Checkpoint wrote:
Yes, God not only speaks of fire as a destroyer, but is Himself that fire that brings to nothing, burns up, whatever it reaches or touches.
Yes, His judgment is unavoidable, and it is all-consuming and uncompromising.
Checkpoint wrote:
It is the negative expression or effect of the truth that "God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all"; 1 John 1:5.
What John, in referring to John 1 and 8 here, is saying is that God perfect and holy in every way, utterly transcendent, and that all darkness, while it certainly exists, is outside of Him.
Checkpoint wrote:
Hell is what will also happen on the last day, to those who are unable to escape the power of The Second Death, which the metaphoric lake of fire symbolises.
It's a real place where the dead will be sent on the last day. God will give to each what they have chosen. Again, I agree that the lake of fire is metaphoric, a lake is a physical place (like Lake Tahoe, Lake Titicaca, or Lake Victoria). So yes, the lake of fire symbolizes the eternal, physical destination of those who experience the second death.
Checkpoint wrote:
Hell is an event just as the first death is.
Absolutely not. The Judgment is the event, and hell is the resulting eternal destination and abode of those on Jesus's figurative left, the place to which they are sent away.
Checkpoint wrote:
As God says, "It is appointed to mankind once to die, but after this comes their judgment"; Hebrews 9:27.
Yes, this is the first death, physical death. The second death is not in view here.
Checkpoint wrote:
He further explains this in Acts 17:30 "Although God overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, He now commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to all by raising him from the dead".
Jesus confirms this, giving us a further glimpse in John 5:27 "And He has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice, 29 and come out—those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment (negative judicial decision)".
Yes, the Judgment will occur when Jesus returns, after everyone (even Jesus Himself) suffered the first death (physical death). It is surely worth noting that unrepentant sinners (unbelievers) are also resurrected along with repentant sinners (believers). There is
absolutely no inference anywhere in Scripture that unrepentant sinners (unbelievers) are wiped from existence. As a result of this negative judicial decision rendered at the Judgment, those who remain dead in their sin -- as was the state even of all believers before they believed and were justified and saved -- depart into a place totally devoid of God's grace, a place where only His unending, all-consuming judgment remains.
Checkpoint wrote:
One truth about hell is that it is not a place for sinners to continue in sin...
Whether they continue to sin in hell or not is irrelevant. It is the eternal dwelling place of those who were unrepentant in this life.
Checkpoint wrote:
... but an event that ensures there is no more sin because there are no longer any sinners.
Hell is most assuredly a place and not merely an "event." Scripture is very clear on that. Again, whether those that reside there continue to sin or not is irrelevant.
Checkpoint wrote:
Another truth about hell is that God is not a tormenting fire but rather is a consuming fire.
Agreed. I've said this many times. God is not a tormentor in any way. I can certainly understand, though, that existing in subjection to the eternal judgment of God, though, would absolutely be a torment.
Checkpoint wrote:
Isaiah 33:14, "The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling grips the godless: "Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?"
Yes, it is hard to imagine dwelling in everlasting burning. But so it will be for the wicked/unrepentant.
Checkpoint wrote:
And Isaiah 47:14, "Surely they are like stubble; the fire will burn them up. They cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame. There will be no coals to warm them or fire to sit beside".
Yes, they cannot deliver themselves from this judgment, which is complete and inescapable. There will certainly be no redemption or comfort to be found. It's terrifying. And that, to me, is putting it rather mildly.
I will say this, finally:
People often feel that hell is some great blemish on God’s love. The Bible presents it as the opposite. Hell
magnifies for us the love of God by showing us how far God went, and how much He went through, to save us.
Grace and peace to all.
