Today we’ll tackle the biggest question of all: who is God?  We’ll take a journey through scripture together to discover what God is like, stopping at key moments to consider what this or that interaction tells us about him.

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theology: one’s understanding of God

Today we’ll take a look at a number of confusing scriptures that seem to indicate that hell is a place where the wicked are consciously tormented forever.  We’ll look at texts that talk about weeping and gnashing of teeth as well as the how the worm will not die nor the fire be quenched.  We’ll consider biblical phrases like “eternal punishment,” “eternal fire,” and “everlasting contempt.”  Last of all we’ll analyze two verses in Revelation that use the language of eternal torment to describe the final punishment.

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The biblical punishment for the wicked is destruction not an eternal life of torture.  This is why we find scores of text that use words like perish, cut off, and death to describe the fate of the wicked.

Gen 2.17; 3.19, 22-23; 5.5; Ps 37.2, 9, 10, 20, 22, 27, 28, 34, 36; Mal 4.1-3; Mt 3.12; 7.13-14; 10.28; 18.8-9; Jn 3.16; Rom 6.23; Gal 6.8; 1 Tim 1.17; 2 Tim 1.9-10; Heb 10.26-27; 2 Pet 2.6; 3.6-7; 1 Jn 5.11-12; Jud 1.6-7

Matthew 8.11-12 (cp. 13.42)

Acts 7.52-54

Matthew 3.11-12

Mark 9.47-48

What is the destiny of the unrighteous?  Christians over the centuries have put forward three major options: eternal conscious torment (traditionalism), temporary torment followed by salvation (universalism), temporary torment followed by destruction (annihilationism).  In this lecture we'll cover the main texts supporting the annihilation of the wicked as well as three logical problems with the traditional view.

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Gen 2.17

 proof

Psalm 37 uses terms to describe the fate of the wicked

v2

wither quickly like the grass

v9

cut off

v10

be no more

v20

perish

v20

vanish like smoke

v22

cut off

v27

reward for good is to live forever

v28

cut off

v34

cut off

v36

passed away

Mal 4.1-3 day is coming that will set them ablaze, they’ll be ashes under your feet

Mat 3.12 burn up chaff [wicked] w/ unquenchable fire

Mat 7.13-14  narrow gate leads to life; broad way leads to destruction

Mat 10.28  destroy body and soul in hell

Mat 13.40-42 all law-breakers thrown into fiery furnace

Mat 18.8-9 better to enter life crippled than to be thrown into eternal fire (hell of fire)

Mat 25.46 eternal punishment vs. eternal life

Gal 6.8

Heb 10.26-27 those who go on sinning will get a fury of fire that will consume

2 Peter 2.6 Sodom&Gomorrah condemned to extinction as example of what happens to ungodly

2 Peter 3.6-7 future destruction is like Noah's flood

Jud 1.6-7  Sodom & Gomorrah are an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire

Romans 5.6 “Christ died for the ungodly”

In our last episode, we examined the broad scope of scripture, stopping at many texts along the way that teach about a future kingdom when Jesus returns.  In this session, we’ll take a look at a number of sometimes misunderstood texts that seem to imply the kingdom is either already present or in heaven.

Here is the picture of the Greek manuscript known as Codex Vaticanus on Luke 23.43 with an arrow pointing to the alleged comma:

And here is Codex Sinaiaticus on 1 Timothy 3.16, with the hand of a later scribe “correcting” ος to θς, changing “who” to “God.”

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The kingdom is the age when Jesus rules over the world from the throne of David in Jerusalem.  It is present in that the sense that his followers already recognize him as king and submit to his kingdom way.  (It’s been inaugurated but not consummated.)  When it arrives, it will fill the earth.

Gen 1.28; Ps 2.6-9; 37.9-11, 22, 29, 34; 110; Is 11.1-9; 25.6-9; 35; Dan 2.44; 7.13-14, 18, 22, 27; Mic 4.1-8; Am 9.11-15; Zeph 3.8-20; 45.18; Mt 5.5; 6.9-10; 13.24-30, 36-43; 19.27-28; 25.31-46; Lk 1.31-33; 13.23-30; Acts 1.3-8; 3.19-21; 1 Cor 6.1-3; 15.24-28; 2 Tim 2.11-13; Rev 2.26-27; 5.10; 11.15-18

Luke 10.9

Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’

Luke 11.20

But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

Luke 17.20-31

20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed,  21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”  22 And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.  23 And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them.  24 For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day.  25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.  26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man.  27 They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.  28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot– they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building,  29 but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all–  30 so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.  31 On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back.

