I understand your position, but that doesn’t exactly square up with passages like this, at the very end of Revelation:
Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Rev 22:15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
The dichotomy is those inside the gates of heaven (verse 14), and those outside the gates of heaven (verse 15). Why would the Holy Spirit say anybody is outside the gates of heaven if they’ve been utterly destroyed, as you believe? If sentient beings aren’t there, why mention them? As it reads, it strongly indicates living souls both inside and outside heaven.
You’re giving the words meaning based on your inferences. What about those outside the Ark? What about those outside the Titanic lifeboats?
That’s simple to understand. Those who DO His Commandments have the right to the Tree of Life and MAY ENTER the gates into the Kingdom of God.
Those who will find themselves outside the gates and unable to enter are those who are wicked and unrepentant.
It’s simply stating who will and who will not be allowed to enter - not that both the Righteous and the wicked are living in eternity - one inside and one outside the gates. There is no Life outside the gates.
I personally do not subscribe to the doctrine of an eternal soul. I believe in the Resurrection and that Christ has my reward with HIM when He returns.
Better yet, why need access to the Tree of Life if we already have eternal life? And why exclude others from it? And if we don't eat of it, will we die? Do those in the Lake have the "Tree of...
never mind.
This proof verse raises more questions than it answers, if one is willing to ponder it. Or maybe it just means that only those written in the boo of life are left alive, and thus have access to the city. There aint no one else.