Everlasting and Eternal
Everlasting and eternal are from the same in the original. “Everlasting punishment,” and not everlasting annihilation, nor everlasting extinction of being, nor everlasting non-existence, is what the Lord threatens. Matt. xxv. 46. At the same time the righteous enter into “life eternal,” the wicked “go away into everlasting punishment.” The original word aionion here is translated, in the common version, “eternal” in one place, and “everlasting” in the other. There is no reason for not translating this word the same way in both places. It means precisely the same in both places. At the same time we repeat, that the righteous enter into “life eternal,” the wicked “go away into eternal punishment.” The same word used by the Lord, in the same sentence to express the duration of the life of the saints, is used to express the duration of the punishment of the wicked. It is as likely that the life of the saints shall terminate, as that the punishment of the wicked shall cease. There is no word in any language that more certainly expresses unlimited duration than this word aionion. It is used to express the duration of the life of the saints, the praises of God, and even the existence of God. A word may be used with less than its full import, but never with more.