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by Will Kinney

The word Hell in the King James Bible

The Doctrine of Hell in the King James Bible

Hell or Hades or Sheol or the Grave?

The doctrine of Hell is getting a lot cooler in the modern versions.

In fact, a lot of theologically important words in the Holy Bible are being toned down or even lost entirely. As examples, here is a partial list of the frequency of certain words comparing the King James Bible Old Testament, with the NKJV, the NASB, ESV and the NIV Old Testament.

TRUTH KJB – 118 times; NKJV – about same; NASB – 92; ESV – 44;  NIV – 41

GRACE KJB -38 times; NKJV – 20; NASB – 9; ESV – 7; NIV – 8

MERCY, MERCIFUL KJB – 288 times; NKJV -same; NASB – 51; ESV – 132;  NIV – 85

SOUL KJB – 478 times; NKJV – same; NASB – 255; NIV – 110

LUCIFER KJB – 1 time; NKJV – 1 time; NASB – 0; ESV – 0;  NIV – 0

JEHOVAH KJB – 7 times; NKJV – 0; NASB – 0; ESV – 0;  NIV – 0

HELL KJB – 31 times; NKJV – 19; NASB – 0; ESV – 0;  NIV – 0

Examples of other words in the whole Bible, both testaments.

DOCTRINE KJB – 56 times; NKJV – 42; NASB – 14; ESV – 13;  NIV – 7

SAINTS  KJB – 98 times; NKJV – 98; NASB – 68; ESV – 82; NIV 2011 – 0

FORNICATION KJB – 44 times; NKJV – 21; NASB – 8; ESV – 0; NIV – 0

DAMNATION, DAMNED KJB – 9 times; NKJV – 0; NASB – 0; ESV – 0; NIV – 0

HELL (whole Bible) KJB – 53 times; NKJV – 32; NASB -13; ESV – 14; NIV – 13

HUMAN – The word “human” is the gender-neutral, New Age, Evolutionary Buzz-word.

How many times does it appear?

In the King James Bible, Geneva Bible, ASV 1901 – ZERO times.

In the NKJV – 15 times

(a few examples)

Leviticus 5:3 – Or if he touches HUMAN uncleanness—whatever uncleanness with which a man may be defiled, and he is unaware of it—when he realizes it, then he shall be guilty.

John 16:21 – A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a HUMAN being has been born into the world.

Romans 6:19  – I speak in HUMAN  terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.

1 Corinthians 2:4 – And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of HUMAN  wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,

1 Corinthians 4:3 – But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a HUMAN  court. In fact, I do not even judge myself.

Hebrews 12:9 – Furthermore, we have had HUMAN  fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?

NASB – 39 times

ESV – 65 times

Holman Christian Standard – 141 times

NIV – 214 times

Examples from Genesis 6 – “When HUMAN beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of HUMANS were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with HUMANS forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

Dan Wallace’s NET version – 233 times

One Bible Critic, named Reese Currie, posts at his site this ignorant criticism of the KJB saying –

“Luke 16:23 KJV: And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

NKJV: “And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.”

The Greek word is hades, which means, “the abode of the dead.” Here, the NKJV transliterates the Greek word hades to differentiate “Hades,” the abode of the dead, from “Gehenna,” the lake of fire. It is much more accurate to do so, since Hades is going to be thrown into the lake of fire in Revelation 20:14. The wording is Jesus’ wording and I have no issues with it. The NKJV is more accurate.” (End of his comments)

First, all this Bible Rummager and unbeliever in the inerrancy of ANY Bible is giving us, is his own personal opinion. Many others disagree with him.

And secondly, the word Gehenna is never translated as the “lake of fire” and he cannot prove from Scripture his assertion that Gehenna and the lake of fire are the same thing. He just made that up and gave us his opinion. That’s all he did, and his personal opinion cannot be backed up from the Bible.

Hell in the Modern Versions – hades, geenna and tartaros  = A very mixed up and inconsistent mess

The words still translated as hell in the N.T. of these modern versions (NKJV, NIV, NASB, ESV) are geenna 12 times (Matthew 5:22, 29, 30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15,33; Mark 9:43,45,47; Luke 12:5 and James 3:6) and tartaros 1 time (2 Pet. 2:4).

The 2001 – 2011 ESVs still translate hades as “hell” in Matthew 16:18 “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

The NIV editions of 1973 and 1984 translated hades as “hell” in Luke 16:23 “in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments”, but the 2011 “new” New International Version now has “hades”.

The  ISV (International Standard Version) has translated hades as “hell” in Matthew 16:18 “the gates of hell”.

Petterson’s 2002 The Message has translated hades as “hell” in Matthew 16:18, Luke 16:23, Revelation 6:8, and Revelation 20:13 and 14.

Dan Wallace’s NET version 2006 is a study in confusion. He has “gehenna” as hell and “tartaros” as hell, but when it comes to “hades” most of the time he has the transliteration “hades” but in Luke 16:23 he goes with “hell” saying – “And in HELL, as he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far off with Lazarus at his side.”

And then he twice “translates” a word that is not hell as hell. He does this in Galatians 1:8 and 9 –

“But even if we (or an angel from heaven) should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be condemned to HELL! As we have said before, and now I say again, if any one is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let him be condemned to HELL!”

The Catholic Connection

It is interesting to compare and contrast the ever changing Catholic bible versions.  The other Greek word that is often translated as “hell” in the King James Bible and many others is hades.  In the older Catholic Douay-Rheims version, every time the KJB has hades as “hell”, so did this older Catholic bible – See Matthew 11:23; 16:18; Luke 10:15; 16:23; Acts 2:27,31; Rev. 1:18; 6:8 and 20:13 and 14.

But the New Jerusalem bible (catholic) of 1985 has translated the Greek word hades as “hell” in Matthew 11:23 and Luke 10:15, as “the underworld” in Mat. 16:18, and as Hades in Mat. 11:23; Luke 16:23, Acts 2:27,31, and in Rev.1:18; 6:8 and 20:13,14.  So we see that all these modern versions are consistently inconsistent.

This particular study will focus on the word Hell and how it is being air conditioned by degrees in many modern versions. There are many who criticize the King James Bible as being wrong for translating certain Hebrew and Greek words as Hell.

In the King James Old Testament the Hebrew word Sheol is variously translated as HELL – 31 times; THE GRAVE – 31 times, and as THE PIT – 3 times.

The modern versions disagree among themselves and have little room in which to criticize the KJB.

The NKJV transliterates this same word as Sheol 18 times, but then translates it as HELL 19 times, rather than the 31 times as in the KJB. It also has translated the word as the GRAVE and the PIT.

The NIV never translates it as hell or even as Sheol, but instead has the GRAVE 55 times, DEATH 6 times, the DEPTHS 2 times, the DEPTHS OF THE GRAVE 2 times, and as THE REALM OF DEATH once.

