For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.1

Substitutionary Atonement

The doctrine of substitutionary atonement teaches that Christ took our punishment on Himself as our substitute. In a spiritual sense, we were "in Christ" when He died and, because of this, His death was our death.2 He died in our place.3 The doctrine of substitutionary atonement is solid, established, scriptural doctrine and it is a foundation of biblical Truth.

The doctrine of substitutionary atonement arises from a progression of scriptures: 1) the wages of sin is death;4 2) Christ, who had no sin, became sin for us;5 3) Christ bore ours sins on the cross,6 and suffered the consequence of sin that we deserved;7 4) we were united with Him in His death; that is, we were "in Christ" when He was crucified;8 5) Christ died for us;9 His death was on our behalf;10 and 6) through His death, we have been redeemed and forgiven.11 Our penalty for sin was death,12 and Christ paid it. He "died for us"13 and "[tasted] death for every man.14

Jesus Christ died our death for us. That is the reason that He tells us that if we keep His saying, we will "never see death."15 He tells us plainly that it is death from which He saves us.16†

But there are two deaths.17 Christ was not promising that He would not save our body from the first death because "it is appointed unto all men to die at least once"18 and bodies must die. Instead, He was promising that He would save our soul and resurrected body from the second death.19 He did this by "tasting death for every man."20 It is for this reason that Revelation tells us that "the second death has no power [over us]."21 The redeemed will be resurrected with incorruptible bodies like Christ.22 They will be resurrected to life (eternal life) whereas the unredeemed will be resurrected to "judgment"23 which is the second death (eternal death).24

Christ paid our penalty for us by dying in our place and saved us from the second death. But if our penalty was not death but endless torment in hell, then Christ did not pay our penalty because Christ is not being tormented in hell. He is sitting at the right hand of God.25

We do ill to the doctrine of substitutionary atonement when we teach that Christ did not, in fact, save us from death, but instead saved us from being tormented (effectively being burned alive) forever. We assault the words of Christ if we teach that when He said "if a man keep My saying He shall never see death"26† He meant that "if a man keep my saying he will never see eternal torment." Christ never mentioned eternal torment.

The doctrine of eternal torment makes short work of the doctrine of substitutionary atonement. The doctrine cannot deny that Jesus paid our penalty, so the doctrine manufactures an accommodation. It teaches that Christ indeed suffered eternal torment for us, although He is not presently being tormented. Christ's eternal torment was not really eternal, but was instead "concentrated" into a few minutes.

But there is simply nothing in scripture that teaches concentrated eternal torment. Scripture teaches that we are united with Him in the likeness of His death27 and Christ tasted death for every man, not eternal torment.28 The Bible mentions eternal torment only once and that is to refer to the eternal fate of Satan.

The proponents of the doctrine of eternal torment are in complete good faith, but are presuming a false doctrine to be true and they are trying to make it fit. But in doing so they compromise the text. Rather than accept the text for what it says, they alter the meanings of the words. For instance, they would rather invent an new meaning for death than admit that Christ meant exactly what He said when He said, "If a man keep My saying, he shall never see death."29 Nor do they admit that Paul meant what he said when he said that "the wages of sin is death."30 Nor do they admit that scripture teaches that "The soul that sins shall die."31 Instead, to make the doctrine fit, they argue that death in scripture is not really death at all. Instead, it means separation from God-but only in those instances where the word "death" contradicts the doctrine of eternal torment. So, in the parable of Lazarus, they argue that death does not mean separation from God for Lazarus but it does for the rich, although it is the same word. And Christ's words do not really mean that if a man keep His words, he will never see death. They mean that if a man keep His words, he will never see eternal torment.

