The theology against eternal punishment

Theological Arguments Against Eternal Punishment



Before we can understand why there can not be an eternal physical punishment, there are several things we have to understand first.

1. Who is God, (His nature, purpose and works)?
2. What is sin, (why is everyone considered a sinner)?
3. Why are some eternally saved and others eternally lost?
4. What is the reward and what is the punishment?


Who is God?

The first thing to know about God is He of the trinity; the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. (1 John 5:7,8)

The next thing to know about God is that He is the creator, director and sustainer of the universe, as the scriptures confirm: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:1-3) "God which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein" (Acts 14:15)" "By whom we live, move and have our being."(Acts 17:28) "The invisible things of Him (God) from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power, and Godhead" (Rom 1:20) "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist."(Col 1:16,17) "of Him, to Him and through Him are all things" (Rom 11:36) "who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will" (Eph 1:11) "Who is he that saith and it cometh to pass, and the Lord commandeth it not?"(Lam 3:37) God is consistent and "truth" because He is the all-powerful, all-wise, all-knowing, all-loving, and everywhere present Creator and Sustainer so that He cannot act without wisdom, or love, or power. There probably thousands of verses or stories in the bible that say or confirm this about God. Nothing can exist or happen that He does not cause since all power is His.

The next thing to know about God is; He is not impersonal. He is not just the "great all", or a "force" with no intelligence, no feeling, and no will. This is absurd because the whole must be at least equal to and even greater than the totality of its parts. This universe manifests intelligence, purpose, and providence. If God does not have these attributes than the Creation is greater than its Creator. "He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? He that formed the eye, shall He not see?...He that teacheth man knowledge, shall not He know?"(Psalm 94:9,10) Inherent in every person is the knowledge that God is a person. The three attributes of personality are the abilities to think, to feel, and to will. God has all these qualities to an infinite degree. He is our living, self-existent, all-powerful, personal Creator.

The next thing to know about God is that He is a God of Love. It is God's pleasure to love and be loved "for thou has created all things, for thy pleasure they are and were created."(Rev 4:11) "God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies, in Christ, according as He has chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame in His presence in love, having predestinated us unto the placing as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of his desire, to the praise of the glory of His grace wherein He has accepted us in the beloved." (Eph 1:3-6). To be holy means to be separated unto the only true God. Our God is a jealous God and wants us to love Him above all else. To accomplish this, He showed us that He first loved us so that we cannot but respond by loving Him in return. "Before Him" means in His presence or in His sight. Certainly love and happiness is greater when we are in God's presence than when we are far away. This is God's good pleasure and the reason why He created all things. Since His love is the greatest of all possible loves and His purpose is the greatest of all possible purposes; His pleasure will be the greatest of all possible pleasures. Since God created the universe for His pleasure, He must love it. God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom 5:8) 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. (John 3:16)

What is sin?

The Greek word translated "sin" in the Bible is "amartano" and means to miss the mark. Romans 3:23 says all have sinned, even come short of the glory of God. Romans 1:18-21,23,25,28 reveals what that sin is: "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened." "And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. "Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator."" And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient." It is sufficient to say that sin is pointed out as being against the character and nature of God and not as being against His laws. When men knew God they did not honor Him as God nor were they thankful. The Epistle of John (1 John 3:4) says if a person sins, he also breaks the law, which is true because if he knew the true God, he would also love Him, but because he does not approve of the true God in his conscious knowledge, but suppresses the knowledge of the truth of God into his subconsciousness, it is quite obvious that man hates God, not the god of his imagination, but the only true God of revelation. People everywhere love the god of their imagination which exalts their egotism, but hate the God of revelation which denies self-will and self-glory. The opposition of fallen angels and fallen man is against the very nature of God, namely His omnipotence, because it works against 'their' own glory. Satan fell when he imagined himself to be like God with a free-will which automatically limits God's sovereignty and plunges the world into caprice and chance. Man also, wishing to think he makes his own decisions so that he can take the glory which belongs to God, must limit God to make room for his independence, pride, selfishness, and hate. Consequently, instead of believing God blesses everyone as would be apparent from His infinite love, power, and wisdom, sin limits God so that He blesses the good with eternal happiness and curses the bad with eternal misery, or so they say. Sin is coming short of the glory of God, not a little short, not even very short, but completely short. It is suppressing the truth of God's infinite power, wisdom, and love which guarantees that He will bring great joy to all people forever. It is changing God from the all powerful Creator into merely a most powerful creature. It is changing God from a loving heavenly Father to a vicious tyrant. It is changing God who loves all people with infinite love, regardless of their sin and depravity, into a god who has the nature of sinful man who has to get even with his enemies.