The NASB and the ESV on the other hand, transliterate rather than translate this word every single time as SHEOL. How many Christians know what Sheol is? It strikes fear in the heart, doesn’t it?

What we see here is that the very scholars who criticize the King James Bible for translating the word at times as HELL can’t seem to agree even among themselves as to what the word means in various contexts.

Let’s look at a few examples.

Psalm 9:17

King James Bible – “The wicked shall be turned into HELL, and all the nations that forget God.”

NIV – “The wicked RETURN TO THE GRAVE, all the nations that forget God.”

There are two big problems with the NIV rendering here. First, you can only RETURN TO someplace you have already been before. Does the NIV teach reincarnation? You can teach it using the NIV, but you cannot get the doctrine of reincarnation from the King James Bible.

Second, most everyone, the wicked and the righteous, go to the grave. So what else is new? The context is the fate of the wicked, and it is not the same as that of the righteous. The NIV rendering is silly at best, and diabolical at worst.

NASB, ESV 2001 – “The wicked will RETURN TO SHEOL, even all the nations who forget God.”

The NASB, ESV have two similar problems. How do people return to someplace if they have not been there before? Also what in the world is Sheol? Many criticize the KJB for being hard to understand, but how many of them know what Sheol is?

And again there is no distinction between the wicked and the righteous in the NASB rendering. The liberal RSV has: “The wicked shall depart to Sheol”, the ESV 2011 is similar with “the wicked shall RETURN to Sheol” and the Catholic New Jerusalem bible of 1985 has: “May the wicked turn away to Sheol.”

The Jewish translations differ among themselves as well. The 1917 JPS (Jewish Publication Society) says: “The wicked shall return to THE NETHER-WORLD, even all the nations that forget God.”  The Jewish Family Bible 1864 – “Wicked ones shall return unto the GRAVE, and all nations that forget God.”

The Ancient Hebrew Bible 1907 and the 1936 The Holy Scriptures, Hebrew Publishing Company, say: “The wicked shall be turned into HELL” and the Complete Jewish Bible 1998 says: “The wicked will return to SH’OL, all the nations that forget God.”

Psalms 9:17 – “The wicked shall be turned into HELL”

The NKJV – “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” = the KJB here. Also agreeing with the King James Bible are Wycliffe 1395, Coverdale 1535, the Great Bible 1540, Matthew’s Bible 1549, the Bishops’ Bible 1568, the Geneva Bible 1587, the Douay-Rheims Bible of 1610, the Bill Bible 1671, The Longman Version 1841, The Boothroyd Bible 1853, the Lesser Bible 1853, The Revised English Bible 1877, The Sharpe Bible 1883,  the Douay of 1950 (Though the 1970 St. Joseph NAB says “to the NETHER WORLD” and the New Jerusalem bible 1985 says “turn away to SHEOL”)  The Word of Yah 1993, the KJV 21st Century Version 1994, the Third Millennium Bible 1998, God’s First Truth 1999, The Revised Geneva Bible 2005, the Bond Slave Version 2009, the Catholic Public Domain Version of 2009, The Work of God’s Children Illustrated Bible 2011 and A Conservative Bible 2011 – “The wicked shall be turned into HELL, and all the nations that forget God.”, The Revised Douay-Rheims Bible 2012, the BRG Bible 2012.

In 1395 Wycliffe wrote: “Synneris be turned togidere in to HELLE; alle folkis, that foryeten God.”

And the 2002 Message paraphrases it in this way: “The wicked bought a one-way ticket to HELL.”

This online Hebrew Interlinear Old Testament – “shall be turned The wicked into HELL, all the nations that forget God.”

Jewish Virtual Library The Tanakh [Full Text] 1998

“The wicked shall be TURNED INTO HELL, and all the nations that forget God.”

Foreign Language Bibles

The Portuguese de Almeida of 1681, and the Portuguese La Biblia Sagrada and the 2000 O Livro all read exactly like the KJB saying: “Os ímpios seräo lançados no INFERNO, e todas as naçöes que se esquecem de Deus.” , as does the French Ostervald of 1996 – “Les méchants reculeront jusqu’aux ENFERS, et toutes les nations qui oublient Dieu.”, the Italian Diodati of 1649 – ” Andranno in volta NELL’INFERNO.” and the Conferenza Episcopale Italiana Bible – “ornino gli empi negli INFERI”, and the Spanish Cipriano de Valera of 1602, 1865, 1909 and the 2010 Reina-Valera Gomez Bible – “Los malos serán trasladados al INFIERNO.”, The Romanian Fidela Bible 2014 – “Cei stricaţi vor fi întorşi în iad împreună cu toate naţiunile care uită pe Dumnezeu.” = “the wicked shall be turned into HELL, and all the nations that forget God.”

Likewise Baptist Bible commentator John Gill states: “The wicked shall be turned into hell,…. Some render it, “shall return to the grave”, to the earth, the original dust from whence they came; but this is common to all men, to the righteous as well as the wicked; rather lwav here signifies the place of torment, commonly called HELL, where devils and damned spirits are; hither the souls of the wicked go immediately upon their departure from their bodies, Luke 16:23; and after the judgment is over, they will be remanded thither in soul and body; and their damnation is called the destruction of soul and body in HELL;… this is true of all the wicked, the beast and false prophet, who shall be cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone, Revelation 19:20″

The Hebrew word Sheol communicates nothing to us in the English language. There are many different views among the scholars themselves as to what this word signifies and it seems to vary with different contexts. Many Hebrew and Greek words have multiple meanings which change their sense according to the context and scholars argue over them all the time.

The 1987 Amplified Bible (Lockman Foundation) translates Psalms 9:17 as: “The wicked shall be turned back [headlong into premature death] into Sheol (the place of the departed spirits of the wicked), even all the nations that forget or are forgetful of God.”  But we know from the New Testament that the place of the departed spirits of the wicked is called HELL!

The 2012 ISV (International Standard Version) translates Psalms 9:17 differently than most, saying: “The wicked will turn back TO WHERE THE DEAD ARE.”

There are times when the word simply means the GRAVE, as in Genesis 42:38 where Jacob says: “My son shall not go down with you (into Egypt)…if mischief befall him…then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to THE GRAVE.”

At other times the word means HELL, as the place of the dead in the heart of the earth. Scripture tells us in both the Old and New Testaments that there are compartments or degrees of hell. Both Deuteronomy 32 and Psalm 86 speak of THE LOWEST HELL.

In Deuteronomy 32:22 God says: “For a fire is kindled in mine anger and shall burn unto the lowest hell”, and in Psalm 86:13 David says to God: “For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from THE LOWEST HELL.”

