glorydaz said:
Eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth was never God's command to begin with....Jesus straightened that misunderstanding out when He came to the earth.
No....Jesus was God. God became flesh and took the sins of the whole world that whosoever believeth on Jesus Christ would be saved. Think of what it was for a holy righteous God to become sin. The price was huge. How can God be under God's wrath? Jesus was despised, scorned, beaten, and crucified in the most horrific way while being totally innocent. He was slain as the sacrificial lamb...not tormented throughout eternity under the wrath of God, but slain.
God doesn't hold the unsaved to a higher standard than He holds us. We're all offered the same gift. We are all held to the same standard...those who accept their Creator will have eternal life. Those who don't will die. If the creature doesn't believe in His Creator, the wages of his sin is death. Now if you want to get into eternal torment, we'll really open up a can of worms. When I read the scripture, I see death is eternal separation from God. I don't hold to suffering for eternity in a lake of fire. I see outer darkness, but will admit...the afterlife of the unsaved is a mystery to me. In Revelation, we see death and hades will be thrown into the lake of fire. I know many will condemn me for not believing in eternal torment as some verses from the Word seem to say. I simply don't see that in God's character, and the Word about hell is often misinterpreted to suit man's understanding. I'll just leave it there and let the fiery darts come on in. :biglaugh
Jesus ascended to the throne of God where He is all in all with the Father once again. He has returned to His former glory having done the work He came to do.
Hi Glory,
Here are some verses I'll throw out there:
2 Thessalonians 1:8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with
everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,
Revelation 14:11
And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.â€
Revelation 20:10
The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Luke 12:47 And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will,
shall be beaten with many stripes. 48 But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes,
shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.
Revelation 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And
the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And
they were judged, each one according to his works.
Matthew 12:36
But I say to you that for
every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.
The law of God states "eye for eye tooth for tooth" and it is this law that will judge *unsaved* mankind on the day of God's Judgment. When Christ came to earth he told us not to judge "eye for eye tooth for tooth" because we are not under the law but under grace. But everyone who is not under grace remains under the law.
My firm belief is that when Christ comes he will judge each and every sin that has ever entered into this universe *perfectly* because God is the perfect essence of justice. The scales of justice will be *perfectly* balanced.
Sin is a debt that accumulates and each and every sin must come under judgment and intense scrutiny by the Almighty God and the penalty for each one must be given according to the righteous judgement of God. As it is written "every idle word man shall have to give an account for". I'm a firm believer that each person who ends up in hell will have a different experience going through it. Yes I do believe Hell is separation from God and Hell is outer darkness, I also believe that hell is definitely *not* going to be the same for everyone. Those who sin more will have to pay more than those who sin less. Also different types of sin will carry more weight with it... a cold blooded murder is going to be judged more severly than a white lie. God is perfectly righteous to reward mankind according to their deeds.