Some of the critical questions popularly asked by irreligious persons are: would we (Christians) still believe-in Jesus if we find out that he’s never coming back? Would we still follow the laws of faith if we find that the man Jesus was just a made up story in history?

It is natural for us to respond emotionally to these kind of questions (usually to shift the focus of the discussion), but the truth is: we will have to ask ourselves these kind of questions at some points in our walk of faith; we have to critically analyze our beliefs, ideologies, and definitions to see if they’re worth defending.

Answers to questions of these such do not only serve as response to unbelievers, but they more importantly reveal our understanding of what we are doing with our lives; our understanding of the good news. They also reveal our true intent and desires towards the faith of God, and our sense of judgment.

What would we do if we find out that there’s no consequence whatsoever for unrighteousness? Would we continue to live as the bible suggests, or would we change our lifestyle?

The term righteousness means to live (act) rightly. Therefore, the righteousness of God is to live (act) in the way that God considers right. As Christians, we have been encouraged to live in God’s righteousness (that is: to live beyond what we consider right, but live as God considers right). In fact, a Christians is one who loves righteousness (God’s).

The reason many of us consider righteousness as a viable way of life is mainly because of the consequence that we hear exists for unrighteousness, without which righteousness will sound unattainable and stupid to us. Our approach to righteousness is negative; we do not live rightly because we love and enjoy the right way of life, we only live rightly because we fear the consequence for living wrongly.

Alas, negative approach cannot produce positive effect. The impact of negative approach to righteousness is difficulty and struggle; it becomes a struggle for us to live rightly, whereas, the burden of righteousness is easy. The lack of love for the right way of life causes us to struggle; we struggle to live rightly. Righteousness is the nature of God, as we have been born by God, we too by our nature should live rightly. It should be the easiest thing for us to do.

We do not struggle to eat, speak, see, feel, or hear because these things are natural. In fact, struggling or not being able to do these things at all is an indication of a defective birth or a disease. Similarly, struggling or not being able to do righteousness indicates that a person is diseased; in sin and not in God.

We do not struggle to eat food, speak about football, watch movies, get on social media because we enjoy and love these things. Our struggle to live rightly indicates we do not love or enjoy doing what’s right; we do not love the nature of God, which means we do not love the nature of our new birth, and if by chance we live rightly, we are only doing so to avoid the consequence of unrighteousness.

This should not be the case, living rightly should be the only reasonable way of life to a Christian. The wrong way should be unreasonable to us. For example, it should be easier for us to tell the truth than to lie simply because we are born by the spirit of truth, and the only reasonable thing to do. Lying should be unreasonable to us.

A Christian by understanding sees the benefits of righteousness, he lives rightly because he loves these benefits. He sees no benefit whatsoever in unrighteousness, so refuses to live wrongly because it is basically a waste of time, resources and essence to live in a way that affords no benefit to the soul. This is irrespective of whether or not the unrighteous shall be punished.

Therefore, although there are some of us who will plunge into unrighteousness if they discover that it attracts no consequence, we should all grow to the level that living rightly is our only option of life; we should grow to the level that we consume righteousness, and abhor unrighteousness.
How would we feel if we find that no one will burn for eternity? Would we be contented with this judgment or would we feel bitter because sinners are not going to be in agony forever?

One of the peripheral reasons why some irreligious persons hate the good news is because of the said punishment that awaits sinners. They see the judgment of eternal torment as unfair and totally wicked. This makes them question God’s sense of judgment and the motive of the Christian faith.

This particular judgment (eternal torment) is not peculiar to Christianity, it is quite popular in ancient myths, and a norm in the Abrahamic religions. Quite often, when we get quizzed for our faith, we tend to remind irreligious persons of this said judgment, and this more often infuriates them further to hate Christ.

For us to really discuss how we will feel if sinners are not tormented in fire forever, we must first research the scriptures to see if there’s any such judgment in the books. For it is irrelevant to discuss a topic without first establishing the truth of the scriptures.

Is it written that sinners shall be tormented forever? No, it is not written. What then is written? The scriptures confirm that sinners will be continuously tormented just as we see in the myths of other religions, however, this continuous torment will only last till the sinful soul is destroyed (utterly).

Sinners are diseased (in their thoughts), this is why each Christian needed to be healed by the stripe of Jesus. The fire (of the end) shall be created and released to destroy every diseased cell. Each sinner shall be burned till every cell of their existence is dissipated and destroyed till they become just ash (Malachi 4:3), and smoke from their ash shall rise to the heavens forever (Revelation 14:11).

Therefore, the idea of eternal torment is not biblical, it is a horrible imagination used to instill fear and anger in the minds of those who do not understand the judgment of God. It is often mistaken for eternal destruction, the judgment of God on sinners.

Is there a difference? Yes, there is. What is the difference? Destruction is the process or act to damage something so that it no longer exists – to cause (through damage) to inexist. Therefore, eternal destruction means to cause to inexist forever. But torment means to to exist but be in agony, and eternal torment means to exist forever but be in continuous pain. These are two different concepts.

So then, let us welcome this judgment (eternal destruction). In fact, let us be happy that no one is going to be diseased forever, and the fire shall save them from eternal regret. Anything short of this is unjust, for who imagines eternal agony for someone else without questioning such judgment? Perhaps a wicked person or a person too scared to question such judgment.

Would we continue to live like Christ if we find that Jesus is not coming back for us? Would we still be excited to tell people about the Christly life?
Well, we’ve already defined why we live the Christly life, we think it is reasonable and living contrary is unreasonable. So, yes, we’ll should continue to live the Christly life even if we find that Jesus isn’t coming back.

Although Jesus is definitely coming back, in a hypothetical situation where he doesn’t, we should condition our minds to continue this life and encourage others to live like us because we are convinced this is the only right way to live. We should be like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who though trusted they will be saved, will not compromise even if there is no salvation (Daniel 3:16-18).

We should not live the Christly life because we were told that we’d be saved sometime in the future, we should live because we are convinced of its righteousness. Salvation happens to us through this life. It is important to note that salvation is not the promise, the Holy Spirit is the promise, and salvation is a consequence. For the just (righteous) shall live by faith, and salvation happens through the faith they (the just) live by.

Thank you for reading, enjoy your holidays…

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