Will Sinners Burn Forever?

The doctrine of the endless burning of sinners is not taught anywhere in the Bible. Nowhere does it say that God will sustain the lives of those who transgress His law.

So, what do you do when you find an occasional expression in the Bible that initially seems to contradict the clearest Biblical passages on a subject? There is only one safe course to follow: Always let the Bible explain its own terms. By examining the Bible’s own use of a particular expression, you discover the perfect agreement that exists throughout the Bible on the subject.

Some people are misled by the expression “unquenchable fire.” This term is used in Matthew 3:12; Mark 9:43-48; and Luke 3:17. Does the fact that the fire is unquenchable mean that sinners will burn forever?

Let’s ask the Bible to show us an actual example of this kind of fire. Through Jeremiah, God prophesied that if His people would not hallow the Sabbath, Jerusalem would be burned with fire which “shall not be quenched” (Jeremiah 17:27). That prophecy was fulfilled (2 Chronicles 36:19-21; Jeremiah 52:12, 13). But notice that although the fire could not be quenched, the fuel was consumed!

In Isaiah we read that the wicked will “burn together, and none shall quench them” (Isaiah 1:31). Yet the same chapter explains that they “shall be consumed” (Isaiah 1:28)!

Did you know that the Bible has also recorded for us an example of a time when “eternal fire” was used? Jude 7 says that “Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them . . . are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” The story is recorded in Genesis 19. According to this example, how thoroughly does eternal fire burn things? The answer is found in 2 Peter 2:6, “Turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes . . . making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly.”

The Bible indicates that those involved in the final conflict against God will be tormented day and night “for ever and ever” (Revelation 14:11; 20:10). How long, in the Biblical sense of the word, is “for ever and ever”? Are there any Biblical examples of this measurement of time?

Here is one. In the Jewish economy, all Hebrew servants were released every seventh year. But if one should choose not to leave his master, “his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever” (Exodus 21:6). Obviously “for ever” only means “as long as he lives.”

Here is another example. Hannah dedicated her child Samuel to the Lord and took him to the house of the Lord that he might “there abide for ever” (1 Samuel 1:22). She clarified the meaning of her words in verse 28 by saying, “as long as he liveth.”

The term “eternal punishing” is not found in the Bible. However, Jesus did speak of “everlasting punishment” (Matthew 25:46). Do you know the difference? What is the punishment for sin? “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Everlasting death. The Scriptures clearly foretell the fate of the wicked “whose end is destruction” (Philippians 3:19). “Everlasting destruction” (2 Thessalonians 1:9). “Thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name for ever and ever. O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end: and . . . their memorial is perished with them” (Psalm 9:5, 6). “This is the second death” (Revelation 20:14). The Bible is very clear on this subject. (See Job 8:22; 20:4-9; Psalm 1:6; 21:9; 37:38; Proverbs 2:22; Isaiah 65:17; Zephaniah 1:18.)