In Matthew 10:28 and Luke 12:5, Jesus taught that man's greatest fear should be of God. God holds the power to sentence unbelievers to hell, or the sea, or death following their physical deaths. Unbelievers in hell are tormented by its flames, but Jesus taught in Matthew 10:28 that God's purpose for hell is to destroy soul and body, not eternal torment. Destruction always means the breakdown of a system into its constituent elements, never an eternal process. God uses the consuming fires of hell to breakdown human systems into their constituent elements so that God can separate out and consign the total evil in humans in hell to the lake of fire forever and recover all of the good elements that He put into humans to be recreated into new, righteous humans who will live on His recreated earth. God can assemble or breakdown any system as He wills, but God never eliminates their constituent elements. God reflects this fact in His physical law that the elements of matter can be combined into chemical systems which can be assembled or destroyed, but the elements themselves, as well as the elements of energy and information, can never be destroyed. In the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31, the flames of hell tormented the rich man, but nowhere does the story relate that his torment will last forever. But the story does show that the rich man still had some good in him given by God. The rich man demonstrated that he retained some sinful pride when he demanded that Abraham send Lazarus to give him a little water. But the rich man also demonstrated that he still had a little good in him when he asked Abraham to send Lazarus to preach to his brothers to warn them about the dangers of hell. In the end in a general resurrection of the dead, Christ will recover and recreate all of the good elements of the rich man, as well as all other humans there, and recreate these good elements into a new, righteous human race. Christ will also consign all of the dead and totally evil elements of the rich man, as well as all other humans there, to the lake of fire forever. John 5:28-29; Revelation 20:5; Revelation 21:1-8; Revelation 22:11-12.
In Matthew 16:18, Jesus prophesied that His Church would attack and gain a victory over "the gates of hell." Jesus' prophecy demonstrates that the enemies of Christ and His Church are the Devil and evil, not human beings. Ephesians 6:12 further reflects His commandment to His Church that its enemies can only be the Devil and all the forces of evil, not people. This attitude must be God's own. God has never been against humanity. God created humans in His own image. Genesis 1:27. God's project has always been to prove that His Love cannot fail by purging all of humanity of all the total evil that has infected them, by recovering and recreating all of His goodness and life that He has put into every human, and by casting all of man's total evil into the lake of fire forever. In the case of humans saved by grace, God will save them as individuals by washing their souls and spirits in the blood of Christ and their fleshly nature in the water of His Word and giving them a home with Him in heaven forever. In the case of the rest of humanity, God will not save them as individuals, but God will separate their goodness and life that He created in them from their total evil by the use of His consuming fire, and recreate them to live on His new, righteous earth. Colossians 1:15-22; Revelation 20:15; Revelation 21:1-8; Luke 20:38; Luke 23:34.
In Matthew 23:15, Jesus taught that those who oppress others for religious reasons stand in the greatest danger of being sentenced to go to hell. Religion, more than any other reason except pride, prevents many people from accepting God's salvation by His love and grace. Religion oppresses humans by causing them to believe that through good works and ritual they can make themselves good enough to be accepted by God. Religion plays on man's pride which sin God hates the most. Proverbs 6:16-17. Romans 5:6-8 teaches that humans have no strength whatsoever to save themselves. But Romans 5:9 teaches that any human can be saved by grace simply by putting his or her trust in the love of God and the sacrifice of Christ. In Matthew 23:33, Jesus again revealed His great anger toward those who practice the sin of religion which prevents so many people from humbling themselves to Christ and accepting by faith His Love and grace.
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