Does ‘eternal punishment’ mean ‘eternal torment’? (Matthew 25:46)
“And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:46)
Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:46 are commonly used to support eternal conscious torment. In this short time, we’ll seek answers in God’s word to discover once and for all whether these words uphold ‘eternal torment’ or ‘eternal death’.
It is clear why this verse is used in support of eternal torment. It emphasises the eternality of the unbeliever’s punishment alongside the believer’s life. ‘Surely, this means that the unbeliever’s experience in Hell will last forever’, they claim. However, such a claim depends upon the validity of an assumption: that the ‘punishment’ is torment. What if the Bible does not teach that the wages of sin is torment? What if it is something else?
Rather than making assumptions, we must ask three key questions and let God’s holy word lead the way. Firstly, what is the biblical ‘punishment’? Secondly, are there any other passages in Scripture that highlight the punishment’s eternal nature and offer further clarification? And thirdly, when the believer’s life is contrasted with the unbeliever’s punishment, how often are both presented as eternal?
What is the biblical ‘punishment’?
Well, we know that the punishment for sin is death (Some NT passages: Matthew 16:28, 21:41, Mark 9:1, Luke 9:27, John 5:24, 6:50, 8:51,52, Romans 1:32, 5:12,14,17,21, 6:9,13,16,21,23, 7:5,10,13, 8:2,6, 1 Corinthians 15:21,26,54–56, 2 Corinthians 2:16, 3:7, 2 Timothy 1:10, James 1:15, 5:20, 1 John 3:14, Revelation 2:11, 20:6,14, 21:8). These are just New Testament passages. Of course, this truth goes all the way back to Genesis. If you have ever opened a Bible, you should know this. The punishment is not purely suffering, ‘the wages of sin is death’ (Romans 6:23).
Some defend the idea that death is used throughout the Bible to represent the experience of torment. However, this is a dangerous teaching. Let’s think about it for a moment: Whenever God speaks to humans, He uses the hearer’s language. So, on the Day of Pentecost (for instance), all people could hear God’s message in their native languages (Acts 2:6–11). There would be no use otherwise. Understanding is a key component of communication. So, when God uses the word ‘death’, it is no crime to use the standard definition of death as you seek to understand what God is saying. The punishment for sin certainly includes a great degree of suffering. Consider what Jesus went through before He experienced the punishment we deserve. However, it ultimately ends in the loss of life we humans refer to as ‘death’.
One more thing: That this punishment is death is further confirmed by these very words of Jesus in Matthew 25:46. The ‘punishment’ is contrasted with ‘life’ because it is not life. It is death.
Are there any other passages in Scripture that highlight the punishment’s eternal nature and offer further clarification?
Yes, there are a few. Let’s take a look at them and consider what insight they can provide.
Eternal Destruction
The most common way the Bible highlights the eternal nature of hell is by describing it as an eternal destruction. Consider these verses:
But God will break you down forever; he will snatch and tear you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah (Psalm 52:5)
that though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever; (Psalm 92:7)
They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, (2 Thessalonians 1:9)
If these verses only describe death before the day of judgment, they wouldn’t be eternal. In context, it is clear that they describe eternal judgment, which brings us to the next way Scripture describes eternal punishment.
Eternal judgment
and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. (Hebrews 6:2)
This judgment for sin is ultimately ‘death’, so there is no mention of torment being eternal.
Everlasting contempt
And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. (Daniel 12:2)
This one is very enlightening to anyone with ears to hear. Notice firstly that contempt is contrasted with life. This is because life is not included. But the word ‘contempt’ refers not to one’s experience but to the way one is esteemed by others. The Hebrew word for contempt is only used twice in Scripture. The other place is Isaiah 66:24, where we find mention of the dead bodies of all sinners being an ‘abhorrence’ to God’s people who will remain on the new earth. Elsewhere, we find similar descriptions of ‘everlasting shame’ (Psalm 78:66), ‘eternal dishonour’ that ‘will never be forgotten’ (Jeremiah 20:11) and an ‘everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten’ (Jeremiah 23:40). The Hebrew words translated ‘contempt’, ‘abhorrence’, ‘shame’, ‘dishonour’ and ‘reproach’ all refer to the state of being despised, rather than the experience of shame.