Albert Nolan:

“Many Christians have been misled for centuries about the nature of God’s kingdom by the well-known mistranslation of Lk 17:21: “The kingdom of God is within” Today all serious scholars and translators agree that the text should be read: “The kingdom

We now begin a series of four lectures on the eternal destiny of the righteous and the wicked, including the kingdom and the judgement.  For today we are going to focus on what God promises for his own people in the age to come.  We’ll cruise through the entire bible (right from Genesis to Revelation), making key stops along the way to understand the golden thread, woven throughout scripture of the kingdom.

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eschatology

3 dimensions to kingdom

we are just talking about hope right now

creation theology

Promise to Abraham

Promise to David

Psalms

In our last episode we looked at what the scriptures teach about humanity, including creation, death, and resurrection.  I laid out a case for conditional immortality from several important texts.  This time, we will consider a number of challenges to this understanding including:

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The dead are asleep—unconscious—until the resurrection when they are brought back to life at the return of Christ.

Gen 2.7; 1 Kings 2.10; 11.43; 14.20; Job 3.11-14; Ecc 9.5-10; Ps 6.4-5; 13.3; 115.17; 146.3-4; Dan 12.2; Jn 11.11-14;5.28-29; 6.39-40, 44, 54; Acts 2.29, 34; 7.60; 1 Cor 15.6, 21-23, 51-55; 1 Thes 4.13-17

Hand out article by Matt Perman at Desiring God:

The “intermediate state” is the time between the death and the resurrection. Some have held that during this time we are unconscious or possibly even go out of existence. We do not think that this is biblical.

The biblical evidence is that our soul continues on after death and that we remain conscious in the intermediate state while awaiting our final destiny of resurrected existence in the new heavens and new earth.

First, Paul spoke of having the desire “to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better” (Philippians 1:23). Notice first of all that Paul speaks of death as a departure (from the body) not into temporary nothingness or unconsciousness but to be with Christ. If we are with Christ once we have died, then we continue existing. Second, notice that Paul speaks of this state as “very much better” than the present state. It would be hard to say such a thing of a state of complete unconsciousness. Particularly when we consider that Paul’s passion was to know Christ, it would seem that the reason the state beyond death is better than this present life is because we are with Christ and know it. If we were suddenly unconscious at death until the resurrection, wouldn’t it be better to remain in this life because at least then we would have conscious fellowship with Christ?

Second, Paul also said that “while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord” and that therefore he would “prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord” (

In this lecture, you'll learn about anthropology--the bible's view of humanity.  In particular, we'll focus on the two ends of the spectrum: creation and death.  We'll see how the biblical view of humanity is rather exalted since we are made in God's image.  We'll examine what the bible teaches about death and resurrection and how the intermediate state is regularly labeled sleep. 

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Why start here?  it’s where the bible starts (creation)

anthropology: your understanding of humanity

where do humans come from?

Gen 2.7: God personally creates humans

consider God’s human design

God’s creation was good (7x)

In this presentation you'll learn about the core creed of the bible, both in the Old and New Testaments, the Shema, and how that relates to the smattering of texts in which Jesus may be called "God."  If Yahweh alone is God then how can Jesus be God too?  Are there two Gods or is something else going on?  The answer is the principle of agency.  Jesus can be called God because he represents God.

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• For a written version of this talk, see my article, “Explanations to Verses Commonly Used to Teach that Jesus Is God”
• Intro music: Jazzy Frenchy by bensound.com. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

We continue our refutation of Michael Brown’s opening statement by addressing a whole smattering of texts, including Isaiah 9.6, John 20.28, Colossians 2.9, 2 Peter 1.1, Romans 9.5, and 1 John 5.20. We explain and debunk Brown's unusual singular verb argument from 1 Thess 3.13, 2 Thess 2.16-17, and Rev 22.3-4. We briefly touch upon Zech 14.3-4 and Mat 28.19 before handling Brown's case for the independent personality of God's spirit (Acts 5.3-4; 2 Cor 13.14; John 15.26; Mat 12.32). We look at the angel passage from Gen 48.15-16 and the whole concept of seeing God in OT times. In the end we find that Brown's case is not only confusing and self-contradictory, but he also repeatedly presupposes the deity of Christ in exegesis, he cherry picks texts without regard for their contexts, and he regularly disregards the Hebrew culture of key passages. In the end we remain unconvinced by his case for the Trinity.

Here are two manuscripts on Romans 9.5.  The first is Codex Vaticanus and the second is Codex Alexandrinus.  Note the very interesting punctuation after the word σάρκα (flesh) in each.  This indicates that the 4th and 5th century scribes took the latter clause as a distinct unit from the former in agreement with the punctuation we find in the New American Bible (NAB), "theirs the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, is the Messiah. God who is over all be blessed forever. Amen."  For comparison, here is the Greek from the NA28, "ὧν οἱ πατέρες καὶ ἐξ ὧν ὁ Χριστὸς τὸ κατὰ σάρκα, ὁ ὢν ἐπὶ πάντων θεὸς εὐλογητὸς εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας, ἀμήν."

To help you follow along, here is the relevant portion of the manuscript Brown used for his opening statement:

That’s why Isaiah said in 9:6 that one of the Messiah’s titles would be, “Mighty God,” yet in Isaiah 10:21, it is Yahweh who is called “Mighty God.” That’s why Thomas said to the risen Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” in John 20:28. The text is totally clear! Thomas called Jesus his Lord and his God. And that’s why Paul wrote in Colossians 2:9 that “the whole fullness of deity” dwelt in bodily form in Jesus.

Peter is clear as well, writing in 2 Peter 1:1 about “the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.” And it is very likely that Paul speaks of Jesus as God in Romans 9:5, while it is most likely that in 1 John 5:20, John states that Jesus Christ is “the true God.”

That’s why Jesus could say that the Father was in Him and He in the Father (John 14:9-11). That’s why Paul identifies the Spirit of God with the Spirit of Christ in Romans 8:9-11. That’s why Paul could pray to the Father and Son together in 1 Thessalonians 3:13, saying, “Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you,” using a singular verb for the Father and Jesus. And why else would Paul include Jesus in a prayer to the Father, let alone pray to the Father and Son using a singular verb in the Greek – unless they are one? (See also 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17, where Paul puts Jesus first in the prayer, using a singular verb again: “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.”)

And that’s why prayer is offered directly to the Son in the New Testament. Stephen prays to Him in Acts 7:59 (“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit”); we are taught to pray, “Maranatha,” which in Aramaic means, “Our Lord, come!” And John calls out to Him in prayer in Revelation, “Even so, come Lord Jesus!” (Rev 22:20). Jesus even told us to ask Him for anything and He would do it (see John 14:14).

And that’s why, in Revelation 22, we read th

We continue our refutation of Michael Brown's opening statement by addressing some alleged pre-existence texts in John 17.5, John 12.41, Philippians 2.6-11, and Matthew 23.37.  (See previous episodes here.)  Lastly we spend some considerable time working through Hebrews 1, giving special attention to verses 8 and 10. 

To help you follow along, here is the relevant portion of the manuscript Brown used for his opening statement:

There are other texts which explicitly point to the Son’s eternal preexistence. In John 17:5, Jesus prays to the Father, “And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” Once again, the text is clear.

John also tells us in chapter 12 that when Isaiah saw the Lord’s glory (meaning, Yahweh in His glory in Isaiah 6), it was the Son of God he saw, the one who suffers and dies in Isaiah 53. Isaiah saw the Son of God, and the Son was called Yahweh.

That’s why Paul tells us explicitly in Philippians 2 that Jesus existed in the form of God yet emptied Himself and became a servant, dying for us. And that’s why Paul uses a text speaking of Yahweh in Isaiah 45:23, where God swears that every knee will bow to Him and every tongue swear to Him and applies the verse to Jesus, saying that every knee will bow to Him and every tongue confess that He is Lord. If the Son is not deity, that’s blasphemous, and it cannot possibly be to the glory of the Father. Just think if the verse were referred to an angel, rather than Yahweh. It’s unimaginable.

Note also that Paul in this passage uses the example of Jesus in Philippians as an example of humility. He didn’t take what rightly belonged to Him – namely, the privileges of deity – but rather emptied Himself on our behalf. He who was eternally God came to earth as a servant to die for us! 

That’s why Jesus says that He had often longed to have mercy on Jerusalem, but it was not willing (Matthew 23:37). He was the one wooing His people throughout Old Testament times.

That’s why Hebrews 1:8, quoting from Psalm 45:7, says to the Son, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.” Yes, the Son is God and has an eternal throne! (The plain sense of the Hebrew and Greek texts is quite clear and the major reason there is any debate in how to translate the words is because of theological objections to the Messiah being God.)

Not only so, but Hebrews continues, quoting from Psalm 102 and applying these words to the Son, “And, ‘You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands;  they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.’” (Heb 1:10-12) The Son is the eternal creator, the one who always was and always will be. That’s what Scripture states!

We don’t need to play games with this text and try to make it say something it is not saying. The text clearly and indisputably speaks of the Lord creating the heavens and the earth, which will ultimately wear out, but He – the eternal Lord – will remain the same. Yet Hebrews applies this to the Son! And Psalm 102 makes frequent reference to Yahweh, yet the psalm is referred to the Son in Hebrews 1. Not only so, but the Greek text speaks of the Lord creating the universe in the beginning (archas). There is no denying the plain truth of these words!

And Hebrews makes the consistent argument that the Son is greater than the angels, yet in first-century Judaism, the very context of these words, there was no one higher than the angels other than God Himself.

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