Replies

For all eternity the desire for the sins which were the driving force of the affections of the wicked will still be present with the wicked, however, they will not have the circumstance to fulfill them, not even once, for all eternity. Would that be like being in "fire"? I think so.

That's an interesting idea. I've never thought of that before. I sure don't know exactly what the experience of the reprobate will be in hell, and I'm sure I don't want to know. :) But I think everything you said is perfectly reasonable. It would be kind of like a "torture tease". That would certainly be hell.

Sin is not ‘fulfilling’. Two old aphorisms come to mind:

“God must have really hated me, He gave me everything I wanted.”

and

“You can never get enough of what you really don’t want.”

I sure don't know exactly what the experience of the reprobate will be in hell, and I'm sure I don't want to know. :) But I think everything you said is perfectly reasonable.

I believe hell tends to be played down too much. Some think of it as a separation from God, God turning their back on sinners, etc. I actually believe we are sugarcoating these to excuse our condition. If the flames of hell are real and it is a place where the worms will eat us throughout eternity; knowing that God is a just and merciful God should make us think what vile creatures we actually are to receive such a sentence. We should also stop and think what a wonderful and loving God we have, that He is willing to endure us in our condition simply to save and prepare some of us for heaven. While most don't like to think of ourselves in this way, I think Jonathan Edwards explains it best in Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

me: "For all eternity the desire for the sins which were the driving force of the affections of the wicked will still be present with the wicked, however, they will not have the circumstance to fulfill them, not even once, for all eternity. Would that be like being in "fire"? I think so."

FK: "That's an interesting idea. I've never thought of that before. I sure don't know exactly what the experience of the reprobate will be in hell, and I'm sure I don't want to know. :) But I think everything you said is perfectly reasonable. It would be kind of like a "torture tease". That would certainly be hell."

Well, we know that at death, the soul/spirit departs the physical body, therefore as a disembodied spirit it is nonsensical to speak in terms of location for non-coporeal entities, so what we deduce from Scripture is more a state of relationship rather than location. However, in the instances of both the just and the unjust, the natures are ratified for all eternity, the just as new creations in Christ are ratified as no longer posessing a sin nature, with the opposite being true for the unjust. The just enter into the presence of the Lord, being one of experiencing the Love of God while the unjust experience the Wrath of God, as disembidied spirits.

At the Return of the Lord, both the Just and the unjust are then resurrected to bodies prepared for eternity. At that point, then it is sensical to speak in terms of location, for both will have their spirits reunited with coporeal bodies. The unjust will have the overwhelming desire to sin, but without any way to bring that desire to fruition.