Avoiding the Lake of Fire
By Ron and Nathele Graham
“And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death” (Revelation 20:13-14).
The lake of fire is a place of eternal torment and you don’t want anyone you know to end up there. You don’t want to end up there. It is where the Beast and the False Prophet will be cast into and it is a place of eternal suffering. The only way to avoid spending eternity there is to place your hope and faith in Jesus.
Those who have accepted His free gift of salvation will live eternally with Him and will avoid the lake of fire. Don’t even think that eternity separated from God in the lake of fire is one big party. It is eternal torment.
Jesus was very clear when He talked of salvation. The purpose of His life on earth was to offer us the only way of salvation—to be our kinsman redeemer. When Adam chose to sin, fellowship with God was broken. No longer could Adam and Eve live in Paradise…Adam’s sin had condemned mankind to be separated from God and we are still under that curse. We can’t begin to imagine the glory that Adam and Eve knew in the Garden of Eden where they had fellowship with God.
Sin cannot go unpunished and because of Adam’s choice he and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden. We live in this world and can see much beauty around us, but that is pale when compared to the Garden of Eden. We only know this world, and we accept the evil that surrounds us as “normal.”
Wars, hatred, and anger are just a part of life as we know it and we are numb to it. We don’t feel the outrage against sin that we should. We who are born-again believers in Jesus Christ know there is a beautiful life waiting for us, but for now we have to live in this world of sin.
Nicodemus was a Pharisee who sought to know the truth. One night he came to visit Jesus to find answers to his questions:
“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).
The English word “again” is translated from the Greek word “anōthen” which means: from above, from God, from God above, anew, over again. Everyone is born once and has inherited the sin nature from Adam’s sin, but we can only be “anōthen”, or born-again, if we accept the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the atonement for our sins. The very instant that we say, yes, to Jesus Christ we are born-again.
Adam’s sin separated us from God, but Christ’s sacrifice gives eternal life to all who admit they are sinners and ask Him for forgiveness. He is our Saviour and our only way to salvation.
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).
Accepting Christ is the only way to avoid the lake of fire.
Once a person trusts Christ for salvation, the Holy Spirit is sealed within him or her. In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians he spoke of being sealed with the Holy Spirit upon accepting Christ.
“… after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise” (Ephesians 1:13).
God’s Holy Spirit is sealed within us at the very moment we truly believe. Paul also wrote about this to the believers in Corinth.
“Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts” (2 Corinthians 1:21-22).
Faith in Christ seals our destiny. The born-again believer in Christ need have no fear of spending eternity in the lake of fire. We who are born-again receive much comfort from these verses. God “stablisheth” us when we become born from above. The word translated “stablisheth” is the Greek word “bebaioō” which means: to make firm, to establish, confirm, to make sure.
This is done through God’s power, not ours. Outside of God we have no power, no firm foundation, and no hope. It is our choice whether to accept Christ as our Saviour, but rejection of Him will only bring eternal torment. If a person chooses to reject Christ they have chosen to spend eternity in the lake of fire.
There are many reasons a person may reject God. Some blame God for things that have happened to them, but the evils of this world come from Satan. In rejecting God they have to believe He exists, but that is not faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Some people believe in god, but not the true God of the Bible.
Allah is god (satanic and evil) and cannot do anything except lead his followers into the lake of fire. Mormons believe in someone they call Jesus, but he is another false god that leads to the lake of fire. Many people expect that being a “good person” by human standards or religious works to be enough to meet the criteria to avoid the lake of fire, but good works will not save you, only faith in Jesus Christ.
Those who choose to reject God’s free gift of salvation are destined to everlasting damnation in the lake of fire. It is an individual choice.
“He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be foregiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come” (Matthew 12:30-32).
There is no middle ground. Either you admit that you are a sinner in need of a Saviour and accept Jesus Christ, or you have rejected Him. It is a choice each person has to make.
