If you believe God is going to keep the wicked alive forever, just to torture them, there are a few things you should know.

1. The reason why we don't live forever is because, God loves us.

When Adam and Eve fell from their glory, they were both in a hopeless condition. So, in God's love for them, He removed them from the garden so that they would not eat from the tree of life and live forever in their hopeless condition.

Genesis 3:22-23 the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.

2. Man does not live forever, which means he does not have an immortal soul. No immortal soul, no burning alive forever.

Mortal: the condition of being subject to death.

Job 4:17 Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker?

Job 10:5 Are Your days like the days of a mortal man?

Ezekiel 18:4 Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine; the soul who sins shall die.

Matthew 10:28 Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.

Gehenna is not a place under the earth where people are alive burning forever. Gehenna was a place in Old Testament times where they would burn their babies in fire to the false god Baal.

Jeremiah 7:31 And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.

Many times in the Bible words that the people understood would be used to help them to understand things that have not yet happened. The fire like, Gehenna fire, they used to destroy their babies will be like the fire that God uses to destroy the wicked in the end

Revelation 20:14-15 And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

There is only one who is immortal and that's God.

1 Timothy 1:17 Now unto the King eternal who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.

3. The wicked don't get eternal life, so since they do not have an immortal soul or eternal life, they can't burn alive forever.

Psalm 37:20 the wicked shall perish; and the enemies of the Lord, like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish. Into smoke, they shall vanish away.

Psalm 145:20 The Lord preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.

Malachi 4:1 For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,”Says the Lord of hosts, “That will leave them neither root nor branch.

4. Anything to do with sin, death or Hades will be wiped clean from the face of the earth when God's Kingdom is fully established.

Revelation 20:14-15 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

5. In the new creation, when all is said and done, there will be no more death, no pain, no sorrow and no crying. All that stuff came to God's first creation because of sin. In God's new creation, none of that will be there. That means no one is burning alive in pain and agony in God's new creation.

Revelation 21:4-5 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is faithful and true.”

The words, "No more death, sorrow or crying" are faithful and true words.

Remember when God didn't allow man to eat from the tree of life and live forever? That means the true Gospel is, we're on the road to death but if we receive the free gift of Christ into our lives this life will never end. Without Christ in our lives, our life will end.

John 3:16 God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Life or death? Those are the only two options...

How did the doctrine of the immortal soul become part of today's faith?

If you've spent some time on this website, you know that a false system of worship has been influencing the world through the Vatican, aka the Beast kingdom in Revelation. This system of worship has its root in Babylonian sun worship with all its attachments. Many of the unbiblical doctrines of today's churches came from Babylon and were filtered into the faith through the Papacy to what we see in today's Christian mainline church.

If what we are believing today is not founded on the Torah and the Prophets, through the teachings of Messiah, then we need to go back to the drawing board. Why do I say that? Because the Old Testament is for correction, instruction in righteousness and to establish church doctrines.

2 Timothy 3:15-17 from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Did you notice what Timothy said? He said, "From childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures". The only Scriptures they had were the Torah and the Prophets, there was no New Testament when Timothy said what he said, and there was definitely no New Testament during the time of their childhood. The Scriptures they studied from to build their doctrines were the Torah and the Prophets.

I say all this because there is so much being taught in church today that can't be found in the Torah or the Prophets, for example, the immortal soul, which says the soul can't die. You can search from Genesis to Revelation and you won't find one verse that says we have an immortal soul, but you will find dozens that say the soul can die.

Ezekiel 18:4 Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine; the soul who sins shall die.

Matthew 10:28 do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.

The belief in the immortal soul didn't originate from the Scriptures, it crept into the faith from Babylon.

"The belief that the soul continues its existence after the dissolution of the body is...nowhere expressly taught in Holy Scripture...The belief in the immortality of the soul came to the Jews from contact with Greek thought and chiefly through the philosophy of Plato its principle exponent, who was led to it through Orphic and Eleusinian mysteries in which Babylonian and Egyptian views were strangely blended" (The Jewish Encyclopedia, article, "Immortality of the Soul").

