Here is an Interesting Fact
True Biblical Christianity has more in common with Atheism than it does with Modern Day Christianity as it is held in most Christian churches today.
The statement above may seem rather drastic, but if you honestly look at the facts, you’ll find this to be true. Current-day Christianity is teaching errors and doctrines that do not line up with what the Bible truly teaches. The character of God painted by current-day church doctrines makes God out to be nothing more than a vicious, sadistic monster and God of appeasement. Most Atheists reject God because they, like most Christians, believe these false doctrines about God’s character. These false teachings do not hold up under close scrutiny of Bible scripture…
So how is it That Atheism and True Biblical Christianity share a Common Belief?
Both Reject the God Presented by Modern-day Christianity.
This topic was written to help you understand some of the reasons why many people reject the God of the Bible. As you will see, their grounds for rejection seem to have good merit on the surface, but most who reject the God of the Bible, are basing their opinion on a false understanding of the true character of God. Gods true character has been under attack for centuries and this attack can be traced back to the Middle or Dark Ages. Many church doctrines practiced in Christian churches today have their roots in pagan religion and are not found in the Bible. Because of this, many doctrines have slandered God’s true character and perverted the image of who God really is.
It is Time to Rectify and Proclaim the True Character of God.
That is why I Created Road To Better Living.
Obviously, I cannot address every instance involved in unbelief, but I will try to address some of the mainstream reasons for rejecting the God of the Bible.
The purpose of this topic is not to debate or to invalidate one’s position, but to show that many reasons for the rejection of God are based upon misrepresentations of God’s character and from Bible scripture taken out of context.
I hope that those who reject the Biblical God will read the topics on this page and have the intellectual honesty to re-evaluate their positions and beliefs if they are basing their position on an incorrect understanding of God’s true character…
A Word of Caution!
The following text may shock some and cause others, out of fear, to run back to their current belief of an Everlasting Torment in Hell Fire.
What is written below, is straight from Bible scripture, taken in context, and is not just my opinion. (The Bible will interpret itself)
To many, this is one of the main reasons for rejecting God. Many see the God of the Bible as nothing more than a cruel,tyrannical and sadistic monster who seems to take delight in torturing His creation through out the ceaseless ages of eternity, just because they deny Him. Many Christian churches today give the impression that the reason Christ came and died on the cross was to appease this tyrannical, wrathful God.
The notion that any god would do such a horrendous act is hard to fathom, especially since mankind only lives a short period of time on this planet. The character exhibited by this kind of god is not a God of love, which one wishes to love or serve. In fact, the character that is reflected in the belief about the God of the Bible is more in line with the character of Satan rather than a Biblical espoused loving God.
It’s not surprising that many believe this, since most of the Christian church today teach an eternal tormenting Hell Fire for those who reject God. But is this really what the Bible teaches? The answer to this question is NO. The Bible does not teach eternal torment of the wicked in Hell Fire. The doctrine of eternal torture has its origin in pagan religion and is taught in Christian churches today because of a misinterpretation of scripture and this was by design.
This teaching was brought into the church by the Roman Catholic Papacy during the Middle, or Dark Ages and was used to control, by fear, the consciousness of church members. After the Protestant Reformation in the 1500’s, the Protestant church brought along many, non Biblical, errant teachings from the Catholic church such as eternal torment in Hell Fire. Again, the doctrine that the wicked will suffer for eternity in Hell Fire is NOT taught in the Bible.
The concept of Hell has it’s presence in numerous religions around the world, not only Christian. The Christian faith believes, for the most part, that the Wicked will suffer Eternal torment in the Lake of Fire to burn forever and forever, through out the ceaseless ages of eternity. Is this what the Bible truly teaches or is this an error that has filtered into the Christian church? We need to let the Bible explain and interpret itself so we can understand what the truth is about Hell. Contrary to current Christian belief, Hell Fire does not exist yet!
Hell was not initially intended for Man, but rather for Satan and his fallen Angels which rebelled against God in Heaven. It was during the course of Sin on Earth, that Mankind’s identity became entangled with Sin. The Lake of Fire, or Hell, is a place that God will create at the end of time to destroy Satan, his fallen Angels, the wicked and Sin all at once.
(Matthew 25:41) Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
The Bible uses the term “for ever” to symbolize a length of time. It can mean a short stretch of time, a time span from generation to generation, or the span of time from the creation of the Earth to its conclusion. If you remember your Bible stories, for ever even symbolized a stretch of time that Jonah was in the belly of the Whale. In fact, let’s take a look at the story of Jonah. In this story, scripture recounts Jonah’s experience in Jonah 2:5,6…
(Jonah 1:17) Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
(Jonah 2:5) The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.
(Jonah 2:6) I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.
