Psalm 1

Use the law to show that man is guilty before God and then share that Jesus provided the way for sinful men to be made right.

Psalm 1 “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”

EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT God’s unending punishment of sinners beyond this life is known as eternal punishment. The Bible teaches that unrepentant, unforgiven sinners will be punished (Dan. 12:2; Matt. 10:15; John 5:28–29; Rom. 5:12–21). The unending nature of this punishment is emphasized in Scripture in several ways. Isaiah 66:24 asserts that the wicked will be consumed with an unquenchable fire: “Then they shall go forth and look on the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched; and they shall be an abhorrence to all mankind” (NASB). Jesus Himself alludes to the endlessness of the punishment of the wicked in Mark 9:47–48: “And if your eye causes your downfall, gouge it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where ‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched’ ” (HCSB). The emphasis of these and similar passages is that the fire in which the wicked are cast inflicts a torment upon them, but the fire does not consume them. Further evidence for the endless duration of everlasting punishment is found in phrases describing the future abode of the unrepentant wicked. Concepts such as fire or burning (Isa. 33:14; Jer. 17:4; Matt. 18:8; 25:41; Jude 7), contempt (Dan. 12:2), destruction (2 Thess. 1:9), chains (Jude 6), torment (Rev. 14:11; 20:10), and punishment (Matt. 25:46) are linked with terms like “everlasting” or “eternal” to underscore that these states are unceasing. The wicked will experience and endure this horrific existence without reprieve or relief. The punishment never ends. Several theological concepts have developed in the history of Christian thought that attempt to eliminate or limit the notion of everlasting punishment. One of the more notable of these is Annihilationism. This is the idea that human beings are not innately immortal. Immortality, or more properly eternal life, is the gift of God bestowed upon believers. Some forms of this belief (conditional immortality) teach that the wicked simply cease to exist after death. Other forms assert that the wicked may experience a time of punishment after death, but that the person will eventually “burn out” or cease to exist. They are “annihilated.” In all its varied forms, this school of thought denies the unending duration of punishment. Two common reasons are typically offered as grounds for denying everlasting punishment. One of these is that everlasting punishment denies God’s eternal love. For God to allow His creatures to exist in eternal torment is a contradiction of His loving nature. Another argument against everlasting punishment is that endless torment contradicts God’s sovereignty because He allows unbelievers to exist for eternity. As significant as these points are, they both seem to lack any support from the Bible. One of the more significant passages of Scripture that supports the doctrine of everlasting punishment and refutes the denials of endless punishment is Matt. 25:46.

Stan Norman, “Everlasting Punishment,” ed. Chad Brand et al., Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), 519–520.

“I’m as good as any Christian!”

A Christian, by himself, isn’t good. Jesus said that God alone is good.The only “goodness,” or righteousness, that the believer has comes fromJesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:9). The Bible tells us that,without Christ, man is corrupt and filthy; “there is none that does good, no,not one” (Psalm 14:3). ***Have you ever thought, “There must be a key to reaching the lost”?There is—and it’s rusty through lack of use. The Bible does actually call it“the key,” and its purpose is to bring us to Christ, to unlock the Door of theSavior (John 10:9).

2 Corinthians 5:21 “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Philippians 3:9 “and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—

John 10:9-10 “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

Psalm 14:3 “They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.”

used it. So did Paul (Romans 3:19, 20 “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” and James 2:10 “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.”

Stephen used it when he preached Acts 7:53 “you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.””

The Pharisees didn’t take it away; instead, they bent it out of shapeso that it wouldn’t do its work Mark 7:8 “You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.””

Jesus returned it to its true shape, just as the Scriptures prophesied that He would do Isaiah 42:21 “The Lord was pleased, for his righteousness’ sake, to magnify his law and make it glorious.”

Exodus 20 :3-10 ““You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.”

Exodus 20:11-17 “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. “You shall not murder. “You shall not commit adultery. “You shall not steal. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.””