CS Lewis once said that he would gladly remove the doctrine of Hell if he could. Like many of us, he was very uncomfortable with the idea of eternal damnation. I'm not that uncomfortable with it, in certain cases. Serial killers and monsters like Hitler do deserve eternal damnation and yes, while we are all sinners, few of us are at that level of sin.
This passage might mean people who turn away from the gospel are in a state of mortal sin and are forever damned, but I don't go that far either. I can not imagine a God that condemns people who leave the church and sends them to the same place as those I mentioned above.
At least we get a potential second chance through proxy Baptism. It's comforting to know that God doesn't lie about giving everyone a chance to experience him!
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