Sunday, May 05, 2024
The Growth Of Sin In The Afterlife
"But if sin in the retrospect be the sting of death, what must sin in the prospect be? My friends, we do not often enough look at what sin is to be. We see what it is; first the seed, then the blade, then the ear, and then the full corn in the ear. It is the wish, the imagination, the desire, the sight, the taste, the deed; but what is sin in its next development? We have observed sin as it grows; we have seen it, at first, a very little thing, but expanding itself until it has swelled into a mountain. We have seen it like 'a little cloud, the size of a man's hand,' but we have beheld it gather until it covered the skies with blackness, and sent down drops of bitter rain. But what is sin to be in the next state? We have gone so far, but sin is a thing that cannot stop. We have seen whereunto it has grown, but whereunto will it grow? for it is not ripe when we die; it has to go on still; it is set going, but it has to unfold itself forever. The moment we die, the voice of justice cries, 'Seal up the fountain of blood; stop the stream of forgiveness; he that is holy, let him be holy still; he that is filthy, let him be filthy still.' And after that, the man goes on growing filthier and filthier still; his lust developes itself, his vice increases; all those evil passions blaze with tenfold more fury, and, amidst the companionship of others like himself, without the restraints of grace, without the preached word, the man becomes worse and worse; and who can tell whereunto his sin may grow?" (Charles Spurgeon)
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Spurgeon is guessing. Where is his support? The scriptures tell me he is wrong, since, judgment will be only what was done "while in the body" (2Cor. 5.10-11). If sinners are getting worser then Christians would be getting better all the time during the afterlife. This makes no sense with the cutting off the probationary earthly time. Rev. 20.13 speaks about what was "done," not what they were doing then in the afterlife.
ReplyDeleteNeither passage you cited is relevant. The fact that we're judged for what we did doesn't suggest that there's no moral quality to what will be done later. Christians will continue to love God and love other people, their knowledge of God and his work will grow over time, etc. They'll continue to do many good works beyond the day of judgment. If you want to parallel the redeemed and the unredeemed, as you suggested in your post, then it follows that the unredeemed can grow in evil after the day of judgment. Even without that sort of parallel, there are other reasons for thinking ongoing bad works are likely. Wandering stars remain wandering stars (Jude 13). The rich man in hell in Luke 16 seems to be continuing to sin, even though he's already been judged to some extent. His continuing to sin makes more sense of why he has such a poor understanding of the circumstances, keeps trying to direct what Lazarus will do (akin to his having a higher social status than Lazarus in this life), and has to be corrected by Abraham. Jesus sometimes comments on the need for the unredeemed to be corrected in the afterlife, such as their evasiveness and false excuses in the context of judgment, which suggests some degree of sin in the afterlife (Matthew 7:21-23, 25:1-46). Jesus' rebuke in Matthew 25:26 seems to make the most sense if the man is being rebuked partly for his current state as wicked and lazy, not just a past state. It's unlikely that continuing to mischaracterize his life on earth, as he does in verses 24-25, isn't sinful. Even if there are some unredeemed individuals who sin less or stay the same in general or during some portion of the afterlife (I think there is some variation like that), I see no reason to think there wouldn't also be phases involving getting worse and some individuals who get worse in general. I expect a majority to get worse over time.
DeleteWhy would God create the material universe and also bring many sons to glory if it results in the majority of folks ending up in eternal torment? Also, according to you and others, that those same folks are continually getting worse? This seems like much baggage, and I see the bible not supporting your notion. Clearly, the bible overwhelmingly speaks of destruction of the wicked. Only Satan and his angels are tormented forever. While the unrighteous are sent to the same place, their duration aligns with their sins committed while on earth. Annihilation is eternal punishment.
ReplyDeleteThe focus of my post was on the growth of sin in the afterlife. Whether a majority of people will have been redeemed and annihilationism are related, but distinct issues. And you're shifting from your initial objections to different ones.
DeleteThe reference to a majority at the end of my first response to you was meant to be relative to unredeemed individuals, the group I was addressing at that point. I was referring to a majority of them. I think a majority of people will have been redeemed, for reasons I've discussed elsewhere. We've also addressed annihilationism elsewhere. I don't want to get into either of those issues here. They're too far from the topic I was focused on.