The ends of the 4 Christian hells, Part 4 (short version)

The final Christian hell we are going to look at is not translated as hell in any bible that I'm aware of. Despite this, much of Christianity says the lake of fire is hell ... and hades/sheol is hell ... and Gehenna is hell ... and Tartarus is hell. That's 4 distinct places said to be hell by Christianity. And that's a mess. But Christianity is not concerned with how messy, and unscriptural, their teachings and traditions of hell are.

The lake of fire/second death is the last "hell" standing. And it will stand for a length of time, playing its part in God's plans, until its part is no longer needed.

The lake of fire is mentioned six times in the Scriptures. From the Concordant Literal New Testament (CLNT),

Revelation 19:20

And the wild beast is arrested, and with it the false prophet who does the signs in its sight, by which he deceives those getting the emblem of the wild beast, and those worshiping its image. Living, the two were cast into the lake of fire burning with sulphur.

Revelation 20:10–15

And the Adversary who is deceiving them was cast into the lake of fire and sulphur, where the wild beast and where the false prophet are also. And they shall be tormented day and night for the eons of the eons. ¹¹ And I perceived a great white throne, and Him Who is sitting upon it, from Whose face earth and heaven fled, and no place was found for them. ¹² And I perceived the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. And scrolls were opened. And another scroll was opened which is the scroll of life. And the dead were judged by that which is written in the scrolls in accord with their acts. ¹³ And the sea gives up the dead in it, and death and the unseen give up the dead in them. And they were condemned, each in accord with their acts. ¹⁴ And death and the unseen were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death-the lake of fire. ¹⁵ And if anyone was not found written in the scroll of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.

Revelation 21:8

Yet the timid, and unbelievers, and the abominable, and murderers, and paramours, and enchanters, and idolaters, and all the false-their part is in the lake burning with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.

The second death

There are two more verses teaching us about the second death. Revelation 2:11, "Who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit is saying to the ecclesias. 'The one who is conquering may under no circumstances be injured by the second death.'"

And Revelation 20:6, "Happy and holy is he who is having part in the former resurrection! Over these the second death has no jurisdiction, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will be reigning with Him the thousand years."

 

"Surely, the lake of fire is the end for the baddies."

If you've read this series, you've seen that hades/sheol is not the end for the dead. Gehenna is also not their end. And Tartarus is not the end of the sinning messengers. But surely, Shirley, the lake of fire is the end of the road for unbelievers. Right?

The last thing we read about the lake of fire/second death in the last book in our bibles, Revelation, is this,

Yet the timid, and unbelievers, and the abominable, and murderers, and paramours, and enchanters, and idolaters, and all the false-their part is in the lake burning with fire and sulphur, which is the second death. (Revelation 21:8)

One would think this will be their final end if one thinks the book of Revelation is the end of God's eonian story. And one would be wrong.

The last people to ever die (meaning the death event, not the process of dying) will be those cast into the lake of fire. They will be killed by the second death. Annihilationists and eternal tormentists say those cast into the lake of fire will be dead forever. The annihilationists say they will be the dead-dead, while the eternal tormentists say they will be the living-dead. Thus, according to their demonic teachings, death operates forever as it holds the dead in the death state. According to them, since death is no longer killing people, is has been abolished by Christ, thus fulfilling 1 Corinthians 15:26, "The last enemy is being abolished: death." But how can that be true if the second death holds people forever? It can't. They give death a great victory over Christ and "the living God, Who is the Saviour of all mankind, especially of believers" (1 Timothy 4:10). They "are deceived, not being acquainted with the scriptures, nor yet with the power of God" (Matthew 22:29). 

God, our phenomenally creative genius Creator, tucked the end of the eonian story inside the guts of His book. It's better than anything you've ever read. And it's found in 1 Corinthians 15:20–28.   

"When will the second death be abolished?"

That is a great question. Here's the great answer, provided by God.

In 1 Corinthians 15:20–28, God reveals to us events that will occur long after those revealed in the book of Revelation. In this passage He gives us many key indicators that will signal the successful completion of Christ's reign, which includes the abolition of death. Christianity misses this by a mile, or, shall I say, by an eon.

Yet now Christ has been roused from among the dead, the Firstfruit of those who are reposing. ²¹ For since, in fact, through a man came death, through a Man, also, comes the resurrection of the dead. ²² For even as, in Adam, all are dying, thus also, in Christ, shall all be vivified. ²³ Yet each in his own class: the Firstfruit, Christ; thereupon those who are Christ's in His presence; ²⁴ thereafter the consummation, whenever He may be giving up the kingdom to His God and Father, whenever He should be nullifying all sovereignty and all authority and power. ²⁵ For He must be reigning until He should be placing all His enemies under His feet. ²⁶ The last enemy is being abolished: death.
²⁷ For He subjects all under His feet. Now whenever He may be saying that all is subject, it is evident that it is outside of Him Who subjects all to Him. ²⁸ Now, whenever all may be subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also shall be subjected to Him Who subjects all to Him, that God may be All in all.

This whole passage is key. Within this key passage is the key verse 22, "For even as, in Adam, all are dying, thus also, in Christ, shall all be vivified." Christianity does not believe, or teach, this simple, tradition-shattering truth that God caused Paul to write to bless the socks and shoes off of humanity. In fact, they hate it because it is so simple and true, and they have a hell of a time trying to squeeze this big truth into their teeny-tiny god box. This simple truth tells us that all who are dying because of Adam (that's every single human) will be vivified because of Christ. I don't know how God could have made this truth simpler and clearer. Don't screw with it. Just believe it.

Vivified means made alive. But it is not the making alive to mortality, as some were raised by Jesus during His time on earth. It is the making alive to immortality, which is exactly what happened to Christ, the Firstfruit. He is the living definition of vivification.

There are three vivification events. 1. "the Firstfruit, Christ" (v.23), 2. "those who are Christ's in His presence" (when He returns at the end of this present wicked eon, v.23), and 3. "thereafter the consummation" (v.24). Vivifications 2 and 3 will include all humanity. This leads us to the logical question, "When is the consummation?"

Following are the events of the consummation, which include the final vivification of humanity, which coincides with the abolition of death.

• whenever [Christ] may be giving up the kingdom to His God and Father (v.24)
• whenever [Christ] should be nullifying all sovereignty and all authority and power (v.24)
• For [Christ] must be reigning until He should be placing all His enemies under His feet (v.25)
• The last enemy is being abolished: death (v.26)
• He subjects all (except God) under His feet (v.27)
• whenever all may be subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also shall be subjected to Him Who subjects all to Him (v.28)
• God may be All in all (v.28)

So, the answer to the question, "When will the second death be abolished?" is "at the consummation." The events of the consummation we just bulleted will occur at the end of eon 5, the new heaven and new earth eon. See The Eonian Times Chart.

 

Though we are enduring wickedness in this current wicked eon, we are all in God's hands. And, at the consummation of the eons, and beyond, we will all still be in His hands. He will be "All in all," and none will be damned to any of the mythical Christian hells.
 

The ends of the 4 Christian hells, Part 4 (long version)

The final Christian hell we are going to look at is not translated as hell in any bible that I'm aware of. Despite this, much of Christianity says the lake of fire is hell ... and hades/sheol is hell ... and Gehenna is hell ... and Tartarus is hell. That's 4 distinct places said to be hell by Christianity. And that's a mess. But Christianity is not concerned with how messy, and unscriptural, their teachings and traditions of hell are.

