The Lake of Fire is Symbolic of FORGIVENESS?

In Matthew 3, John the Baptist warned the Pharisees with these words:

“Even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire… He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor… but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Notice how John said “even now.” The judgment was not some far-off event thousands of years away. The ax was already in motion. The fan was already in His hand. When Jesus arrived on the scene, it wasn’t to issue warnings about a distant future—it was to accomplish redemption then and there.

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A Quick Recap

In the first four episodes, we’ve uncovered a very different picture of God’s plan than what most of us were taught growing up:

• Episode 1: Judgment happened at the Cross.

• Episode 2: All were Born Again in Christ’s resurrection.

• Episode 3: Revelation is symbolic of covenant transition, not a literal end of the world.

• Episode 4: “Hell” is a mistranslation and not a biblical doctrine of eternal torture.

Now we come to the Lake of Fire—a passage often used as the final “proof” of eternal punishment. But what if this symbol means something entirely different?

The Lake of Fire in Revelation

Revelation 20 describes the dead standing before God, the books being opened, and finally Death and Hades being thrown into the Lake of Fire.

“This is the second death.” (Revelation 20:14)

Then in Revelation 21, God declares:

“It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega… I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.” (Revelation 21:6)

If we read Revelation symbolically—as John himself says it was signified (Rev 1:1)—then the Lake of Fire isn’t about people endlessly burning. It’s about the end of death itself.

The Symbol of Forgiveness

So what does the Lake of Fire really represent? Forgiveness.

When Jesus died, we all died with Him. That symbolic death is the second death described in Revelation. In that moment, every impurity, every unrighteousness, was burned away. Our sins were cast into the “sea of forgetfulness,” just as Micah prophesied:

“You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” (Micah 7:19)

The Lake of Fire is not a torture chamber—it is the fiery image of God’s mercy. It represents the separation of us from our sins, never to be remembered again.

It Is Finished

The phrase “It is finished” has become almost cliché in Christian circles, but when you look at it through this lens, its power comes alive again.

According to mainstream tradition, nothing was actually finished at the Cross. But Jesus didn’t say “It has begun”—He said, “It is finished.” Judgment was complete. Sin was consumed. Eternal life was revealed.

The Lake of Fire was not a curse upon humanity—it was the unexpected way in which God brought reconciliation to all of creation.

And He did it in The Hour We Least Expected.