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   Your attempt to redefine basanizÅ   
    as “restrainâ€� contradicts both   
   Scripture and Greek usage. Not a single Greek lexicon or ancient source   
   gives “restrainâ€� as a meaning. The word always refers to distress,   
   torment, or painful testing.   
      
   In Matthew 8:29, the demons plead not to be tormented before the   
   appointed time, not “restrained.â€� The same verb appears in Revelation   
   14:10–11, where those who worship the beast “will be tormented with fire   
   and sulfur… and the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever.â€�   
   That’s conscious suffering, not confinement.   
      
   If “tormentâ€� only meant “restrain,â€� the passage would make no   
   sense—since the demons were already restrained by Christ’s command (Luke   
   8:31). Yet they dreaded something worse still coming “before the time.â€�   
   That “timeâ€� is the final judgment (Revelation 20:10), when the devil,   
   beast, and false prophet are “tormented day and night forever and ever.â€�   
      
   So Scripture itself defines the term by its consistent usage. There are   
   degrees of torment (Matthew 11:22–24) but no degrees of nonexistence.   
   The torment is conscious and unending. The demons knew that—Jehovah’s   
   Witnesses deny it.   
      
   --   
   Have you heard the good news Christ died for our sins (†), and God   
   raised Him from the dead?   
      
   That Christ died for our sins shows we're sinners who deserve the death   
   penalty. That God raised Him from the dead shows Christ's death   
   satisfied God's righteous demands against our sin (Romans 3:25; 1 John   
   2:1-2). This means God can now remain just, while forgiving you of your   
   sins, and saving you from eternal damnation.   
      
   On the basis of Christ's death and resurrection for our sins, call on   
   the name of the Lord to save you: "For 'everyone who calls on the name   
   of the Lord will be saved'" (Romans 10:13, ESV).   
      
   https://christrose.news/salvation   
      
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   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)