Because people see the word hell in their crappy bibles, and hear it preached regularly from pulpits, it is understandable why they believe in the traditional hell. I get it. I believed it, and taught it, for a long time myself. It's one of the first things people are taught in Christianity. And Christianity presents a somewhat believable scenario based on mistranslated bibles. The charade is pretty convincing until their tradition is challenged. Proverbs 18:17 from the Amplified Bible (AMP), "The first one to plead his case seems right, Until another comes and cross-examines him."

For about 17 years I believed the first teachings I heard concerning hell and judgment. I was not aware of any alternatives to the traditional teachings, and I jumped on the bandwagon, where I whooped and hollered with my wagon mates. Then God led me to people who had cross-examined the traditional teachings of Christianity, and the deceptions were exposed. Hopefully, through this series, you're seeing the truth about hell and judgment and the bigger truth of the salvation of all through the work of Christ.

Recap of Part 3 - Tartarus

Peter utilizes the Tartarus of Greek mythology to teach us what God did with some naughty immortals. Tartarus is the place where immortal sinning messengers are held until their judgment (2 Peter 2:4). The mortal dead are currently held by death in hades/sheol. Tartarus will no longer exist after the current heaven and earth are done away with. Thus Tartarus, like hades/sheol and Gehenna, will end. Three hells down, one to go. The lake of fire/second death is the last "hell" standing. And it will operate for a length of time, playing its part in God's plans, until its part is no longer needed.

A lake of fire?

When I think "lake," I think "liquid." When I think "fire," I don't think "liquid." The closest thing I can think of as liquid fire is flowing lava. But, God's creation goes far beyond what we can now see and experience. And He will continue to create new things as His creation moves along (Revelation 21:1, 5). The unique lake of fire may currently exist, or it will come into existence when needed for God's purposes.

Gehenna was the focus of Part 2 of this series. In it we saw that Christianity throws around the idea "Gehenna is the lake of fire" as if it's an undeniable fact. But you will not find that "fact" in the Scriptures. You will find it in old, bad tradition. Gehenna is a valley. The lake of fire is a lake. Valley. Lake. Lake. Valley.

The lake of fire is mentioned six times in the Scriptures. From the Concordant Literal New Testament (CLNT),

Revelation 19:20

And the wild beast is arrested, and with it the false prophet who does the signs in its sight, by which he deceives those getting the emblem of the wild beast, and those worshiping its image. Living, the two were cast into the lake of fire burning with sulphur.

Revelation 20:10–15

And the Adversary who is deceiving them was cast into the lake of fire and sulphur, where the wild beast and where the false prophet are also. And they shall be tormented day and night for the eons of the eons. ¹¹ And I perceived a great white throne, and Him Who is sitting upon it, from Whose face earth and heaven fled, and no place was found for them. ¹² And I perceived the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. And scrolls were opened. And another scroll was opened which is the scroll of life. And the dead were judged by that which is written in the scrolls in accord with their acts. ¹³ And the sea gives up the dead in it, and death and the unseen give up the dead in them. And they were condemned, each in accord with their acts. ¹⁴ And death and the unseen were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death-the lake of fire. ¹⁵ And if anyone was not found written in the scroll of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.

Revelation 21:8

Yet the timid, and unbelievers, and the abominable, and murderers, and paramours, and enchanters, and idolaters, and all the false-their part is in the lake burning with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.

The second death

There are two more verses teaching us about the second death. Revelation 2:11, "Who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit is saying to the ecclesias. 'The one who is conquering may under no circumstances be injured by the second death.'"

And Revelation 20:6, "Happy and holy is he who is having part in the former resurrection! Over these the second death has no jurisdiction, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will be reigning with Him the thousand years."

Where is the lake of fire?

We are not told in the Scriptures where the lake of fire is located. I don't believe it is on the earth for the following reasons:

• although the lake of fire may not currently exist, it will exist while this current earth exists (Revelation 19:20 and 20:10)
• the lake of fire endures the fleeing of the current heaven and earth (Revelation 20:11)
• the lake of fire exists in the interval between the current heaven and earth and the new heaven and earth, during the great white throne judgment era (Revelation 20:11–15)
• the lake of fire exists during the new heaven and earth eon (Revelation 21:8)

Because the lake of fire survives the monumental change from the 4th to the 5th eon, I think it is not on the earth. Someday we will see it and know God's power as He employs it for His purposes.

"This is the second death—the lake of fire."

In Part 3 we saw that God currently uses two distinct locations for holding mortals and immortals. Tartarus is the jail where God holds the immortal sinning messengers. And hades/sheol is where He holds the mortal dead in the death state. Satan will be jailed in the submerged chaos during the millennium (Revelation 20:1–3). But, after Tartarus and hades/sheol are gone, God will use the lake of fire for both mortals and immortals. For the mortals the lake of fire is their second death (Revelation 20:14–15). For the immortals it is a place of torment day and night "for the eons of the eons" (Revelation 20:10). The "eons of the eons" are not eternity, and they are not forever, or everlasting. The "eons of the eons" are the final two eons, the eons in which Christ reigns up close, when He actually takes over. See The Eonian Times Chart.

We are not told in the Scriptures where the immortal sinning messengers will go after their judgment. The Scriptures only tell us specifically that the Adversary, the wild beast, and the false prophet will be tormented in the lake of fire for the eons of the eons. Will the sinning messengers be there also? I believe they will be, because there is no other place mentioned for the baddies to go. But, I can't provide chapter and verse to prove my belief. Yes, I sometimes speculate.

"Surely, the lake of fire is the end for the baddies."

If you've read this series, you've seen that hades/sheol is not the end for the dead. Gehenna is also not their end. And Tartarus is not the end of the sinning messengers. But surely, Shirley, the lake of fire is the end of the road for unbelievers. Right?

The last thing we read about the lake of fire/second death in the last book in our bibles, Revelation, is this,

Yet the timid, and unbelievers, and the abominable, and murderers, and paramours, and enchanters, and idolaters, and all the false-their part is in the lake burning with fire and sulphur, which is the second death. (Revelation 21:8)

One would think this will be their final end if one thinks the book of Revelation is the end of God's eonian story. And one would be wrong.

The last people to ever experience the death event will be those cast into the lake of fire. They will be killed by the second death. Annihilationists and eternal tormentists say those cast into the lake of fire will be dead forever. The annihilationists say they will be the dead-dead, while the eternal tormentists say they will be the living-dead. Thus, according to their demonic teachings, death operates forever as it holds the dead in the death state. According to them, since death is no longer killing people, is has been abolished by Christ, thus fulfilling 1 Corinthians 15:26, "The last enemy is being abolished: death." But how can that be true if the second death holds people forever? It can't be true. They give death a great victory over Christ and "the living God, Who is the Saviour of all mankind, especially of believers" (1 Timothy 4:10). They "are deceived, not being acquainted with the scriptures, nor yet with the power of God" (Matthew 22:29). 

God, our phenomenally creative genius Creator, tucked the end of the eonian story inside the guts of His book. It's better than anything you've ever read. And it's found in 1 Corinthians 15:20–28.