As we can see Jonah is in the belly of a great fish in this passage. Jonah’s reference to “bars“ in this passage refers to the ribs of this great fish. (Note: Some like to refer to this great fish as a Whale.) Notice that he says the bars were about him “for ever“. Now did Jonah really stay in the belly of this great fish for ever? NO, he didn’t… but to Jonah, it felt like a long time. Jonah was in fact, in the belly of the fish for 3 days, after which, he was spit up onto shore by this fish. Now, the concept of “for ever” here does not mean endless does it? Here, “for ever“ in context to the story really means just “Three Days“.
(Jonah 2:10) And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.
Let’s take a look at another instance of the word “for ever“and see how it is used… Remember the story of Samuel? In 1 Samuel 1 there is a story of a woman who was barren of child. The woman’s name was Hanna and she was the wife of a man named Elkanah. Elkanah had two wives and one had children and the other, Hanna, did not.
(1 Samuel 1:6) And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb
Because she was barren, Hanna cried out to God to open her womb so she could bear a child. God blessed Hanna, and she eventually gave birth to a child she named Samuel. Because of her joy and happiness, Hanna dedicated her child, Samuel, to the priest so that Samuel could serve the Lord “for ever“. (See: 1 Samuel 1:22 and 1 Samuel 1:28)
(1 Samuel 1:20) Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the LORD.
(1 Samuel 1:21) And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer unto the LORD the yearly sacrifice, and his vow.
(1 Samuel 1:22) But Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the LORD, and there abide for ever.
(1 Samuel 1:23) And Elkanah her husband said unto her, Do what seemeth thee good; tarry until thou have weaned him; only the LORD establish his word. So the woman abode, and gave her son suck until she weaned him.
(1 Samuel 1:24) And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the LORD in Shiloh: and the child was young.
(1 Samuel 1:25) And they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli.
(1 Samuel 1:26) And she said, Oh my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the LORD.
(1 Samuel 1:27) For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him:
(1 Samuel 1:28) Therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD. And he worshipped the LORD there.
In the story of Jonah, “for ever“ represented 3 days. Here in the story of Samuel, the term “for ever” represents the lifetime of Samuel, in other words, as long as he liveth, the span of time until Samuel dies.
So we can see that “for ever“ can mean a finite amount of time, not necessarily, an eternal timeframe. If you do a study on the word “Ever” in Strong’s Concordance and other commentaries, you will find some interesting information.
The Complete Word Study Dictionary – ever
H5704
— A preposition and adverb meaning as far as, up to, unto, until, while. It is used of time meaning until
— It may indicate the time while something is being done
H5769
— A masculine noun meaning a very long time. The word usually refers to looking forward, but many times expresses the idea of looking backward. It may cover a given person’s lifetime
— A period of many generations
Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionary – ever
H5704
— (used as a preposition, adverb or conjugation; especially with a preposition); as far (or long, or much) as, whether of space (even unto) or time (during, while, until) or degree (equally with):
— It may indicate the time while something is being done
H5769
— properly concealed, that is, the vanishing point; generally time out of mind (past or future), that is, (practically) eternity; frequentative adverbially (especially with prepositional prefix) always: – always (-s), ancient (time), any more, continuance, eternal, (for, [n-]) ever (-lasting, -more, of old), lasting, long (time), (of) old (time), perpetual, at any time, (beginning of the) world (+ without end).
Now, “for ever“ can also be used as in meaning Eternal, such as without end, but the term “for ever“ must be used in context with the underlying meaning of the sentence or paragraph in which it is used…
For example… God is Eternal, He lives “for ever”. In this statement, “for ever” is used in context with the nature of God. God’s nature is known to be Eternal. For God is an Eternal being and will always exist…
To see another example of the use of “for ever” in terms and context of Eternity, let’s look at Jude 1:24-25… Notice that verse uses the word “EVER“ only.
(Jude 1:24) Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
(Jude 1:25) To the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen…
Even though the word “EVER“ is used in this passage, the context implies, Eternity, not a finite length of time that will eventually end. Glory, majesty, dominion, and power are attributed to God only, both now and for “EVER”.
The terms “for ever” or “EVER” are usually used to show a matter of time…for example, a long time, as far as, or time meaning until, such as until something has finished its task or work. “For ever” or “EVER” can also be used in the sense of Eternity… So with this understanding, how do you think “for ever” or “EVER” should be used in context with Hell Fire and how does scripture define “for ever” as it pertains to the destruction of the Wicked? Let’s take a look and let the Bible give us an explanation.
(Matthew 25:41) Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Notice that Matthew 25:41 references “Everlasting Fire”. What does this mean?
Note: The following explanation is not of my making. I wish I could take credit for this excellent work and explanation of Everlasting Fire and Everlasting Destruction, but I am borrowing from the work of Pastor Stephen Bohr, founder of “Secrets Unsealed Ministries” . Pastor Bohr studied many years on this subject and I’ve found his work to be the best explanation I’ve seen done on the understanding of Everlasting Fire and Everlasting Destruction.