This is a very powerful truth because without an immortal soul, no one can burn alive forever in a place under the earth called, Hell.

If you do your research, you will find that the word (Hell) is a made up word with a made up definition. Hell is said to be a place under the earth where people are burning alive. The word (Hell) is not even in the Bible. The correct word should be, Sheol in the (OT) Hebrew Scriptures and Hades in the (NT) Greek Scriptures, both these words mean, the grave or the pit, it's where the dead are buried.

When you study the Scriptures, you find that death is defined as being asleep.

Psalm 13:3 Look on me and answer, O Lord, my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death.

Death is like sleep because at some point in time, the dead will wake up from their sleep.

Daniel 12:2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.

Even Messiah talked about death as being a state of sleep. Lazarus had died and was dead four days already when Messiah went to visit the tomb. Listen to what Messiah said about the condition of Lazarus.

John 11:11-15 These things Jesus said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.” Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.” However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.

In the sleep of death, there are no feelings or thought, there is only silence in the grave.

Ecclesiastes 9:4-6 There is hope only for the living. “It is better to be a live dog than a dead lion!” For the living at least know that they will die! But the dead know nothing, they don’t even have their memories. Also, their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; and they have no part in anything here on earth anymore.

Psalm 115:17 The dead cannot sing praises to the Lord, for they have gone into the silence of the grave.

How should we understand what happens when someone dies?

When man was created, he was given the spirit of life. The spirit of life is what causes us to be alive, it's like a battery in a flashlight, when the batteries are removed, the flashlight doesn't work. The same thing happens when the spirit leaves our bodies, we die.

Now, let's see what the Bible says about this.

Adam was created from the dust of the earth and then God breathed the spirit of life into Adam and Adam became a living soul, it doesn't say, Adam received a soul, it says, Adam became a living soul. This is very important to understand because man is a living soul, which means, he does not have an immortal soul that leaves his body at death.

Genesis 2:7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the spirit of life, and the man became a living soul.

The spirit of life + the dust of the earth = a living soul. The opposite happens when a person dies. In death the spirit of life goes back to God who gave it and the person becomes a dead soul.

Ecclesiastes 12:7 and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

Remember what Daniel said, "The dead wake up from sleeping in the dust". That means someone is sleeping in the dust.

The spirit that goes back to God who gave it is that spirit of life that God breathed into Adam that caused Adam to become a living soul. Some people will say the spirit that goes back to God at death is the person, but that's not true, for one thing, it says the spirit goes back to God who gave it. The spirit going back to God means it was with God before Adam received it, so it's not Adam himself. All living creatures get the spirit of life, that's what causes them to be alive. When the spirit leaves us, we die. Listen to what Psalm 146:4 says.

Psalm 146:4 When they die, their spirt leaves them, and they return to the dust; on that day their thoughts perish.

The spirit that leaves the person at death can't be the person himself because when the spirit leaves them, their thoughts perish. In other words, they stop thinking.

The great hope of those who have died in Christ is the resurrection from the dead. This is when Messiah returns to wake up the dead who are sleeping in the dust.

1 Corinthians 15:51-54 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

I like the fact that Paul just talked about the dead coming back to life when he says, "Therefore comfort one another with these words". If people are already in heaven then why would the hope of the resurrection of the dead bring comfort to someone?

King David was called a man after God's own heart and even he is not in heaven.

Acts 2:29 Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.

Acts 2:34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself:‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand.

Acts 13:36 David was a good leader for the people of his day. He did what God wanted. Then he died and was put into a grave close to his father’s grave. His body went back to dust.

Even Messiah Himself said no one has ever ascended into heaven.

John 3:13 No one has ever ascended into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.

