XPost: alt.religion.christian   
   From: usenet@christrose.news   
      
   The love of God cannot be set against His justice, because both belong   
   perfectly to His nature. God *is* love (1 John 4:8), but He is also   
   *holy, righteous, and true* (Revelation 15:3). To remove His wrath   
   against sin is to deny His holiness. Scripture never presents divine   
   judgment as cruel delight in suffering, but as the necessary expression   
   of divine justice against unrepentant rebellion.   
      
   Jesus Himself spoke most plainly about the fire that is not quenched and   
   the worm that does not die (Mark 9:43–48 [Gehenna]). In Matthew 25:46   
   (ESV) He said, “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the   
   righteous into eternal life.â€� The same word translated “eternalâ€�   
   (*aiÅ   
   nios*) describes both destinies; if life is endless, then so is   
   punishment.   
      
   Revelation 14:10–11 (ESV) says of those who worship the beast, “He also   
   will drink the wine of God’s wrath… and the smoke of their torment goes   
   up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night.â€� That is not   
   symbolic of ceasing to exist, but of conscious retribution continuing   
   without end. The Greek words for “tormentâ€� (*basanismos*) and “they have   
   no restâ€� show ongoing awareness, not annihilation.   
      
   The argument that “love and torture cannot coexistâ€� misunderstands   
   divine love. God’s love offered full pardon in Christ’s substitutionary   
   death—He bore judgment so sinners need not (Romans 5:8–9). But those who   
   spurn that grace face the justice they chose instead. Even human judges   
   who punish murderers do not stop being moral; their justice proves their   
   goodness.   
      
   Jeremiah 7:31 condemns the burning of children in Topheth, because men   
   offered them to false gods. But God’s judgment in the Lake of Fire is   
   not sadistic—it is the final, righteous verdict upon those who persist   
   in defying Him after every offer of mercy (Revelation 20:10, 15).   
      
   If annihilation were true, Jesus’ warnings would make no sense. He said   
   it would be *more tolerable* for Sodom than for Capernaum (Matthew   
   11:24) and that it would have been *better* for Judas not to have been   
   born (Mark 14:21). There cannot be degrees of nonexistence, nor could   
   â€œnot being bornâ€� be “betterâ€� than ceasing to exist.   
      
   God’s love is shown at the cross; His justice will be shown at the   
   throne. Those who refuse His love will face His justice—but neither   
   changes who He is: perfect, righteous, and holy.   
      
      
   --   
   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)