"When will the second death be abolished?"

That is a great question. Here's the great answer, provided by God.

In 1 Corinthians 15:20–28, God reveals to us events that will occur long after those revealed in the book of Revelation. In this passage He gives us many key indicators that will signal the successful completion of Christ's reign, which includes the abolition of death. Christianity misses this by a mile, or, shall I say, by an eon.

Yet now Christ has been roused from among the dead, the Firstfruit of those who are reposing. ²¹ For since, in fact, through a man came death, through a Man, also, comes the resurrection of the dead. ²² For even as, in Adam, all are dying, thus also, in Christ, shall all be vivified. ²³ Yet each in his own class: the Firstfruit, Christ; thereupon those who are Christ's in His presence; ²⁴ thereafter the consummation, whenever He may be giving up the kingdom to His God and Father, whenever He should be nullifying all sovereignty and all authority and power. ²⁵ For He must be reigning until He should be placing all His enemies under His feet. ²⁶ The last enemy is being abolished: death.
²⁷ For He subjects all under His feet. Now whenever He may be saying that all is subject, it is evident that it is outside of Him Who subjects all to Him. ²⁸ Now, whenever all may be subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also shall be subjected to Him Who subjects all to Him, that God may be All in all.

This whole passage is key. Within this key passage is the key verse 22, "For even as, in Adam, all are dying, thus also, in Christ, shall all be vivified." Christianity does not believe, or teach, this simple, tradition-shattering truth that God caused Paul to write to bless the socks and shoes off of humanity. In fact, they hate it because it is so simple and true, and they have a hell of a time trying to squeeze this big truth into their teeny-weeny god box. This simple truth tells us that all who are dying because of Adam (that's every single human) will be vivified because of Christ. I don't know how God could have made this truth simpler and clearer. Don't screw with it. Just believe it.

Vivified means made alive. But it is not the making alive to mortality, as some were raised from the dead by Jesus during His time on earth. It is the making alive to immortality, which is exactly what happened to Christ, the Firstfruit. He is the living definition of vivification. And Paul explains what will happen to those who are vivified, speaking of the second class, which he will be part of: "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal put on immortality" (1 Corinthians 15:53).

There are three vivification events. 1. "the Firstfruit, Christ" (v.23), 2. "those who are Christ's in His presence" (when He returns at the end of this present wicked eon, v.23), and 3. "thereafter the consummation" (v.24). Vivifications 2 and 3 will together include all humanity who were dying in Adam (that's everyone). This leads us to the logical question, "When is the consummation?"

Following are the events of the consummation, which include the final vivification of humanity, which coincides with the abolition of death.

• whenever [Christ] may be giving up the kingdom to His God and Father (v.24)
• whenever [Christ] should be nullifying all sovereignty and all authority and power (v.24)
• For [Christ] must be reigning until He should be placing all His enemies under His feet (v.25)
• The last enemy is being abolished: death (v.26)
• He subjects all (except God) under His feet (v.27)
• whenever all may be subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also shall be subjected to Him Who subjects all to Him (v.28)
• God may be All in all (v.28)

So, the answer to the question, "When will the second death be abolished?" is "at the consummation." The events of the consummation we just bulleted will occur at the end of eon 5, the new heaven and new earth eon. 

Annihilation and eternal torment

Annihilationists and eternal tormentists teach various timings of the abolition of death. Some say it will be abolished at the end of this current wicked eon when Christ returns. This is silly, because people will die during the millennium and after the great white throne judgment. Death is abolished at the end of this current wicked eon, but only for those in the second class of the vivified (v.23). Others teach that death is abolished after the lot are cast into the lake of fire, because this is the final death event for humanity. This, too, is silly because none of the bulleted events above occur at that time. And, as we saw earlier, death holds the dead long after those not written in the scroll of life are cast into the lake of fire. How can death be abolished if it is still holding the dead? It can't be. It is still operating.

The abolition of the second death will occur at the consummation of the final eon when Christ vivifies the third class (the remaining mortals of humanity), after He causes the second death to give up the dead in it, just as He did with the first death, hades/sheol, and the sea (Revelation 20:13). Then, the second death—"the last enemy"—will be no more. it will be rendered completely inoperative.

The length of Christ's reign

Gabriel's words to the virgin, Miriam (aka Mary), in Luke 1:31–33 help us with God's timing.

And lo! you shall be conceiving and be pregnant and be bringing forth a Son, and you shall be calling His name Jesus. ³² He shall be great, and Son of the Most High shall He be called. And the Lord God shall be giving Him the throne of David, ³³ His father, and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for the eons. And of His kingdom there shall be no consummation.

Just as 1 Corinthians 15:25 says "He must be reigning until," Luke 1:33 says "He shall reign over the house of Jacob for the eons." Just as the "until" limits the length of Christ's reign, so too does "for the eons" (see also Revelation 11:15). His reign over the house of Jacob begins with His return at the end of this current wicked eon. And it will last through the next two eons, which include the 1000 years and the new heaven and earth. Ephesians 2:7 verifies for us the plurality of eons to come, "in the oncoming eons, He should be displaying the transcendent riches of His grace in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus."

Though Christ's reign ends, the perfect kingdom He establishes will not end, "of His kingdom there shall be no consummation" (Luke 1:33). At the consummation He will be "giving up the kingdom to His God and Father" (1 Corinthians 15:24), and God will be "All in all." Christ's reign will end in complete victory and success. It's like a Master Builder who completes the building of a fantastic palace, then hands the keys to the owner who will enjoy it forever with his people.

Christ abolishes all three aspects of death

We meager mortals are subject to 3 aspects of death:

1. the dying process, which affects a living mortal
2. the death event, when death ends the life of a mortal
3. the death state, where a dead mortal is held after the death event

In some way, shape and form, for us mortals, death is ever-present ... for now. This is part God's plan ... for now.

The first death has killed people from the the time of Adam, "Therefore, even as through one man sin entered into the world, and through sin death, and thus death passed through into all mankind, on which all sinned" (Romans 5:12). And it will continue to kill people until just after the millennium in the next eon. We read of the last people to be killed by the first death in Revelation 20:7–9,

And whenever the thousand years should be finished, Satan will be loosed out of his jail. ⁸ And he will be coming out to deceive all the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to be mobilizing them for battle, their number being as the sand of the sea. ⁹ And they went up over the breadth of the earth, and surround the citadel of the saints and the beloved city. And fire descended from God out of heaven and devoured them.

But the first death will remain operative after this as it holds the dead until we read in Revelation 20:13, "And the sea gives up the dead in it, and death and the unseen give up the dead in them." It is only at this point that the sea, death and the unseen (hades/sheol) are rendered inoperative as holders of the dead. Then we see what will happen to these three, "And death and the unseen were cast into the lake of fire," and, "And I perceived a new heaven and a new earth, for the former heaven and the former earth pass away, and the sea is no more" (Revelation 20:14 and 21:1). Thus, the three holders of the mortal dead are emptied by Christ, rendered completely inoperative, and done away with.

