We have done this before. Has anything changed? Do you not recall this quote? The sacrificial offerings were ordained by God to be to man a perpetual reminder and a penitential acknowledgment of his sin and a confession of his faith in the promised Redeemer. They were intended to impress upon the fallen race the solemn truth that it was sin that caused death. {PP 68.1}

NOTE - "the solemn truth that is was sin that caused death".

What about the tree of life? Would it have caused life to continue? Yes! But what kind of life would it have been? A life of sickness and disease and misery.

EGW: The news of man's fall spread through heaven. Every harp was hushed. The angels cast their crowns from their heads in sorrow. All heaven was in agitation. A council was held to decide what must be done with the guilty pair. The angels feared that they would put forth the hand, and eat of the tree of life, and become immortal sinners. But God said that He would drive the transgressors from the garden. Angels were immediately commissioned to guard the way of the tree of life. It had been Satan's studied plan that Adam and Eve should disobey God, receive His frown, and then partake of the tree of life, that they might live forever in sin and disobedience, and thus sin be immortalized. {EW 148.2}

NOTE - if Adam and Eve had been able to eat from the tree of life, sin would have been "immortalized". No plan of salvation? That is what I read. Thus it was a blessing of God in blocked the way to the tree of life.

So, sin causes death because God chooses not to continue to sustain the life of the sinner. The sinner loses the right to life.

kland and APL,

Both of you appear to know full well that you are misrepresenting the truth. What I am about to say should not need to be said, for you already know it. However, for the sake of others who may read here, it must be said, that they may know the truth.

The KJV never capitalizes pronouns for God, Jesus, etc....ever. It was not customary at the time the KJV was published to do this. The only times when the "he," "him," or "his" for God is capitalized in the KJV are the times when the grammar requires such, i.e. when the word is at the beginning of a sentence.

For you both to pretend that this is not the case is a sore misrepresentation of the truth, and I think you know full well what you are doing. You find your own opinion crossed by the lack of such a capitalization convention in the KJV, because you cannot then "prove" what you want to prove. So you pretend that the KJV should have capitalized the "him" in the text I quoted if it referred to God.

If you continue to pretend ignorance of this, you are caught in a contradiction which will prove your lack of scholarship.



To which I will also respond, Jesus may bring back people from the dead, but no one will come back from hell. You quoted from a different version than I did...not sure why. But your version still did not capitalize the "he" that refers to Jesus.





APL, do you agree that the "he," "his," and "him" in the above text all apply to God? Or do you believe that since they are not capitalized, those must refer to Satan?

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

Green - - AGAIN - the word is not capitalized in Matthew 10:28 and so it is up to us to interpret who it is the verse it talking about. Many modern versions do not give you that option! And that it the point. You continue to ignore the EGW quote I provided. Why? The answer is simple, it points to the one that we need to fear, and it is not God. Of course, just reading after Matthew 10:28 demonstrates that it is not God that we are to fear!!! Who it is we need to fear? OURSELVES. We are the ones that decide our destiny and can destroy our souls, not men, not Satan, not God.

APL, please answer the question posted to you above. Thank you.

I'm glad you agree.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he [he - God] gave his [his - God] only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him [him - only begotten Son] should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Now, read Matthew 10:28

Matthew 10:28 And fear not them [them - See Matthew 10:17-21] which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him [him - who? - open to interpretation - green chooses God as the modern translations] which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Note what EGW says: All should be intelligent in regard to the agency by which the soul is destroyed. It is not because of any decree that God has sent out against man. He does not make man spiritually blind. God gives sufficient light and evidence to enable man to distinguish truth from error. But He does not force man to receive truth. He leaves him free to choose the good or the choose the evil. [who chooses the good or choose the evil - WE DO - NOT GOD] If man resists evidence that is sufficient to guide his judgment in the right direction, and chooses evil once, he will do this more readily the second time. The third time he will still more eagerly withdraw himself from God and choose to stand on the side of Satan. And in this course he will continue until he is confirmed in evil, and believes the lie he has cherished as truth. His resistance has produced its harvest. By his example he leads others to follow the same course of resistance against God. {2SAT 183.4}

So MM - do not fall for the false belief that God is the on that destroys the body and soul in hell. We all need to intelligently understand how this happens. And it is OUR CHOICE to go with evil or with good and WE destroy ourselves. Do you agree or not? Will YOU answer this question?

Again...



She told us we need not fear either Satan or men.

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

HELLO GREEN - That is what I have been saying. But you left out two more parties - GOD and YOUSELF. And She is clear we have nothing to fear from God. Who does that leave? Put all of EGW's quotes together, such as the one I provided.

Yes, I will answer your question. I'm sorry if I have failed to answer your questions in the past. I believe we determine our own outcome in judgment by the way we choose to live. If we choose to cooperate with heavenly agencies and develop perfect traits of character our eternal destiny is eternal life in the New Earth. If we refuse to cooperate and develop perfect traits of character our eternal destiny is everlasting punishment. People should be afraid of hellfire and brimstone but it seems as most are not. Perhaps they don't believe it is real. I don't know.


I am definitely afraid of being punished in hellfire and brimstone. I take the warning seriously. But my primary motivation for loving and serving Jesus is not to avoid hellfire and brimstone - it is because it is so rewarding and satisfying. The curse, the warning, the threat is real. People should be afraid.


Can Satan destroy both body and soul in hell?


Ellen White capitalized the word "Him". She believed the "him" refers to God. I trust her insight. Our mind, soul, and body belong to Him. It is Jesus who will cast body and soul "alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone." The idea that it is Satan who will destroy both body and soul in hell seems unlikely. Our soul is preserved with God. "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." He will restore it to us in the resurrection.


Satan does not have access to the soul or spirit or character. It is preserved with God in heaven. He cannot destroy that which he cannot access.