Eternal fire
“And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.” (Matthew 18:8)
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’” (Matthew 25:41)
Why would the fire be eternal if sinners eventually die? Jesus gives the reason for the fire being eternal; He called it “the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matthew 25:41) The Bible makes it clear that angels live forever and therefore the fire was not prepared for mortal humans, but for them. They will therefore ‘be tormented day and night forever and ever.’ (Revelation 20:10) Humans on the other hand are mortal apart from the gift of eternal life (Genesis 3:22, Matthew 19:29, Mark 10:17, Luke 10:25, 18:18, John 3:16,36, 5:24, 6:58, 11:26, Romans 2:7,6:23, 1 Corinthians 15:50,54, 2 Timothy 1:10, Revelation 20:15 21:8, 22:14). It is only the believers who “cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection”, according to Jesus (Luke 20:35,36). The rest of mankind will remain mortal, facing ‘the second death’ in the eternal fire (Revelation 21:8).
Summary So Far
So far, we have seen that God’s ‘punishment’ or ‘judgment’ is eternal. We have found that the Bible describes the punishment for sin as death, not suffering. This would seem to suggest that the ‘death’ is eternal rather than the torment that precedes it. We have confirmation of this in other biblical passages describing the eternal nature of hell. It is an ‘eternal destruction’ in an ‘eternal fire’ that leads to ‘everlasting contempt’ from those who remain on the new earth. There is no description of the sinner’s experience being eternal whatsoever. This perfectly fits with the biblical teaching that sinners will not put on immortality, only believers do (1 Corinthians 15:53–55). Let’s proceed to the final question.
When the believer’s life is contrasted with the unbeliever’s punishment, how often are both presented as eternal?
We now arrive at a big question that I’ve never heard asked before. Yet, it’s an important one! Many claim that Matthew 25:46 supports eternal torment since the gift of life and punishment are both described as ‘eternal’. By that standard, what do we make of verses where only the believer’s life is described as eternal? We will now examine how often both are presented as eternal and how often only God’s gift of life is described as everlasting.
Here are 10 times where God’s gift of life is contrasted with death and only the ‘life’ is described as eternal:
For the LORD loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. (Psalm 37:28)
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. (John 3:36)
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. (John 10:28)
Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. (John 12:25)
to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. (Romans 2:7-8)
So that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:21)
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:8)
and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, (2 Timothy 1:10)
In contrast, there are only 2 times where both the ‘life’ and ‘punishment’ are said to be eternal:
And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. (Daniel 12:2)
“And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:46)
Neither of these verses contradicts the biblical teaching that the penalty for sin is death. The Hebrew word for ‘contempt’ (Daniel 12:2) echoes Isaiah 66:24 (the only other time it is used) where it is applied to the ‘dead bodies’ of sinners. Finally, the ‘eternal punishment’ (Matthew 25:46) Jesus mentions is contrasted with life and refers to the punishment of death, or as it is called elsewhere, eternal destruction.
Conclusion
Notice how this conclusion comes after we’ve studied God’s word. Sadly, many have jumped to conclusions based on assumptions that the punishment for sin is torment. This is not biblical. The final question that may be on your mind is: how did so many Christians overlook this? The answer is simple. Ancient Greek Philosophy was a big deal in the early days of the church. Plato’s teaching of the soul’s immortality crept into the church. Once Christians began to believe that the soul is immortal (despite the Bible only ever teaching that humans are mortal creatures), hell could no longer end in death. Since then, many Christians have been waking up. Some are still unaware. I believe this is soon to change.
May God direct your hearts to His truth. And in the meantime, while there is a difference of opinion among Christians, may we strive for unity as we discuss and explore God’s word together.