The second death will follow the pattern of the three previous mortal-holders, despite what Christianity teaches. Christianity really, I mean really, I mean really and royally screws this up. Christianity does properly teach that Christ ends the number 1 and number 2 aspects of death. They agree with the truth that eventually, in God's time, there will be no more mortals subject to the dying process and the dying event. But, they erroneously leave billions of people subject to the death state forever. Yes, that's the same forever that is never-ending and everlasting. The mighty Meat Loaf was content with a 2-out-of-3 scenario, are you?

The Scriptures speak of one large event where those not written in the scroll of life are cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15). This is the last time any mortals will die. And Christ will abolish the number 2 aspect of death. This is referred to in Revelation 21:4,

And He will be brushing away every tear from their eyes. And death will be no more, nor mourning, nor clamor, nor misery; they will be no more, for the former things passed away.

But the number 1 aspect of death, the dying process, is a little trickier. Let me explain.

Those resurrected at the great white throne will be raised mortal, not immortal. There are three vivification events according to 1 Corinthians 15:22–24: 1. Christ, the Firstfruit; 2. those who are Christ's when He returns; and 3. the consummation. The resurrection at the great white throne is not a vivification event. However, I do believe that some who are raised then will be found written in the scroll of life. They will not be cast into the lake of fire, but will live on, as mortals, on the new earth. Some of these people will be those who will be born during the millennium and will be granted belief by God during the millennium (Philippians 1:29). Some of these mortal believers may die during the millennium. They will be born too late to be part of the second vivification when Christ returns, just before the millennium commences. At the great white throne, there could also be others whose names are in the scroll of life who were born in the eons before the millennium, but were not granted belief by God at that time.

 

Those found written in the scroll of life at the great white throne will go onto the new earth in the 5th eon as mortals. But, the dying process (aspect 1) will be completely counteracted by their access to "the spring of the water of life," and the log of life with its fruits and leaves (Revelation 21:6 and 22:1–2). These mortals will live through the entirety of eon 5 and be vivified at the consummation. It's at the consummation that Christ will render completely inoperative the 1st aspect of death and check this task off of His to-do list.  

"But what about all of the dead in the lake of fire!?"

That's a valid question, Jan.

Christianity teaches, erroneously, that the lake of fire lasts forever. The ECT camp says unbelievers are tormented forever there. Stop. Think about that for more than one second—tormented forever. There is zero scriptural justification for this teaching that makes such a horrible claim about our God, "the living God, Who is the Saviour of all mankind" (1 Timothy 4:10).

Christianity does not realize, and therefore cannot teach, the full scope of Christ's work for the salvation of all. And they do not realize, and therefore cannot teach, the full scope of His abolishing of death, "The last enemy is being abolished: death" (1 Corinthians 15:26).

Paul taunts death in 1 Corinthians 15:53–57,

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal put on immortality. ⁵⁴ Now, whenever this corruptible should be putting on incorruption and this mortal should be putting on immortality, then shall come to pass the word which is written, Swallowed up was Death by Victory. ⁵⁵ Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting? ⁵⁶ Now the sting of Death is sin, yet the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ Now thanks be to God, Who is giving us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul is speaking about the second vivification that will take place at the return of Christ. And, at that time, there is victory for those who are immortalized through the victory of Christ over death. But he also has the larger victory of Christ in view—the complete and total victory over death for all humanity. Paul's taunt in verse 55 is meaningless if death, whether the first or second death, does, in fact, gain victory over billions of people forever. If death gains victory over humanity to any degree, how is that a victory for Christ? How is that, in any sense, Death being "Swallowed up ... by Victory" (v. 54)?

Verses 22 and 26 of 1 Corinthians 15 work together to reveal the complete victory of Christ over death.

• For even as, in Adam, all are dying, thus also, in Christ, shall all be vivified. (v.22)
• The last enemy is being abolished: death. (v.26)

When the dead in the lake of fire, and the living mortals on the new earth, are vivified at the consummation, death will be rendered completely inoperative in all aspects by Christ. Take that, Christian tradition! When all are immortalized, there will remain no potential victims for death. The death state will be finished ... forever!

The 4th so-called Christian "hell," the lake of fire, will be rendered completely inoperative. And Christ's victory will go beyond the defeat of the second death for mortals. Even the lake of fire's hold on the immortals—Satan, the wild beast, the false prophet, and any others—is limited to "the eons of the eons" (Revelation 20:10). Believe it or not, God's goal is to be "All in all," not torment His enemies forever.

I used this quote from A.E. Knoch in part 2 of this series. And it's appropriate here also (italics in original),

Judgment is God's strange work. He uses it on the way. Men make it the end. No matter how an unbeliever is dealt with, whether he dies as a result of sin, or by the direct intervention of God, whether he be cast into outer darkness or into Gehenna, this is not his end. All who do not belong to Christ will be roused from the dead and judged before the great white throne. ... [Those] cast into the lake of fire, ... suffer the second death. Even this is not their end. God does not reach His goal in any of His disciplinary measures. These only prepare His creatures for it. Let us not confuse the going with the goal.

Unsearchable Riches V65P2 p.258

Bonus Stuff!

Following are a few bonus tidbits from my notes on this study concerning the 4th Christian hell, the lake of fire.

Satan undone?

Satan has been naughty. 2 Corinthians 4:4 says, "the god of this eon [Satan] blinds the apprehensions of the unbelieving so that the illumination of the evangel of the glory of Christ, Who is the Image of the invisible God, does not irradiate them." This is not good. The Adversary's nefarious acts have really messed things up. But, this is only a temporary dilemma.

1 John 3:8 gives us this big truth, "For this was the Son of God manifested, that He should be annulling the acts of the Adversary." The word annulling (Greek - lyse) means to loose, release, dissolve. Satan ties people up and binds them in many ways. Being bound in death is the result of the Adversary's acts. Remember, it was his act in the garden that led to Adam's sin that brought death to all mankind (Romans 5:12).

Those who will be cast into the lake of fire go there as a result of the Adversary's acts. But, since Jesus came to annul the Adversary's acts, the undoing of the second death is right up Christ's alley. It is true that 1 John 3:8 doesn't say Christ will annul all of the Adversary's acts. Does it have to? If you don't believe He will annul all of Satan's acts, please tell me which ones He will not annul. I'm dead serious. This is a big deal. Put your answers in the comments below.

If Christ leaves all of the dead in the lake of fire forever, can we say that He has truly fulfilled His mission to undo the Adversary's acts? No.

This is just another line of evidence to prove the complete victory of Christ, "the Savior of the world" (1 John 4:14).

From zero to life in less than 2 seconds

Christianity has really messed with our heads concerning the condition of the dead. They have brainwashed us into believing that the dead are actually the living-dead who are being tormented beneath us while we prepare our spots of tea. And, they say, dead believers are playing checkers with Jesus on Cloud #9. No. This is not death. Death is death. Death is the opposite of life, and, therefore involves no life. Revelation 20:5 says, "... the dead do not live ... ." Ecclesiastes 9:5 tells us, "For the living know that they shall die, but the dead know nothing whatsoever ... ." Nothing whatsoever? How can they know torment, or bliss, if they know nothing whatsoever?

The mortals cast into the lake of fire will die instantly. They will be the dead-dead. Then eon 5—the new heaven and new earth eon—will begin and roll on. For how long? We are not told. We who will live during that greatest of eons will experience the passage of time. But, at the consummation of that final eon, those killed in the lake of fire will be raised to immortality as part of the third class of the vivified.