Shoel as HELL in the Old Testament

Among the various Bible versions that sometimes translate the Hebrew word sheol as “hell” are the following: Wycliffe 1395, Coverdale 1535, the Great Bible 1540, Matthew’s Bible 1549, the Bishop’s Bible 1568, the Geneva Bible 1599, Douay-Rheims 1610, the Bill Bible 1671, Webster’s 1833 translation, Living Oracles 1835, The Longman Version 1841, the Lesser Bible 1853,  The Boothroyd Bible 1853,  The Revised English Bible 1877, The Sharpe Bible 1883, the Revised Version 1881, The Ancient Hebrew Bible 1907, the Jewish 1936 Hebrew Publishing Company translation by Alexander Harkavy into English, Luther’s German Bible 1545, Brenton’s translation of the Septuagint 1851, the Spanish Reina Valera  1569, 1602, 1909, the Italian Diodati 1602, the Portuguese de Almeida 1681, Portuguese O Livro of 2000, Rotherham’s Emphasized  Bible 1902,  the Douay 1950, the Bible in Basic English 1961 (2 Sam.22:6; Psalm 18:5), New Life Version 1969 (Pro. 5:5, 7:27, 19:18, 15:24,23:14), God’s Word Translation 1995, the KJV 21st Century Version 1994, New Living Translation, the NKJV 1982, Third Millennium Bible 1998, and the 2002 version called The Message in 2 Samuel 22:6; Job 26:6, Psalm 9:17, 16:10, 18:5, 31:17, 49:14, 55:15, 88:3, 89:68, 116:3, 141:7, Proverbs 5:5, 7:27, 9:18, 15:24, 27:20, and Isaiah 57:9!!!

Other Bible translations that have HELL in places like Deuteronomy 32:22 – “For a fire is kindled in mine anger and shall burn unto THE LOWEST HELL” are The Jewish Family Bible 1864 – “shall burn unto the lowest HELL”, The Word of Yah 1993, God’s First Truth 1999, J.P. Green’s ‘literal’ 2005, The Apostolic Bible 2006, Hebraic Transliteration Scripture 2010, Jubilee Bible 2010 – “For it is a fire that consumes unto HELL and would root out all my increase.” (Job 31:12; Psalm 88:11; Proverbs 15:11; 17:20), Conservative Bible 2011, The Work of God’s Children Illustrated Bible 2011, Names of God Bible 2011 – “My anger has started a fire that will burn to the depths of HELL.” (12 times in O.T. See Ps. 139:8; Job 11:8; Ps. 49:14,15; 83:13; 139:8; Pro. 5:5 “Her steps lead straight to HELL”, Pro. 9:18; 15:24; 27:20 – “HELL and decay are never satisfied”, the Biblos Interlinear Bible 2011 – “the lowest HELL”, The Revised Douay-Rheims Bible 2012, The New Brenton Translation 2012 – “shall burn unto the lowest HELL”, The Biblos Bible 2013,  the Modern English Version 2014 – “Yet you shall be brought down to HELL, to the sides of the pit.” (Isaiah 14:9,15; 28:15; 28:18)

Hades or HELL in the New Testament

In the New Testament the same confusion among the various bible versions is seen in the manner in which they translate or not the word Hades. There are many Bible critics who tell us the King James Bible is in error for translating the word Hades as Hell. Yet, as we shall see, the “scholars” are in total disagreement among themselves regarding this.

Luke 16:19-31 is the classic case showing the division that existed in hell before the resurrection of Christ from the dead. There we see the beggar Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom being comforted and in contrast we see the rich man IN HELL being tormented. There was a great gulf fixed between the two sections dividing the righteous from the wicked.

The Greek word used here is hades – αδης. The King James Bible translated it as hell, while the NKJV and NASB have Hades.

A simple visit to the “Oxford Compact English Dictionary” would clear it up for all but the most rabid of ”scholars”! “Hades” is a proper noun for A MYTH!

The NIV is interesting in that it has variously translated this same word as “Hades -5 times, depths – 2 times, grave – 1 time; and as Hell only once and that is here in Luke 16:23!

Oh, but wait.  Apparently that one time as “hell” in Luke 16:23 in the NIVs of 1973 and 1984 was one time too many.  Now the late$t NIV revi$ion of 2011 has come out and they have now decided that this should “Hades”.

The ESV likewise translates Luke 16:23 as “and in HADES, being in torment”, yet they have inconsistently translated this same word as HELL in Matthew 16:18 – “the gates of HELL shall not prevail against it.”

Hell itself is not the final state of the wicked. After the great white throne judgment we are told in Revelation 20:14 “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.”

Those who complain about this word being translated as “hell” should check out some other bible versions to see what others, who have just as much education as they do, have done with these passages.

Hades  – αδης –  as HELL in the New Testament

Even today in the modern Greek language, the word αδης (hades) means HELL.  I have a hard copy of Divry’s Modern English-Greek and Greek-English Dictionary.  If you look up the word “hell” is says αδης, and if you go to the Greek to English side of the dictionary and look up αδης it defines it as HELL; Hades.  Hades is a transliteration and Hell is a translation into English of what the word means.

Online Greek Dictionary

Type in the word άδης and the first definition is “hell”

άδης

hell (proper) – in various religions, the place where sinners are said to go after death.

underworld – world of the dead

hades (noun)

inferno (noun)

Not only does the King James Bible translate the Greek word hades (αδης) as “hell” but so do the following Bible versions: Wycliffe 1395, Tyndale 1525, Coverdale 1535, the Great Bible 1540, Matthew’s Bible 1549, the Bishop’s Bible 1568, Geneva Bible 1599, The Beza New Testament 1599, The Bill Bible 1671, John Wesley’s N.T. 1755, Worsley Version 1770, Thomas Haweis N.T. 1795, The Clarke N.T. 1795, The Revised Translation 1815, Webster’s 1833 translation, The Longman Version 1841, The Hewett N.T. 1850, The Commonly Received Version 1851, The Revised N.T. 1862, The Alford N.T. 1870, the Smith Bible 1876, The Revised English Bible 1877, The Sharpe Bible 1883, The Clarke N.T. 1913, the Douay 1950, The Basic English Bible 1965, The New Life Version 1969,  the New Living Translation 1996 (Mat. 16:18), Today’s English Version 1992 (Mat.11:23, Luke 10:15), Good News Bible 1992 (Mat. 11:23; Luke 10:15), Bible in Basic English 1961 (Mat. 11:23; 16:18, Luke 10:15, 16:23, Acts 2:27,31, and the 4 in Revelation), Living Bible 1971- “His soul went INTO HELL”, Contemporary English Version 1995 – “He went TO HELL and was suffering terribly”, God’s Word Translation 1995 – “He went TO HELL, where he was constantly tortured”, (Mat. 11:23, 16:18, Luke 10:15, 16:23, Rev.1:18, 6:8, 20:13-14), KJV 21st Century 1994, Third Millennium Bible 1998, and The Message of 2002 (Mat. 16:18, Luke 10:15, 16:23, Rev. 1:18, 6:6, 20:13-14), ESV 2011 (Matthew 16:18) Dan Wallace’s NET version 2006 in Luke 16:23, New Heart English Bible 2010 – “In HELL he lifted up his eyes, being in torment”, and the  Names of God Bible 2012 – “He went to HELL, where he was constantly tortured.”

