5 Reasons Why Hell Is Eternal - Soul Choice Ministries

The first and most important reason we know hell is eternal is because Jesus said it in Matthew 25:41 and 46. God the Father also said it is in Isaiah 34:10. Twenty-three other authors of the Bible also wrote about hell. Fourteen of them said it was eternal. That includes Job, Jonah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Daniel, David, Peter, Paul, Jude, John the Baptist, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And at least twenty-eight of the greatest Church fathers and leaders believe in an eternal hell, as well as many of the most respected commentaries and dictionaries.

Number two: Our sin against God is deserving of eternal punishment. We must consider whom we have sinned against. This is not just another human being, but an eternal, omnipotent, all-powerful Almighty God. We have to realize that the greater the one sinned against, the graver the sin. If I commit a crime against a head-of-state, it would deserve more punishment than against a private citizen. Well, God is of infinite greatness, in person and in position. He is also greater in being. If someone kills a dog or cat, especially your pet, it would deserve some amount of punishment. However, if they kill a human being, it would deserve a much greater punishment. God is an infinite being, therefore it deserves an infinite punishment.

Number three: An eternal punishment is fair and just. You might think that an eternal time of punishment is unfair for sins committed for only 80 years or so? You may say that the crime doesn’t fit the punishment. Well, time is the wrong premise for three reasons:

1. Time spent in hell would represent works. It would be saying that a person paid off their sins with time. The Bible says that we cannot pay off our sins, or be saved by our works, but only by grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). We cannot work off our sins.

2. Thinking 80 or 90 years of a life of sin doesn’t deserve eternal punishment is the wrong premise because, The time it takes to commit a crime has nothing to do with the duration of punishment. It may only take seconds to commit a murder, but that doesn’t mean the punishment should only last seconds! Even though we sin for only our life span, it is still deserving of eternal punishment because of God’s eternal nature that we’ve sinned against.

3. Our time is not valuable enough to pay the penalty for sin. Only the blood of Jesus is the supreme value necessary (Hebrews 9:22).

Sin is so serious to God that there is only one thing that would suffice for punishment. It was the physical death of God Himself. And since our sins are committed against an eternal God, it required an eternal being to pay for them.

Romans 3: 24, “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

1 Peter 1:18 “ye know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things…but with the precious blood of Christ.”

Number four: The word used for eternal does in fact mean eternal. Some scholars and teachers at our Christian Universities say that the word eternal means, “a limited period of time.” The word used for “Eternal” is the Greek word, “Aionios.” It is also used to describe the existence of God the Father, of Jesus, of the Holy Spirit, of heaven, the Throne of God, the Gospel, the covenant, and our salvation. These verses use the same word, eternal or everlasting. It is the same word for both:

Romans 16:26 Everlasting God
1 Timothy 1:17 Eternal King
Hebrews 9:14 Eternal Spirit
2 Peter 1:11 Everlasting Kingdom of our Lord
Revelation 14:6 Everlasting Gospel
Hebrews 13:20 Everlasting Covenant
John 6:40 Everlasting life
Hebrews 5:9 Eternal Salvation

If the definition of eternal means a limited period, then God only exists for a limited period of time. In addition, Jesus said in Matthew 25:41, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

He told us hell is eternal and prepared for the devil and men would go to the same place as the devil. Then in Revelation 20:10 He said, “The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, and will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” We see here that the “eternal” hell Jesus mentioned, which was prepared for the devil, is defined here for us as, “day and night, forever and ever.”

Another verse of proof is 2 Corinthians 4:18 “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things that are seen are temporal; but the things that are not seen are eternal.” Paul was comparing opposites such as “seen and not seen” and things “temporal, and things eternal.

So eternal couldn’t mean a limited period of time otherwise it wouldn’t be opposite words.

Revelation 14:10-11, “Forever and ever, and they have no rest day or night.“ To have no rest day nor night, forever and ever, proves hell is not only eternal, but that a person must still exist to have no rest day nor night.

2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 mentions, everlasting destruction.
Mark 3:29 Eternal damnation
Matthew 18:8-9 Everlasting fire, into hell fire
Isaiah 33:14 Everlasting burnings

Number 5: Hell is eternal because there are limits to God’s mercy. Many think God is only love, and will always tolerate sin. But God is also just and a God of judgment.

Proverbs 11:21 The wicked shall not go unpunished.
Proverbs 11:23 The expectation of the wicked is wrath.
Job 36:17 But you are filled with the judgment due the wicked; Judgment and justice take hold of you.
Proverbs 1:26 I will laugh at your calamity: I will mock when your fear cometh. When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind.

Dr. Christopher W. Morgan in “Hell under Fire page 216 said, “God’s love does not drive His justice. The implementation of God’s justice does not undermine His love. God’s love and justice cohere.”

In addition, many think they are pretty good people. However, God sees us differently. First of all, the Bible says, there is none good, no, not one (Romans 3:10, 12). Job 15:16 reads, “How much less man, who is abominable and filthy, who drinks iniquity like water!” We are filthy rags in God’s sight. We all sin and need a Savior.

If you have rejected Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior then you are actually His enemy. Of course, He loves you and will strive with you to help lead you toward salvation but you are nevertheless His enemy. Ignoring His offer of salvation is rejecting it.

Genesis 6:3, And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever.
Isaiah 55:6-7, Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.

God does have another side. Nahum 1:6 says, “Who can stand before his indignation and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger; his fury is poured out like fire.” Zephaniah 1:14-15 gives us a severe warning. “The great day of the Lord is near. The mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, trouble, distress, wasteness and desolation.”

It doesn’t matter if you think an eternal hell is unfair. Your feelings have nothing to do with it. What God’s Word says is what matters. He said its eternal, so He is right (Deuteronomy 32:4). If you still don’t believe hell is eternal, then you are calling God and Jesus Christ a liar. Do you really think that’s a wise decision