It’s all over the Internet and it has put the church in a tailspin. Pastors, Bible teachers, and leaders are beside themselves. I’m talking about Kirk Cameron’s recent podcast where him and his son were discussing hell and eternal punishment. I want you to know up front that I appreciate Kirk and all that he’s done for the Kingdom of God. But I do not support his conclusion… that eternal punishment does not mean everlasting. The two of them aligned their beliefs on the side of annihilation… that when an unbeliever dies, they receive their just punishment and then they’re simply annihilated – gone forever.
The Bible, nor 2,000 years of church history, support this. In speaking about hell, Jesus said in Mark 9:48: “where the maggots never die and the fire never goes out.” If you align your beliefs with annihilation, then you are in essence ignoring Jesus’ story about the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31 or the passages on eternal condemnation in the Epistles and the Book of Revelation. I understand why Christians would want to believe in annihilation because it’s easier to wrap our minds around. We simply cannot understand eternal punishment.
Here's the thing… I do not claim to know everything about heaven or hell. I’ve read many responses to this podcast that have gone right over my head. I’ve said many times that I am not a deep thinker… thank the Lord that there have been many scholars who have deciphered Scripture for me, especially as I write difficult books, like Daniel. But I do have the Holy Spirit (so do you) and He helps me understand, grasp, and unravel the Bible. He also gives me a check in my spirit when something is not from God. And a HUGE check went off when I was watching this podcast.
Our verse today talks about the words of God… that we are live by EVERY WORD that comes from the mouth of God. Therefore, we should NEVER base our beliefs on our opinions, or what we want to believe, or what we perceive as God’s character, or what makes us comfortable. The Word of God can be very uncomfortable and often does not make sense. But it’s GOD’S WORD. And we should ALWAYS align our beliefs on the authoritative, unadulterated, inspired, WORD OF GOD.