Other English Bibles that have the word HELL in places like Luke 16:23 – “and in HELL he lift up his eyes, being in torments” are The Word of Yah 1993, Lawrie Translation 1998, God’s First Truth 1999, Last Days Bible 1999, The Evidence Bible 2003, Bond Slave Version 2009, The Public Domain Version 2009, The Hebraic Transliteration Scripture 2010, The Work of God’s Children Illustrated Bible 2011, Conservative Bible 2010 – “And he reopened his eyes in Hell, being in torment there”

Many foreign language Bible translate the Greek word hades as HELL.  These include Luther’s German Bible 1545 (Luke 16:23) -“in der Hölle”, the Spanish Sagradas Escrituras 1569, Cipriano de Valera 1602 – “en EL INFIERNO, alzó sus ojos, estando en tormentos, y ve a Abraham lejos, y a Lázaro en su seno.”,  Reina Valera 1909, and 2004 Reina Valera Gomez Bible (infierno), the NIV Spanish edition Nueva Versión Internacional 1999 – “ En EL INFIERNO, en medio de sus torments” = “in HELL, in the midst of his torments”, the Portuguese de Almeida 1681 “E no INFERNO, ergueu os olhos estando em tormentos” – “and in HELL, he lift up his eyes, being in torments””, the Italian Diodati of 1649 and the New Diodati of 1991 and the 2006 La Biblia della Gioia –  “essendo tra i tormenti nell’INFERNO”, the French Martin 1744 and the French Ostervald of 1996 – “Et étant en ENFER.”, the Maori Bible – “A i te reinga ka titiro ake ia, i a ia e whakamamaetia ana” = “and in HELL he looked up in torments”, the Chinese Union Traditional Bible – 他 在 陰 間 受 痛 苦 – “IN HELL”, the Hungarian Karoli Bible – “És a pokolban felemelé az õ szemeit” = “IN HELL he lift up his eyes”, the Polish Updated Gdansk Bible 2013 – “A będąc w piekle i cierpiąc męki” = “and being IN HELL and suffering torment”, the Romanian Cornilescu Bible – “ Pe cînd era el în Locuinţa morţilor, în chinuri” = “while he was IN HELL in torment”, the 2006 Russian Slovo Zhizny Bible – “В аду, где богач терпел мучения” = “the rich man, IN HELL, being in torment”, the Afrikaans Bible 1953 – “En toe hy in die doderyk sy oë ophef” = “And IN HELL he lift up his eyes, being in torment”, the Danish Bible Det Gamle Testamente 1931 – “Og da han slog sine Øjne op i Dødsriget” = “IN HELL he lift up his eyes”, the Czech Kralicka Bible – “Potom v pekle pozdvih očí svých” = “IN HELL he lift up his eyes in torments”, the Swahili N.T. – “Huyo tajiri, alikuwa na mateso makali huko kuzimu” = “Rich man, he was IN HELL torments”, the Ukranian N.T. – “І в пеклї зняв він очі свої, бувши в муках” = “IN HELL he lift up his eyes being in torment”.

Wordsmyth Dictionary defines Hades as:

  1. in Greek mythology, the underworld inhabited by the dead, or the god who rules there; Pluto. 2. in the New Testament, the state or home of the dead. 3. the place of punishment for the wicked after death; HELL.

The American Heritage Dictionary 2000 defines Hades as:

  1. Greek Mythology a. The god of the netherworld and dispenser of earthly riches. b. This netherworld kingdom, the abode of the shades of the dead. 2. also hades HELL.

Notice that the first definitions given refer to Hades as myth, or merely as the place of the dead, without any reference to suffering or torment. For a preacher to say: “Repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ or you will go to Hades” seems to lack the visceral impact of “or you will go to Hell.” What do you think?

The American Heritage dictionary defines hell as: 1. Hell – The abode of condemned souls and devils in some religions; the place of eternal punishment for the wicked after death. b. A state of separation from God; exclusion from God’s presence. 2. The abode of the dead, identified with the Hebrew Sheol and the Greek Hades; the underworld.

The New KJV is not the same as the King James Bible. Here are some examples:

Matthew 16:18

KJV: “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of HELL shall not prevail against it.”

NKJV: “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of HADES shall not prevail against it.” Luke 16:23

KJV: “And in HELL he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.”

NKJV: “And being in torments in HADES, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.”

The New KJV is inconsistent in the Old Testament in that it does render the word sheol as “hell” 19 times, yet it transliterates this same word as Shoel 18 times to match the NASB rendering. The word Hell is removed in 2 Samuel 22:6, Job 11:8, 26:6, Psalm 16:10, 18:5, 86:13, 116:3, Isaiah 5:14, 14:15, 28:15,18, 57:9, Jonah 2:2, Matt. 11:23, 16:18, Luke 10:15, 16:23, Acts 2:27, 31, Rev. 1:18, 6:8, 20:13,14.

Some Bible critics, mockers and others who would try in vain to do away with the doctrine of hell appeal to the book of Jonah where Jonah prays to God from the whale’s belly saying: “out of the belly of HELL cried I, and thou heardest my voice.”  “See”, they say, “Jonah wasn’t literally in HELL, so no such place really exists. It is just a figure of speech.”

Well, in part, they are right. It is a figure of speech here.  Most older and more correct Bibles have the word “hell” here, like Wycliffe, Coverdale, Great Bible, Matthew’s Bible, the Bishops’ Bible, the Geneva Bible and even the Douay Rheims bible.  Newer versions like the RSV, NKJV, ESV, NASB have “Sheol” while the NIV has “the grave”, but Jonah was not literally in Sheol (the realm of the dead) nor in a literal grave.

The story of Jonah (real history, not an allegory) is a type or prophetic picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Jonah the “type” is figurative, but in the anti-type or the fulfilled reality, the language is literal.  Jonah pre-figured the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The Lord Himself tells us in Matthew 12:40 “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

Jesus Christ did literally die, spent three days and nights in the heart of the earth and was then literally raised from the dead.  “He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that His soul was not left in HELL, neither his flesh did see corruption.  This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.”  Acts 2:31-32.

It seems that our Lord visited both sections of this realm of the dead. He told the dying thief on the cross who believed in Him – “Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.”  Luke 23:43 It appears that the section referred to as “Abraham’s bosom” is the region of the Old Testament saints who had faith in God, and was also referred to as “paradise”.

