Where the Worm Dies Not, and the Fire is not Quenched

Keep in mind that mankind is "spirit, soul, and body." The soul and body are vehicles of expression ... robotic garments of sorts ... for the spirit person. We children of God would not learn nearly as quickly without bodies and souls surrounding our spirit-person. My opinion is we learn 100 times as fast with a body as do the angels which have only spirit.

The fire in Gehenna (a.k.a. "hell") is not put out ("quenched") ... but what about those whose souls are disintegrating in hell? Do they disintegrate forever? Or, do they disintegrate until the soul is gone and only the core of the spirit remains.

Remember Jesus' words, "You will not come out until you have paid the last farthing." Certainly if we throw a stick of wood into a hot furnace, a cup of water will not quench the fire. But the stick of wood will not burn forever. The soul which is disintegrating in hell will disintegrate only until it is destroyed. That leaves the spirit-person naked, but able to be reassigned to a life experience.

What then is "the worm" that dies not? "Worm" is the metaphor for the spirit person. The spirit, when naked is humble like a worm. The spirit of a man is undying and cannot be destroyed. Yet, there is no reason to expect this person to be tormented "forever" but only until the punishment fits the crime.

"The soul that sins shall die." The Lord did not say that the soul that sins shall be tormented forever. "Soul" [nephesh] can be the whole sentient being of man, including body and soul. The body dies on earth as a result of sin. The inner garment, the "soul", disintegrates in hell. The spirit dies not but must have a chance somewhere to return to the Father's house as did the prodigal son.

Yet, this is not to belittle our salvation. Jesus paid a great price to purchase salvation which is received only by those who believe. We who believe in Jesus are saved from going to hell and from losing our soul garments. Salvation in Jesus gives us a resurrection back onto earth in a human body... ready to go on learning to serve the Lord.

Remedialist