Why are some eternally saved and others eternally lost?

The doctrine of predestination (election) is a biblical truth; (Eph 1:4,5,11 Pt 1:2) Strongs Concordance lists more than a dozen other verses where the elect are mentioned. Romans 8:10,11 also tells us the saved are predestinated. The saved were saved "from before the foundation of the world"(Eph 1:4) and were written in the book of life from the foundation of the world (Rev 17:8 & many other places).Paul says at least 11 times in chapter 9 that God chooses the saved and lost. He also says the lost are fitted for destruction (when you destroy something you render it useless). If you are fitted for something, doesn't it fit? For example: the fish are fitted for water, the birds are fitted for flight, etc. Jesus said the lost love the darkness (John3:19) and hate the light (John 3:20). Therefore, they are fitted to love the darkness.

God chose to have sons and daughters Holy and without blame before Him in love "before the foundation of the world" (Eph 1:4,5). In his infinite wisdom, power and love He had to create a mechanism by which He could show us His love for His sons and daughters to the greatest degree possible. He couldn't just tell us He loved us and have us understand how great that love is. Therefore, Jesus was "the lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev 13:8). There had to be something to be slain for, something He could redeem and forgive us for. Therefore, "sin entered that His grace would abound." (Rom 5:20) "For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. (Rom 11:32) He had to separate Himself from us by giving us a nature that does not glorify Him but glorifies itself. By doing this He would make us his enemies, or sinners. We would be in the dark and we would love it. (John 3:19) He took upon Himself the form of man by way of his son, Jesus, in order to pay the penalty for our sins: by sacrificing His life for us His enemies. He would save us "from the uttermost (1 Thess 2:16) to the uttermost."(Heb 7:25) This manifests the greatest love possible....to die for your enemy.( Rom 5:8)

What is the reward and what is the punishment?

Since God created the universe for His pleasure, He must love it. Since all things work together for the accomplishment of His purposes, He is not sorry for anything that happens. He is not sorry that there is sin and evil in the world. They are part of His eternal purpose (Ephesians 1:9-11). Nevertheless He cannot love that attitude of sinners that denies His power, love, and wisdom. The "wrath" or "hate" of God is not that He is against the well-being of His people. He only "hates" that attitude in them that prevents His fellowshipping with them. God tells us to love our enemies. He must also, therefore, love His enemies (Luke 2:10) (Romans 11:32) (Colossians 1:20) (I Timothy 4:10). We should love those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44-48). But we cannot and need not love their company or fellowship. Neither can God love the company of those who despise Him. The "wrath" of God is revealed as "death" (Romans 1:18,32). "Death" is separation from God's fellowship (Ephesians 2:1). It is not separation from His providence or "care" (Acts 14:15-17). It is not separation from His love (John 3:16). Nor is it separation from His physical blessings (Hebrews 6:11).

Other terms that describe the state of the lost; destruction, darkness, damnation, utter darkness, punishment, etc, not only describe what awaits them in eternity, it describe also the state they are in right now, and they love it. (John 3:19) Destruction means uselessness; when you destroy something you make it useless. The lost are useless to God as far as fellowship is concerned. Damnation is the judgment of the lost in their present condition. Utter darkness means the lost are lost (not will be) to the light of the truth. Punishment is the view of the saved and lost when they see each other's condition. The great White Throne Judgment is the time when the lost are told why they are lost. Some will argue the decision and that is where the momentary 'weeping and gnashing of teeth' comes in. This is where those who think they deserve Heaven by their works (or their choices) will be told by Jesus "I never knew you".

The apostle Paul certainly was not in fellowship with Jesus when he was killing Christians (Acts 26:10). But he was just as certainly NOT separated from God's love (Galatians 2:20). There is no discrepancy between God loving everybody's eternal happiness and at the same time hating their attitude toward Him which denies that eternal love. He loves all those who defame His character or He would love nobody, because all have sinned, even come short of the glory of God. All of us were persecutors of God when we were dead in sins and yet He loved us and gave His Son for us. All of us were like the apostle Paul who hated the truth of God's love and mercy, thinking his pharaseeism was enough to get him to Heaven. And like the apostle Paul, God Himself, comes to his chosen people to save them from their misconception of His nature.

There will be peace, happiness and unspeakable joy to all people in eternity. All of the bad things that happened to you in this life, (right down to that time you stubbed your toe), will be reconciled; meaning you will see why it happened and you will not only be completely satisfied with the answer, but you will forever be happy that it happened 'to you'. Some will be eternally happy in Heaven with their Father, some will be eternally happy in Hell with their father.