What is eternal death

1. What is eternal death…biblically - 2nd
May 2016
“Very truly I tell you,whoever hears my word and believeshim whosent me haseternal lifeandwill
not be judgedbut has crossed over from deathto life. (John5:24).
In short,eternal deathisthe fate that awaitsall people whoultimatelyrejectGod,rejectthe gospel of
His Son,JesusChrist,andremainintheirsinanddisobedience.Physical deathisaone-time experience.
Eternal death,onthe otherhand,iseverlasting.Itisadeaththat continues througheternity,aspiritual
deaththat isexperiencedonacontinual basis.Justasspiritual life,bygrace throughfaithinChristis
everlastinglife,eternaldeathisnever-ending. We canlearnthisfrom: Ephesians2:8-9, “Forit is by
grace you have been saved,through faith—andthisisnot fromyourselves,it is the gift ofGod— 9
not
by works, so that noone can boast”.
The most importantquestiontobe answeredis“Doesthe Bible teachthe doctrine of eternal death?”If
the Bible doesn’tteacheternal death,thenwe canpack up andgo home because there isnofurther
debate onthe issue.God’sWord,the Bible,isthe infalliblerule of faithandpractice,andas suchwe
mustbelieve andteachonlywhatitclearlyteaches,andthe Bible clearlyteachesthe doctrine of eternal
death.We can pointtoseveral passagesthatexplicitlystate this,butforour purposes,onlythree will be
needed,one fromthe OldTestamentandtwofromthe New Testament.
Firstwe can readfrom Daniel 12:2,” Multitudeswho sleep inthe dustof the earth will awake: some to
everlastinglife,others to shame and everlastingcontempt” Thispassage teachesusthat there are two
thingsas eternal life and eternal;death. Secondlywe canlearnarepetitionof eternityfrom Matthew
25:46, “Then they will go awayto eternal punishment,butthe righteousto eternal life.” Thistellsus
that there iseternal life andeternal punishmentwhichwe know aseternal death.
Thirdlywe can learnfrom Revelation20:15, “Anyone whose namewas not foundwritten in the book of
lifewas thrown intothe lake offire”. Thisteachesusthat if anyone'sname wasnot foundwritteninthe
bookof life,he orshe wasthrownintothe lake of fire. AsChristianswe mustknow thatthe Book of Life
isa recordwrittenbyGod before the creationof the world,listingpeoplewhowillliveforeverinthe
kingdomof heaven.The termappearsinboththe OldTestamentandNew Testament.Inthe Psalms,
those whoare obedienttoGod amongthe livingare consideredworthy.Inotheroccurrencesinthe Old
Testament,"openingof the books"typicallyreferstothe Final Judgment aswe can read inthe bookof
Revelation .The prophetDaniel mentionsaheavenlycourt aswe can read inDaniel 7:10, “Ariver of fire
was flowing,comingoutfrombefore him. Thousandsuponthousandsattendedhim;ten thousand
times ten thousandstoodbefore him. The court was seated, andthe bookswere opened”.When we
readRevelation 29we can learn thatthe Lake of Fire burnsforeverandever. “Andthe devil,who
deceived them, was throwninto the lake of burningsulfur,where the beast and the falseprophet had
been thrown. They will be tormented dayand nightforever andever” (Revelation29: 10).
All three of these passages(andmore couldhave beenadded) have astheirmaincontextthe scene of

2. final judgment.Inotherwords,whenChristreturns,three thingswill occur:Firstthe general
resurrectionof “the livingandthe dead”; Secondthe final judgment;and Thirdthe inaugurationof the
eternal state.Eachof these passagesdemonstratesthatduringthe final judgmentof all people,Jesus
will separate the righteousfromthe wicked.The righteouswill be usheredintothe final state of glory,
while the wickedwill be senttothe lake of fire foreternal punishmentandtorment. AsChristians
particularlyinthe Daniel andMatthewpassages,we cannote that the same adjective thatis
“everlasting”or“eternal”isusedtomodifyboth“life”and“punishment/contempt.” Therefore whenwe
learnwhatis true about eternal life,we mustknow thatitis true abouteternal punishment, are also
that bothreferto eternal eventsthatare toldwill last forever.
The doctrine of eternal deathisnot a populardoctrine toteachor proclaim.Todo so oftenopensone
up to scorn andridicule.However,we mustnotletthatdetract usfrom whatthe Bible soclearly
teaches;namely,thatdue toour beingborninsinand trespasses,we are underthe justcondemnation
of God forour sin.If we donot faithfully embrace the savingmessage of JesusChrist, Hisfree giftof
salvation, andreceive Hisredemption, we willperishinoursinandtrespassesandbe under God’sjust
judgmentforoursin,.AsChristianswe mustknow that uf we fail to doso will resultingin eternal death.
What is eternal death…biblically - 2nd
May 2016
“Very truly I tell you,whoever hears my word and believeshim whosent me haseternal lifeand will
not be judgedbut has crossed over from deathto life. (John5:24).