Conditional Immortality

                                                              Conditional Immortality

Conditional immortality is the belief that only the saved will receive eternal life, while the unsaved will ultimately face destruction rather than eternal torment. Several Bible verses support this view:

1. Eternal life is a gift, not inherent to all

Romans 6:23 – "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

John 3:16 – "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Psalm 1:6 – "For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish."

Psalm 92:7 – "Though the wicked spring up like grass and all evildoers flourish, they will be destroyed forever."

Proverbs 10:28 – "The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing."


Romans 2:6-8 – "God 'will repay each person according to what they have done.' To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger."

Romans 8:13 – "For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live."

John 6:47-48 – "Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life."

1 John 3:15 – "Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him."

John 5:24 – "Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life."


1 John 5:11-12 English Standard Version 11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

NOTE: These verses contrast eternal life with perishing, implying that only believers receive immortality.






2. The wicked will be destroyed, not eternally tormented

Matthew 3:12 – "His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

NOTE: "Burning up" signifies total destruction, not ongoing torment. The "unquenchable fire" is understood as fire that cannot be put out until it has completely consumed its target, emphasizing the thoroughness and finality of the judgment. The focus is on complete destruction of the wicked, rather than eternal conscious suffering. The fire is described as "unquenchable" to stress that no one can stop God's judgment, but it does not imply the wicked are eternally alive in that fire. Same explanation applies to Luke 3:17 parallel.


Matthew 7:19 – "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

Matthew 10:28 – "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell."

NOTE: This passage does not necessarily promote the idea that the soul and body are completely separate entities. Instead, it emphasizes the completeness of God’s judgment and power over both physical and spiritual life. Some interpret this verse to highlight the unity of body and soul, warning against fearing human persecution (which can harm the body) while ignoring the eternal consequences under God’s authority.



1 Thessalonians 5:23
23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

NOTE: Many scholars argue that Paul isn’t making a doctrinal statement about human composition here. Instead, he’s using a comprehensive expression to describe the entirety of a person (spirit, soul, and body) as needing sanctification. The emphasis is more on total sanctification—physical, emotional, and spiritual—rather than defining the human as three distinct parts. This aligns with the holistic view that the Bible often presents about human nature.




Matthew 13:40-42 – "As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

NOTE: The weeds represent the unrighteous, and the fire symbolizes their complete destruction. This imagery suggests a consuming judgment that results in their total obliteration, rather than eternal conscious torment. The phrase "weeping and gnashing of teeth" is seen as a reference to intense anger at the realization of judgment, not an ongoing experience of torment. At the end of the age, this marks the final separation between the righteous and the wicked, where the wicked are removed from God’s presence permanently by being destroyed.The blazing furnace is understood metaphorically as the means of their ultimate annihilation—once they are cast into it, they cease to exist. Eternal punishment is viewed as eternal in its effect, not in ongoing duration.



Matthew 25:41, 46– "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'......"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

NOTE: The "eternal fire" signifies the complete and final destruction of the wicked, not endless torment. The fire is eternal in its consequence, not in its ongoing activity. In Jude 1:7, it mentions Sodom and Gomorrah suffering the punishment of eternal fire, yet those cities were destroyed, not perpetually burning. Similarly, the wicked face annihilation—their punishment is eternal because its result (death) is permanent and irreversible. In addition, the contrast between "eternal punishment" and "eternal life" emphasizes the outcome rather than the duration of experience. The wicked receive eternal death (cessation of existence), while the righteous inherit eternal life. The Greek word for "punishment" (kolasis) can refer to corrective or consequential punishment, which in this context is the ultimate and permanent exclusion from life. Lastly, the fire was prepared for Satan and his angels, not originally for humans. The covenant breakers who reject God share the same fate: total destruction. This aligns with passages such as Malachi 4:1-3, which depict the wicked being burned up like chaff, leaving them "neither root nor branch."


Psalm 37:20 – "But the wicked will perish: Though the Lord’s enemies are like the beauty of the fields, they will vanish—vanish like smoke."

Malachi 4:1-3 – "Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire, says the Lord Almighty. Not a root or a branch will be left to them."

2 Peter 2:6 – "If he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly..." (This suggests total destruction, not ongoing suffering.)


Hebrews 6:2 – "And of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment."


Hebrews 10:26-27 – "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God."


Obadiah 1:10 – "Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame; you will be destroyed forever."

Obadiah 1:16 – "Just as you drank on my holy hill, so all the nations will drink continually; they will drink and drink and be as if they had never been."

Revelation 2:11 – "Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death."

Revelation 20:6 – "Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them.


Revelation 21:8 – "But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."

NOTE: Notice the similarity in language-Night and Day and burning sulfur. The events of Isaiah 34:9-10 regarding Edom are not occurring right now. Therefore, it is not forever. Likewise, a few verses back, we can apply the same principle for Revelation 20:10.

