time work reformation and cleansing, after which, restored to God's
favour, they will enter upon a life of happiness.

It is a strong argument against such doctrines that the same word which
our Lord employs to describe the permanent blessedness of the redeemed
is used by Him to denote the punishment of the wicked. The reward and
the punishment are both declared by Him to be everlasting or eternal.
The same Greek word is in the English New Testament sometimes rendered
eternal and sometimes everlasting. The portion of the righteous will be
life--life everlasting; that of the wicked is described as consisting,
not in annihilation or in terminable suffering, but in "everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his
power."[239]

While this article may be regarded as bearing upon the doom of the
ungodly, it is rather to be viewed as affirming the eternal blessedness
of the risen saints. The everlasting life begins on earth, but is
perfected only in eternity. It is sometimes spoken of as a present
possession: "He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me,
hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is
passed from death unto life."[240] Again it is spoken of as a reward in
futurity: "He shall receive an hundredfold now in this time ... and in
the world to come eternal life."[241] Our knowledge of what that life
will be is very limited. Human words cannot describe it; human beings in
this life cannot understand it. We know that it will arise from
knowledge of God. Men will be equal to the angels who see God. "Now we
see through a glass darkly,"[242] but "we know that, when he shall
appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is."[243]

Statements regarding the happiness of the saints are in Scripture