But it appears from Scripture that our Lord also visited the section called “hell”, but we are not told how long He stayed there.  This seems to be alluded to in 1 Peter 3:18-20 where we read: “For  Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.”

It does appear that our Lord did go to the “prison” side called Hell where he perhaps announced His victory over death and hell. Bible commentators have lots of different opinions about where He went and what He did when he got there, but as I presently understand the Scriptures, I think this explanation makes sense.

Hell | Is ‘Hell’ Missing from Your “Bible”? | Soul Sleep Exposed | Fake Bibles Exposed

A PLACE CALLED HELL

SATAN Wants Your Eternal Soul!

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Articles

Salvation is Not a One-Time Experience but a Lifelong Walk [podcast]


WE’VE BEEN LIED TO!

“And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:” Revelation 2:26

Christ’s work is finished, not yours (John 19:30). According to Holy Scripture, if you’ve been truly born again, you must abide in Christ, remain in Him, endure to the end or you will be cast into the fires of eternal damnation (John 15:6; Matthew 10:22; 24:13, etc.).

“Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” Revelation 2:10

Enduring “to the end” is a condition for ultimately being in Heaven with the LORD.

“And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.” Matthew 10:22

 The LORD Jesus and His apostles never once used the words “once saved always saved” or “eternal security.” So, who’s lying? What they did teach contradicts such a notion.

Who did Jesus promise is going to be “saved”?

“And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.  12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Matthew 24:11-13

You MUST “walk in the light” of truth to the end of your life on earth to be with Jesus eternally (1 John 1:7). Only THEN will you be eternally secure!

“But IF we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7

Since when is obedience to the truth legalism or works salvation?

“He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” 1 John 2:4

Actually, if a person doesn’t have the fruit of good works in their life, it’s because either they have not yet truly been saved or due to their falling away (1 Timothy 4:1; 2 Peter 2:20-21, etc.).

“They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.” Titus 1:16

Who’s Going to Heaven and Who’s Not?

“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 7:21

Who’s going to be with Christ eternally according to the Son of God?

“These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.” Revelation 17:14

Those who are “called, and chosen, and faithful.”  God calls and chooses “ALL men to be saved” and yet it’s only those who repent, become converted and endure to the end (“faithful”) who will reign with Him eternally (Matthew 10:22; 24:13; 1 Timothy 2:4). He calls and desires all men to be saved and yet He will only save those who obey Him by repenting and putting their faith in Christ.

EVER WONDER why the OSAS adherent is often extremely vigorous about defending the unconditional eternal security sham he has bought into? What’s at stake for him? Why does he defend this teaching that has no ground in Scripture and that he has learned of men and devils?

The lame, refuses-to-take-personal-responsibility eternal securist hides behind his false facade that nothing he does including sin or doesn’t do affects or is related to his “relationship” with Christ. The word “fruit” appears 67 times in the New Testament canon. So is fruit important to the LORD? Good fruit, which includes good works doesn’t save us but it’s the clear proof that we know Him who came to do us and all mankind good by dying to bring us back to God (John 3:16).

PEOPLE who are hiding behind this satanic lie told by the serpent in the Garden become immediately irate and infuriated when the thin sham veneer of their pretention and self-preservation is pulled open by the truth. The light of truth shines into their darkened hearts. These want nothing at all to do with personal responsibility (Titus 1:16). They don’t care what the Bible teaches. They don’t want their little “eternal security” “I’m saved no matter what” myth busted because they are rebels at heart and refuse to truly surrender – which is what true repentance involves.

We need not kid ourselves, the fruit of our lives demonstrates clearly to God and man who we really are. Jesus taught “For EVERY tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.” (Luke 6:44) …. “Even a child is known by his doings (works), whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.” (Proverbs 20:11)

The Calvinist and eternal securist wants to put the whole responsibility of salvation upon God because he wants no part of personal responsibility to “Be ye holy; for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:15-16)  This is cowardly is it not? “Fearful” in Revelation 21:8 means cowardly and the lake of fire awaits all who are.

“But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;  16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:15-16

If you die in sin, HELL is where you end up in (Ezekiel 33:12-13).

What does Hebrews 12:14 guarantee us?

“Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” Hebrews 12:14

God sent His Son to pay the full price “for the sins of THE WHOLE WORLD” and those He calls and chooses must be “faithful” or full of faith “to the end” or they will be shut out of the eternal kingdom just as the five foolish virgins were who ran out of oil due to neglecting fellowship with the Bridegroom (Jesus) (1 John 2:2; Revelation 17:14; Mathew 10:22; 24:13). See Matthew 25:1-13.

Explain why we think a bride to be can be unfaithful, commit adultery, fornicate, just before the wedding, and still be accepted as the bride at her scheduled wedding. Delusional. If such were the case, why is this not illustrated, why does it contradict Jesus’ parable of the 10 virgins in Matthew 25:1-13?

If we don’t truly repent and become “honest” with the whole counsel of God’s Word and rather live our one life on lies, namely, the myth that we are “eternally secure”, we shall find ourselves in the domain of the damned, from which we shall never escape (Luke 8:11-15).

Anyone Going to Argue with Jesus?

Jesus taught us that one who is in Him (saved) must abide or remain in Him or that person will be “cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned (hell).”

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned (hell).” John 15:1-6

Yes, salvation begins in the life of the sinner who has been drawn in and found by Christ and chooses to repent and put His faith in Jesus (John 1:12; 6:47; Acts 16:31; 20:21; Romans 3-5; Ephesians 2:8-9, etc.). Initial salvation is instant and yet that’s not the end of it … according to the record of the New Testament Scriptures. Christ and His holy apostles never spoke in terms of salvation being a one-time done deal.

Paul makes it clear that saving grace does NOT abound toward, in the life of any person who has been saved and yet is now living outside of Christ’s stated will, His Word.

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2  God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” Romans 6:1-2 

It’s time to get into the Word friends and cease to walk in delusions.

What is the agent that will cleanse the Great Tribulation saints? (Revelation 7:14) – “And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

The washing we are to receive of God by the cleansing blood of Jesus is not a one-time event but rather a lifelong walk/experience.  Such is our walk with Christ – it’s an abiding relationship and to abide means to remain (John 15:1-6). And if we don’t remain in Him – we shall be “cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” (John 15:6) (more on this verse in a moment)

“But IF IF IF IF we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7   

There are conditions for continuing to remain, to abide in Christ’s saving grace. Only counterfeits refuse to acknowledge this. They want no part with personal repentance, laying down their lives in this fleeting world, and truly following Jesus. No, they want the crown but not the cross. They don’t love Jesus enough to truly serve Him and so they buy into diabolical systems like the heretical “eternal security” or calvinistic systems.

