“At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me. But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea." The offense here is the leading of a Christian to sin, as the Pope with the Sabbath or other commandment. "Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes! If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire.” (1-8) “This is the first time in the NT that we meet with the expression ‘everlasting fire.’...The expression has been thought to infer the everlasting life of the wicked in misery,... But the Bible itself explains its meaning. The apostle Jude tells us (Jude 7) that the fire that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah was eternal fire (Greek aionios, 'everlasting,'... ). It soon burnt itself out, but it was everlasting in accomplishing a destruction from which the cities have never recovered nor ever will. It was everlasting in its results. Such will be the fire that destroys the wicked. The fire by the way of Jude 7 cannot be a fire in which the inhabitants of the guilty cities are burning today in another world, because they would not in such a case be ‘set forth for an example.’ It must have been the historical fire.” ("The Doom of the Lost" by Basil F. C. Atkinson, printed in "Rethinking Hell: Readings in Evangelical Conditionalism.") "It stuns us with death via catastrophic destruction.... .Further, in direct contrast to the traditionalist position, scripture declares that ‘unquenchable’ fire (Matt. 3:7-12) serves to katakaio (burn up, consume) the unsaved.” (Rescue from Death by Robert Taylor)
Click link to the next study in my sequential chapter study through the Gospel of Matthew. https://www.mymorningmanna.com/post/matthew-19
"Aiōnios" [or everlasting] "can have the sense of ‘age long’ or refer to something derived from God, the Eternal One, so that it describes qualitatively rather than quantitatively (cf. Rom 16:25–26, and phrases like ‘eternal life’ and ‘eternal fire’ [Matt 18:8 and 25:41; cf. Jude 7 and 2 Pet 2:6]). When I revisited Edward Fudge’s work, I realized more keenly the importance of the fact that when the [New Testament] word aiōnios modifies words which name acts or processes as distinct from persons or things, the adjective usually describes the issue or result of the action rather than the action itself.” [36— Fudge, The Fire that Consumes (1982), 49.] This is indisputably true in four of the six New Testament occurrences. There is eternal salvation [Heb 5:9] but not an eternal act of saving. There is eternal redemption [Heb 9:12] but not an eternal process of redeeming. The eternal sin [Mk 3:29] was committed at a point in history, but its results continue into the coming age which lasts forever. Scripture pictures eternal judgment [Heb 6:2] as taking place ‘on a day,’ but its outcome will have no end. In the light of this usage, we suggest that Scripture expects the same understanding when it speaks of ‘eternal destruction’ [2 Thess 1:9] and ‘eternal punishment’ [Mt 25:46]. Both are acts. There will be an actual destroying and the punishing will issue in a result. That resultant punishment of destruction will never end. [37— Ibid., 49–50.] This awareness opened the door to the possibility that the eternality of punishment might lie, not in its temporal endlessness, but in its effective irreversibility, particularly when we consider the metaphors of fire and consumption by worms which are regularly used in Scripture to denote total destruction (cf. Ezek 20:47–48; Amos 5:5–6; Mal 4:1–6; Matt 3:12).” ("My Long Journey to Annihilationism" by Terrance L. Tiessen printed in "A Consuming Passion: Essays on Hell and Immortality in Honor of Edward Fudge," (p. 31).]
“And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into [eternal] life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire (Gehenna).” (9) to perish eternally- for Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the faith, goes to great lengths to find the lost sheep of all of His flocks. "Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven. For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” (10-14)
Here is how to deal with a Christian sins against brother. "Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ And if he refuses to hear them, tell itto the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” (15-20)
“Then Peter came to Him and said, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?’ Though seven was a number of perfection among the Hebrews, and often meant much more than the units in it imply, yet it is evident that Peter uses it here in its plain literal sense, as our Lord's words sufficiently testify. It was a maxim among the Jews never to forgive more than thrice.” (Adam Clarke) Peter more than doubles it. Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.’— “Christ did not mean that Christians should keep a ledger, exactly calculating a precise number such as 490, or using a variant reading, 70 times and 7 [pointing to the Jubilee]. This simply means that a Christian must have the spiritual resources to keep on forgiving. Forgiveness of others was made a constant pre-condition of man's forgiveness by the Father, not only in these words of Jesus here, but upon other occasions as well.” (Coffman Comm.) “Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. At the day of judgment, when we shall appear to give an account, 2 Corinthians 5:10.” (John Trapp)
“And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, 'Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.' Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, 'Pay me what you owe!' So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.' And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?'". (21-33) Edward Fudge is not sure that the passage above is even about final punishment. But even if it is, Fudge still defends conditionalism in that context. “And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers"- “Traditionalists sometimes point to the tormentors in Matt 18:34 as evidence of unending conscious torment…. [30– Even if Jesus intended to teach here about final punishment, the mere presence of ‘tormentors’ in the parable narrative would say nothing about the nature, duration, or result of the torment they inflicted.] The word ‘torment’ (basanos) itself does not determine the duration of the torment. In Rev 9:5, the verb form of this same word involves torment that lasts for five months. The New Testament uses ‘torment’ broadly—metaphorically and literally, physically and spiritually, in this age and in the age to come. [31– Schneider, ‘Basanos,’ 1:561–63.] Robert W. Yarbrough says that I [Edward Fudge] ‘underinterpret Gehenna’ by confusing the literal Valley of Hinnom with the ‘eschatological destiny’ of the wicked. [32–Yarbrough, ‘Jesus on Hell,’ 79.] I do not suggest that final punishment will occur in the literal valley outside Jerusalem. Nor does one under-interpret Gehenna who simply uses the symbol as Jesus did, although it probably appears so to the person accustomed to over-interpreting Gehenna by making it mean more than Jesus did.The ultimate difference between the views of traditionalists and conditionalists becomes clear when one defines Gehenna. Gerstner speaks for traditionalists in saying that it is ‘a place of everlasting burning.’ [Gerstner, Repent or Perish] I speak for conditionalists and for most other annihilationists in saying it is ‘a place of everlasting destruction.’” (The Consuming Fire by Edward Fudge)— "until he should pay all that was due to him." (34) The Lawgiver taught us in the Sermon on the Mount to settle matter quickly lest you be cast into prison. He warns “’I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.’ (5:26) We established there that the last penny or farthing is his life. “The wage of sin is death.” “To pay that debt to the last farthing can mean nothing less than to die a second time after the Judgment. But the traditonalist holds to the immortal soul. I have a question? In that theology, when is justice served? "When can the sinner pay in full the penalty due to his sin? The only possible answer is, 'Never.' Neither [Matthew 5:26 nor Matthew 18:34] can be made into evidence for everlasting torment without assuming something that is not said in either case, namely that the existence of the sinner must continue forever. The illustrations used by our Lord do not suggest such a thing. A prisoner who never comes out of prison does not live there eternally. The slave who was delivered to the tormenters till he should pay two million pounds would not escape from them by payment, but he would assuredly die in the end: why should not the same result be at least a possibility in the application?" ("The General Trend of Bible Teaching" by Harold E. Guillebaud, printed in "Rethinking Hell: Readings in Evangelical Conditionalism")"So shall also my heavenly Father do unto you, if ye forgive not every one his brother from your hearts." (35) It is a strange thing that Jesus asks us to settle our accounts with our brother but He never does so.
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