Thank God that we have a choice in where we will spend eternity. Once we are born from above (have said yes to Jesus) our choice is sealed. We can’t back out of that choice once we’ve made it, and who would want to? We are held safe in God’s hands; He keeps us and sanctifies us, never to be lost again. You see, God doesn’t wish that any should parish but that all should come to repentance. Once we are in His hands we are forever in His hands.
“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one” (John 10:28-30).
You may be way out of fellowship and missing out on the joy of your salvation, but if you have accepted Christ as your Saviour you will avoid the lake of fire. You can have a more fulfilling life if you fully surrender to Him and strive to be like Him. You will earn eternal rewards if you live for Him, but your salvation is secure once you sincerely believe in Him.
Being born from above brings new responsibilities. We need to study God’s Word and conform to it. We need to tell others about the gospel. There needs to be a change in our lives and attitudes because we are no longer the same as we once were.
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” ( 2 Corinthians 5:17).
As believers we can see what’s happening around this fallen world and certainly we can equate these things to what Jesus tells us to look for concerning the end times. The Rapture will happen soon…very soon. Then, for those who have chosen to reject Christ, life will become difficult…very, very difficult. Daniel’s 70th week will begin and last 3 1/2 years of that week will bring great sorrows.
Jesus described it this way:
“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matthew 24:21).
Some people will come to know Christ during that time, but don’t think it will be easy. The horrors of that time are unimaginable to us, but we can read Revelation and get a glimpse of what those who have rejected Christ will face. The False Prophet and the Beast are pure evil and Satan rules them. Their destiny is to be cast into the lake of fire; those who reject Christ will join them.
“And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15).
You don’t want to go there. It is an eternal choice. If you do not accept Christ now then you have chosen to reject Him. Your choice needs be made today before you step into eternity. That eternity will either be spent in heaven with Christ surrounded by perfect love, or it will be spent in the lake of fire in eternal separation from God’s love and in eternal torment.
Do you want to avoid the lake of fire? The only way to do that is to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. He is the only way to eternal life.
God bless you all,
Ron and Nathele Graham
www.straitandnarrowministry.com
Previous commentaries archived athttp://www.raptureready.com/featured/graham/graham.html
All original Scripture is “theopneustos” (God breathed).
This commentary was started by Ron Graham before his death on March 14, 2013, and finished by his wife, Nathele.
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Whistler Blowers, Insiders
I hear that hell is nice this time of year.
Plus in hell, there is rock n’ roll, and ain’t no jesus christ. (or the wackos who believe fairy tails for that matter)
You contradict yourself.
You say we will have eternal life only with God but then you tell us if we don’t we can still have eternal life but in hell. So which is it where we will have eternal life or not?
…slime…I don’t think that it matters where you are concerned.
Why Min Jones, thank you! Very kind of you and I have led a good life and thanks for believing in me.
…slime……. I misunderstood your post….I apologize, I do wish you well. You’ve always been constant. again….I apologize….
2 Thessalonians 1:8,9
In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
The result of the FIRE is and EVERLASTING DESTRUCTION. The wages of sin is DEATH not life eternal in hell fire! Life in hell fire would mean we have a mean and very angry God who enjoys the screams of billions of people for all eternity. This is the devil’s plan to get you to believe this is the character of God. The devil NEEDS you to look at God in this way!
Ezekiel 18:32, “For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.”
John 3:36, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
And Hell is DEATH. Regardless of the fact that the Scriptures state that those that go to Hell “shall not see life,” the world calls hell “eternal life” IN FIRE doesn’t it? Yet the Bible says that the “wages of sin is death” Romans 6:23 How can this be eternal life in fire? How can this mean eternal life anywhere? Do you recall this from your studies?
Genesis 3:4, “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:”
The devil has been saying for 6000 years that WE WON’T DIE! This life in fire doctrine is no different than the serpant in the tree. BOTH are openly declaring the Lord a liar!
http://www.remnantofgod.org/Hellfire.htm
John
I’m curious as to read the bible with some understanding and yet you say your going to be raptured>let me fill you in on a chapter and verse
2Thessalonians 2 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering unto him
2 That ye be not shaken in mind or be troubled, neither by spirit nor byword nor by letter ( the first letter to Thessalonians 4:13-17) as from us as the day of Christ is at hand
3 Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there be a falling away first and the man of sin be revealed the son of perdition (antichrist,satan ,devil)
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God shewing himself that he is God
You are not leaving this earth not unless your physical body dies If your still alive you will see the antichrist and then you will see Christ. The antichrist comes at the 6th trump and Christ comes at the 7th
The Bible says that ‘Satan is god of this world’. Literally; god is Satan.
