Comment on Eternal Punishment and Eternal Destruction

Eternal Punishment - Matthew 25:46

And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

Note that in this scripture Jesus did not see fit to say that unbelievers shall “go away into eternal torment,” as He might have easily said here. Instead, He says “go away into everlasting punishment” without designating what the punishment is.

Jesus does not have to designate what the punishment is because it has already been designated in some 50 different scriptures. The punishment is death.1† Therefore the purpose of Matthew 25:46 is not to restate what the punishment is, but rather to restate that it is indeed a punishment and that the effect of the punishment on the unredeemed is eternal. The fact that it is an actual punishment is immensely significant because, being a punishment, it can be avoided by avoiding the cause of the punishment (sin).

Why is it necessary to clarify that this death-punishment is eternal? Because not all deaths are eternal. The first death is certainly not eternal; it is followed by a resurrection of both the redeemed2 and the unredeemed.3 The reason why this passage specifies that the punishment (death) is eternal is to clarify that it will not be followed by a resurrection of the unredeemed.

The Greek word that the King James translates as "everlasting" in this passage is αίώνιον ("aiōnion"). This word means "eternal" or "everlasting" or "without end;" it has no other meaning.4 The Greek word that the King James translates as "punishment" is κόλασιν ("kolasin"). This word means "punishment." So, the phrase means exactly what it says: a punishment that is irreversible and lasts forever,5 a punishment that is permanent and will last for the rest of eternity for the unredeemed.

It is important to remember that when we seek to establish proper doctrine, we should be looking to see what the Bible actually says and attempt to encapsulate it, rather than to use it to provide substantiation for a favored doctrine. Therefore when we read Romans 6:23 and discover that the wages of sin is death, we should not presume that the wages of sin is not death; we should presume that the that the wages of sin is indeed death and look for substantiation in other scriptures. And when we open to Ezekiel 18:4 and read that the soul that sins shall die, we should see it as a confirmation rather than looking for ways to circumvent it by re-defining death. And when we see that the final judgment is called the second death, we should simply accept it rather than arguing that nothing really dies in the second death or, as some have done, conclude that "second death" is a nickname for the lake of fire.

We are not (or should not) be looking for verses that are broad enough to fit into a pre-conceived doctrine that has no specific scriptural support, but instead we should simply take the scripture for its plain meaning.

Take the doctrine of the Trinity for example. The doctrine of the Trinity has a foundation in specific scripture because God, Who is One,6 is spoken of throughout scripture as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. And each of these is a clearly defined person with different functions. Therefore when we read that if the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed,7 we are justified in understanding "Son" to refer to God the Son, or Jesus Christ. There is firm scriptural basis for the doctrine of the Trinity.

But the doctrine of eternal torment of the unredeemed has no such foundation. There is no scripture that says the unredeemed will be tormented for eternity. The only scriptural support for that doctrine is scripture passages that are broad enough to encompass both eternal death and eternal torment, like Matthew 25:46. So, when we read that the unredeemed will suffer eternal punishment, we are not justified in understanding that the punishment is eternal torment unless there are other scriptures that teach, for instance, that the wages of sin is eternal torment, or that the soul that sins shall not really die but be burned alive forever or that Christ's substitutionary atonement was not actually substitutionary because all He did was die for us.

But there are no such scriptures. The wages of sin is death and the death of Jesus Christ on the cross paid the penalty, the actual penalty, that we would have faced but for Him.

Therefore, instead of relying on what we expect to read, we would be far better served by observing the grammar and the plain meanings of the words themselves and take them for exactly what they say. And when we consider the phrase "eternal punishment," the Greek grammar is crucial to the meaning of the passage and the Greek grammar is clear: the phrase means eternal punishment, not eternal punishing.

Specifically:

There are four ways that the phrase "eternal punishment" in Matthew 25:46 could have been written differently if the Holy Spirit had wished to convey the meaning of an on-going punishment or "eternal punishing." But none was of these was chosen.

The first way to convey an active, on-going punishment would simply be to use the present tense of the verb “to punish.” That tense can convey the concept of an on-going occurrence,8 but the present tense was not used here. Instead the Holy Spirit inspired the writer to choose the simple noun form "punishment."

The second way to show on-going, punishment would be to use the substantive participle of the verb “to punish,” which would be “punishing” or “everlasting punishing.” But the participle is not used either. Instead, Matthew uses "punishment" rather than "punishing."

The third way to show on-going punishment is to use the future tense of the verb “to punish” and simply say it e.g. “they will be continually punished forever.” But this is not used either.9

The fourth and most obvious way would be to use the very clear terminology that was used to describe the eternal fate of Satan, that he will be punished "day and night for ever and ever.”10 But this is not used either.

Jesus did not use any of these because He did not wish to convey the concept of eternal punishing. Instead He refers to a single punishment that is forever irreversible. Jesus came to earth for the purpose of saving us from our sins. In Matthew 25:46 He tells us that the punishment is eternal. Then, in He tells us plainly that He is saving us from death.11 He never mentions eternal torment.

