Right. But it doesn't speak to the questions I've been trying to explore with you. I agree God doesn't destroy sinners simply because He feels like it. They get what they deserve. The question is - What will they get? You seem to be saying what they will get is God withdrawing His protection and allowing ???? to punish them in duration and in proportion to their sinfulness. The ???? indicates what I'm not sure you believe.


No, it says the Spirit or glory of God destroys sin. The death of sinners is collateral damage. Also, please note that glory and Spirit are used interchangeably. In other words, it is not referring to His character.


No, Light is Light; heavenly, divine light (as opposed to other forms of light). It is not the character of God or even the glory of God. This "Light" is the byproduct of the glory of God. Moses was exposed to the Light of the glory of God and his skin glowed so intensely that sinners, dwelling in sinful flesh, were unable to look on it without it physically hurting them. Unfallen beings, however, dwelling in sinless flesh, are able to look upon it without suffering physical harm. In fact, it is one of the things that give them life, in addition to eating the fruit of the tree of life.

MM, I've explained this in great detail in previous posts. I suppose I should have saved a copy so I can copy and past it. But I'm sorry, I didn't.

The short version is that I believe that the same thing that gives life to the righteous is what will slay the wicked, which is the light of the glory of God. This is Jesus Christ, who is the revelation of God. The revelation of God is something the wicked cannot bear because they have so ruined their own character that the mere presence of God is to them a consuming fire.

The reason the wicked suffer in proportion to their sinfulness and the light that they had is not because God does something arbitrary to make this so, but because the revelation of God causes suffering in proportion to one's sinfulness and the light which one has had. It's like a candle that is bigger than another candle will burn longer because it is bigger.



It says, "the glory of God, which destroys sin, must destroy them," which is to say, the glory of God destroys them (as opposed to literal fire). This quote doesn't have the word "Spirit" in it.

That the glory of God is His character is clear in two ways. One, by this:



A second is by looking at the context:



It's clear from the context that she is using the word "glory" in the manner she defined it in the God's Amazing Grace quote. For example, note the underlined sentence. It's no coincidence that immediately after saying that the light of the glory of God will slay the wicked she talks about Christ as the revealer of the character of God. She is only talking about one thing here. The light of the glory of God is the revelation of God's character.

"Light" = "Revelation." "Glory" = "Character."

Also note that the same thing that gives life to the righteous will slay the wicked. Does literal fire give life to the righteous? No. Does the revelation of God's character give life to the righteous? Yes, He does.

You seem to believe God's character is the source of eternal life. But the Bible and the SOP both testify it is the breath of God in our nostrils that gives us life and eating the fruit of the tree of life perpetuates it.

"The light of the glory of God, which imparts life to the righteous, will slay the wicked." Again, this light is only one of three things that give us life - breath, fruit, and light. This is referring to literal light, not the character of God. Yes, the character of God may be responsible for causing God radiate divine light. This light, like sunlight, can give or take life, depending on the substance it contacts.

I get this from Jesus. Eternal life is spiritual; it involves more than physical life, or duration of life. That Ellen White understood this is evident in her explanations of Jesus' words:

What did God do in Eden to make Adam alive? Didn't He breathe into his nostrils the breath of life? What did Adam have to do to perpetuate life? Didn't he have to regularly eat of the fruit of the tree of life? What did Adam have to do to have continual access to the tree of life? Didn't he have to live in harmony with God's loving law? These are the three things that contribute to eternal life. You seem to be saying the character of God is the sole source of eternal life, and the sole source of eternal death. It doesn't make sense to me.

"The light of the glory of God, which imparts life to the righteous, will slay the wicked." Again, this light is only one of three things that give us life - breath, fruit, and light. This is referring to literal light, not the character of God. Yes, the character of God may be responsible for causing God radiate divine light. This light, like sunlight, can give or take life, depending on the substance it contacts.

There is more to eternal life than simply keeping alive the flesh. Eternal life is more than breathing; it is knowing God. I don't know how to make this make sense to you.

They're in heaven; they already know God. They already have eternal life abiding in them. How can you say it is the light of glory of God, which you believe can only be His character and nothing else, that gives them life? They were dead in the grave when they were given eternal life and resurrected. Are you saying God's character is what gave them eternal life in the grave before they were resurrected?

The light of the glory of God is Jesus Christ. Eternal life is to know God, and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent.

And then there is the literal light which radiates from God's physical presence. You seem to be ignoring this light. Why?

Because it's not germane. The light of the glory of God gives life to the righteous. It is not the literal light which radiates from God's physical presence that gives life.