Revelation 20:14-15 – "Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire." (This 'second death' implies an end, not ongoing suffering

NOTE: Same explanation as Revelation 21:8.

Revelation 14:10-11 – "They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment will rise forever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.

NOTE: Same explanation as Revelation 21:8.



Psalm 37:9-10 – "For those who are evil will be destroyed, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land. A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found."

Psalm 37:38 – "But all sinners will be destroyed; there will be no future for the wicked."

Isaiah 1:28 – "But rebels and sinners will both be broken, and those who forsake the Lord will perish."

Isaiah 66:24 – "And they will go out and look on the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; the worms that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind." (This passage speaks of corpses, not eternally conscious souls.)

NOTE: The "dead bodies" (Hebrew: pegerim, meaning corpses) indicate that those judged are physically dead, not alive in eternal torment. This suggests annihilation rather than eternal suffering. The phrase the"Worm shall not die" and "fire shall not be quenched": These expressions symbolize the certainty and thoroughness of God’s judgment. The worm and fire continue until they completely consume the remains. The focus is on a process that leads to destruction, not an endless conscious existence.

Jesus quotes this verse in Mark 9:43-48, referencing Gehenna (the Valley of Hinnom), a place known for burning waste and dead bodies. It signifies the finality of judgment, not eternal life in suffering. The fate of the wicked serves as a lasting warning and a stark contrast to the life given to the righteous. However, the focus remains on the result (death and destruction), not on unending torment.Mark

Philippians 3:19 – "Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame."

2 Thessalonians 1:9 – "They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might."

NOTE: Eternal destruction" is understood as a permanent and irreversible state of death or annihilation. This contrasts with the traditional view of eternal conscious torment. The “punishment” is not an ongoing process of suffering but a final judgment that results in the total cessation of existence.
"Away from the presence of the Lord" signifies separation from God’s life-giving presence, which leads to ultimate non-existence rather than ongoing conscious separation.

Matthew 7:13-14 – "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it."

Job 20:7 – "He will perish forever like his own dung; those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’"

Psalm 68:2 – "May you blow them away like smoke— as wax melts before the fire, may the wicked perish before God."

Isaiah 33:14 – "The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling grips the godless: 'Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?'"

NOTE: This suggests that the fire consumes, not that people dwell in it forever.

Ezekiel 18:4 – "For everyone belongs to me, the parent as well as the child—both alike belong to me. The one who sins is the one who will die."

Ezekiel 18:20 – "The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son."

Nahum 1:9-10 – "Whatever they plot against the Lord he will bring to an end; trouble will not come a second time. They will be entangled among thorns and drunk from their wine; they will be consumed like dry stubble."


Luke 16:22-24 – "The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’"

NOTE: This is a parable. Don't build a doctrine on one verse. Also, Hades is not seen as a place of eternal punishment, but as a temporary realm. The rich man in the story is described as being in torment, but this torment is not necessarily eternal. The torment could be understood as a temporary state awaiting the final judgment (which is the "second death" for the wicked, according to Revelation 21:8). The flames mentioned could symbolize the intensity/or nearness of judgment but not necessarily a literal eternal fire.

Matthew 8:12 – "But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

NOTE: This verse can be interpreted as emphasizing the consequences of exclusion from the Kingdom of God, with "outer darkness" symbolizing separation from God and the "weeping and gnashing of teeth" representing the anger of those who face the final judgment. Rather than eternal torment, these images can be seen as referring to the tragic and irreversible loss of the opportunity for eternal life, culminating in ultimate destruction (the "second death") rather than endless suffering


Matthew 22:13 – "Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’"

NOTE: This passage can be interpreted as a vivid representation of the consequences of rejection from the Kingdom of God. The "outer darkness" symbolizes the exclusion of the wicked from eternal life, and the "weeping and gnashing of teeth" represents the emotional response to that exclusion—the anger and regret of realizing their fate. Instead of eternal torment, these elements are part of a temporary judgment that culminates in the final destruction or annihilation of the wicked, rather than ongoing conscious suffering.


Daniel 12:2 – "Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt."

NOTE: The righteous are granted eternal life, a gift that reflects their acceptance of God’s offer of immortality. The wicked, on the other hand, face "everlasting contempt", which in this interpretation means they are permanently excluded from God's presence, with their final fate being annihilation rather than eternal conscious torment. The "everlasting contempt" is not a reference to endless suffering but to the irreversibility of their fate. Their judgment is final, and the shame of their rejection of God will be eternal in the sense that they will never be able to return to life, but it does not imply unending torment.



3. Immortality is given only to the righteous

1 Timothy 6:15-16 – "God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light."

1 Corinthians 15:53-54 – "For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality."

Romans 2:7 – "To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, he will give eternal life." (If the wicked already had immortality, they wouldn’t need to seek it.)

1 Timothy 1:17 – "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen."