Is Sin Eternal?

WE have previously given Scriptural testimony that the ungodly are to receive their punishment on this earth after the judgment, in those fires which shall renovate our earth, and bring in "new heavens and a new earth." These renewing fires are spoken of as the "perdition." "second death," "destruction," and "perishing," of the ungodly. The Psalmist says of them: "Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." Ps. 37:8-11. In verse 20, we read: "But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away." In verse 22, "For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off." And in verses 34-38, we read: "Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it. I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found. Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace. But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off."

If we take the literal construction of these and similar texts, it would appear that the righteous are to have, at last, a kingdom of eternal felicity on this earth made new; but that the wicked will be utterly destroyed.

The prophet Nahum, when about to predict the overthrow of Nineveh, first speaks of the character of God, and the manner of his coming to execute judgment upon the ungodly: "The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him. The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him. But with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies. What do ye imagine against the LORD? he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time. For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry." Nahum 1:5-10.

Some have said that the wicked being "cut off," "destroyed," and "perishing," only means that they are cut off from the earth, but they will still exist, and be in torments which must continue eternally. To such we would suggest the importance of giving due weight to the words of Solomon (Prov. 11:31), that the ungodly and sinners "shall be recompensed in the earth." On this earth then, is the place of their recompense. That they do not exist elsewhere in sin and torments, after the final execution of judgment, is plain from the testimony of St. John, when speaking of that time in his revelation. He says: "And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." Rev. 5:13. It seems at that time, every living being in the whole creation of God will be engaged in his praise and worship.

After describing the earth made new, with its glories (Rev. 22:3), he says, "And there shall be no more curse." On this text, Dr. Adam Clarke's comments read: "Instead of katanathema —curse, the best manuscripts and versions read, katathema—cursed person." So when the glorious new earth state is brought in, there will be no more a cursed person; not simply on the earth, but in the whole creation of God. It seems from the testimony of Prov. 3:33, and in 34:5, that the wicked are the people of God's curse upon whom he will "come down" in judgment. if there is to be no longer a cursed person, it is only another form of expressing that the ungodly will no longer exist. How is this? Will the wicked at that time all become converted? Will the renovating fires of judgment purify and preserve them, according to the theory of "Eternal Hope?" or will they not become, as expressed by the prophet Obadiah, "As ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been." Verse 16. As none but the righteous then remain, of course every creature will be praising God.

While the Scriptures give no hint of those found impenitent at the judgment being restored to favor with God, they do declare in the most emphatic language, not only that they shall be driven away from God's presence, but that they shall be punished with "destruction from his presence." We instance the words of our Saviour: "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:" Matt. 25:41. And the words of St. Paul: "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." 2 Thess. 1:7-9.

The advocates of eternal misery to the wicked, claim support for their theory in the terms employed by Scripture writers in speaking of the punishment. They tell us that the expressions, "everlasting fire," "eternal fire," "unquenchable fire," and "the fire that never shall be quenched," indicate that the wicked shall be in eternal conscious sufferings. It is claimed that if this is literal fire, the wicked must ever be burning in it; and if it is a figure, it must represent "unending mental anguish."

Referring again to the "eternal fire" of St. Jude, St. Peter says it turned "the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes," and that it is an "ensample" to all the ungodly. By the force of this example, we should decide that the effect of an eternal or everlasting fire, was the utter destruction of whatever is subject to it. When the word eternal is used with reference to time, we understand it to mean endless duration. To apply the term eternal fire to literal things, it would be contrary to all our experience and knowledge to conceive of a fire being supported by combustibles to all eternity. A literal fire of brimstone falling from the eternal God upon the cities of the plain, might, with strictest propriety, be called an "eternal fire;" not with reference to the duration of the consuming flame, but to its origin and results. It was a fire kindled by the great Eternal, and made a complete destruction of those cities.

The learned Dr. Whitby, on the word eternal as connected with the punishment of the wicked, said: "We know that it sometimes has the sense of final, or nearly that sense. Because this destruction is eternal, it does not follow that the act of destruction is to be always going on, but rather that the state of destruction is such that there is no recovery from it. Thus, if a man were destroyed for a year, and then restored, it would be a punishment for a year; if for a hundred years, it would be a century of punishment; if for a thousand years, it would be a millennium of punishment; but if he was destroyed never to be restored throughout eternity, it would be an eternal punishment."

We read in Heb. 6:2, of "eternal judgment;" not that the act of judging will be eternally going on, but the decisions of the judgment will be eternal, or final. In Heb. 9:12, we read of "eternal redemption." None would interpret this to mean that God will be eternally redeeming his people, but that the blessed effects of redemption will be eternal.

By the recorded expressions of St. John the Baptist, and our Saviour, the fire into which the wicked will be cast, is called "unquenchable." St. John says of Christ: "Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Matt. 3:12. Our Saviour said, "It is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire; where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." Mark 9:47,48.

In the latter text, the word hell is translated from the Greek word, gehenna. In the gehenna

—vale of Hinnom—before their eyes, the worm might die, or the fires might be extinguished before completing their work; but in that gehenna of fire into which the wicked shall be cast, the fire shall not be arrested in its work. So our Saviour's language carries out the same idea as expressed by St. John, that there shall be a thorough purging of his floor; not by preserving the wicked in the fire, but by burning them up, illustrated by the husbandman in consuming the chaff after securing the wheat. If we are correct in this conclusion, the result of an "unquenchable fire" must be the same as the "eternal fire" on Sodom, causing a complete "overthrow."