But there is no "not really" in scripture. Scripture is concrete, wholly consistent, inspired by God and inerrant.32 Each word in scripture is accurate and divinely inspired; and the preacher must not stray beyond its boundaries. The preacher must "preach the word."33 If the Word of God says that "death" is the wage of sin, then the preacher must preach that death is the wage of sin.34

It is gross and imponderable error to alter the meaning of simple death to mean eternal conscious sentient existence (eternal life in torture), and waive away the words of scripture with the vapid cliché: "Whenever the Bible says death, it really means separation from God." To do that is to add to the Word of God, especially to add to the Book of Revelation.35

If Christ had meant that if any man who kept His words would not be tormented (βασανισθήσονται36) then why did he say that they would never see death (θανατος)?37 Why did Paul use the same word to tell us that the wage of sin is death?38 Indeed, what word could they have used to convey plain death other than the Greek word for plain death (thanatos)? None, because there is no other word for plain death. There are other words for death in the Bible to be sure, but the doctrine of eternal torment has re-defined all of them because all of them are used in 50 different scriptures to say that the wages of sin is exactly that: death. Whenever a proponent of the doctrine of eternal torment reads one of these words for death in the context of the final judgment, he does not hear its actual meaning. He hears, "separation from God and eternal, conscious, sentient existence." For that man, there is no word that means actual death no matter what every single Greek dictionary happens to say.

One cannot, with integrity, re-write all of the scriptures that teach that eternal death, is the punishment for sin.39 Nor can one, by simple theological fiat, alter the very core of the New Testament by teaching that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not be eternally separated from God and burned alive forever." Scripture does not say that. Scripture says

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish [die], but have everlasting life."40†

Note the symmetry of the verse: The final end is either eternal life or eternal death.

There are ten Hebrew and Greek words for death in 50 different scriptures and all of them are used to refer to the effect of sin and none of them mean separation from God. Therefore to re-define death to suit the doctrine of eternal torment is to redefine all of these words.

Sinners are under a “sentence of death” not a sentence of eternal torment:

But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: Who delivered us from so great a death…41

The fascinating accuracy of scripture is revealed in two scriptures that speak to these issues. Hebrews 9:27 states that “…it is appointed unto man [all of mankind] but once to die and after that the judgment.” But Revelation 21:8 says that the unredeemed will suffer a second death following the final judgment. So, Hebrews says that all men will die once but Revelation speaks of two deaths. How can these scriptures be reconciled?

The word that is translated “appointed” in Hebrews 9:27, means “put away” or “stored up for.”42 So Hebrews 9:27 means that only one death and one judgment have been appointed (stored up) for all men. The second death, however, has not been reserved for all men; the second death has been reserved only to those who do not turn to Christ and must therefore pay the death-penalty for their own sins.43

Thus, Hebrews 9:27 and Revelation 21:8 are in harmony. Both the redeemed and the unredeemed will die the first death because it is appointed unto all men to die once. But only the unredeemed will die twice. Each of these two scriptures uses a different Greek word for death. In Hebrews 9:27, the root word for death is άποθνησκω (“apothnaceko”)44 whereas the word for death in Revelation 21:8 is θάνατος (“thanatos”).45 In Hebrews 9:27 the word carries an nuance of separation because the first death is the separation of the body and the soul, whereas in Revelation 21:8 the word used means death without any nuances and means plain and simple death and nothing else.

The doctrine of eternal torment stains the fabric of the cross. It changes the purpose of the cross FROM 1) Christ's sacrifice atoned for the sins of the world46 and 2) Christ paid our penalty for sin47 TO 1) Christ's sacrifice atoned for the sins of the world. The doctrine of eternal torment renders the doctrine of substitutionary atonement to no longer be substitutionary. We now have a Savior who atoned for our sins, but we do not have a Savior who paid our penalty.

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Original Sin

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned.48

The sin of Adam brought death to humanity. But which death? The first death or the second?

The sin of Adam brought the second death to mankind, not the first. We know this because we will all die the first death, even though our death-penalty for sin was paid for by Christ. "It is appointed unto all men to die once…"49 All those who have been delivered from the curse of Adam50 and have been made alive in Christ51 and to whom Jesus promises that they will never see death52 will die this death. So the death caused by original sin cannot be the death of our body.

The death caused by original sin is the second death, the death of the soul. Jesus Christ saved our souls from the second death. He did not save our bodies from the first death.53

Although death passed to all men as a result of original sin, and that death is the second death,54 sin results in spiritual death during this life as well as following the final judgment.55 Sin kills whenever and wherever it is found.56 The final judgment of eternal death is sin's logical conclusion.