Yahweh is the Creator and acknowledged author of the Bible through His spokespeople.
Until one recognizes the Creator by Name He will in know way recognize them. They might not be cremated, yet, but they will experience death, resurrection and judgement after ‘re-education’.
No one who refers to the Creator, Yahweh, as god/God can possibly know the Truth in the scriptures. Yahweh said, in Ps. 119:142, 151, that the law and the commandments are Truth. Those who preach in the ‘name’ of ‘God’ rarely reference any scriptural law or commandment. That would be consistent with the role of Satan and those she has deceived. Does not mean they are condemned to death by fire but…
John;
Your story began here:“And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death” (Revelation 20:13-14).
The lake of fire is a place of eternal torment and you don’t want anyone you know to end up there.
THE LAKE OF FIRE IS ANOTHER METAPHOR FOR THE SECOND DEATH, TOTAL DESTRUCTION. THE LAKE OF FIRE IS A REFERENCE TO THE VALLEY OF HINNOM, GEHENNA, THE VALLEY JUST OUTSIDE JERUSALEM WHERE SACRIFICES WERE PREVIOUSLY MADE TO PAGAN GODS. AFTER THIS WAS STOPPED, IT BECAME A TRASH DUMP, LIKE A LANDFILL, ONLY IT WAS CONSTANTLY BURNING. SULFER WAS ADDED TO KEEP THE FIRE BURNING. THEY THREW TRASH, DEAD EXECUTED CRIMINALS, DEAD ANIMALS, ETC. IT IS NOT A PLACE OF TORMENT, AS ONE DOES NOT EXIST CALLED HELL. HELL MEANS “COMMON GRAVE OF MANKIND”, AS DOES SHEOL AND HADES. THE SCRIPTURES ARE ALSO QUITE CLEAR THAT WE HAVEN’T GOT AN IMMORTAL SOUL, BUT WE ARE A SOUL WHEN ALIVE. “THE SOUL THAT SINNETH, IT ITSELF SHALL DIE”. SOMETHING IMMORTAL CANNOT DIE, YET IT SAYS A SINNING SOUL WILL DIE. THAT BEING SAID, WHAT WOULD GO TO THIS FICTITIOUS PLACE OF TORMENT? A LIVING HUMAN WOULDN’T LAST ONE SECOND. SOUL MEANS LIFE. IT’S NOT SOME PART OF US THAT SURVIVES DEATH, “NOTHING SURVIVES DEATH”, “YOUR THOUGHTS DO PERISH”. ANY OF THIS SOUND FAMILIAR? IF NOT,YOU SHOULD DELVE INTO THE SCRIPTURES A LITTLE DEEPER, BECAUSE THEY ARE SCRIPTURAL QUOTES.
in Heaven there is no Sex but in Hell there is well that a + for Hell
in Heaven you must be Judged but in Hell we are all Equal that another + for Hell
in Heaven we must praise God but in Hell you don’t have to Pray so Another + for Hell
“Avoiding the Lake of Fire”
Why would anyone want to do that when according to the bible, heaven is hotter than hell.
Of course you wouldn’t know that because A, you haven’t read the bible, and B, you can’t pass kindergarten maths 101 to work it out. ie 1 + 0 = 1, not 2. If in the beginning there was only a giant invisible IT, then IT is all that could exist.
Pix;
NOWHERE in the scriptures does it say that hell is anything other than the common grave of mankind, and NOWHERE does it say that anyone other than the 144,000 annointed, adopted sons of God will EVER go to heaven. Hell is the same thing as hades and sheol, and they both mean the common grave of man. The scriptures also ARE VERY CLEAR that we do NOT have an immortal soul. It says we ARE a soul while alive and breathing, we do NOT posess one. To posess a soul is slavery, and that’s illegal in most places claiming Christianity.