This topic in its complete form can be seen in his 12 hour DVD lecture series called, “Misunderstood Texts on the State of the Dead”, primarily his lecture disk number 11, “Undying Worm & Unquenchable Fire“. This whole lecture series is fully grounded in Biblical truth in scriptural context, and is definitely worth buying.
Watch it Now…
Let’s take a look at what the Bible says about Everlasting Fire… In Matthew 25:41-46 it references Everlasting Fire and Everlasting Punishment, also in 2 Thessalonians 1:9 it mentions Everlasting Destruction…
(Matthew 25:41) Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
(Matthew 25:42) For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
(Matthew 25:43) I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
(Matthew 25:44) Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
(Matthew 25:45) Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
(Matthew 25:46) And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
(2 Thessalonians 1:9) Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power
Here we have Everlasting Fire, Everlasting Destruction, and Everlasting Punishment. The term everlasting seems to mean never-ending… but how does the Bible explain these concepts? We need to see them in the context of how they are being used. Let’s look at the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. These two Biblical cities were known for their wickedness and God destroyed them. We see in Genesis 24-28, that God rained down brimstone and fire from Heaven on these cities…
(Genesis 19:24) Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;
(Genesis 19:28) And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.
and in Jude 1:7 is says…
(Jude 1:7) Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering thevengeance of eternal fire.
… and notice what is says in 2 Peter 2:6 about Sodom and Gomorrah…
(2 Peter 2:6) And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;
Notice that Sodom and Gomorrah were turned into Ashes. Does this mean that Sodom and Gomorrah are still burning today? Can you burn ashes? No, ashes are the result of the completed work of fire. So if Sodom and Gomorrah was burned with the vengeance of Eternal Fire into ashes, is the fire out? No, the fire that burned Sodom and Gomorrah never went out, but the cities were burned into ashes and suffered Everlasting Destruction. But Sodom and Gomorrah are not still burning… How can this be? How can anything suffer destruction by being burned with Eternal Fire and not still be burning?
So again I ask, can ashes burn? Ashes cannot burn since all that is consumable has been depleted and burned up. Here we see in context that Sodom and Gomorrah suffered Eternal Destruction by the vengeance of Eternal Fire. What is meant here is that the results of Sodom and Gomorrah’s burning into ashes, is eternal in the sense of the results, not their burning. In other words, their destruction is eternal. Eternal fire produced eternal destruction, into ashes. The eternal destruction was caused by God.
So what does it mean when scripture uses the term “… suffering the vengeance of Eternal fire” How can Eternal Fire have vengeance?
(Deuteronomy 4:23) Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of anything, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee.
(Deuteronomy 4:24) For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.
(Hebrews 12:28) Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
(Hebrews 12:29) For our God is a consuming fire.
As we can see, God is referred to as a consuming fire in Deuteronomy and Hebrews as well. So a character trait of God is that He is a consuming fire.
The question, in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, was God a Consuming Fire before He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah? Was God a Consuming Fire after He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah? The answer to both of these questions is Yes!
So now, let’s take a look at the time when Moses went up to Mount Sinai, notice what the site of the glory of the Lord looked like…
(Exodus 24:15) And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount. (Exodus 24:16) And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. (Exodus 24:17) And the site of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.
From Bible teaching, we can see that the Glory of God is a devouring fire. So I ask you if God is an Eternal being, would His consuming fire character also be Eternal? Yes, God is a consuming fire and His fire is still burning… In other words, His glorious character is still a burning fire and is an Eternal fire.
The references in scripture that we’ve read in this section, reveals that God is Eternal Fire. So is God a bunch of burning flames? No, fire is a characteristic of God’s glory. God’s glory is like a devouring fire.
When we see Sodom and Gomorrah suffered the vengeance of Eternal Fire, this is referring to Sodom and Gomorrah’s destruction being caused by God and they suffered God’s vengeance against evil. So Sodom and Gomorrah suffered the vengeance of God! It is God’s Glory that is Everlasting, or Eternal, and His glory is like fire.
(Romans 12:19) Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
Sodom and Gomorrah were reduced into ashes. When the Bible refers to the Everlasting Destruction of these two cities, it is NOT referring to the never-ceasing act of destroying Sodom and Gomorrah for eternity in fire, but rather it is the results of their destruction which will last for eternity. This means that Sodom and Gomorrah will never rise again. Their destruction will last for ever, or eternity, not their punishing. Their punishment is eternal in the sense that the result of their destruction is Everlasting.
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On a Final Note
If you do not know or have drifted away from God, please consider what I’ve written here. Satan mocks those who reject Jesus, knowing they will suffer the Second Death.
Remember, What you believe does not Change Reality. The reality is God exists and wants nothing more than to have a relationship with you through His Son Jesus. Please hearken to His call on your life.
If you do not have a relationship with Jesus, please consider turning your heart and life over to Christ…
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