Observe the mercy of God in this.

Those killed by the lake of fire experience no passage of time while they are dead—they "know nothing whatsoever." They die instantly in the lake of fire, they know nothing while they are dead, including the passage of time, and they are vivified when the second death is rendered completely inoperative at the end of the eon. Their experience is an instant transition from death to life. But, they do miss out on that amazing 5th eon.

The Great White Throne

No one knows the duration of the great white throne era. It begins after the millennium. It occurs after heaven and earth have fled, and before the new heaven and new earth arrive. It is obvious that a massive judgment will occur during this time. Jesus called it "a resurrection of judging" (John 5:29). This judgment will serve many purposes. But the greatest purpose is told to us by Jesus in John 5:22–23,

For neither is the Father judging anyone, but has given all judging to the Son, ²³ that all may be honoring the Son, according as they are honoring the Father. He who is not honoring the Son is not honoring the Father Who sends Him.

That is the ultimate purpose of judgment—"that all may be honoring the Son." This tells us that all those judged will indeed have a change of mind (aka repent). Repentance? At the great white throne? Who knew? The judged will be transformed by Jesus' judgment from those who dishonor Christ and God to those who honor Them.

But, contrary to much traditional Christian teaching, judgment occurs only while the judged are alive. Orthodoxy has taught for too long that unbelievers who die go to "hell" where they undergo suffering and torment before their appointment with the Judge at the great white throne. This travesty of justice makes death a form of life in which the unbeliever suffers, possibly for thousands of years, before any sentence is handed down during in the scheduled judgment.

Those who are cast into the lake of fire have already been judged. The lake is not their judgment, but is the result of their name not being found in the scroll of life.

Romans 2:5–10 reveals to us some details of the great white throne judgment,

Yet, in accord with your hardness and unrepentant heart you are hoarding for yourself indignation in the day of indignation and revelation of the just judgment of God, ⁶ Who will be paying each one in accord with his acts: ⁷ to those, indeed, who by endurance in good acts are seeking glory and honor and incorruption, life eonian; ⁸ yet to those of faction and stubborn, indeed, as to the truth, yet persuaded to injustice, indignation and fury, ⁹ affliction and distress, on every human soul which is effecting evil, both of the Jew first and of the Greek, ¹⁰ yet glory and honor and peace to every worker of good, both to the Jew first, and to the Greek.

God's judgments always includes a beneficial purpose for the judged. We must remember that the indignation, fury, affliction and distress are coming from God, not a human enemy. David realized the difference and said this when God gave him three options of judgment for his sin, "David replied to Gad [the prophet], 'Utter distress is mine. Let us fall, I pray, into the hand of Yahweh, for His compassions are abundant; but let me not fall into the hand of humanity'" (2 Samuel 24:14).

Though we are enduring wickedness in this current wicked eon, we are all in God's hands. And, at the consummation of the eons, and beyond, we will all still be in His hands. He will be "All in all," and none will be damned to any of the mythical Christian hells.

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Images
Pahoeoe fountain By J.D. Griggs; Public Domain, Link
Meat Loaf Last at Bat Newcastle 2013 Bat Out of Hell by TubularWorld / CC BY-SA
talk bubble and text added; cropped 

The ends of the 4 Christian hells, Part 2 (short version)

Jesus warned about Gehenna, worms and fire in Mark 9:43–48,

And if your hand should ever be snaring you, strike it off. It is ideal for you to be entering into life maimed, rather than, having two hands, to come away into Gehenna, into the unextinguished fire ⁴⁴ where their worm is not deceasing and the fire is not going out. ⁴⁵ And if your foot should be snaring you, strike it off. For it is ideal for you to be entering into life maimed or lame, rather than, having two feet, to be cast into Gehenna, into the unextinguished fire, ⁴⁶ where their worm is not deceasing and the fire is not going out. ⁴⁷ And if your eye should be snaring you, cast it out. It is ideal for you to be entering into the kingdom of God one-eyed, rather than, having two eyes, to be cast into the Gehenna of fire, ⁴⁸ where their worm is not deceasing and the fire is not going out.

Concordant Literal New Testament - CLNT

Christianity says that the valley of Gehenna is hell and the lake of fire, and that the judgment of Gehenna/hell/lake of fire is everlasting. But this miraculous morphing of the valley of Gehenna into hell and the lake of fire cannot be found in the Scriptures. And not one single judgment in the Scriptures is everlasting. Even Satan's time in the lake of fire is limited to "the eons of the eons" (Revelation 20:10)

They err, greatly.

Gehenna, an actual valley outside of Jerusalem, will end when this current earth ends. This takes place at the end of the next eon, after the millennium,

And I perceived a great white throne, and Him Who is sitting upon it, from Whose face earth and heaven fled, and no place was found for them.

Revelation 20:11 - CLNT

The apostle Peter gives us more details concerning this event,

Earth, in the future

Yet the heavens now, and the earth, by the same word, are stored with fire, being kept for the day of the judging and destruction of irreverent men. ⁸ Now of this one thing you are not to be oblivious, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. ⁹ The Lord is not tardy as to the promise, as some are deeming tardiness, but is patient because of you, not intending any to perish, but all to make room for repentance. ¹⁰ Now the day of the Lord will be arriving as a thief, in which the heavens shall be passing by with a booming noise, yet the elements shall be dissolved by combustion, and the earth and the works in it shall be found. ¹¹ At these all, then, dissolving, to what manner of men must you belong in holy behavior and devoutness, ¹² hoping for and hurrying the presence of God's day, because of which the heavens, being on fire, will be dissolved, and the elements decompose by combustion! ¹³ Yet we, according to His promises, are hoping for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness is dwelling.

2 Peter 3:7–13 - CLNT

So, there it is, the end of Gehenna, the second Christian "hell."
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Image: Melting earth on Pikist 

How to know if your Jesus is too damn tiny

There are various sizes of Jesuses in the world today. Most are just too damn tiny to accomplish the big projects God has begun. But the true Jesus - the Biggest Jesus - has the power, wisdom and love to finish all of God's work.

"Why I quit going to church." (and R.E.M.'s misunderstood lyrics)

I quit going to church in the fall of 2009. It was a beautiful day.

Heathen? Heretic? Unbeliever? Backslider? Nope. Nope. Nope. And, nope. Just the opposite—Frontslider.

I quit going to church because God was sliding me forward in my relationship with Him. He slid me to a place that was exterior to the local Christian meeting hall, and out of orthodox, or rather, orthobox Christianity. Yes, I like to make up words if they make sense to me. But what I don't like to do is make up, or promote, false teachings about my heavenly Father and my Savior, Christ Jesus.

I loved Orthodox Christianity (OC; The Box) when I was in it. I had a lot of friends in that tiny box. All I knew about God and Jesus came from orthobox teaching. I was content in there, only able to see what I could see from inside The Box. Because of OC's limited teachings, I believed with all my heart that most of the people who Christ died for would end up tormented forever in a very hot and very unpleasant place called "hell." One of my life's missions was to rescue people from this horrible end, as I had been rescued.

