There are many important issues that Bible-believing Christians may emphasize, including evangelism, missions, serving the needy, political involvement, societal problems, economic challenges, and moral decay. With all of these competing interests, why should we spend time trying to understand what happens to the wicked after death?
This is a valid question. It is so easy for us to focus on things that make no difference in the lives of real people. If we spend our time on merely academic pursuits that do no practical good, we are wasting the valuable time God has given us.
However, if our view of the end of the wicked is wrong, and it turns people away from the God who loves them and sent His son to die for them, then few things could be more important. In fact, an incorrect message hinders efforts in evangelism, missions, and serving–driving people away from Christ instead of drawing them to Him.
The core of the Christian message is to offer people hope after death (John 3:16). If we are not teaching what Jesus actually taught, or what the rest of Scripture affirms, we lead people astray. We keep people from knowing Jesus and finding His forgiveness. Ultimately, we obstruct Jesus’ goal for us to “go into all the world and make disciples of all the nations.” (Matthew 28:19)
Orthodox tradition teaches that unrighteous people will be tortured in something like a fire for an endless eternity with no hope or escape. Unbelievers hear this: “Jesus loves you and came to die for your sins. Repent and ask for His forgiveness, or you will burn in hell for an endless eternity.” No matter how we package it, this is the bottom line of the traditional view of the end of wicked. No wonder people turn away.
If the Bible doesn’t teach this view, then every Christian should take the time to find out what it actually says so that we can draw as many people to Christ as possible and avoid putting a harmful “stumbling block” in the way of those who might otherwise follow Christ (Matthew 18:7).
Many articles on this site clearly teach the Biblical view of conditional immortality. God alone possesses immortality (1 Timothy 6:16), and gives eternal life to those who receive His gracious offer of forgiveness and follow Him (John 3:16). After death, God will rightly judge the unredeemed with a punishment that fits the crime, then completely destroy them so they never live again (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9). I encourage you to compare your personal Bible study with these articles and see this important teaching for yourself.
If we actually believed the traditional view, wouldn’t we spend every waking moment trying to convince people that they need to turn to God so they won’t suffer such a horrible fate? Does the fact that we don’t feel an overwhelming urgency show that we don’t really believe the traditional view of endless, conscious torment for the wicked? Or, does it show that we just don’t care?
Not that the view of conditional immortality removes an urgency for evangelism. It just turns the message from a negative to a positive one, and leaves room for God to use many means to “plant … water, and … cause growth.” (1 Corinthians 3:6)
While the traditional view should make us frantic to save people as if from a burning building, the conditionalist view motivates us to encourage people to turn to God out of love instead of irrational fear. The wonderful mercy and justice of God is evident in the conditionalist view: mercy for those who receive God’s gracious offer of forgiveness by following Christ, and measured, understandable justice for those who reject God’s gracious offer.
We do need to focus on evangelism, missions, serving, and all of the other things that the Bible emphasizes as important. In order to do those things effectively, we must have a correct, Biblical understanding of what happens to the wicked after death. When we reject the traditional view of hell in favor of the Biblical teaching of conditional immortality, we have a much better platform from which to reach our desperately needy world.
About Doug Smith
Doug Smith is a grateful follower of Christ and an avid Bible student who is willing to believe the Bible, even when it contradicts tradition. He was mentored by Dr. Timothy Barnett in the study of the Scriptures, including conditional immortality. Doug writes on these and related subjects at www.endlesshellended.com. He is blessed by his wife Lynetta, who is also a professional editor. Doug and Lynetta share four daughters and live near Nashville, TN.
"My brother, sister, friend — read, study, think, and read again. You were made to think. It will do you good to think; to develop your powers by study. God designed that religion should require thought, intense thought, and should thoroughly develop our powers of thought. The Bible itself is written in a style so condensed as to require much intense study. I do not pretend to so explain theology as to dispense with the labor of thinking. I have no ability and no wish to do so." -- Charles G. Finney
Conditional immortality????This teaching still falls short of Gods amazing truth of the salvation of the whole world INCLUDING the wicked!!Conditional immortality is a little better news than eternal torment but it still falls very short of what God is both able and willing to do with HIS creatures!!I cannot believe this blatant lie that totally undermines and discourages the love of God!!Completely destroying people is NOT what God is going to do…you are not understanding the plan of God nor His power to redeem all of this world and never forget that it is God who has sent men to destruction in this realm and it will be God who will save all mankind thru the lake of fire judgement.I came to your website thru someone recommendation and I am appalled!!Is this what you tell little children that God will do to their relatives??PLEASE!!Dont go halfway…Gods glory will be seen in the total reconciliation of all mankind to himself and He will be ALL IN ALL!!!
Paul, I appreciate your comment and your passion for this view. Universalism is a popular idea, and one that is very attractive. If the Bible taught Universalism, I’d advocate it myself. I just don’t see it there.
Jesus’ words are my standard, and John 3:16 is plain to me: Those who believe will be given the gift of eternal life, and those who don’t will perish. I take that literally, and given the fact that Jesus rose from the grave, his credibility is what I rest upon.
I think that we have to base our belief about the future upon the most authoritative source possible: Jesus Christ.
Paul, I agree with you that Universalism sounds way cooler. But if you study even HALF the Scripture passages that have been discussed in detail at:
afterlife.co.nz
endlesshellended.com
in the past six months alone, you will conclude that the Bible really thinks that death is real and quite Universal, and that immortality is indeed conditional. And I really like lots of Universalists!
Good article…..giving thought to those that reject Christ and their ultimate state is quite sobering…choice and consequences can be difficult to accept without the grace given for although I believe, accept Christ as my Savior and have the Hope of eternal life, I still sin as do non- believers….sin is sin regardless of the specifics.
Question Doug….In your research, is the Lake of Fire a cleansing or destruction of the soul / spirit? I lean towards the destruction because of unrepentant sin, most importantly the ultimate sin of rejecting Christ. The Evil one will be destroyed….and all who reject Christ. If unrepentant sin was allowed after death there would be no point for repentance and following Christ.
Mike, I appreciate your good comments and your excellent question. I agree with you: as I read the Bible, I see that the Lake of Fire is a fire that consumes, not one that either tortures or purifies. (Thanks to Edward Fudge for that good terminology.)
As I mentioned in the article, I take John 3:16 literally when it says “shall not *perish*, but have eternal life”. “Perish” means to no longer exist, completely die, never again to live. Matt. 10:28 says “fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell”. Again, “destroy” there means what it plainly means in our everyday use of the term — no longer existing.
Jude 7 is particularly interesting: it says that “Sodom and Gomorrah … are exhibited as an example, in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.” From Genesis 19, we see that God completely destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah — they were completely wiped out. Jude shows us that if we wonder what the “punishment of eternal fire” is in the last judgment, all we need to do is look to Sodom and Gomorrah for an example.
For more information, I highly recommend the free e-book we’re giving away on https://endlesshellended.com, and especially recommend Edward Fudge’s latest book “Hell: A Final Word”, which I reviewed here: https://bit.ly/S49GEf. If you visit my site there and request the book, I’ll send it ASAP!