal offerthat if a man will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, he will be saved. God does not save men against their will. A person must come to Him in repentance and faith. Then God will save him. No one who comes to God through Christ will be cast out.
The human mind cannot reconcile these two teachings. However, we should believe them even if we cannot understand them. They are Biblical teachings and are clearly stated here.
6:38 In verse 37, the Lord Jesus said that all of Gods plans would eventually be fulfilled with regard to the salvation of those who were given to Him. Since this was the Fathers will, the Lord would personally undertake to bring it to pass, as His mission was to do the will of God. I have come down from heaven said Christ, clearly teaching that He did not begin His life in the manger at Bethlehem. Rather, He existed from all eternity with God the Father in heaven. Coming into the world, He was the obedient Son of God. He voluntarily took the place of a servant in order to carry out the will of His Father. This does not mean that He did not have a will of His own, but rather that His own will was in perfect agreement with the will of God.
6:39 The will of the Father was that everyone who was given to Christ would be saved and kept until the resurrection of the just, when they would be raised and taken home to heaven. The words nothing and it refer to believers. Here He was thinking not of individual believers but of the entire body of Christians who would be saved down through the years. The Lord Jesus was responsible to see that not one member of the body would be lost but that the whole body would be raised up at the last day.
As far as Christians are concerned, the last day refers to the day when the Lord Jesus will come in the air, when the dead in Christ will rise first, when the living believers will be changed, and when all will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, to be forever with the Lord. To the Jews, it meant the coming of the Messiah in glory.
6:40 The Lord now went on to explain how a person became a member of the family of the redeemed. Gods will is that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life. To see the Son here means not to see Him with the physical eyes but rather with the eyes of faith. One must see or recognize that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of the world. Then, too, he must believe on Him. This means that by a definite act of faith, he must receive the Lord Jesus as his own personal Savior. All who do this receive everlasting life as a present possession and also receive the assurance that they will be raised at the last day.
John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
14:6 This lovely verse makes it clear that the Lord Jesus Christ is Himself the way to heaven. He does not merely show the way; He is the way. Salvation is in a Person. Accept that Person as your own, and you have salvation. Christianity is Christ. The Lord Jesus is not just one of many ways. He is the only Way. No one comes to the Father except through Him. The way to God is not by the Ten Commandments, the Golden Rule, ordinances, church membershipit is through Christ and Christ alone. Today many say that it does not matter what you believe as long as you are sincere. They say that all religions have some good in them and that they all lead to heaven at last. But Jesus said, No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Then the Lord is the truth. He is not just One who teaches the truth; He is the truth. He is the embodiment of Truth. Those who have Christ have the Truth. It is not found anywhere else.
Christ Jesus is the life. He is the source of life, both spiritual and eternal. Those who receive Him have eternal life because He is the Life.
The Judgment Seat of Christ
9 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 11 Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.
5:10 The context of this verse is the believers future glorious spiritual body. Thus, only the believer is in view, and only believers, therefore, will appear at “the judgment seat of Christ.4 They will be judged for their works, but their salvation will not be at stake (cf. Rom. 14:10; 1 Cor. 3:13, note). This judgment takes place immediately after the return of Christ for His church. Only Christians are present. It should be clearly distinguished from the “Great White Throne Judgment” of Rev. 20:1115, which is only for unbelievers and which occurs immediately before the establishment of the eternal state (cf. Rev. 21, 22).
When Jesus is speaking here in Matthew 6:20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
In verses 19-21 Jesus contravenes all human advice to provide for a financially secure future. When He says, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth,4 He is indicating that there is no security in material things. Any type of material treasure on earth can be either destroyed by elements of nature ( moth or rust ) or stolen by thieves . Jesus says that the only investments not subject to loss are treasures in heaven .
This radical financial policy is based on the underlying principle that where your treasure is, there your heart will be also . If your money is in a safe-deposit box, then your heart and desire are also there. If your treasures are in heaven, your interests will be centered there. This teaching forces us to decide if Jesus meant what He said. If He did, then we face the question, “What are we going to do with our earthly treasures?” If He didnt, then we face the question, “What are we going to do with our Bible?”
While some will say, What does this teaching have to do with the judgment seat of Christ? I will say that it has everything to with it, for when we get our rewards handed to us in heaven, we will be rewarded according to our deeds. This does not only mean what we do with our money, but what we do with our lives. For some its prayer, for others its helps, for others its preaching, for others its evangelizing, for others its teaching and still for others its money..
Now since there will be no jealousy in heaven, one may ask. Well what does it matter what I do for Christ while I am here on earth. Believe me it will matter to you.
Do you want a spoon and pot to bang on during worship service in heaven or do you want a full drum set?