Charles Spurgeon Commentary Matthew 25:46

"And these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life." — Matthew 25:46 (ASV)

“Everlasting” and “eternal” are different translations of the same Greek word. The “punishment” is of the same duration as the “life.” The one is no more temporary or terminable than the other.

In heaven, “the righteous” will be forever anticipating future bliss while enjoying present perfect happiness, and in hell, the unrighteous will be ever looking forward to the wrath to come while enduring what our Savior here describes as everlasting punishment in everlasting fire (verse 41). Between heaven and hell there is a great gulf fixed, an awful abyss that cannot be crossed, so that the separation between the sheep and the goats will be eternal and unalterable. God grant that none of us may be on the wrong side of that great gulf!