The Teaching of Eternal Hell Fire

Please note; we DO NOT teach "Universalism" where everyone will be saved.

The reason I have added this page on the truth about hell, is because there are many people in this world who are being kept from having a loving relationship with God, because of the false and wicked teaching that God is going to burn the lost in fires of hell for eternity. I am totally astonished that Christians not only believe in this, but also ram it down the throats of others to try and scare them into believing in God. Not only are these Christians drawing people to God for the wrong reason, they are also causing MANY others to reject God, due to this concept of Him being some mad despot who will enjoy burning those who don't turn to Him FOREVER!

So what is the truth about hell? Well, before we even look into the Bible truths about "hell", just meditate upon this point first. What bodies are we born into? We are born into SINFUL bodies right? So it is in our NATURE to reject God and sin ...

Romans 8:7 ...'Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.'

Do you see this? In our NATURAL state (carnal mind), we are against God and CANNOT be subject to His moral laws. Therefore it is in our nature to reject God and sin against Him. Now have a really good think about this. If it is in our nature to reject God and sin against Him, which the Bible agrees with, then how can a loving God punish the lost with ETERNAL flames of fire when it was in their nature to sin? How? I can tell you now, THAT would NOT be a loving God.

Do you see this important point? The majority of professing Christians believe and teach that those who are lost, for this short life of say about 60-70 years of NATURAL sin and rejection of God, will burn in agony in hell fire FOR EVER AND EVER!! Just for 60-70 years of sin which is in our NATURE to do!! What an abomination!

Do you see what an abominable teaching this is? After a MILLION YEARS of burning in hell fires in pain and anguish, the lost will have only just begun their sentence!! Just put your hand in a fire for 10 seconds and see how awful that would be. Now imagine throwing your whole being into that fire and staying there forever! Oh what a wicked teaching, straight from Satan himself!!

And tell me this. If Jesus paid the FULL price for our sin, and the punishment for a life of sin is not death, but eternal life in hell fire. Then how come Jesus isn't burning in hell forever for us? Awful thought isn't it? But this is what it comes to when you believe in this wicked teaching.

And what about all those people who live quiet lives, helping others and doing good, but they just don't get that real conviction about Jesus and are lost. According to this false teaching of hell, they too will burn in fires of hell for eternity!! Oh what wickedness this teaching is! Straight from Satan himself!

Thankfully, we DO have a loving God who will NOT burn the lost in hell fire for eternity as we will show below.

Now please don't get us wrong. We DO believe that the lost WILL be judged and burned in the lake of fire at the end, but we believe from clear Bible evidence that they will be "burned up" and cease to exist. We DO NOT teach universalism, where everyone will be saved.

What is the TRUTH About Hell?

So what does the Bible REALLY have to say about hell? Well, let's start off with some pretty clear words from Christ Jesus Himself:

John 3:16 ... 'For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.'

So here, Jesus is saying that there are two routes. One route is to believe in Him and receive eternal life. The other route is not to believe in Him and what? Perish! Now I would say Jesus is an authority on this subject don't you? And He says we either perish (cease to exist) or receive eternal life. He DIDN'T say "eternal suffering in fires of hell", He said perish! Pretty clear. Let's look at some more clear Bible verses about what happens to the wicked ...

Malachi 4:1-3 ...'For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.'

Psalm 68:2 ...'As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.'

salm 37:20 ...'But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.'

Revelation 20:9 ...'And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.'

Luke 13:3 ...'I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.'

These are just a few of the many Bible verses that clearly state the lost will perish. They will be destroyed and cease to exist. Now take a look at Malachi 4:1-3 again above. What happens if you pluck up a weed and you take the ROOTS with it? It is destroyed COMPLETELY right? Well, that is what Malachi is saying about the lost at the end. God will leave them neither root nor branch. In other words, there is NOTHING left of them, NOTHING!

Now the problem arises with the misunderstanding of what happens when we die, where many believe in error that we have a soul that continues to live on after death. But they fail to realize that Adam wasn't GIVEN a soul at creation, he BECAME a living soul when God breathed into him the breath of life. And when we die, the Bible clearly states that we return to the dust and know nothing after death ...

Genesis 3:19 ...'for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.'

Ecclesiastes 9:5,10 ...'For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.'

The error comes in also with the misunderstanding of certain Bible verses concerning everlasting fire. If we take these verses that say everlasting fire LITERALLY, then the Word of God contradicts itself, because it also says that the wicked will cease to exist. But when you see the truth behind these everlasting fire verses, all becomes clear!

Matthew 25:41 ...'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.'

Now Jesus also said in John 3:16 that the wicked will perish, which means to completely cease to exist. So how can He also say that they will burn forever in fire? He didn't. He said that they would be cast into everlasting fire, He didn't say they would actually burn forever in that fire. Take a look at these following Bible verses and this becomes more clear ...

2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 ...'In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.'

Matthew 3:12 ...'but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.'

Isaiah 47:14 ...'Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame.'

Revelation 21:6-8 ...'And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.'

Do you see? It's the EFFECT of the fire that is everlasting. The fire will be unquenchable and will continue to burn UNTIL it has completed it's job of destroying the wicked, and then they burn up and become stubble. They DO NOT live on forever in the fire.

There are more "everlasting fire" verses in the book of Revelation, but you need to remember that this book is full of symbolism and not everything in there is to be taken literally.

Some people also like to refer to the rich man and Lazarus as proof of hell as a place of eternal fiery torment. But this is a parable and is not to be taken literally. Also, if you really look at what is being said in it, you will see that it could not be an actual event, but a symbol of something else. For instance, the rich man who supposedly as a "soul" is in hell fire and asks Abraham to send Lazarus to drop his finger in water to cool his tongue. Now since when did a "soul" have a PHYSICAL tongue? And how could a drop of water cool him in hell fire?

Another one is the "worm that never dies" verse, which is another symbolic verse that is misunderstood. Tell me this, how can a worm chew on a soul?? Sounds silly doesn't it? In reality, this verse is saying that the worms will continue to eat away at the rotten flesh of the wicked until there is no more.

If you take a look at the original meaning of "everlasting" and "forever", it simply means "an unbroken age" or a "period of time". It doesn't always mean a literal eternity.

Friend, this teaching of an eternal hell is a false teaching that is based more upon Greek Mythology than the Word of God. It is a wicked teaching from Satan himself and is keeping many people from a loving relationship with God. The lost WILL be judged and thrown into the lake of fire in the end (Revelation 21:6-8), but they will be destroyed and cease to exist. God is NOT going to burn them forever. He is a God of love! And His loving act in the end will be to destroy the wicked, so that they will be no more!

If you would like to learn more about the truth about hell, please visit THIS SITE, where you will find much more information and truth on this subject.