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@josephw saidTherefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to EVERY MAN according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God.(Romans 2:1-11 KJV)
"God is merciful, even to the damned."
I think you'll not find any verse or verses that will support that idea.
God's mercy is eternal on the believer, but not on those that reject His mercy. That's what the Bible teaches.
The Bible knows nothing about annihilation.
I personally would love to believe otherwise, that the lost simply ceased to exist, but again, the Bible knows nothing about that.
I'm sorry.
For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another😉(Romans 2:12-15 KJV)
NOTE :
But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
Including born again Saved justified Christian Saints
NOTE ALSO
But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God.
EVERY MAN
-Removed-Two thieves hung on crosses next to Jesus.
Only one heard Jesus say to him "today will you be with me in paradise".
That thief recognized(acknowledged) and confessed(repentance) and believed.
The other thief died in his sins and is now in outer darkness.
There are simply too many contrasting concepts relative to salvation and destruction to interpret the scriptures as saying anything else.
I can't help it that you are projecting onto the scriptures an interpretation that aligns itself with your personal preconceptions.
The scriptures speak for itself and is abundantly clear on many topics.
Universal salvation and annihilation notwithstanding.
@josephw saidHave you heard that God loves all of us and is desirous that none fall astray and become lost?
"God is merciful, even to the damned."
I think you'll not find any verse or verses that will support that idea.
God's mercy is eternal on the believer, but not on those that reject His mercy. That's what the Bible teaches.
The Bible knows nothing about annihilation.
I personally would love to believe otherwise, that the lost simply ceased to exist, but again, the Bible knows nothing about that.
I'm sorry.
Why would such a God be willing to torture those same for all of eternity? Is there a purpose for this? I argue that there is not, and he is not.
Perhaps your certitude that these will be your neighbors and not you causes you to have this blasé attitude about it, but the God you propose has no love for his creation.
That you read the same passages I do, yet you see a God torturing people for eons and eons, and I see a God with the decency to end that suffering and just expose them to the "second death" of the Lake of Fire.
Frankly, I am not concerned that my view is a minority view. But you are wrong in assuming it has no scriptural support.
-Removed-When we write books, our characters don't have a choice in anything they say or do; we write them as evil, good, or amoral altogether. They say what we want, and they do what we want for as long as we want. We are not giving anyone any choices in our books; that is beyond us.
God can give everyone a choice; unlike us, He is not limited to this timeline, wondering what will happen. If we have no choice, then all judgment is a farce, but all His judgments are righteous, so I believe we have choices we make. I believe God only God is capable of giving them to us; they are ours.
Time for God is not like it is for us. He sees it all at once; a scripture says a day is as a thousand years to Him, which can also mean a moment is no different from a day. So given choices amid temptation, we either come to God or not; as soon as we do, we choose, and God accepts us. Love cannot be forced from someone, you cannot make someone love you, and the Kingdom of God loving God, and each other are the great two commands.
When judgment day comes, and it is coming, nothing secret will remain hidden, and everyone will end up right where they belong.
@fmf saidThe man lives in a delusion. He chooses a word not the bible but which is synonymous with a word used in the bible and say the synonym is not there.
You are mistaken. The Bible is teeming with verses that support the theology of annihilation. You should look into it. You might find it interesting.