The vast majority of pastors and writers today are in gross darkness and treat salvation as a one-time event instead of an abiding, a remaining walk with Christ “to the end” of our lives (Matthew 10:22; 24:13; John 15:1-6; Col. 1:23; Heb. 3:6, 12-15; 10:26-39, etc.).  Many have espoused these lies because they have not chosen to get diligently and deeply into God’s Word for themselves but have rather followed other men’s selective line through Scripture. Those who aren’t diligently studying God’s Word daily are “not valiant for the truth” and will therefore be turned over to delusion and ultimately damned (Jer. 9:3; 2 Thess. 2:10-12).

“And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies (they go to the furthest lengths to embrace lies): but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD.” Jeremiah 9:3

Those who do not love divine truth (the Holy Scriptures) manifest plainly that they do not love He who is “the truth.” (John 14:6) God takes that personally and will actually help or assist in their delusions and damnation.

“And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12

God is able and will keep all who trust Him to the end and do not deny Him:

“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, 25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.” Jude 24-25

Will Every One Jesus Saved be in Heaven? |  Is Salvation Eternal? | Is Doubting Your Salvation a Bad Thing? |

FEEDBACK:

——- FROM Shannon Cook: “To the “once saved always saved theorists”

5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not “blot out” his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

For something to be “blotted out” (i.e. removed) it would had to have been there in order to be “blotted out” which totally contradicts the theory of “once saved always saved.”

So, who is saved?
13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Consider the warning to the church of Ephesus:

4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast “left thy first love.”
5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and REPENT, and do they first works;[or else] I will come into thee quickly, and remove thy candlestick out of his place, expect thou repent.

Laodicean Warning:

“And unto the angel of the church of Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, [the faithful and true witness], the beginning of the creation of God. 15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot,I would thou wert hot or cold. 16 [So then] BECAUSE thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot,I will spue thee out of my mouth.” Revelation 3:14-16 pass it on – Heaven Guaranteed to all who have Received Jesus?

Amen, never to depart from the Christ, he shall walk with us as we endure till the end!
“I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” Hebrews 13:5 Not never will you leave me nor forsake me. We’re sheep, we have natural, fleshly tendency to wander. Ever reminding us how crucial it is to continuously follow the Christ.

6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
7 If ye [endure] chastening, (there’s that word endure again) God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he that the father chasteneth not?
8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof ALL are partakers, then ye are bastards,(illegitimate) and not sons. Hebrews 12:6-8

The elect of Christ have and will experience chastening, and no matter the discomfort in and through it, we always rejoice and know there’s purpose (to the glory of our Christ) as we “endure.”

– check this out – Will Everyone Jesus has Saved be in Heaven?

Reply Received:

“Where do I begin. Every person born of God, WILL be faithful. Even if they are faithless, He remains faithful because He can NOT deny Himself. We are HIDDEN in Christ, and seated with Him right now in the heavenlies. We have passed from death to LIFE. This is an event that is unchangeable. God causes it to occur and doesn’t change His mind. He adopts us. Permanently.

Context is everything. It is king. It determines what a passage actually means. Did you know Todd, that God has saved you forever? It’s great to be free and assured of that. Are you afraid He might not keep you to the end? It’s His desire and intent to do that, bro.

Reply Back:

We only have security in Christ AS we are abiding – remaining – in an intimate relationship with Him.

According to Jesus in John 15, “If a man abide (remain) not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire (hell), and they are burned.” (Jn. 15:6)

In order to receive final salvation, one must abide or remain in Christ (Jn. 15:5-6). There is no guarantee that God’s seed will “remain” in the person who is born again and later departs from the LORD.

What you are doing is simply spouting off what you have been taught of mere sinful men…. speaking of context, let’s look at the context of what you partially quoted, conveniently and selectively excluding the whole context:

2 Timothy 2:11-13

It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” 2 Timothy 2:11-13

The person seeking to convince others of “once saved always saved” will misquote this text by saying that because “he (God) abideth faithful” He would never “deny us.” This is a distortion. Let’s read the verse again okay? The passage states that “if we deny him, he also will deny US.” The Word here tells us that “if we deny him, he also will deny US.” Does it get any clearer than this? Being honest with what the Bible says is essential to a clear conscience and to possessing the mind of Christ and true doctrine. Again, those who seek to make palatable the unconditional security teaching can be heard misquoting this text saying “He cannot deny us.” Is that what verse 13 says? No. It says “He cannot deny HIMSELF.” This passage tells us that He “will deny us” if we “deny him” and that “He cannot deny Himself,” not us. In this Bible passage we see that the LORD “abideth faithful”to Himself and to those who do not deny Him. Didn’t Jesus tell us to “deny” ourselves and that if we were “ashamed” of Him or His words He would be “ashamed” of us? See Luke 9:23-24 and Mark 8:34-38.

Below is a classic perversion of this very passage of Scripture. I read this on the internet. The persuasion intended by the person who wrote this is to convince people of something the Bible simply never puts forth.

“If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” 2 Timothy 2:13  God wants you to know for sure that you cannot lose it (salvation) under any circumstance whatsoever, even in the worse scenario. The first part of the verse above says that we can come to a state of mind that we do not believe in God anymore. But, the second says that He will remain faithful if that happens…God cannot deny what He said, because God cannot lie! (Hebrews 6:18 KJV AV1611) He promised to keep us eternally secure and He will remain faithful in that promise even if we ‘believe not.’ Another possible way of looking at ‘he cannot deny himself’ is that we are one in Him. If He was not faithful in His promise, He would be denying himself of eternal security, that is, He would be casting part of himself in eternal damnation in the lake of fire.” J. A.

First off, if in fact as J.A. supposes, “God wants you to know for sure that you cannot lose it (salvation) under any circumstance whatsoever, even in the worse scenario,” then why did God Himself warn His very own people throughout His Word concerning the danger of:

•   “Departing from the living God” (Heb. 3:12-15)

•   Losing the reward of Heaven for turning back into sin after being saved (Ezek. 33:12-13; 2 Pet. 2:20-21)

•   “Falling away” (Lk. 8:13; 2 Thes. 2:3)

•   “Having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith” (1 Tim. 5:12)

•   Being “cut off” (Rom. 11:19-23)

•   Being forsaken of Him (2 Chron. 15:2; Ezra 8:22; 2 Tim. 2:12)

•   Being blotted out of the book of life (Exod. 32:33; Ps. 69:32; Rev. 3:5; 22:18-19)

The fact that God remains faithful in no way predicts or determines whether individuals will partake of His plan of salvation. His faithfulness in no way forces men to remain faithful (abide), nor does it disable the Almighty from rendering a due reward of eternal judgment upon those who do not meet His requirements/conditions. This is a truth completely ignored by those who embrace the unscriptural notion of an unconditional eternal security.