Why in the world would God have to take someone out of the joys of heaven only to put them into the grave just to resurrect them into heaven. There would be no reason for it, since they were already in heaven. The Bible is very clear, the dead are asleep in their grave waiting for Messiah's return to wake them up. The resurrection of the dead is the great hope we have in Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:22-23 All men will die as Adam died. But all those who belong to Christ will be raised to new life. This is the way it is: Christ was raised from the dead first. Then all those who belong to Christ will be raised from the dead when He comes again.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

Some people will say, "What about when Jesus told the thief, "I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise".

Let’s take a closer look at it what was really said.

Luke 23:42-43 Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come in Your kingdom.'‘ And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.''

In spite of the fact that the entire Bible speaks of the Kingdom of God coming and the resurrection of the dead to meet the Lord in the air and nothing about people dying and going to heaven, there are still some people who use this verse to teach that we go to right to heaven at when we die. The words of Messiah Himself, when He taught us how to pray, said, "Pray like this, Thy Kingdom come". The great hope we have in Christ is the promise of His coming Kingdom.

All throughout the Old and New Testament, we find the Gospel of the coming Kingdom of God. All the followers of Messiah understood the promise of the coming Kingdom and believed it. Listen.

Mark 15:43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.​

Even the thief himself understood the great hope of the coming Kingdom. Listen.

Luke 23:42 Then the thief said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”​

The literal Kingdom comes when Messiah comes back, at His second coming. It's at that time that He raises the dead, which will include the thief. Listen.

2 Timothy 4:1 I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom.

People have been taught to believe that the thief was with Jesus in Paradise the day they died but is this true? No, it's not.​

To prove this, let's see where Paradise is.

Paradise is where God dwells in heaven, it's in the presence of God, which is also where the tree of life is. Right now it's in heaven where the Father dwells.

Revelation 2:7 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”’

Revelation 22:1-2 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

When Messiah died, did He ascend to where the Father dwells? In other words, did He go up to Paradise that day? No, He didn't. Listen to what He told Mary right after being in the grave for 3 days and 3 nights.

John 20:17 Jesus said to her "Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father.

In the above statement, Messiah had just been rised from the dead and was talking to Mary when He tells her that He had not yet ascended to the Father. This was three days after His death, and yet He still had not ascended to the Father. This means He could not have been in Paradise with the thief on the day they died.

So how did we come to the conclusion that the thief would be with Messiah in Paradise that day?​

We came to this conclusion through the false placement of a comma, not because of Scriptural support.​

The Greek language does not use commas. Commas are not inspired. There can be error or willful deception when placing commas. Where a translator places a comma in a sentence can be influenced by a preconceived belief. If he believes people go to heaven at death, he will place a comma to fit that belief.​ Let me show you what I mean.​

Luke 23:43 Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.''​

With the comma placed after the word, ‘you’ it’s made to sound like Jesus would be in Paradise with the thief that day. But we know Jesus didn't ascend to heaven until after being in the grave three days, so He couldn't be in Paradise with the thief that day.​

If we use the plan of God and the Bible itself to influence where we place the comma, then verse would read like this: "Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you today, you will be with Me in Paradise.'' In other words, Messiah was telling the thief on that day, not that he would be in Paradise on that day. Messiah and the thief ,being in Paradise on the day they died, contradicts the whole Bible and the very words of Messiah Himself.

Some people will say, "What about when Paul said, "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord".