Romans 5:12 does not say that the sin of Adam spread separation from God to all men. It says that the sin of Adam spread death to all men. Paul is speaking of both spiritual death during this life and eternal death following the judgment. Spiritual death in this life will inevitably find its end in eternal death unless one turns to Christ who died that death for all who come to Him.57

Those who believe in eternal torment for all unbelievers are denying the doctrine of original sin because they are denying that it is death that spread to all men who have not turned to Christ. When they read the word death, they hear "separation" rather than "death." This error not only alters the meaning of Romans 5:12 by re-defining the word for death, but in doing so, it also alters the meaning of spiritual death during this life. Spiritual death means exactly that. It does not mean spiritually separated from God; it means spiritually dead.

When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions…58

Verily, verily I say unto you, if a man keep My saying He shall never see death.59

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Predestination

Eternal torment places predestination60 on the horns of an impossible dilemma, a dilemma that causes most Christians to simply reject predestination altogether or create more false doctrine in order to force the two to co-exist.

The application of both eternal torment and predestination require that God, Who is love,61 will resurrect everyone who has committed at least one sin and give them a new body for the sole purpose of tormenting them forever, unless they both heard and trusted in Jesus Christ during their lifetime.

Therefore, if the doctrine of eternal torment is true, then God has effectively predestined those who never come to come to Christ to be burned alive forever. But if the doctrine of eternal torment is not true, then God has effectively predestined all those who do never come to Christ to die.

The purveyors of eternal torment are quick to argue that eternal torment is simply a statement of how much God hates sin and has to punish it. But that explanation is powerless to address the fact that predestination, by sheer power of divine fiat, makes it impossible for anyone who has not been elected to avoid being tormented forever.

Thus, in the eternal torment scenario, a just God causes all of humanity to inherit the sin nature of Adam.62 The sin nature of Adam causes all men to be made sinners.63 The inevitable result of the sin that they will inevitably64 commit is death.65 But death in the Bible is not really death and their Creator who created them to be sinners will resurrect them all and condemn them to a conscious eternity in flames because they committed the very sins that He destined them to commit. That is absurd.

It is difficult to conceive of a more unjust scenario than that one. It is only through the miraculous experience of salvation that any reasonable person could ever truly believe that such a God could ever be called just. And many who have experienced His presence through Jesus Christ still find it impossible to understand how He could actually do that. If the reader is one of those, take heart. He doesn't.

Let us consider the scriptural alternative. And let us and presume that death in the Bible is not "separation from God" but actual death. Let us presume that all of the 10 different Greek and Hebrew words for death really mean death and that the 50 verses that teach death as the penalty for sin mean exactly what they say.66 And let us presume that Ezekiel was correct when he attributes this statement to God Himself, "The soul who sins will die."67

When we read these scriptures for their plain meaning, the doctrine of predestination begins to fit because birth and death and the consequence for sin are all well within the scope of acceptable reality. In fact, unless one is a Darwinist and/or an atheist, the common ground that we all enjoy is the understanding that we are born, we die and there is a consequence for sin.

The Creator is not horrific. He is kind, patient, self-sacrificial and just.68 And He is a physician who spiritually heals69† all those who permit Him to do so.70

If the wage of sin really is death, then those who have not turned to Christ for healing are those who loved darkness rather than light,71 and they will die in the end.72 And that is exactly what the majority expect, no matter what outward show they may make of their chosen religion.

God gives the gift of life to every human to do with as he sees fit. But at a point determined by Him and by Him alone that life will end. God gives the gift of life and He takes it away. This is nothing new to any of us. This is humanity. Life is a gift. It begins with birth and it ends with death. We all knew that going in.

Predestination is simply another gift.

Whosoever wishes may "take of the water of [eternal] life freely."73 The gift of eternal life is offered to all. Unfortunately, only a few end up taking it.74 The access of all men to eternal life is founded upon the concept that man has free will to choose or not to choose. But at the same time, God has reserved for Himself the right to give eternal life to some for His own reasons.75 From the perspective of man, each has free will to accept or reject Christ, but from God's perspective, He is sovereign and He predestines. How both are true, this author cannot tell. But one thing is clear: the gift of eternal life is in addition to the gift of life that He gives to all.

