ERROR #2: ANNIHILATION OF THE WICKED

This error is taught by Seventh-Day Adventists and others.

According to this teaching, there is no immortal soul. The body of man and the soul of man are one unit. Therefore when the body dies so does the soul. This they teach though the Bible definitely teaches the otherwise, that the body and soul of man are distinct entities. Lazarus and the rich man died and were buried, and yet their souls were very much alive. Paul said of the time he was taken to heaven that he did not know if he was in his body or out of his body. Jesus assures the believer, “He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.” This should be conclusive proof that one’s soul lives after the body dies.

The logic goes that if the soul terminates at the death of the body, the soul will be annihilated when the resurrected body is eventually consumed by hell-fire. In other words, punishment is not eternal, but only temporary. Eventually the sinner will cease to exist. This is putting reasoning above the Bible. God uses unmistakable words to portray eternal, non-ending, ceaseless torment in hell, and to teach otherwise is a product of wishful thinking and not study. Let’s look at a few verses:

Revelation 14:11: And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever, and they have no rest day or night.

Matthew 25:41: Then He (Jesus) will also say to those on the left hand, Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’

Matthew 25:46: And these will go away into everlasting punishment.

Mark 9:43,44: And if your hand makes you sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched – where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.

[What did Jesus mean when He, said “their worm”? F.J. Dake explains in his annotated reference Bible: “Referring to the real consciousness and life of the individual who goes to hell. The word “worm” is used of man several times (Job 25:6, Ps.22:6, Isa. 41:14, 66:24). It has to do with the remorse of the conscience that each man will have over his failure to do what was necessary to escape hell. It is the living, conscious, never dying part of the human being that will feel eternal torments of fire in eternal hell….. It is that part which feels and knows, the inner man that dwells in the resurrected body.”]

Revelation 20:10: And the devil who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.