Verse 9 "they will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might."
Paul is talking about hell and the troublemakers that he believed were headed there.
We have been talking about hell a lot lately in our book group as we read through "Love Wins" by Rob Bell. We have been trying to answer the question "If God is loving would He send anyone to hell?"
Would God put anyone through everlasting destruction? What does that even mean? How is that even possible. Destruction is a noun... wouldn't it need to be a verb? Isn't destruction a state of being? A definition for destruction is "the condition of being destroyed." If one is destroyed, then wouldn't one just cease to exist? If everlasting destruction means that for eternity one just ceases to exist, well that doesn't sound as bad as being tormented for eternity... either way, it seems a bit harsh that God would do that.
But I do believe a loving God would allow people to remain outside of His presence for eternity if that is what they choose. That is freedom at it's utmost. God gives us the freedom to choose eternal denial... and I would bet that some have taken Him up on the offer.
Then again, I'm probably wrong.
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