2 Corinthians 5:8 but we are of good courage and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.​

People quote the words, "Absent from the is to be present with the Lord" as though it's a statement of what happens when we die but in reallity, it's not what Paul said and it's taken out of context. All throughout the letters that Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he speaks of the great hope we have in Christ, which is the resurrection from death to life and immortality. He knew and understood that it was at the resurrection that he would be raised to immortality and be given a new body, just like Messiah's. The context of the verse itself tells us this is exactly what Paul understood. Paul knew when he would get his new body. Listen to the context.​

2 Corinthians 5:1-5 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.​

After comparing the two bodies, the old one and the new one, Paul says he would much perfer rather to be absent from his old dying body and be with the Lord in his new immortal body.​

2 Corinthians 5:6-8 Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight— but we are of good courage and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.​

All Paul was saying in his statement was that he would much prefer rather to be with Jesus in his new body. He wasn't saying it would happen as soon as he died, otherwise, he would be contradicting himself in all his other letters.​

Listen to what Paul taught and believed about when he would get his new body and what happens when Messiah comes back.​

1 Thessalonians. 4:16-18 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.​ Therefore comfort one another with these words.

1 Corinthians 15:51-54 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory.''​

2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

​1 Corinthians 15:22-23 All men will die as Adam died. But all those who belong to Christ will be raised to new life. This is the way it is: Christ was raised from the dead first. Then all those who belong to Christ will be raised from the dead when He comes again.

There is nothing in all of Paul's writings that he says the day we die we go right to heaven. He always talked about the hope of the resurrection as the time we go to be with the Lord. He even told his people in 1 Thessalonians. 4:18 to be comforted by the hope of the resurrection.

Some people will say, "What about Lazuras and the rich man?"

When you read the context of Luke chapter 15 and 16 you will find that there are four parables, one right after another ending with Lazarus and the rich man. A parable is not meant to be a literal true story, but rather, a spiritual lesson. A parable should not be used to teach a doctrine, especially if the doctrine contradicts all of Scripture, as well as, God's plan. Here are just a few things that the parable says that are unbiblical.​

1. The Bible teaches clearly that no one is alive in the grave.

2. The Bible teaches that the grave is a place of silence.

2. You have to read heaven into the parable because it's not even mentioned once.

3. Abraham's bosom is not a literal place where God's people can see and talk to dead people burning in hell.

4. All the millions of people who died over the years would never fit in Abraham’s bosom.

5. A drop of water would never help a person if he was burning alive.

6. Paradise is in the presence of God. It would not be Paradise if we could see and hear people burning alive.​

Messiah was not using His parable to teach the doctrine of what happens when we die, because what He was saying was contradicting the whole Bible. In the parable about Lazarus and the rich man you find Messiah correcting the misconception the Pharisees had about people's eternal standing with God based on their condition in this life. They believed that if you were rich in this life it's because you are accepted by God, but if you're poor, it's because you are cursed by God. Messiah used His parable to teach them they were wrong. He wasn't teaching a doctrine of what happens when we die.

What about the eternal fire?

The eternal fire is actually the glory of God's holy character. Our God is a consuming fire.

Deuteronomy 4:24 The LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

Hebrews 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.

God's glory is a consuming fire to the sinner, this is why no one can see God and live.

Exodus 33:18 And Moses said, “Please, show me Your glory.”​

Exodus 33:20 But He said, “You cannot see My face. For no man can see Me and live!”

The fire of God's presence is a spiritual fire that consumes life.

Psalm 68:2 As smoke is driven away, So drive them away; as wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

When the sinner comes into God's presence, the fire of His glory consumes their life and they die. Notice what happens when Nadab and Abihu brought strange unauthorized incense into God's presence, the fire of God's glory consumed them.

Leviticus 10:1-3 Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary to his command. So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.

You would think that being consumed by the fire of God's presence they would be burned up to a pile of ashes, but we don't see that. The fire of God's presence is spiritual because it consumed the life of Nadab and Abihu, not their their bodies or their tunics. We know this because the people picked up their lifeless bodies by their tunics.

Leviticus 10:4-5 Moses summoned Mishael and Elzaphan, sons of Aaron’s uncle Uzziel, and said to them, “Come here; carry your cousins outside the camp, away from the front of the sanctuary.” So they came and carried them, still in their tunics, outside the camp, as Moses ordered.

The burning bush another example of God's consuming being spiritual in nature

Exodus 3:2 the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.”