He’s not talking about hell per say, but the lake of fire which is not as hot as heaven. Hell is an ancient pagan concept where the dishonorable dead end up. Basically lost and wondering the underworld. The original concept of the redeemer died, went into the underworld, collected all those lost there and brought them back with him for redemption. Christianity has turned that all saved, nobody left behind concept, into an elitist political dictatorship where only Christians are redeemed. Your’re all despicable narcissists.
Hell is when the sun drops below the equator…that’s cold, not hot. The word misinterpreted in the bible is “inverno”…which was changed to “inferno”. Hell is not literal. Hell is when, as i said before, the sun drops below the Equator and the winter months start to come around. Hell is literally winter because the sun is at it’s lowest point on Dec 21st.
Dec 25th, the rises from the bottom of the Equator 1 degree North…thus the story of Jesus, the sun/son who has come to save mankind by bringing the spring Equinox and the summer solstice which brings new life. Life begins in the spring and ends in the winter when the sun/son dies on the cross…the Equator. K?
144’000 is an astronomical figure. It’s fits perfectly with the fact it’s talking about the movement of heavenly bodies, eg the sun, planets and stars. That’s why they are the only bodies in heaven, they have nothing to do with people.
I agree with you on the soul thing, a soul = a living breathing being. But how do you know we do not have an immortal essence, a higher aspect that continues after physical death?
Truth is WE DO NOT KNOW. You should have an open mind, not be a closed book and a single closed book at that. All these ideas are ancient in origin not Christian.
The modern English word Hell is derived from Old English hel, helle (about 725 AD to refer to a nether world of the dead) reaching into the Anglo-Saxon pagan period, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *halja, meaning “one who covers up or hides something”.[2] The word has cognates in related Germanic languages such as Old Frisian helle, hille, Old Saxon hellja, Middle Dutch helle (modern Dutch hel), Old High German helle (Modern German Hölle), Danish, Norwegian and Swedish helvede/helvete (hel + Old Norse vitti, “punishment” whence the Icelandic víti “hell”), and Gothic halja.[2] Subsequently, the word was used to transfer a pagan concept to Christian theology and its vocabulary[2] (however, for the Judeo-Christian origin of the concept see Gehenna).
Some have theorized that English word hell is derived from Old Norse hel.[2] However, this is very unlikely as hel appears in Old English before the Viking invasions. Furthermore, the word has cognates in all the other Germanic languages and has a Proto-Germanic origin.[3] Among other sources, the Poetic Edda, compiled from earlier traditional sources in the 13th century, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, provide information regarding the beliefs of the Norse pagans, including a being named Hel, who is described as ruling over an underworld location of the same name.
I’m highlighting this again, just in case you missed it in the quote.
“Subsequently, the word (hell) was used to transfer a pagan concept to Christian theology…”
The traditional rendering of the Hebrew word ne′phesh and the Greek word psy·khe′. In examining the way these terms are used in the Bible, it becomes evident that they basically refer to (1) people, (2) animals, or (3) the life that a person or an animal has. (Ge 1:20; 2:7; Nu 31:28; 1Pe 3:20; also ftns.) In contrast to the way that the term “soul” is used in many religious contexts, the Bible shows that both ne′phesh and psy·khe′, in connection with earthly creatures, refer to that which is material, tangible, visible, and mortal. In this translation, these original-language words have most often been rendered according to their meaning in each context, using such terms as “life,” “creature,” “person,” “one’s whole being,” or simply as a personal pronoun (for example, “I” for “my soul”). In most cases, footnotes give the alternative rendering “soul.” When the term “soul” is used, either in the main text or in footnotes, it should be understood in line with the above explanation. When referring to doing something with one’s whole soul, it means to do it with one’s whole being, wholeheartedly, or with one’s whole life. (De 6:5; Mt 22:37) In some contexts, these original-language words can be used to refer to the desire or appetite of a living creature. They can also refer to a dead person or a dead body.—Nu 6:6; Pr 23:2; Isa 56:11; Hag 2:13.