It is likewise true that a world with free will must contain both righteousness and sin, both of which have consequences. We have been repeatedly warned that the consequence of sin is death.76 This too is a part of the fabric of man. God is just and He does punish sin. A tyrant or criminal who spends his days dealing out pain cannot escape what he has done with a bullet or vial of poison. He cannot escape because God has created him to die not just one death but two77 and he will reside in hell while waiting for the second one. While in hell, he (his soul) will be judged according to his deeds78 and he will bear the just weight of his sins.79 A man can kill his own body, but he cannot kill his soul.80 Only God can kill his soul.81 The soul will be judged82 but in the end he will not be tormented for eternity because "the soul that sins shall die,"83 not be eternally tormented. The end is death, exactly as expected. Eternal death is the eternal punishment referenced in Matthew 25:46.84†

Every soul that reaches the age of accountability sins,85 and this necessarily includes the souls of good people. But good or not, the wage of sin is still death.86 If any soul who sins87† does not turn to Christ while its body is alive, that soul will be confined to hell pending judgment and die in the second death, because the wage of sin is inevitably death.88 We live in a moral universe and we have been repeatedly warned.89

The great tragedy of the doctrine of eternal torment is that it ruins the symmetry and justice of the scriptural paradigm the moment the word for death (the cessation of consciousness and feeling), is re-defined to mean precisely the opposite (eternal conscious sentient existence).

The sum of it all is that God has reserved for Himself the right to determine when anyone will be born and when anyone will die. That is part of who we are. Predestination is nothing more than God doing exactly that: determining when we will be born and determining when we will die, if at all.

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Evangelism

The Second Death

The myth90 of the non-existence of death has been made necessary by the doctrine of eternal torment because if death occurs as scripture says it does, then eternal torment cannot occur (because dead people and dead souls cannot be tormented). If the myth is to be inserted into scripture, death must be re-defined to mean "separation from God." This re-definition of death creates a place for eternal life in flames where the sinner never really dies and everyone either goes to heaven or hell for the rest of eternity.

But scripture does not teach that death in the Bible is really only separation from God. Scripture teaches there are two deaths, and each one of them is very real. In the first death the body dies,91 but the soul does not.92 After the first death, the soul of the redeemed is with Christ93 and the soul of the unredeemed is in hell.94 The souls of the unredeemed remain in hell until the final judgment after which they die in the second death.95

Redeemed souls will never die because they have been given eternal life96 and they will not be hurt by the second death.97 They will never die.98

The Bible says nothing about death being "separation from God." Nor does the Bible suggest different definitions of the same word for death when it is used in different places, such as death meaning true death when used to refer to the death of the body but eternal conscious sentient existence when used to refer to second death in the lake of fire.

Herein lies the great tragedy of the separation-from-God myth. It effectively teaches that no one ever really dies. This creates an amorphous construct that mutes the very crisp and straightforward scriptural explanation of life after death and confuses (at best) the dying Christian.

The separation-from-God myth cannot deal with the reality of observable fact. Pretending that death is really only separation from God, so the Christian never really dies because he is never separated from God is cold comfort to someone who is staring his own death in the face. It is far better to reassure him that there are two deaths. The first one is the inevitable death of the body and the second is the death of the soul. But that the Christian will die only the first death. Because, as Christ Himself said, "Everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die."99 Christ was not saying that our bodies would never die; He was saying that our soul will never die in the second death.

The error of eternal torment has resulted Bible teaching that avoids teaching on the second death, because if there is a second death and it is really a death, then sinners cannot be burned alive for the rest of eternity. The existence of a second actual death contradicts the doctrine of eternal torment, so death must be redefined.

But without the reality of an actual second death, Christ's statement that "Everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die" must apply to the first death. Hence the false teaching that no one every actually dies. We all just go to either heaven or hell for eternity.

In the same vein, the officiant at a funeral may seek to reassure the congregation that the deceased is not "really dead" because "Everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die." But no amount of robes and ceremony can change the fact that the deceased is, in fact, fully and completely dead and perhaps lying in the coffin right in front of them (or reduced to ashes). Telling a grieving family to have faith because "death in the Bible is not really death but separation from God" may elicit reverential nods, but the silence of the coffin is far more eloquent.

Thus, without the full truth, the reading of Christ's words sow doubt in the minds of many as to the reliability of scripture. And the skeptics in the congregation have their convictions solidified: "Christianity is for dreamers and those in need of a god."

