Eternal Punishment # 3

Question: How can an infinitely holy and merciful God condemn creatures He loves to everlasting punishment?"

It is not so much that God condemns anyone to everlasting punishment as that men and women condemn themselves to everlasting torment by refusing the mercy and grace of God. Many people not only choose sin but also choose to refuse the wonderfully gracious redemption from sin that God has provided. If people will not allow themselves to be saved from sin, they must necessarily continue in it; and if they continue in it, they must necessarily suffer torment as long as they continue in it. The time must come, sooner or later, when repentance becomes impossible, and so, of course, salvation becomes impossible. The everlasting torment that anyone may endure will be simply the inevitable result of his own deliberate and persistent choice of sin.

Question: Is is not unjust to punish a few years of sin with an eternity of torment?

The duration of the punishment of sin can never be determined by the time it takes to commit the sin. A man can kill another man in a few seconds, but a just penalty would be lifelong imprisonment. Furthermore, sin involves separation from God, and separation from God is torment. The torment must continue as long as the separation from God exists, and the separation from God must exist until sin is repented of and the Saviour is accepted. The time must come when repentance and the acceptance of the Saviour become impossible; then one becomes eternally confirmed in his separation from God, and eternal torment must necessarily follow.

In addition, it is not a few years of sin that bring the eternity of punishment. A man may continue many years in sin and still escape eternal torment if he will only repent and accept Jesus Christ. It is the rejection of Jesus Christ that brings an eternity of torment. When we see sin in all its hideousness and enormity, the holiness of God in all its perfection, and the glory of Jesus Christ in all its infinity, intuitions except eternal punishment for those who persist in the choice of sin and in the rejection of the Son of God. This is especially so when we consider the fact that God, in His wonderful grace, gave Christ Jesus to die for our sins so that we might have salvation. Moreover, it is the fact that we dread suffering more than we hate sin and more than we love the glory of Jesus Christ that makes us reject the thought of eternal punishment for those who eternally choose sin, despise God's mercy, and spurn His Son.

~R. A. Torrey~