Rescued from The Box

But, after about 17 years in The Box, I began to see things in the Scriptures that directly contradicted OC. God was bringing teachers across my path with messages that were very different from what I believed at the time. Radically different. Heretically different (at least from the viewpoint of orthoboxy).

But the new teachings I encountered were Scriptural, unlike my long-held beliefs. The teachings I had gotten in The Box were, in reality, just the teachings of men which were devoid of power to help, but filled with power to deceive. Jesus spoke about these kinds of false teachings in Mark 7,

⁶ Yet [Jesus], answering, said to [the Pharisees and scribes] that "Ideally prophesies Isaiah concerning you hypocrites, as it is written, that 'This people with their lips is honoring Me, Yet their heart is away at a distance from Me.⁷ Yet in vain are they revering Me, teaching for teachings the directions of men.' ⁸ For, leaving the precept of God, you are holding the tradition of men ... ."

These people Jesus confronted did honor and revere God ... with their lips. But all of their honoring and revering was empty because they left the true teachings of God for the worthless teachings of men.

Because the new teachings I was encountering were so radically different from what I had believed for so long, I examined the Scriptures as never before to see if these amazing teachings were true. Through this process, God was sharpening my Scripture-studying skills. And He was opening my eyes to see simple, life-changing truths right in the Scriptures. I had read past these truths dozens of times before, but with Satanic blinders on.

It seemed I now had an important choice to make: continue in Orthobox Christianity (where my wife and I and our kids had been for so long), or get out and continue to search for the truth of God outside of The Box. I knew leaving The Box would mean leaving friends also. This was a big decision that would immediately impact me and my family, probably for the rest of our lives.

Even though it was a big decision, it was not a hard decision.

Why it was an easy decision to leave The Box

I knew that teachers in The Box were saying things about my heavenly Father and Savior that were flat out lies. Regrettably, I had spouted these same demonic lies for many years from pulpits, in bible studies, and in Sunday School classes. My biggest regret is teaching these lies to young kids, including my own.

Here's the question I asked myself that made leaving The Box an easy decision: "Why would I want to stick around in, and participate in, a system where people are telling horrible lies about my Father?" I had no good answer to this "Why?". "God, strap a rocket to my back and get me the hell out of here!"

I have ZERO regrets about leaving.

Imagine what you would do in the following scenario: You're part of a social club that is loving and kind. And the people in the club are helpful to you. But, using a PA system, they continually tell damaging lies about your earthly father, who, in fact, is a great guy. Would you continue to hang around and be a part of that club? Would the good things they do, even for you personally, outweigh the fact that they are lying about your good father?

"Do you even hear their words?"

I like good music. I didn't think that this habit of mine was odd, but I actually listen to the words in songs. The words are the heart of the song—the message the writer wants to get across. The music is just the clothing. Though not everyone listens closely to the words of songs, everyone listens to the music. The music is what hooks you.

The other day I was singing some words along with a song on the radio to my wife. It was a song that was popular and had been on the radio for quite a while. My wife said she didn't know that those were the words in the song. The music had hooked her, but she hadn't grasped the meaning of the song.

Some words in some very popular songs are quite disturbing. But you'll often find humans dancing to these songs. The catchy music hooks us. And we're often not aware of the dark message we're grooving to.

I'm a huge fan of the band R.E.M. Years ago they had a hit called The One I Love. Lead singer and writer Michael Stipe called the song "real violent and awful" in Rolling Stone magazine. He said later in Mojo, "I didn't like the song to begin with. It was too brutal. ... But people misunderstood it, so it was fine. Now it's a love song, so that's fine." I recall stories of Stipe being on stage singing this song, looking out at couples embracing and singing along, clueless to the true awfulness of the song's lyrics.

The title of the song, "The One I Love," and its opening line, "This one goes out to the one I love," led people to believe that this was a true love song. But they didn't listen to the whole song. If you're a lovebird, try crooning some of these lines from the song to your lover (be prepared to duck),

♪♫"This one goes out to the one I've left behind
A simple prop to occupy my time"♫♪

Love song, my ass!

It's the same with Orthodox Christianity. People fall in love with the music, the fellowship, and some of their good deeds. But they fail to hear the God-damning and Savior-denying words streaming from OC's multiple avenues of teaching. Satan truly is the Master Distractor. If you're in The Box, I encourage you to listen closely to the entire message they are proclaiming. Ask your Pastor or leaders what they truly believe. Words matter. Beliefs matter. God and Jesus matter.

A few questions to ask your Pastor

Do you really know what your church believes and teaches? Most churches today have websites that tell you exactly what they believe about God and Jesus. Check the sites out. Some of their teachings may be obvious, but some you may have to dig a little bit to find.

Or, you could just ask your leaders what they believe. It's OK to ask your pastor questions. In fact, your pastor should welcome your questions. But be prepared, he might not welcome inquiring minds. His reaction will  have a lot to do with the questions you ask.

I've been in churches that don't preach from the pulpit what they truly believe about God because they know it makes Him look bad. The teaching that God torments unbelievers forever in hell is the main teaching some shy away from publicly proclaiming. They don't like bringing their listener's (and tithe-payer's) attention to the dark side of their twisted version of the "good news."

If you choose to remain in The Box, I think you should at least know what your Box's beliefs are.

The main issues concerning any church's beliefs are their teachings about God and His Son. If the church you meet with is teaching errors about God and Jesus, do you really want to hang with them?

A few questions you can ask:

• Did Jesus save all people when He died on the cross?
• Does God offer us salvation, or does He simply save us with zero assistance from us?
• Will Jesus undo all of Satan's works? If they say "No," ask them which of the Adversary's works will remain forever.
• Will Jesus undo all the condemnation that came through Adam's sin? (see Romans 5, especially verse 18)
• If God is love, and He loves His enemies, how is it loving for Him to torment His unbelieving enemies forever?

And there may be more questions you've had for a long time, but haven't yet asked. Go ahead and ask them. What've you got to lose?

Big Truths you won't hear in The Box

Here's a quick list of Scriptural truths that OC denies. Maybe some of these will spark questions you can ask your leaders if you're in The Box:

• God is the only being that has free will
• God is the only being that has, or will ever have, eternal life (life with no beginning or end)
• God will pour out the fullness of His love and grace on all people
• God will use His power, sovereignty and love to accomplish all of His will (1 Timothy 2:4; Acts 13:22–23)
• Christ justified all people through His death and resurrection (Romans 5:18)
• God will reconcile all things to Himself through Christ's work (Colossians 1:16–20)
• Christ will completely undo all of Satan's works (1 John 3:8)
• The Lamb of God removed the sin of the world on the cross (John 1:29)
• Jesus saved (past tense) the world (John 3:17)
• God is the Savior of all mankind (1 Timothy 4:10)
• The resurrected Christ's message through Paul is bigger than His message to Israel through Peter and the other apostles
• The dead are truly dead (they're not currently alive in any form) 
• Jesus will rescue all people from death (1 Corinthians 15:26)
• Jesus' death and resurrection undoes all the effects of Adam's sin (Romans 5:18)
• God's mission for Christ will be accomplished through time periods called eons (Greek: aion)
• The eons will end when Christ successfully finishes all of God's will and God is All in all (1 Corinthians 15:20–28)

If you choose to remain in The Box ...