“For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar …” Romans 3:3-4

All sin will be accounted for – one way or the other, and this is the reason for the Judgment Thrones to come (Exod. 34:7; Rom. 14:12-14; Rev. 20:11-15). This should shine yet a brighter light upon the glorious Gospel salvation Jesus Christ wrought for His people and how we can “come boldly” with our sins to His holy throne of grace to receive grace and mercy in time of need (Heb. 4:14-16).

It seems to me, after listening to hundreds of those who believe in an unconditional eternal security, that some people believe that their theology is going to change the unchanging, immutable God (Rom. 3:3-4; James 1:17). The twisting of Scripture, instead of “rightly dividing the word of truth” is done to one’s “own destruction.” (2 Cor. 2:17; 2 Tim. 2:15; 2 Pet. 3:16-17) The disciple of Jesus Christ must be intent upon studying to show himself “approved unto God,” not men, and therefore be able to “rightly” divide “the word of truth.” (2 Tim. 2:15) The person who does not diligently study and know God’s Word, stands to be deluded by the many false teachings circulated in the church world.

What happens if a saved person does not obey and remain faithful to God? Those who do not choose to persevere in saving faith:

•   Possess “an evil heart of unbelief” (Heb. 3:12)

•   Depart from the living God (Heb. 3:12)

•   Cannot and do not please God (Heb. 11)

•   Depart from the faith through “doctrines of devils” (1 Tim. 4:1-6)

•   “Turn away their ears from the truth” and are “turned unto fables” (2 Tim. 4:4)

•   Cannot enter into His rest or presence (Heb. 3:19; 4:6, 11)

•   Are “broken off” from the LORD (Rom. 11:20)

•   The “unbelieving…shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone …” (Rev. 21:8, 27)

The Bible never guarantees that all Christ saves will automatically “endure to the end” which Jesus says is essential to ultimately being saved into Heaven when speaking to His very own people (Matt. 10:22; 24:13). Christ Himself invented the term “fall away” when speaking of those who would “believe” and be saved and not continue with Him (Lk. 8:13).

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America

IS AMERICA DOOMED? To Stay or to Go [podcast]


Great Commission Evangelism

“This message (podcast) sure nailed the state of America. Rotten to the very foundation. God’s judgment and fury is falling! His very name is being mocked! As so-called Christians participate in and celebrate what He calls an abomination (Leviticus 18:22), and teaching this to children! Where are the parents? Why are they not standing up for their kids? Why are they not pulling them out of these indoctrinated government run schools? Because the men are weak (Ahabs) and the women are Jezebels and busy working. So the children are left on their own. It starts at such an early age they do not know it is happening. No biblical foundation is why kids are murdering kids! No sense of right or wrong anymore. We are a cursed nation because we have deviated from the standards of God in rebellion and disobedience! God will not bless anything that is abomination to Him.” Karen Cochran

Does the unchanging LORD still allow persecution and for His people to be “scattered abroad”?

“And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. 

2  And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. 

3  As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison. 

Philip Proclaims Christ in Samaria

4  Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word. 

5  Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. 

6  And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. 

7  For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. 

8  And there was great joy in that city.” Acts 8:1-8

Persecution had hit Jerusalem and Christ’s saints were prepared and “scattered abroad” to go and preach Christ’s Gospel to the world.

Concerning people being “scattered abroad,” one source notes:

Scattered abroad is a common biblical phrase primarily known from the King James Version (KJB) of the Bible. It describes the physical dispersion, spreading, or migration of a group of people. The concept holds both historical and theological significance, typically representing: 

    • Divine Judgment and Dispersion (Old Testament): In Genesis 11, God scatters humanity across the face of the earth and confuses their languages after their rebellion at the Tower of Babel. It also refers to the exile and historical dispersion (the diaspora) of the Israelites for rejecting God’s covenant. 
    • The Spread of the Gospel (New Testament): In the early Christian church, intense persecution in Jerusalem caused believers to scatter throughout various regions. Instead of destroying the movement, this dispersion inadvertently spread their message. For example, Acts 8:4 states: “Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.” 
    • Encouragement to Believers: In the New Testament, the opening of the Epistle of James (James 1:1) is famously addressed to the “twelve tribes which are scattered abroad,” offering pastoral comfort to Jewish Christians facing trials in foreign lands.”

Any nation that is even discussing whether or not there are more than 2 genders is doomed.

Does God desire to scatter abroad, to spread His people across the world?

“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 

16  He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 

17  And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 

18  They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. 

19  So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. 

20  And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.” Mark 16:15-20

The LORD would never bless a nation that glorifies what He condemns. ANYONE who thinks America is or will ever be blessed without repentance…. is extremely gullible and deceived. Sodom! Ezekiel 16:49-51

“Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.” Leviticus 18:22

A good thing to ask proud Americans who claim they are Christians:

1. “When’s the last time you personally led someone to Jesus?”

2. “How much time and how much energy do you spend trying in vain to “save America” or “Make America Great Again” compared to the time and energy you spend learning, studying, and meditating on God’s Word and doing it—as in the Great Commission?”

“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 7:21

Anyone claiming to be Christ’s and yet is not doing, is not obeying His Great Commission mandate, is not in the will of God.

PRAYER: Father in the name of Jesus, may Your people cry out to You today for the lost souls of fallen men for whom You sent Your only begotten Son to die (John 3:16-17). May we be blessed to cry out for that which most concerns You! In Jesus’ name.

As God looks down from Heaven…. here’s what He sees, here’s what breaks His holy heart ….

“Hell and destruction are before the LORD: how much more then the hearts of the children of men?” Proverbs 15:11

SOUND LIKE THE MODERN CHURCH IN AMERICA?

“And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.” Mark 11:17

“11:17 Combining quotations from Isaiah and Jeremiah, He condemned desecration, exclusivism, and commercialism. God had intended the temple to be a house of prayer for all nations (Isa_56:7), not just for Israel. They had made it a religious market, a hang-out for shysters and racketeers (Jer_7:11).” Believer’s Bible Commentary

Recently lunatics went half crazy because some man threw a rock or stone at a monk seal. Yet no one is fighting for the right for precious innocent babies to live, to not be MURDERED in their own mother’s womb. America is under divine judgment and it’s not going to stop. It’s just getting started.

“Thou shalt not kill.” Exodus 20:13

“Fact: What the world celebrates, God hates!!

Fact: America as a nation will not be saved by God; only individual souls and families can be saved with the short time we have left.

Fact: The reason society has been overrun by the rainbow mafia in corporate America, in schools, and yes: even in ‘churches’, is because this God-mocking, God-hating nation has been given over to the filth they love above the holy God who gave us life.

Have a blessed day…” A disciple.

