I am sure others struggle with this.. Thanks
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Sorry, I actually deleted my comment because it was originally aimed at you as well. I misunderstood “annihilationism” to mean an eternal suffering in hell but looked it up and realized it meant the opposite and that you were actually sharing my understanding.
But I absolute agree, Q posts are fashioned after the Bible, in that focusing on any specific point will trip up anyone with the wrong mindset, because they will start believing whatever they want by assuming context that isn’t there. It’s only when you reconcile with the rest of Scripture will the true meaning of everything fit together like a perfect puzzle.
It’s easy to read “for God so loved the whole world” and not understand how God could eternally punish someone He once loved, or even understand that God has even hated specific individuals like Esau, or to even look into how Hebrews of the time interpreted their word for “world”, as it likely didn’t even mean the entire planet. You must also reconcile with God hardening Pharoah’s heart when he began to soften it and turn to God.
https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/what-does-world-mean-john-316
I agree with you. Different Bible reading people and different Bible groups form ideas concerning how they WANT God to be, and so they hunt around cherry picking verses which seem to support certain pre-conceived notions. Universalist Christian professors I have met just can't stand the idea that a certain portion of mankind is destined for hell, so they ignore the verses which indicate that this is so, and quote universal salvation-sounding passages out of context. As for annihilation of the wicked, such persons only hope to avoid punishment for sins they deny having committed. Eternal sleep is no punishment. In my childhood there was a popular song that said, "I swear there ain't no heaven and I pray there ain't no hell." This is the hope of annihilationists.
Blood, Sweat and Tears: "And When I Die." Big brother had their albums. On the radio a lot, so I used to sing the chorus. See how Satanists program us? No heaven, no hell, like Lennon's "Imagine." Went to church as a child, but did not know Christ was/is God and the only Savior, because no one ever told me. Church was mainstream protestant, but it coulda been full of spiritually dead people. I became a believer eventually by the grace of God and the Holy Spirit's operations. The way certain churches err is because they deceive people into thinking that there are various things they can do to ensure their salvation: eg water baptism, good deeds, etc. This is not trusting Christ alone. BTW, did you know Frank Sinatra was a big doer of good deeds? He grew up Italian Catholic, and after he was successful and rich, he actively looked for people who needed help, and he would do things like pay their hospital bills and so forth. Sadly, one cannot buy the way into heaven, even though good deeds are certainly commendable. I like the 5 Solas of the Reformation: grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone, scripture alone, and glory to God alone. Blessings to you!
I believe this as well. But the punishment is to perish/experience death(cease to exist), not be burned in a fire forever. See below, three red letter examples right out of the mouth of Jesus.