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Punishment of the Wicked In Light of The Cross — 13 Comments

  1. Amen, brother. The true light of the character of God needs to be made known. EGW said, It is the darkness of misapprehension of God that is enshrouding the world. Men are losing their knowledge of His character. It has been misunderstood and misinterpreted. At this time a message from God is to be proclaimed, a message illuminating in its influence and saving in its power. His character is to be made known. Into the darkness of the world is to be shed the light of His glory, the light of His goodness, mercy, and truth. {COL 415.3}

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  2. Wow I love it; beautiful. I'll send this to a Sabbath-keeping friend of mine (non-Adv) who he and all his family would love to know more about this 🙂 Thanks William

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  3. As stated, it boils down to: what motivates people more? Love or Fear? When the AIDS epidemic took over Africa in the early and mid 90s, alarmed health authorities/professionals distributed graphic, extremely-horrific pictures the patients, victims of the disease. I was in Africa back then. They came to our school and passed around flyers specifically designed to instill fear (in sexually-active young men so they’ll keep their snakes in its cage.) And, it worked. But only for about two weeks or so. The reason, I believe, is because fear is an emotion. In fact, Wikipedia defines fear as “an emotion induced to a perceived threat.” And emotions fade away after a certain period. Love, on the contrary, is more than just emotions. It’s a principle. It’s a relationship. It’s selflessness. You see, the Devil holds PHD in human psychology (he’s been studying it for 6000 yrs.) He knows what motives us permanently (love) and what gives us the illusion of “relationship” (the fear factor.) A lot of Christians lose their faith and leave the church as soon as they discover the house they built “on sand” get destroyed as a result of the rain, flood and wind of life. In fact, I have a cousin who became an atheist after his wife, “his true love,” filed for a divorce on him. So, Love is the only force that can keep a Christian grounded in his faith in spite of the tsunamis of life. As the hymn goes:

    We have an anchor that keeps the soul
    Steadfast and sure while the billows roll,
    Fastened to the Rock which cannot move,
    Grounded firm and deep in the Savior’s love.

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  4. Love is indeed a great weapon against the devil...the love of God is greater far than widest or deeps sea. I thank God every day for his love.

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  5. God is too loving to allow hell to burn forevr, jst like a stain on a plan piece of white paper, hell can be a dent in Gods perfect word...he can not allow hell to burn forevr, God will distroy sin n its root for good, once and for all.

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  6. I did not even read past the fourth paragraph.

    Hallelujah!

    You keep promoting the beautiful character of God!

    (Now I'm off to read the rest...)

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  7. I'm so glad to have read this today! Happy Sabbath to all! Its so refreshing to know and be reminded of how Great God truly is. To Love Him is to serve Him. How blessed I feel today to finally have a true understanding of Heaven and Hell because we are programed to believe that if we do or don't do specific things that we will be tortured in Hell. I've always pondered this and so thankful for the clarification on the subject. People deserve to know the truth about God's never failing love for all of us. The misconception of Heaven and Hell will continue to be the cause of so many being turned away from God simply because so many just don't understand. Now that I think about it, that's truly how this world operates now. So many lies have been told that when people search for the truth, they don't know what to believe anymore!!! I encourage all of us to always be reminded of John 3:16 and pass it on!!!! God Bless!!

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  8. Thanks Randall for pointing me to this thread.

    I agree with the main points of this post.. and would also like to point out that Isaiah 33:14-15 says almost exactly the same thing, so I was surprised it was left out. It says that those hating righteousness are full of fear asking themselves "who can dwell in the eternal burning fires?", and the answer comes to them.. those who love righteousness, and hate iniquity, they will be the ones who will dwell there, with God.

    Isa 33:11-12 seem to indicate that it is the "fire" of the wicked people's own spirit (breath) that will burn them.. which I would interpret as their own consciences. Maybe I'm wrong here, but maybe it has to do with an understanding of the difference between physical fire destroying dead bodies after "spiritual fire" destroys their living "spirits", and what is spiritual fire composed of? I've heard it suggested that this is composed of Love and Truth.

    Thanks for the post!

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  9. I thank you for this article. I brings understanding and finality to the demise of the wicked. If there was an eternal punishment it would give credence to our enemy's claim of the immortality of the soul. By the way, when Jesus was on the cross bearing the totality of sin did His Father go after Him with a flamethrower? I believe that when Jesus returns after the millennium and reveals to all what sin really is, the price God and His son paid for saving man from sin and their motivation for saving man, the wicked will understand that their character is not fit for heaven. They will see that sin separated them from God just like it separated Jesus from His father on the cross. God has respected the freedom and power of choice of all His created beings from the beginning and I believe that He will do the same in the end. The wicked will ask for mercy and God will show them mercy by revealing His glory to them which will destroy them and end the conflict eternally.

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  10. I heard of a preacher who said if you take away the fear of unending torture in hell, then the sinner will not be motivated to repent. Of course, this man does not understand the power of God's love and sacrifice. The motivation for repentance that leads to eternal life is initiated by the Holy Spirt as the sinner encounters and beholds the forgivness and love of God demonstrated through Christ and the cross of calvary. Jesus promised to draw all men if He is lifted up. Here is the motivation for repentance that leads to eternal life. If Jesus gives a "measure of faith" to everyone who comes into the world, He has something to tap into for conviction when a sinner gets a glipse of a perfect Lord willingly dying for their sins. It is with loving kindness that he draws all mankind not a fear of torture. Jeremiah 31:3

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  11. [Moderator note: please use first and last names when commenting on this site. Thanks!]

    Wow! what a fundemental that has been exposed! I wish many of the believers will look at judgement in the in light of the cross, not one will lose sight of the love of God demonstrated on the cross.

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  12. Fantastic post William.

    There is definitely need to re-examine beliefs like this one that have become entrenched within Christianity that, in actuality, reflect the nature and character of Satan rather than the true nature and character of God.

    In support of what your post has raised, could it be that the concept of 'fire' in relation to the ending of 'sinners' has been literalised - when it was meant to be metaphorical? The verses and quotes you shared would suggest this possibility.

    Another curious Bible passage on this topic is Isa 33:15 which outlines the nature and character of those who will "live with everlasting burning" (Isa 33:14).

    Isa 33:14-15 is actually suggesting it is the righteous who will spend eternity living amid everlasting burning! Hence, the fire of God must be something other than literal fire - meaning fire is being used as a metaphor to teach something of the nature and character of God.

    One idea I have read that makes sense is that, aside from the horror of fire, when you consider fire more innocently, it's nature and 'character' is to engulf something and to change that something into its own likeness (ie, the likeness/nature/character of the fire). Some of the dimensions of that change are refining and purifying(refiner's fire), and transformation into a source of light. These metaphorical aspects certainly match the nature and character of God and how God's nature and character manifests in transformation into likeness for those who are willing to share that same nature and character.

    It is interesting that people will sit around a campfire/log fire of an evening and find it a very relaxing experience to stare into the flames. Yet, because of the Satanic doctrine of burning people alive at the end of this world, we recoil from considering fire in the way I believe it was meant to be considered.

    So, perhaps the next time you are sitting around a log fire or campfire, watch how the flames transform the pieces of timber from lifeless, 'dark' pieces of wood to glowing white-tipped coals that come 'alive' to now emit beautiful light (and warmth).

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