But when Christ's words are quoted in the context of Truth, they are life-changing. For instance, rather than informing the congregation that the deceased has not actually died because Christ is the resurrection and the life, the officiant may choose instead to mourn the actual death of the body. He may say that the deceased lived a good life and his time came just like it will come to all of us. Our hope, however, does not lie in the belief that our body will not die; our hope lies in the fact that there are two deaths and the believer will die only the first, the death of the body-and later be resurrected. Our great hope is not that our body will never die but that our soul will never die. "It is appointed unto all men to die once."100 But it is not appointed unto all men to die twice.

The soul of both the redeemed and the unredeemed survives the death of the body. We learn this from the parable of Lazarus. The soul of the unredeemed will die forever in the second death but the soul of the redeemed will never die because it has been purchased by the Redeemer by His death on the cross.

When Christ said, "I am the resurrection and the life; if anyone believes in Me, even if he should die, he will live,"101 He meant every word of it. He saves us from the second death and later the soul of the redeemed will be clothed in a new body.

Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.102

And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.103

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.104

The reason why there are two deaths is because there are two different living thing, the body and the soul. One is physical and the other is spiritual and they don't die at the same time. The reason why they don't die at the same time is because God is just and He will always judge sin. But He cannot judge sin until after the life has been lived because everyone has his entire life to turn to Christ and have his sins forgiven.

So, scripture does not teach that Christians just "pass away" and never really die; scripture teaches that Christian bodies really die, just like all bodies. Christian souls, however, never die because the death due them because of their sin has already been died by Jesus Christ. Therefore they have been forgiven105 and being forgiven they have escaped the death sentence imposed in Ezekiel 18:4 and elsewhere.106 They escape eternal death because they have been given eternal life.107

But the souls who do not trust in Christ have not been given eternal life because eternal life does not come to those who are dead in sin. It comes to those who come to Jesus Christ108 because Jesus Christ is eternal life109 and to know Christ is to experience (live) eternal life now, in this life.110 The souls who do not come to Christ will die111 because they have been condemned.112 They have been condemned because they have sinned and the soul that sins must die.113

Scripture is an overlay that matches perfectly with the paradigm stamped on our soul and body by the Creator and it squares perfectly with observable reality. It produces a marvelous consistency, a coherent clarity and a certainty and faith. But when the overlay is altered, it does not match the paradigm below it and it causes confusion and misdirection. Like the little foxes in Solomon's vineyard, the refusals to simply read the text as it is written eat away at faith. They create a patchwork of explanations and circumventions. But when the scriptural overlay is untouched, scripture falls into lock-step with observable truth. And it yields a peace that passes human understanding.114

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The Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ

And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain115

And again:

For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins…For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."116

If Christ's sacrifice on the Cross paid for our sins, then why is the resurrection so important? The resurrection is important because it is proof that we have been given eternal life. It is proof that we have been given eternal life because we were spiritually in Christ at the resurrection. We rose with Him.

And ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power…buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins…hath He quickened [made alive] together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses…If ye then be risen in Christ, seek those things which are above…117†

Although we were in Him before the foundation of the world, we could still sin and all of us did sin118 and we became deserving of eternal death because of it.119 The resurrection is concerned with saving us from the death-penalty for sin and giving us eternal life. We were dead in our sins120 and on our way to the second death.

Jesus Christ gave Himself to be sacrificed on the cross in order to save us from that death and to give us eternal life.121 When Christ was nailed to the cross, we were in Him spiritually122 and, He became sin for us.123 Because He became sin for us, He had to lose His life because sin inevitably results in death.124 But since we were in Him spiritually when He died, His death was our death.125 He died to pay our death-penalty. And we were still in Him when He was resurrected126 and for this reason those who were in Christ in His death and resurrection (Christians), are spiritually alive.

To understand the resurrection we must understand that Jesus Christ was literally dead. He had taken on our sins and our penalty by becoming sin for us127 and, although He was wholly without sin, Ezekiel 18:4128 was executed against him. This death was the figurative cup that was offered Him,129 a cup that was filled to the brim with the vilest of sins.130 He drank it on our behalf and the result was exactly as promised: physical and spiritual death.131

And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me[!]132

We were in spiritually Him when He died and His death paid for our sins because the ultimate penalty for sin is death.

