The Annihilation Of The Wicked

A Multitude Of Supporting Texts

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1.  God “ONLY hath immortality” – I Timothy 6:16

2.  ETERNAL LIFE is the gracious “GIFT of God,” not the inherent possession of an immortal soul – John 10:28; Romans6:23; 1 John 15:11, 12

3.  God is “able to DESTROY both soul and body IN HELL” – Matthew 10:28

4.  “All in whose nostrils was the breath of life... DIED. And every living substance was DESTROYED... both man, and cattle, and the creeping things” – Genesis 7:22, 23

5.  “The wages of sin is DEATH” – Romans 6:23

6.  “The soul that sins, it shall DIE” – Ezekiel 18:20

7. The soul can be “delivered from DEATH” – Psalm 33:19; 56:13; 116:8.

8. “He which converts the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from DEATH” – James 5:20

9. “Sin, when it is finished, brings forth DEATH” – James 1:15

10. The final punishment of being cast into the lake of fire is twice called “the second DEATH”- Revelation 20:14; 21:8

11. There is “the resurrection of LIFE” and “the resurrection of damnation” – John 5:29

12. “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath NO POWER” – Revelation 20:6 (the second death would have power on everyone else, who would, therefore, perish)

13. “They that are Christ’s at his coming” will “be changed. For this corruptible must put on INCORRUPTION, and this mortal must put on IMMORTALITY” – 1 Corinthians 15:23-55

14. There is no promise or even intimation that unbelievers will be raised immortal or incorruptible.

15. Reaping CORRUPTION is contrasted to reaping LIFE EVERLASTING – Galatians 6:8

16. God “will render... to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and IMMORTALITY, eternal life” – Romans 2:6, 7

17. While believers receive “EVERLASTING LIFE,” unbelievers “PERISH” – John 3:15,16

18. Christ says: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them ETERNAL LIFE, and they shall never PERISH” – John 10:27, 28

19. “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son HATH LIFE; and he that hath not the Son of God HATH NOT LIFE” – 1 John 5:11, 12

20. “He that believeth on the Son HATH EVERLASTING LIFE: and he that believeth not the Son SHALL NOT SEE LIFE; but the wrath of God abides on him” – John 3:36

21. “Them that are saved” are contrasted to “them that PERISH” – I Corinthians 1:18

22. Paul writes, “We are unto God a sweet savour of Christ”- to them that perish “a savour of DEATH UNTO DEATH;” to them that are saved “the savour of LIFE UNTO LIFE” – 2 Corinthians 2:15, 16

23. “The wicked shall PERISH... they shall CONSUME; into smoke shall they CONSUME AWAY” – Psalm 37:20

24. Peter says that certain of the “unjust” are “as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and DESTROYED... and shall utterly PERISH in their own corruption” (2 Peter 2:12

25. Of all 154 times Scripture uses any form of the word perish, it NEVER means a process without an understood end.

26. Every Scriptural picture of the judgment of the unrighteous by fire is one of highly combustible items (chaff, stubble, tares, thorns, briers, lime, withered branches) being CONSUMED, though other items in fire are used to describe things that aren’t consumed (Scripture as silver, faith as gold, lasting works as precious stones, etc.).

27. “Therefore as the fire DEVOURETH THE STUBBLE, and the flame CONSUMETH THE CHAFF, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel” – Isaiah 5:24

28. “Ye shall conceive CHAFF, ye shall bring forth STUBBLE: your breath, as fire, shall DEVOUR you. And the people shall be as the burnings of LIME: as THORNS cut up shall they be burned in the fire.” – Isaiah 33:11

29. “Behold, they shall be as STUBBLE; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame” – Isaiah 47:14

30. “They shall be DEVOURED as STUBBLE fully dry” – Nahum 1:10

31.  “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” – Malachi 4:1, 2

32. Christ “will BURN UP the CHAFF” – Matthew 3:12

33. As TARES are BURNED, so shall it be at the end of this world – Matthew 13:40

34. The end of WITHERED BRANCHES that do not abide in the Vine is to be BURNED – John 15:6

35. The end of that which bears THORNS AND BRIERS is to be BURNED – Hebrews 6:8

36. On “the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men... the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be BURNED UP” – 2 Peter 3:7-12

37. God is described as a “CONSUMING fire” (Deut. 4:24; 9:3; Hebrews 12:29), and every time the fire of God fell in judgment, it CONSUMED its prey (Exodus 15:7; Numbers 11:1; 16:35; 2 Kings 1:10, etc.).

38. Hebrews speaks of “a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall DEVOUR the adversaries” – Hebrews 10:27

39. Peter preached, “And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet (speaking of Jesus), shall be DESTROYED from among the people” – Acts 3:23

40. The one lawgiver is “able to save and to DESTROY” – James 4:12

41. In contrast to the strait gate and narrow way “which leads unto LIFE, the wide gate and broad way “leads to DESTRUCTION” – Matthew 7:13

42. The enemies of the cross of Christ “END is DESTRUCTION” – Philippians 3:19

43. The “vessels of wrath” are “fitted to DESTRUCTION” – Romans 9:22

44. “...do ye not know...that the wicked is reserved to the day of DESTRUCTION? they shall be brought forth to the day of WRATH” – Job 21:30

45. Those who “know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ... shall be punished with everlasting DESTRUCTION” – 2 Thessalonians 1:8,9

46. Paul tells us when the “everlasting destruction” takes place: “WHEN the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels”, and “WHEN he shall come to be glorified in his saints” – 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10

47. It is everlasting destruction, not destroying. Limited by the restrictive “when”, the result of the punishing is everlasting, not the duration.

