The Bible says after the judgment we who have received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior will see eternal life, but those who did not will go and burn forever. I want to know what is that going to burn.\u00a0 Is it the spirit or the flesh?<\/p>\n\t
I don’t know that I have an absolute answer for you.\u00a0 There are many places in the Old Testament where the prophets spoke in physical terms but they actually meant something figurative or spiritual.\u00a0 For example, the nature of the kingdom was hidden in such a way that it did not become obvious as to what was being discussed until Jesus and the Apostles explained it in spiritual terms.\u00a0 A good explanation of why it was done that way is because it is hard to explain a spiritual concept and God had to rely on things we understood.<\/p>\n
The same can be said about the descriptions of Hell.\u00a0 Jesus says in Mark 9:47-48, “And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell,\u00a0‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’<\/em>” While the scriptures teach it as a place of fire, brimstone, and suffering, it is not absolutely certain that such is meant to be the literal description or if it is the best that can be done to describe a spiritual concept to those of us who are stuck thinking in terms of the physical realm.\u00a0 If the descriptions are literal descriptions, then Hell is an absolutely awful place.\u00a0 If it is actually a substitute description, then Hell is even worse than anything we can envision or describe.\u00a0 It is so awful that even God could not come up with adequate words to describe it.<\/p>\n Again, in Revelation 20:10, it says, “and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.<\/em>” It says that the burning is forever.\u00a0 It is hard to misunderstand the length of the time of torment.<\/p>\n So, while it may be interesting from an academic standpoint to know the exact nature of the kind of punishment hell will be, it is not important to understanding our reaction to the place — none of us want to go there.<\/p>\n I have seen a few writings of people who will try to make a big argument out of the exact nature of Hell.\u00a0 I even saw where someone was trying to prove that Hell could not exist because it says that the flames are never quenched and yet the bodies are supposed to burn forever.\u00a0 His argument was that since bodies have to be consumed in order for a fire to exist, then the description violates a law and that proves the Bible is false.\u00a0 However, what the person failed to appreciate is that we are not told the nature of the afterlife.\u00a0 We don’t know the kinds of bodies we will get and we don’t know the “rules” of the afterlife.\u00a0 We are confined to a world that has one set of rules.\u00a0 The afterlife doesn’t have to have the same rules. \u00a0Paul says in I Corinthians 15:35-49 that there is a different body in the afterlife.\u00a0 We are told no more than that.<\/p>\n A more important question should be, knowing that there is a Hell and it lasts forever, what should we be doing in order to avoid that place?<\/p>\n Darrell Hamilton<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: The Bible says after the judgment we who have received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior will see eternal life, but those who did not will go and burn forever. I want to know what is that going to burn.\u00a0 Is it the spirit or the flesh? Answer: I don’t know that I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[373,179],"class_list":["post-52686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-hell","tag-sin"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9202,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-people-physically-go-to-heaven-or-hell\/","url_meta":{"origin":52686,"position":0},"title":"Do people physically go to heaven or hell?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 1, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Where is paradise? Is it above the earth or below? When Jesus was raised, how can he be lifted up in the flesh? By flesh, will a man go to heaven or hell? When Moses and Elijah appeared to Jesus in what form did they appear, flesh or spirit?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32130,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-was-hell-created\/","url_meta":{"origin":52686,"position":1},"title":"When was Hell created?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 11, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Your site is really a great help for all preachers who are seeking the truth. I am a young preacher, just 19 years old, and a student. I would like to ask you: What particular event in the Bible marks when God created hell? Is it included in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35386,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-the-jews-teach-different-doctrines-from-the-new-testament\/","url_meta":{"origin":52686,"position":2},"title":"Why do the Jews teach different doctrines from the New Testament?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 20, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was wondering why the Jews think Satan isn't evil and of God to test people. They think that hell isn't eternal. And that the Messiah will be a normal man, not the Son of God, who will rebuild the church in Israel and bring people back to Judaism.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38624,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-i-want-something-so-badly-that-i-think-i-would-be-willing-to-go-to-hell-to-get-it-and-then-i-do-get-it-will-i-end-up-in-hell\/","url_meta":{"origin":52686,"position":3},"title":"If I want something so badly that I think I would be willing to go to hell to get it, and then I do get it, will I end up in hell?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I've been very scared of not going to heaven and going to hell. When I really want something, I sometimes think I would burn in hell just to have it happen. It sometimes actually does happen, and it really scares me because I thought I'd burn in hell\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31003,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-is-hell\/","url_meta":{"origin":52686,"position":4},"title":"Where is hell?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 21, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can you tell me what the Bible says about hell? Is it in the earth or is it a spiritual place like heaven? Can we find hell on earth? Is there an opening in the earth? People say that there is hell in the earth. Is that biblical? Answer:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":64220,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-my-baptism-invalid-because-i-did-it-to-avoid-going-to-hell\/","url_meta":{"origin":52686,"position":5},"title":"Is my baptism invalid because I did it to avoid going to hell?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 22, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: When I got baptized, I was being baptized not necessarily wanting forgiveness but more about keeping myself from going to Hell. I was sincere in my commitment to God giving Him my life, but I was baptized out of fear of going to hell. This burdens my conscience every\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52686\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}