But what death? Not the first death because everyone must die once.12 He came to save us from the second death, the death that will occur when the unredeemed are thrown into the lake of fire.13 Matthew 25:46 does not teach eternal torment because:

1. 1. The words do not say it.
2. 2. All of the passages that speak directly to the nature of the punishment state unequivocally that the punishment is death.
3. 3. Jesus Christ says that he comes to save us from death:

Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.14

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish [die], but have eternal life.15†

I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever16

And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.17

And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die.18

1. 4. Others refer to the ministry of Jesus Christ as saving us from death:

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.19

Death is swallowed up in victory.20

But we had the sentence of death in ourselves21

…our Savior Jesus Christ, Who has abolished death22

He by the grace of God should taste death for every man.23

He who turns a sinner from the err of his ways will save a soul from death.24

The Lord is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.25

1. 5. In all of the recorded ministry of Jesus Christ, Jesus never mentions eternal torment.

Eternal Destruction - Second Thessalonians 1:9

…These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction…26

Note that in this passage as well as in the eternal punishment passage, the Holy Spirit also avoids inspiring the words “eternal torment.” But instead He inspires “eternal destruction.” This term does not mean the same thing as eternal torment. The Holy Spirit chose these words for a reason.

The same Greek grammar discussed above applies to "eternal destruction" because the same grammatical form is used here as in Matthew 25:46. Both "punishment" and "destruction" are noun forms of verbs. In the same way that the Greek word for "punishment" means “punishment” and not “punishing,” the Greek word for destruction means "destruction," not "destroying."

The Greek word that is translated destruction is όλεθρον (“olethron”). The definitive work for the definition of biblical Greek words (A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, Bauer, Arndt and Gingrich) defines όλεθρον as "destruction, ruin or death," and it also translates its meaning as "eternal death."27

The same word used elsewhere in scripture never means a state of continuing destroying; it always means destruction.

For instance, the word is used in First Thessalonians 5:3:

For they will say peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them…

And in First Corinthians 5:5:

To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh...

The participle form of destroy is used in Hebrews 11:28 where the author of Hebrews refers to "the One destroying the firstborns" at the time of the passover. But even there, where the participle is used, the meaning is destruction, not on-going destroying. There is no instance in scripture or anywhere else to the knowledge of the author where either the verb form or the noun form are used to mean an on-going, open ended continual destroying that never actually destroys. That is simply not the meaning of the word.

And the word is never used to mean torment. Torment is an entirely different word.

The doctrine of eternal destruction is not new to the New Testament. It has its roots in the Old Testament and its meaning has not changed. Its meaning is the plain meaning of destruction. It never means an on-going, open ended continual destroying that never actually destroys:

Job 20:6,7 דבא

Knowest thou not since of old, since man was placed upon earth, that the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment? Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds; yet, he shall perish for ever …”

This passage refers to the final end of the wicked. The word translated "perish" means to die, to be completely exterminated.28

Psalm 92:7 דמש

When the wicked spring as the grass, and when the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed forever.

The word translated "destroyed" from the Hebrew “…always expresses complete destruction or annihilation…”29 It means to be exterminated.30

The adjective "eternal" modifies the noun "destruction," and that is all it does. It tells us that whatever is destroyed (the unredeemed) will remain destroyed.

The fact that the unredeemed will be destroyed means that they will be killed in a very unpleasant fashion-but killed nonetheless. The reason why scripture specifies that they are destroyed for eternity is to distinguish the final and permanent destruction from the first death. The first time was not permanent. It was resurrected for the final judgment. But when they are destroyed in the lake of fire in the second death, their destruction will be permanent.

There is another stark difference between “eternal punishment/eternal destruction” and “eternal torment.” That difference is most evident when the Greek words used to describe the fate of Satan are contrasted with the phrases eternal punishment and eternal destruction.

The word for the torment of Satan is βασανισθήσονται ("basanisthasontai")31 which means "will be tormented.” But scripture uses different words to describe the fate of the unredeemed. The primary word used by scripture to refer to the eternal fate of the unredeemed is θάναος ("thanatos") which always means "death," plain and simple.32 Other words are φθείρω ("thero")33 meaning to utterly perish, άπόλλυμι ("apolumi")34 which means to perish or άποθνησκω ("apo thnace'ko")35 and others.

It is certainly true that in the parable of Lazarus,36 the scripture tells that the rich man was "in torments." But that was in the interim between the first death and the second. He was tormented in hell because people who go to hell get tormented. Without a savior, they must face their own sins in hell. But that is before the final judgment and the second death. The second death occurs when they are cast into the lake of fire after the final judgment. That is the reason why the second death is called "death" - because they die. Indeed, if the unredeemed do not die in the second death, who does? There is no one else in the second death other than the unredeemed. Satan does not have a second death. That's the point. Satan is not allowed to die.

Scripture speaks of two resurrections. One for the just and the other for the unjust.37 The scriptures that refer to the resurrection of the just refer to an imperishable body (a body that will never die).38 Whereas in the resurrection of damnation scripture does not refer to an imperishable body because the bodies of those resurrected to judgment will die in the second death.

Hence, John 3:16:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

In conclusion, scripture does not use the word ‘torment’ or ‘eternal torment’ in this passage or in any other passage to describe the final end of the unredeemed. Instead, scripture uses the word ‘death’ repeatedly.39 Eternal destruction and eternal punishment are simply different ways to refer to eternal death, each one carrying its own nuance. Eternal punishment refers to death as the final and permanent punishment for sin. Eternal destruction refers to being completely destroyed forever with no hope of return; and the eternal punishment that Christ speaks of is eternal death, the same death from which He saves us.

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