IV. Supreme Argument Against Eternal Torment

1. DEATH PENALTY STEMS FROM LAW AND AUTHORITY

Punishment implies the existence of law. And law involves authority. But no law can have binding force unless it is buttressed by penalty for infraction. Moreover, punishment is inflicted upon the violator by the same authority from which the law proceeds. There can therefore be no legitimate penalty threatened, nor punishment inflicted, where there is no law or authority (Romans 5:13). But God, the Creator of man, had given an express command and warning to our forebears in Eden (Genesis 2:16, 17). And Adam and Eve had violated the explicit command and broken the declared law, or word, of God, and so had incurred the statutory penalty forewarned.CFF1 77.4

As we have seen, death—in the sense of forfeiture of life and extinction of being through withdrawal of life—was the stated penalty for infraction of the divine command. This is the uniform teaching of the Bible from cover to cover in all its multiple forms of statement—whether of doctrine, warning, statute, exhortation, promise, or prediction, and as amplified in parable, figure, and illustration. The uniform penalty in all forms is, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4, 20); or in the New Testament, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Or, to change to one of the figures, the inevitable harvest from the sowing of the seed of sin is destruction (Matthew 13:30). The essence of it all is that “sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:15).CFF1 78.1

2. QUESTION SETTLED AT HIGHEST LEVEL

We repeat, “death” means cessation of life, not eternal life in torment. Strange contention of some that to perish is to live on forever! That, of course, is a complete contradiction. Here is the supreme argument against the alien concept of the Eternal Torment of the sinner: If the death that threatened Adam were eternal torture, then it would have necessitated that our Saviour, as man’s complete Substitute, must be tormented eternally in order to receive man’s allotted punishment and pay his designated debt. But no one is prepared to contend that such is true as regards our Saviour.CFF1 78.2

If, on the contrary, the penalty of death is loss of life, as executed upon Christ on the cross, then Jesus must die by literally giving up His life in our stead, thus meeting the full demands of the law for our sins. And this is precisely what He did. That is consideration of the question at the highest level. That is the supreme and decisive evidence. Christ died, just as Adam was to die.CFF1 78.3