| The Greatest Story Ever Told About The Greatest Man That Ever Lived |
Most people have been taught or have heard somewhere that if you don’t believe in Jesus you will
burn in hell forever. I have spoken to many people that believe this and their comments are always
similar. “What kind of God would take pleasure in watching people burn in hell forever?” Or, “How
come God gave me the right to choose and then punishes me for exercising that right?” And these
are very valid arguments. So what does the Bible say about this? Do unbelievers really burn in the
lake of fire forever?
There is only one scripture that confirms this. All the rest do not. Therefore, since the Bible does not
contradict itself, let’s see if we can understand the difference. The scripture that says this is:
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and
all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious
throne. All the nations will be gathered before
him, and he will separate the people one from
another as a shepherd separates the sheep from
the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and
the goats on his left. Then the King will say to
those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed
by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom
prepared for you since the creation of the world.
Then he will say to those on his left, Depart from
me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire
prepared for the devil and his angels.
Matthew 25:31-46
The rest of the scriptures do not say this. They say that unbelievers will perish. For example: For
God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish
but have eternal life. John 3:16 Or this one: The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some
understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to
come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 Or ..and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are
perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 2 Thes 2:10. And
..many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction... Phil 3:19
So what this and many other scriptures say is that if you believe in Jesus you will have eternal life,
and if you don’t you will perish. What does perish mean? It means to exist no more or to be
destroyed. So those who chose not to believe in God or Jesus will NOT burn in hell forever, they will
perish or exist no more. In other words, this life is all they get. But for those who do believe in
Jesus, they go on to live forever. (*see below for clarification)
So what about the other scripture (above) that says that some will be cast into the eternal lake of fire.
Why don’t they just perish? Is God being unfair? Does he have favourites? No, God is being
perfectly fair. When Jesus comes back to judge the nations it will be at the END of the Tribulation.
Then he will assemble all nations and judge them. The ones who are cast into the lake of fire are the
ones who have taken the “mark of the beast” and who have worshipped the image of the beast. The
other unbelievers have not. This is the difference. In Revelation Chapter 13 right after the NWO
leader establishes his one world government, religion, and monetary system, he forces everyone to
take the mark and worship the image or be killed. But God in his love and mercy immediately sends
an angel to fly through the sky and proclaim in a loud voice to all who live on the earth Don’t Do It.
Don’t take the mark and don’t worship the image or you will spend eternity in the lake of fire.
Revelation 14:9-11.
So what else can God do if even after warning them they still choose to take the mark? He told them
what would happen, now they have to accept the consequences of their decision. He tried to warn
them but they would not listen. And that’s why only these people spend eternity in the lake of fire.
My personal opinion is that the reason for this is because it has something to do with the mark.
Taking the mark will in some way change those that take it to where they cannot go to heaven even if
they repent later. As we get closer to that time and know what the mark is, we will probably
understand the reason better, but it must be something irreversible for God to go to that extent to
warn the entire world regarding it.
In Revelation 16:2 the Bible says: The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly,
festering sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.
This may have something to do with it as it only affects the ones who took the mark.
So I believe that the only people that spend eternity in the lake of fire are those that take the mark.
The rest are cast into the lake of fire, but they perish there. They are not tormented forever and ever.
More scriptures on this are:
In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.
Matthew 18:14
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall
never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. John 10:27-28
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved
it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can
destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28
But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Luke 13:3
...the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and
destruction of ungodly men. 2 Peter 3:7
The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows
to please the Spirit from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Galatians 6:8
...to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus: who shall suffer punishment, even
eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might... 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9
This scripture seems to indicate that unbelievers will suffer eternal punishment and destruction, but it
is impossible to be eternally destroyed. What it means is that they will be destroyed and will exist no
more for all of eternity.
There are more scriptures than only these that teach that unbelievers will perish or be destroyed.
Therefore it is clear that the Bible teaches that all unbelievers will perish in the lake of fire except
those who live through the tribulation and have taken the mark and worshipped the beast.
Unbelievers Do Not receive eternal life, only believers do, this is why they will perish in the lake of
fire. The devil and the antichrist and the false prophet are all eternal beings, they cannot be killed,
this is why they are sentenced to eternity in the lake of fire, this is their jail.