Are there not at least some scriptures that could be understood as suggesting the possibility of man’s having an immortal soul? No. Interestingly, even Bible scholars have reached this conclusion on the basis of their study. Writing in Presbyterian Life (May 1970), David G. Buttrick, Associate Professor in Church and Ministry, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, states: “I find nothing in Scripture to back up the idea that souls have ‘an immortal subsistence.’” Regarding the significance of the word “soul,” this scholar observes: “When the Bible does use that word soul, it usually means ‘life’ or ‘livingness,’ and not some separate part of us. So think it out: When the Bible tells us we are mortal, it is saying that we die—we really die.” Continuing his line of argument, he says: “If we had immortal souls, we wouldn’t need God—our immortality would do the trick. But the Bible contradicts such vain hope: we are mortal and so we must cling to God’s love alone. Christians do not believe in continuation, but in resurrection.”
The Bible makes it plain that there is no conscious existence in the death state. Ecclesiastes 9:10, according to the rendering of the Roman Catholic Douay Version, reads: “Whatsoever thy hand is able to do, do it earnestly: for neither work, nor reason, nor wisdom, nor knowledge, shall be in hell (the common grave of mankind), whither thou art hastening.” There being no immortal soul to survive the death of the body, there is nothing that can be tormented after death in a fiery hell.
God’s promise of a resurrection, however, gives assurance that the dead in hell (the common grave of mankind) will come to life.
Have you ever heard of King Solomon? King Soul-of-Man? He built a temple ya know…actually that temple is your body. The ancients knew this. Yes, you have a soul.
“King Soul-of-Man?”
Right on, Dealer. The ancients spoke English, so they did.
Good work.
“God’s promise of a resurrection, however, gives assurance that the dead in hell (the common grave of mankind) will come to life.”
Is exactly what the Egyptian Horus did. Died, went into the underworld, rounded up all the dead and brought them back with him. It’s nothing to do with the biblical God seeing at it was created by the Pharisees after 70 CE. There is no evidence the Israelites were monotheistic, and plenty that proves they were polytheistic.
The only monotheistic belief before that was Atenism and it only lasted for the lifetime of it’s inventor Amenhotep IV, c1’300 bce.
The Horus story is an allegory for the solar cycles. Osiris his father becomes impotent, he is chopped to pieces by Set, as in Sun set. Osiris = solar minimum activity and the worst manifestation of that on Earth we call an ice age.
His counterpart Ra is represented by a flaming all seeing eye, nothing gets passed him because he emits so much light. The worst manifestation of Ra is runaway global warming. The land becomes barren deserts and unproductive.
The balanced solar deity is called El. He had two wives Asherah and Rhomara, Dusk and Dawn. His only begotten son is called Baal, the god of weather, crops and abundance.
Cant you see the connection?
With either Osiris or Ra the upshot is that lots of people die. Ice age or runaway global warming has the same effect, high mortality.
El being a balance of the two extremes, brings life back to Earth, ressurrets it from the dead. It’s not a complicated story once you translate it into modern terms.
“And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death” (Revelation 20:13-14).
The lake of fire is a place of eternal torment and you don’t want anyone you know to end up there.”
You have misquoted what it’s says. It says, DEATH and the place of the DEAD (hell), will be cast into the lake of fire. Not people after being judged by a being that has no need to judge seeing as IT already knows everything about us from the foundation of the world. You are contradicting yourself claiming an all knowing being would need to judge after the fact.
the judement is not for Gods benifet, its or ours ,
….Pox You spout the most useless drivel in the history of the printed word…….Your viewpoint is always distorted by your lack of truth and your attempts to validate what you say by what you say. You seem well read and interested in the spiritual side of things, but you have not ever hit the nail on the head, for as long as I have been keeping up with your postings.
….I know what you ALL about, and I’ll always be around to call a lie a lie…..and really, though I don’t know your motivations for even posting here, at all, You’ll always be my little devil…….