The temple of His body was destroyed, but as He promised, He would raise it again in three days.133 Jesus Christ was resurrected after He had paid our death-penalty and we were in Him when He was resurrected.134 Because we were in Him when He died and in Him when He was resurrected and are still in Him, we are made right with God and we are partakers of both His life and His divine nature.135

What a mess we make of this magnificent Truth when we teach that Jesus never paid our penalty because our penalty was not death, but eternal torment. If death is not the penalty of the unredeemed, then what use is there of our being in Christ when He died? Being in Christ when He died is irrelevant if His death was not our penalty. And if eternal torment is the second death, then Christ could not have died the second death for us because Christ was not eternally tormented. So what penalty did He pay?

If death in the Bible means "separation from God" then Christ never actually died. He was only separated from the Father. Indeed, if Christ never really died, then how could He have been resurrected?

Christ paid our penalty with His death and we are forgiven because we were in Him when He died and because it is death that was our penalty not eternal torment.

And because we were in Him when He was resurrected we received His Life.136 We did not receive simply an extension of our own life, we received His Life. We received eternal life.

This is the reason why scripture refers to His gift as eternal life not "unending" life. Unending life would be a life (our life) that begins at a point in time and continues on without end. But Jesus has not given us unending life. He has given us His life and His life is eternal life. Eternal life is life that has existed for eternity past and will exist for eternity future. The life that Christ has given to us will have no end, but it also had no beginning. It is unending in both directions; it is eternal.

We received Christ's life and along with it we received the divine nature137 which we can experienced through the knowledge of Christ that comes from the exercise of obedience to His word (righteousness).138

Apologists for eternal torment will argue that Christ's death was still sufficient to atone for all of our sin even if He did not pay our penalty for sin. This is, of course, true because the scriptures that tell of the effect of the cross depend upon the sacrifice of Christ, not upon the penalty for sin. But if the penalty for sin is eternal torment and Christ did not pay that penalty, what purpose is our union with Him in His death? And if we were not in Christ when He died, how then were we in Christ when He was resurrected?

Jesus Christ did more than simply atone for our sins. He paid the penalty for our sins because we were in Him when He paid it; and His resurrection brought us eternal life. That is, we were in Christ when He died on the cross139 and we were in Christ when He was resurrected.140 Being in Christ when He died freed us from the penalty of sin because the penalty for sin is death and Christ paid it. When the penalty for our sin was paid, we acquired eternal life for two reasons. First because Jesus Christ promised it to us141 and second because Jesus Christ is Himself eternal life142 and we were and are in Him and share in that Life.143†

But there is a conundrum here. The penalty that we would have paid for our sin is eternal death (death with no resurrection). But Christ's death was not eternal because He was later resurrected. How then can Christ's death be our penalty?

The penalty for sin is always death but the effect of that penalty on Christ was not eternal because Christ's death had discharged the very death penalty that He had just paid. He, being made sinless by His own sacrifice,144† was resurrected and we, being made sinless by that same sacrifice, were with Him in His resurrection.145 His resurrection proved that His sacrifice was sufficient to satisfy divine justice because if it had not been sufficient, then Christ, who had became sin for us, would not have been resurrected.

It is for this reason that Paul says that "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins"146

It is for this reason that Paul says "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins"147 And it is for this reason that although the effect of the second death on us would have been eternal death, the effect of the same death on Christ was not.

When the doctrinal error of eternal torment is thrown into these scriptures, it destroys their symmetry and their continuity. If the penalty for sin is eternal torment and not the death that Christ died, then the penalty has never been paid because Christ is not in the lake of fire being tormented for us but is instead at the right hand of the Father.148

And if eternal torment was the penalty, what did Christ mean when, on the cross, He said "It is finished"?149 He meant that our penalty for sin was death and He paid it when He died.150 He "died for us."151 He "[tasted] death for every man.152 But if eternal torment rather than death is the real penalty, then Christ's work was either not finished or it did not include the payment of the penalty for our sin.

Eternal torment is a Catholic (and a protestant) myth.

Herein lies the greatest challenge to the theologian and the pastor. What shall govern? Shall he say what he is expected to say in order to reinforce an ancient error? Or will he see scripture as true north and follow that compass straight no matter what?

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