48. It is said that these will be “punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord”- the same wording asin Acts 3:19: "when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord." If anything is clear from the context of 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10, it is that the Lord will be there: "when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed... When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe" surrounding "from the presence of the Lord."

49. Sodom and Gomorrah being turned to “ASHES” by “ETERNAL FIRE” is set forth as an example of the future punishment of the ungodly – 2 Peter 2:6; Jude 1:7

50. Though Sodom and Gomorrah suffered “the vengeance of ETERNAL FIRE,” they were “overthrown as in a MOMENT, and no hands stayed on her” (Lamentations 4:6), and “the fire and brimstone from heaven... DESTROYED them all” (Luke 17:29).

51. Though “the smoke of the country (Sodom and Gomorrah) went up as the smoke of a furnace” (Genesis 19:28) they were “overthrown as in a moment” (Lamentations 4:6).

52. The fire of Idumea “shall not be quenched night nor day” and “the SMOKE shall go up for ever,” but Idumea itself “shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever... her princes shall be NOTHING” – Isaiah 34:8-12

53. The smoke of Babylon’s burning “rose up for ever and ever” (Revelation 19:3), but its DESTRUCTION came in “ONE DAY” and lasted “ONE HOUR” (Revelation 18:8, 10, 17, 19), and it was “NO MORE” (18:21).

54. “Where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched” is a direct quote from Isa. 66:24 in the context of the wicked being “CONSUMED” (v. 17), and clearly refers to dead “CARCASES,” not tormented souls.

55. The OT prophets never warn about endless torment in Hell, though they repeatedly warn of famine, war, drought, plague, death, & destruction (700+ times).

56. Though Paul often warns of the Judgment Day (Romans 2:5; 14:10; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Hebrews 9:27), he NEVER speaks of endless torment in hell, nor even mentions hell.

57. The epistles of the other apostles are silent on the subject of endless torment, and only James uses the word hell (in discussion on the tongue- 3:6).

58. The Rich Man & Lazarus passage (Luke 16:19-31) is silent as to duration; it does not tell how long the torments last.

59. The Rich Man & Lazarus passage is not referring to what happens after the Great White Throne Judgment.

60. The rich man “was BURIED” before he lift up his eyes in hell.

In Luke’s gospel it is also recorded where Christ said, “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and SEE; for A SPIRIT HATH NOT FLESH AND BONES, AS YE SEE ME HAVE” (Luke 24:39). The rich man “SEETH Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom,” and a tongue, eyes, bosom, and finger (consisting of flesh and/or bone) are mentioned.

61. The story of the rich man and Lazarus was directed at “Pharisees, who were covetous” after they had “heard all these things” (concerning mammon) and “derided him” (Christ) – Luke 16:14

62. Lazarus indeed did rise from the dead, but the Pharisees did not believe (John 11:45-48; 12:10, 11).

63. The Book of Revelation is the last and most figurative book in the Bible, and should not be used to contradict the clear and consistent testimony of the first 65 books of the Bible, but should be interpreted in light of the comprehensive coherency of all of the relevant texts on the subject.

64. Revelation never says that unbelievers will be endlessly tormented in hell.

65. Revelation 14 speaks of those who “worship the beast” and “receive his mark,” and their torment takes place “in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb,” six chapters before the Great White Throne.

66. The same passage says “the smoke of their torment ascends up for ever and ever,” not that their torment continues for ever- just as the ever-ascending smoke of Sodom, Idumea, and Babylon testifies to complete destruction, not perpetual torture (Cf. Numbers 45-47).

67. They who “have no rest day nor night” are they “who worship (present tense) the beast and his image, and whosoever receives (present continual) the mark of his name,” and what would day or night be considering “that there shall be time no longer” (Revelation 10:6)?

68. Thus smoke ascending up for ever, and no rest day nor night do not require endless torment.

69. The wicked are reserved to the mist of DARKNESS for ever – 2 Peter 2:17

70. Jude speaks of those “to whom is reserved the blackness of DARKNESS for ever” – Jude v. 13

71. Christ speaks of those who will be “cast out into outer DARKNESS” – Matthew 8:12; 22:13; 25:30

72. There comes a time when the wicked shall be NO MORE- Psalm 104:35; Prov. 10:25

73. God says, “I WILL NOT CONTEND FOR EVER, NEITHER WILL I BE ALWAYS WROTH” – Isaiah 57:16

75. “For I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I WILL NOT KEEP ANGER FOR EVER” – Jeremiah 3:12

76. Micah asks, “Who is a God like unto thee, that pardons iniquity, and passes by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? HE RETAINETH NOT HIS ANGER FOR EVER, because he delights in mercy” – Micah 7:18

77. The Psalmist writes, “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. HE WILL NOT ALWAYS CHIDE: NEITHER WILL HE KEEP HIS ANGER FOR EVER” – Psalm 103:8, 9

78. God’s law did not establish prisons or introduce torture for the punishment of transgressors- restitution, sacrifice, or death was its penalties.

79. The Old Testament sacrifices revealed that the penalty for sin is DEATH – John 1:29; 1 Peter 1:19

80. Even so did Christ pay the penalty for sin in that He DIED for us, and DIED for our sin– Romans 5:6, 8; 1 Corinthians 15:3; 2 Corinthians 5:14, 15; Hebrews 9:26-28

81. The last enemy to be destroyed will be DEATH, every thing will be put under Christ’s feet, God will be all in all (1 Corinthians 15:27, 28), and then there will be “no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain” (Revelation 21:4).

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