PRAYER: Father in the name of Jesus, may Your people cry out to You today for the lost souls of fallen men for whom You sent Your only begotten Son to die (John 3:16-17). May we be blessed to cry out for that which most concerns You! In Jesus’ name.

As God looks down from Heaven…. here’s what He sees, here’s what breaks His holy heart ….

“Hell and destruction are before the LORD: how much more then the hearts of the children of men?” Proverbs 15:11

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Apostasy

Concerns about the writings of C.S. Lewis [podcast]


“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Psalms 119:105

It’s a dangerous proposition to attempt to convey the divine doctrine, the truth, via fiction. Such an undertaking begins on skaky ground. The saints of Christ must get all their doctrine strictly from Scripture, and Holy Scripture only (Deut 4:1-10; Isaiah 34:16; John 5:39-40; 2 Tim 2:15; 3:15-17; 2 Pet 1:12-21, etc.). The writings of CS Lewis have zero divine inspiration and zero divine authority. Anyone who spends their time reading the writings of men, especially those which include very little Scripture (as in the case of Lewis), are inevitably going to be deceived. God gave us His Word to know Him and warned us that “MANY false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many” (Matthew 24:11).

Beware. CS Lewis never even claimed to be born again and yet still has a cult following.

Being born again means one “is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God…” (2 Corinthians 5:17-18) Yet Lewis asserts that “there are people in other religions who are being led by God’s secret influence to concentrate on those parts of their religion which are in agreement with Christianity, and who thus belong to Christ without knowing it.” So, the most profound divine miracle can happen to a person, they can be changed from the inside out, freely forgiven and regenerated, and not even know it? Such a statement from Lewis alone moves me to conclude that he was never born again. And this isn’t even to mention that he was at least in bed with the works-based antichrist Roman Catholic church.

Something to think about, to help you: Why would you be so strongly defending a mere man if that man and his writings didn’t mean so much to you? There seems to be a cult fiction following of Lewis involving people who seem to spend more times of a mere sinner’s fictional musings about God than they do reading about God for themselves in His own Word.

Of CS Lewis, one pastor notes problematic things in Lewis’s writings:

“(1) he was not an inerrantist; (2) he viewed the Protestant Reformation as avoidable; (3) he remained in the Church of England, despite his largely Protestant beliefs; (4) he allowed for “at least some people to be saved through imperfect representations of Christ in other religions”; (5) he gave little attention to the doctrine of atonement.” Then he says: “Lewis is not a writer to which we should turn for growth in a careful biblical understanding of Christian doctrine … There is almost no passage of Scripture on which I would turn to Lewis for exegetical illumination.”

CS Lewis stated: “I willingly believe that the damned are, in one sense, successful, rebels to the end; that the doors of hell are locked on the inside.” Lewis, “The Problem of Pain,” 538.

One minister notes of Lewis’ doctrine that “Lewis never believed in a literal hell, but instead believed hell is a state of mind one chooses to possess and become.” In other words, CS Lewis believe hell was not literal but rather a fiction.

Of CS Lewis, Rick Miesel wrote the following 15 conclusions about the beliefs of CS Lewis:

1. Lewis indicates that shortly before his death he was turning toward the Catholic Church. Lewis termed himself “very Catholic.” His prayers for the dead, belief in purgatory, and rejection of the literal resurrection of the body are serious deviations from Biblical Christianity.

2. His contention that some pagans may “belong to Christ without knowing it” is a destructive heresy…, as was his statement that “Christ fulfils both Paganism and Judaism …”

3. Lewis believed that we’re to become “gods,” an apparent affirmation of theistic evolution.

4. He also believed the Book of Job is “unhistorical” (Reflections on the Psalms, pp. 110), and that the Bible contained “error” (pp. 110, 112) and is not divinely inspired.

5. Lewis never believed in a literal hell, but instead believed hell is a state of mind one chooses to possess and become…

6. On heaven: “All the scriptural imagery (harps, crowns, gold, etc.) is, of course, a merely symbolical attempt to express the inexpressible.”

7. C.S. Lewis’s most outrageous misunderstanding was about the purpose of the death of Christ, which of course mars all subsequent propositions about the effects of the cross and salvation.

8. In his speculations on the hereafter, Lewis is to be criticized for being so extra-biblical.

9. In spite of what many believe to be brilliant exegesis on Christian apologetics (In light of the above, one wonders which of Lewis’s books these people have been reading?), there appears to have been in C.S. Lewis a seemingly irresistible attraction to the shadow world of occult fantasy — a mingling of darkness with light evident in writings apart from his apologetics.

10. Lewis’s early favorite literature included E. Nesbit’s trilogy: Five Children and It, The Phoenix and the Wishing Carpet, plus The Amulet — all occult fantasies.

11. So much was Lewis’s life steeped in fantasy that he wrote, “The central story of my life is about nothing else” (p. 17). From Nesbit and Gulliver he advanced to Longfellow’s Saga of King Olaf and fell in love with the magic and pagan myths of Norse legend. By the age of twelve, there had grown in Lewis’s mind an intense relationship with the world of fantasy and elves… Although one would expect childhood fantasies to subside after a time, in Lewis’s case they became more a delight as he grew older.

12. After advancing to preparatory school at Wyvern, Lewis gradually “ceased to be a Christian.” He became interested in the occult and embraced an attitude of pessimism about what he considered a faulty world. His taste for the occult was nurtured and grew as he became enthralled with Wagnerian operas and their Norse sagas derived from Celtic mythology.

13. It was during their long association that both Lewis and JR Tolkien developed their most prestigious “sword and sorcery” material.

13. It is argued that in presenting a blend of fantasy with analogy to Christian truth, Lewis hoped to encourage his readers to search out the truth further. This, however, was not Lewis’s intention in writing his fantasies… Many of Lewis’s characters in his fantasies depicted as “good” are in reality associated with witchcraft, pagan mythology, and the Norse mysteries.

14. One of the more pronounced confusions of good and evil is Till We Have Faces, Lewis’s retelling of the Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche, written just a few years before his death. In this work, several ungodly concepts are espoused as valid truths.

15. In fact, there has developed a cult of sorts which venerates the fantasies of Lewis along with those of other writers who do not claim to be Christians. Evidence of this is the fact that Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia is listed along with other occult writings as recommended inspirational reading by the makers of the demonically-oriented game Dungeons and Dragons!

CONCLUSION

According to Miesel, Lewis is also heretical on the depravity of man, how salvation works, being “Born Again,” and animals in heaven. He concludes,

“While there may be insights into life that are profitable to be found in the works of C.S. Lewis, we think it not wise to encourage young or untaught Christians to feed on such a presentation of so-called Christian truth. Some may be readily attracted to Lewis’s style and logic, but let us not be blinded and thus miss the plain and simple truth of Scripture.”

PEACE with GOD

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