I have enough trouble living my own life, so I will never tell you how to live yours. But, if you believe the big truths about God that are denied in The Box, please be honest with yourself about why you choose to remain bound in The Box.

God's words through Paul come to mind. 2 Corinthians 6:14–7:1,

Do not become diversely yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness? Or what communion has light with darkness? ¹⁵ Now what agreement has Christ with Belial? Or what part a believer with an unbeliever? ¹⁶ Now what concurrence has a temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God, according as God said, that I will be making My home and will be walking in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. ¹⁷ Wherefore, Come out of their midst and be severed, the Lord is saying. And touch not the unclean, and I will admit you, ¹⁸ and I will be a Father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me, says the Lord Almighty. ^7:1 Having, then, these promises, beloved, we should be cleansing ourselves from every pollution of flesh and spirit, completing holiness in the fear of God.

Are you going to continue to fellowship in a system that blasphemes your Father? Will you hang in a system that paints a false, weak image of your Savior to the world?

How to quit church without quitting God

My friend, Martin  Zender, wrote a great book on the subject of a believer quitting church. I read this book long after God rescued me out of The Box. Yes, it's true, a believer can quit church without quitting God. In fact, when a believer quits church, and continues to grow with God, their growth is no longer limited by The Box.

You might fear feeling alone if you quit church. And you may very well feel alone if you quit your church. But you're never truly alone. Jesus won't leave you. God won't leave you. And there are many people who've left The Box that have found unique ways to fellowship.

Following are some links where you can get encouragement, fellowship and learnin' that you'll not hear in The Box:

• Subscribe to new posts from The Biggest Jesus (see the right-side column ➔➔)
• Comment at the bottom of this post. I'll be notified, and we can start a discussion.
• MartinZender.com: decades of solid, humorous, and deep teaching about God. Books, essays, newsletters, video and audio. There's so much on Martin's site that you'll need to take drinks often or you'll choke.
• Martin Zender's fat YouTube playlists: over 1400 videos and growing
• MortalFury YouTube channel: 2 buddies, Chris and Dean, spittin' truth
• Concordant.org: properly translated Scriptures that you can read online. 100+ years of solid Scripture teaching that is too big for The Box.
• Concordant.org/Unsearchable Riches: Published continuously since 1909, this is one of my go-to study tools. Download the digital version and search just about every Scripture topic imaginable.

Grow in grace and in the knowledge of God and Jesus.
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Images
"Huge Blinders" by Emilio Labrador; CC BY 2.0
"Man and Woman Dancing"; https://www.piqsels.com/en/public-domain-photo-scihg; Creative Commons 0 - CC0 voice bubble and words added
"How to Quit Church Without Quitting God"; Martin Zender; http://martinzender.com/books/htqc_pb_enlarged.htm

"Why I no longer believe the second death is figurative."

God tells us through the apostle Peter, "Yet be growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18 - Concordant Literal New Testament - CLNT). And those are my goals—growing and knowing.

Growing is sometimes painful, especially when I'm growing out of error and into truth. This entails admitting that I was wrong about something. Who likes to admit that?

I was wrong about the second death. This was due, in part, to errors I picked up while trudging through orthodox Christianity for 17 years. I liken these errors to ticks that affixed to my body in hidden places, slyly sucking precious life from me. But God, Who sees and knows all my affixed ticks by name, has plucked these parasites from me and set me free from many errors.

Having believed the error, and then been set free from it, makes me appreciate the truth that much more. The experiencing of both error and truth helps me relate better to people who are still in error. And freedom is more precious to a former slave than to someone who's never been shackled.

"What happens to those who are cast into the lake of fire?"

Revelation 20:14 tells us, "This is the second death-the lake of fire" (CLNT). When I was in orthodox Christianity, I believed billions of people will be tormented alive forever in the lake of fire/second death. (Reading that last sentence makes me now feel foolish for what I actually believed and taught.)

The great white throne judgment and the second death are coming. They are on God's timetable and will arrive on schedule. They are part of His grand plan, but not the end of His plan.

Revelation 20:15 says, "And if anyone was not found written in the scroll of life, he was cast into the lake of fire." So, if those cast into the lake of fire aren't tormented forever, what will happen to them? They will die. Period. End of chapter (but not the end of their book). You can go home now. There's no more to see here. Move along people, move along.

Not convinced?

I know, I know. The simple truths from God, like "This is the second death–the lake of fire," need unsimple explanations. This is because we are constantly having to untwist the Adversary's knotting of the Scriptures before we can see the simple truths. Every time God has moved me from error to truth, it has been delivery from a complex lie to the simple truth.

According to Hebrews 6:1–2, the teachings about resurrection and judgment are basic, and we should move past them to more mature subjects. But the Satanic and religious muddying of these basic truths takes time to clean up. And there are constantly waves of new people arriving on shore who need to be delivered from traditional lies to the truth.

Here's my conversion story concerning the lake of fire/second death. Maybe it will help you see the truth of this part of God's plan.

Tied up in naughty knots

I believed for many years that the second death will be figurative. This means I believed people would be physically alive, but also in a form of death (or oblivion) mentally and spiritually. I believed this for several years, even after realizing that Jesus did indeed save all people on the cross. Even after realizing eternal torment and annihilation are demonic lies.

A few years ago, I was set free from this lie by God, His Scriptures, A.E. Knoch, and Martin Zender. I'm deeply thankful for this.

One passage I used to support my belief in a figurative second death was the parable of the prodigal son. In Luke 15:24, the loving father says of his returned wayward son, "for this my son was dead and revives; he was lost and was found." The son was not literally dead, but figuratively dead. He was oblivious to how good his life truly was with his father. Then he came to his senses and figuratively revived from his figurative state of death. I took this obvious figurative usage of death and illegally used it to support my belief in a figurative second death. I used it to reinforce the idea that dead people in the lake of fire will be alive while dead. I saw the lake of fire/second death as a sort of reform school of ultra-hard knocks that will bring people to their senses, like the prodigal son. I made the mistake of mixing the literal with the figurative. We must not mix what God has kept separate. And remember this rule for understanding the Scriptures: literal if possible.

Resurrection and vivification

My error was also largely based on a misunderstanding of the resurrections taught in the Scriptures.

There are two types of resurrections in the Scriptures. But most bible versions don't make a clear distinction between them. The Concordant Literal New Testament does.

Resurrection, in its lowest form, is a raising from the dead, but not to immortality. Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, was raised from the dead, but not made immortal (John 11:1–46). Even in its lowest form, resurrection is spectacular. Imagine holding your dearest departed loved one in your arms again. See what I mean? Holding them again is worth having to eventually pay for their second funeral. But the highest form of resurrection is to immortality. Vivifiy is the word used by the CLNT to describe God's powerful work to give immortality to all.

We see the vivification of all in 1 Corinthians 15:22, "For even as, in Adam, all are dying, thus also, in Christ, shall all be vivified." The CLNT maintains the clear distinction between resurrection (Greek: anastasin) and vivified (Greek: zōopoiēthēsontai).

Christ was not the first person to be resurrected. He raised several people from the dead prior to His own resurrection. But He is called "the Firstfruit" of resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:20–23. If He wasn't the first to be resurrected, how can He be the Firstfruit? Here's how: He is the first One raised from the dead to experience vivification. And He is the only One, so far, Who has been vivified. 1 Timothy 6:16 clarifies for us what vivification is when it says of Christ "Who alone has immortality." He alone currently has immortality through vivification. Two classes of people will follow Him in like manner—"in Christ, shall all be vivified."

