Eternal Life Verses Eternal Judgement

Since all people have immortal souls, how can only some be said to have eternal life? Hank Hanegraaff has a good answer to that. Eternal life is more than mere existence. It's the quality of that existence.

This quality is expressed in John 12:25 (BBE). "He who is in love with life will have it taken from him; and he who has no care for his life in this world will keep it for ever and ever."

When Christ spoke of the resurrection and final judgement in Matthew 25:46 (BBE), he showed the kind of eternal existence the wicked will experience. "And these will go away into eternal punishment; but the upright into eternal life."

Jesus used metaphors to impress upon us the utter horror of hell. He said in Mark 9:48 (BBE) that it's, "Where their worm is ever living and the fire is not put out."

Darkness is another metaphor for the extreme misery of hell. We find  it described in regard to the eternal destination of the wicked in Jude 1:13 (BBE). He called such wretches, "Violent waves of the sea, streaming with their shame, wandering stars for whom the darkest night is kept in store for ever."

Peter also described the wicked and their eternal fate in 2 Peter 2:17 (BBE) with these metaphors. "These are fountains without water, and mists before a driving storm; for whom the eternal night is kept in store."

Light is always a metaphor for holiness and truthfulness. That's why Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 5:5 (BBE), "For you are all sons of light and of the day: we are not of the night or of the dark."

We need to understand the Bible's metaphors or we'll become confused. Many false prophets misuse these to trick believers into following their teaching instead of what the Bible says.

On Thursday, if Christ hasn't returned, I plan on posting about the danger of spiritists.