Everlasting Punishment.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
IN our last article, based upon Matt. 25:41, we found that the "everlasting fire" into which the wicked are to be cast at the last day, will have the effect to "burn them up," so that they will "be ashes;" that the fire is "unquenchable," thus showing that there will be no hope of escape for those who are cast into it, but that it will continue to burn as long as there is anything left for it to feed upon. We now come to the forty-sixth verse, and here we are obliged to make another stand, for so firmly is the doctrine of eternal torment fastened on the minds of men, that simple proof to the contrary is not sufficient, unless every text bearing upon the subject is examined, and shown to be in harmony with that proof. In summing up his discourse, the Saviour marks the final disposition of both the righteous and the wicked in these words: "And these [the wicked] shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal." In order to a perfect agreement on this text, we will state that the two words "everlasting" and "eternal" mean in this place exactly the same thing. They are both translated from the same681Greek word. If, instead of two different words, the translators had rendered both by the same word, making it either "eternal punishment" and "eternal life," or "everlasting punishment" and "everlasting life," it would have saved much unnecessary controversy. We are taught, then, from this text, that the punishment of the wicked is to last as long as does the reward of the righteous. This we most firmly believe. But it must be borne in mind that this verse conveys no intimation of what that punishment shall be. To say that one who violates a certain statute shall receive the penalty of the law, does not determine how, nor to what extent, he is to be punished. It may be by fine, imprisonment, confiscation of goods, or death. In the text before us, however, we are told the length of the punishment; it is to be as long as the reward of the righteous. Now what is that punishment? Turn to Rom. 6:23 and read: "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." The punishment, then, is to be death; and since that punishment is to be everlasting, we conclude that eternal death will be the portion of the wicked. This agrees exactly with our previous investigation. As corroborating this conclusion, we cite 2 Thess. 1:7-9: "And to you who are troubled [God will recompense] 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." This destruction comes "from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power," and this agrees with the eighth verse of the next chapter, which says: "And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming." And this again is in harmony with the statement in Revelation, concerning the wicked: "And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city; and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them." Rev. 20:9. That which has caused the misunderstanding in regard to Matt. 25:46, is the mistaken idea of the punishment. Because "indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish," are threatened to "every soul of man that doeth evil" (Rom. 2:8, 9), men seem to think that tribulation and anguish constitute the sum of the punishment. While these things are threatened, they are nowhere declared to be eternal, as in the death which is "the wages of sin." Everywhere in the Bible, death and life are the alternatives set before the individual. He may believe and live, or he may do evil and die. "See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; in that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, that thou mayest live. . . . But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish. . . . I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live." Deut. 30:15-19. Whatever of anguish may be accessory, the above language shows that so surely as life shall be given to the obedient, death shall be the portion of the sinner. If not, what force is there in the words of the prophet: "Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?" Eze. 18:31. Here the prophet, like Paul, "knowing the terror of the Lord," persuades men to turn from sin. But his persuasion from that standpoint loses all its power if he has made a mistake as to what that "terror" is. Let it be borne in mind that the punishment—"the wages of sin"—is death. Until death has been inflicted upon the sinner, he has not been punished, however much he may suffer. Now the Saviour does not say that the wicked shall go into an everlasting condition of being punished, which would be everlasting dying, but into everlasting punishment, which is everlasting death. The wise man has said, "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man; but the end thereof are the ways of death." Prov. 14:12. And the apostle James only repeats this statement in another form when he says: "Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." James 1:15. In short, throughout the inspired record, we find only a repetition of our Saviour’s words: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16. The death that was threatened to Adam, the execution of which was stayed that he might, by the aid of Christ, have another chance for life, still hangs over his posterity. They may escape from the "wrath to come" by believing in Christ, and thus becoming new creatures. If they do not accept this offer, the penalty will be allowed to fall upon their guilty heads. And to this end are the words of Christ: "He that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." John 3:36. "But the wrath of God abideth on him." Let us see how much force there may be in this statement. The second psalm is devoted to a brief history of those presumptuous mortals who "take counsel together against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us." Unto these the Lord shall speak in his wrath, and he will vex them in his sore displeasure, even giving them to the Son to be broken with a rod of iron, and dashed in pieces like a potter’s vessel. In view of this threatened punishment, they are exhorted to be instructed, and to repent, and believe on Christ; or, in the words of inspiration, to "kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little." Ps. 2:12. The wrath of God and of the Son is the same, for the Father hath "committed all judgment unto the Son," and has given him authority to execute it. John 5:22, 27. Now what is the result of the manifestation of this wrath? Even when it is "kindled but a little," its effect is to cause those against whom it is directed to "perish from the way." Then if a slight manifestation of God’s wrath will cause the sinner to "perish," i. e., "to die; to be blotted from existence," what will be the effect if the wrath of God abideth on him? It can be nothing less than to keep him in everlasting death. And thus we find, from whatever portion of the Scripture we approach the subject, that the verdict is the same. The Lord "reserveth wrath for his enemies" (Nahum 1:2); the effect of that wrath, when let fall upon them, is to blot them from existence (Ps. 2:12); and since that wrath "abideth" on them (John 3:36), they will never afterward, to all eternity, have any existence.