** For clarification see the study on Eternal Judgment which deals with the issue of each person
having their "day in court" and then being sentenced to the lake of fire for varying times depending
on the charges against them. Some will be destroyed almost instantly, others will serve a few years,
but all will be destroyed after serving their sentence. This makes it fair for everyone.
burn in hell forever. I have spoken to many people that believe this and their comments are always
similar. “What kind of God would take pleasure in watching people burn in hell forever?” Or, “How
come God gave me the right to choose and then punishes me for exercising that right?” And these
are very valid arguments. So what does the Bible say about this? Do unbelievers really burn in the
lake of fire forever?
There is only one scripture that confirms this. All the rest do not. Therefore, since the Bible does not
contradict itself, let’s see if we can understand the difference. The scripture that says this is:
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and
all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious
throne. All the nations will be gathered before
him, and he will separate the people one from
another as a shepherd separates the sheep from
the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and
the goats on his left. Then the King will say to
those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed
by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom
prepared for you since the creation of the world.
Then he will say to those on his left, Depart from
me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire
prepared for the devil and his angels.
Matthew 25:31-46
The rest of the scriptures do not say this. They say that unbelievers will perish. For example: For
God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish
but have eternal life. John 3:16 Or this one: The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some
understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to
come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 Or ..and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are
perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 2 Thes 2:10. And
..many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction... Phil 3:19
So what this and many other scriptures say is that if you believe in Jesus you will have eternal life,
and if you don’t you will perish. What does perish mean? It means to exist no more or to be
destroyed. So those who chose not to believe in God or Jesus will NOT burn in hell forever, they will
perish or exist no more. In other words, this life is all they get. But for those who do believe in
Jesus, they go on to live forever. (*see below for clarification)
So what about the other scripture (above) that says that some will be cast into the eternal lake of fire.
Why don’t they just perish? Is God being unfair? Does he have favourites? No, God is being
perfectly fair. When Jesus comes back to judge the nations it will be at the END of the Tribulation.
Then he will assemble all nations and judge them. The ones who are cast into the lake of fire are the
ones who have taken the “mark of the beast” and who have worshipped the image of the beast. The
other unbelievers have not. This is the difference. In Revelation Chapter 13 right after the NWO
leader establishes his one world government, religion, and monetary system, he forces everyone to
take the mark and worship the image or be killed. But God in his love and mercy immediately sends
an angel to fly through the sky and proclaim in a loud voice to all who live on the earth Don’t Do It.
Don’t take the mark and don’t worship the image or you will spend eternity in the lake of fire.
Revelation 14:9-11.
So what else can God do if even after warning them they still choose to take the mark? He told them
what would happen, now they have to accept the consequences of their decision. He tried to warn
them but they would not listen. And that’s why only these people spend eternity in the lake of fire.
My personal opinion is that the reason for this is because it has something to do with the mark.
Taking the mark will in some way change those that take it to where they cannot go to heaven even if
they repent later. As we get closer to that time and know what the mark is, we will probably
understand the reason better, but it must be something irreversible for God to go to that extent to
warn the entire world regarding it.
In Revelation 16:2 the Bible says: The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly,
festering sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.
This may have something to do with it as it only affects the ones who took the mark.
So I believe that the only people that spend eternity in the lake of fire are those that take the mark.
The rest are cast into the lake of fire, but they perish there. They are not tormented forever and ever.
More scriptures on this are:
In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.
Matthew 18:14
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall
never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. John 10:27-28
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved
it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can
destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28
But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Luke 13:3
...the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and
destruction of ungodly men. 2 Peter 3:7
The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows
to please the Spirit from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Galatians 6:8
...to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus: who shall suffer punishment, even
eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might... 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9
This scripture seems to indicate that unbelievers will suffer eternal punishment and destruction, but it
is impossible to be eternally destroyed. What it means is that they will be destroyed and will exist no
more for all of eternity.
There are more scriptures than only these that teach that unbelievers will perish or be destroyed.
Therefore it is clear that the Bible teaches that all unbelievers will perish in the lake of fire except
those who live through the tribulation and have taken the mark and worshipped the beast.
Unbelievers Do Not receive eternal life, only believers do, this is why they will perish in the lake of
fire. The devil and the antichrist and the false prophet are all eternal beings, they cannot be killed,
this is why they are sentenced to eternity in the lake of fire, this is their jail.
** For clarification see the study on Eternal Judgment which deals with the issue of each person
having their "day in court" and then being sentenced to the lake of fire for varying times depending
on the charges against them. Some will be destroyed almost instantly, others will serve a few years,
but all will be destroyed after serving their sentence. This makes it fair for everyone.
Burn in Hell
