The Bible teaches that eternal punishment is the final judgment for the ungodly, and it takes place in the lake of fire. This is not eternal torment of a conscious soul, but the eternal consequence of irreversible destruction. Scripture calls it the second death, the complete and final end of the soul’s existence.
Revelation 20:14–15 states:
“Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.”
Just as the first death brings the end of physical life, the second death is the destruction of the soul. Jesus warned in Matthew 10:28:
“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
This destruction is not temporary, nor is it ongoing consciousness. It is final and eternal. The punishment is everlasting in its effect, not in perpetual suffering. Malachi 4:1 speaks of the fate of the wicked:
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble… That will leave them neither root nor branch.”
They are consumed, not preserved. The wicked do not enter a second mode of existence but are forever cut off from life. Psalm 37:20 affirms:
“But the wicked shall perish; and the enemies of the Lord, like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish. Into smoke they shall vanish away.”
The second death is eternal in consequence. There is no resurrection from it, no recovery, and no consciousness beyond it. It is the just end for all who reject God and refuse His offer of salvation through Jesus Christ.
The only escape is through faith in the Son of God. John 3:36 says:
“He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life.”