The following two verses hint at a distinction between resurrection and vivification,

John 11:25,

Jesus said to her, "I am the Resurrection and the Life. He who is believing in Me, even if he should be dying, shall be living."

John 5:21,

For even as the Father is rousing the dead and vivifying, thus the Son also is vivifying whom He will.

And Jesus' mind-blowing words in John 5:28–29,

Marvel not at this, for coming is the hour in which all who are in the tombs shall hear His voice, ²⁹ and those who do good shall go out into a resurrection of life, yet those who commit bad things, into a resurrection of judging. 

The phrase resurrection of life also hints at something more than resurrection (Greek: anastasin). The word resurrection means restoration to life from death–to stand up. But why add of life to resurrection? Because God is pointing us to something more than a return to mortal life from the death state. He is pointing us toward true life—immortality. And this is what occurs in the resurrection of life. Thus, the resurrection of judging, even though it also gives life to the dead, lacks the level of life included in the resurrection of life.

I took Jesus' words literally when He spoke of these two distinct resurrections in John 5:28–29. But, when I was in error concerning the second death, I mentally added a non-existent limitation to what He said. I assumed there would be only these two resurrections in the future. I was ignorant of another resurrection—the final vivification. I thought Jesus was going to fire all of His bullets at death in these two resurrections. He will destroy the first death at the time of the great white throne judgment, "And death and the unseen were cast into the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:14). But the second death would still exist. In my ignorance, I had to find a way for Him to overcome the second death with these two spectacular resurrections. So I had to somehow work immortality into the resurrection of judging.

The resurrection of life and the resurrection of judging

The resurrection of life is spoken of in the following passages,

Revelation 20:4–6,

And I perceived thrones, and they are seated on them, and judgment was granted to them. And the souls of those executed because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who do not worship the wild beast or its image, and did not get the emblem on their forehead and on their hand - they also live and reign with Christ a thousand years. ⁵ (The rest of the dead do not live until the thousand years should be finished.) This is the former resurrection. ⁶ Happy and holy is he who is having part in the former resurrection! Over these the second death has no jurisdiction, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will be reigning with Him the thousand years.

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18,

Now we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are reposing, lest you may sorrow according as the rest, also, who have no expectation. ¹⁴ For, if we are believing that Jesus died and rose, thus also, those who are put to repose, will God, through Jesus, lead forth together with Him. ¹⁵ For this we are saying to you by the word of the Lord, that we, the living, who are surviving to the presence of the Lord, should by no means outstrip those who are put to repose, ¹⁶ for the Lord Himself will be descending from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the Chief Messenger, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall be rising first.¹⁷ Thereupon we, the living who are surviving, shall at the same time be snatched away together with them in clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. And thus shall we always be together with the Lord. ¹⁸ So that, console one another with these words. 

Luke 20:35–36,

Yet those deemed worthy to happen upon that eon and the resurrection from among the dead are neither marrying nor taking out in marriage. ³⁶ For neither can they still be dying, for they are equal to messengers, and are the sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.

The resurrection of judging is found in Revelation 20:11–15,

¹¹ And I perceived a great white throne, and Him Who is sitting upon it, from Whose face earth and heaven fled, and no place was found for them. ¹² And I perceived the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. And scrolls were opened. And another scroll was opened which is the scroll of life. And the dead were judged by that which is written in the scrolls in accord with their acts. ¹³ And the sea gives up the dead in it, and death and the unseen give up the dead in them. And they were condemned, each in accord with their acts. ¹⁴ And death and the unseen were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death–the lake of fire. ¹⁵ And if anyone was not found written in the scroll of life, he was cast into the lake of fire. 

I had a dilemma.

I believed Jesus is the Savior of the world—1 Timothy 2:4-6 & 4:10. By this I mean He already saved all people on the cross. "But," I wondered, "how can those cast into the lake of fire be saved if they are killed, and God has used up all of His resurrections?" Remember, in my error, I thought God only had two resurrections left. So I reasoned that those raised at the great white throne have to be made immortal if all will be saved.

So I pieced together a way, using (or rather, abusing) the Scriptures, to grant immortality to all who will be raised at the great white throne. It was a lot of work putting Scriptural puzzle pieces together that didn't really fit. But I was so proud of the result! I had to do this. God had no more resurrections left. He needed my help.

In my misunderstanding, those raised at the great white throne will be made immortal prior to being launched into the lake. Their immortality will enable them to survive the second death. They will live through this figurative death, just like the prodigal son lived through his "death." When they come to their senses in the lake of fire, they will be delivered from it. Eventually, everyone will come to their senses, be freed from the second death, and death would have no more purpose. It will be rendered inoperative because all will be immortal (1 Corinthians 15:26).

The truth is, I later learned, those raised at the great white throne are not included in the three classes of 1 Corinthians 15 who are vivified. Many raised at the great white throne will be subject to the second death (meaning they literally die), thus they will not be immortal. Those raised at the great white throne who do not go into the second death are mortal and will enter onto the new earth. They will not be cast into the lake of fire because their names will be found in the scroll of life (Revelation 20:15), and they will have access to the new Jerusalem to be physically sustained by the fruit and leaves from the log of life (Revelation 21:22–22:2).

The end of the Bible is NOT the end of the story

Obviously, we can't, in reality, limit God. Jesus is going to accomplish all of His Father's will (Acts 13:22–23; Hebrews 10:7–9; 1 Corinthians 15:20–28). But we can artificially limit God in our mind and in the minds of those we talk to. This artificial limiting does in reality affect us negatively. Our false ideas about God will never limit Him, but they will limit us.

Jesus' powerful revelation of the two resurrections in John 5:28–29 is true. But it is not the end of God's revelation on the subject of resurrection and vivification.

God, through the apostle Paul, cracks open wider the door to the future for us to see His plan for all humanity. This plan includes the vivification (immortality) of all humanity. I knew this was His goal. But I didn't see for a long time how He was going to get there.

Only by coming to understand the vivifications in 1 Corinthians 15 was I set free from the need to illegally immortalize all those raised at the great white throne. God has one more card to play. And it's a doozy.

Like most people bound by orthodox Christianity's false teachings, I thought the book of Revelation was the end of God's dealings with man in the Scriptures. I logically thought this because Revelation is the last book in our Bibles.

But God, in His wisdom and creativity, tucked the end of the story into the middle of the new testament. Has any author ever done something like that? Not that I know of. But God is the Author of authors. And He does what He does without needing anyone's permission. And that's awesome.

1 Corinthians 15 reveals to us the vivification of all (v.22), the end of death (v.26), the complete victory of Christ (vs.24–27), and God's ultimate goal for all people (v.28).

²⁰ Yet now Christ has been roused from among the dead, the Firstfruit of those who are reposing. ²¹ For since, in fact, through a man came death, through a Man, also, comes the resurrection of the dead. ²² For even as, in Adam, all are dying, thus also, in Christ, shall all be vivified. ²³ Yet each in his own class: the Firstfruit, Christ; thereupon those who are Christ's in His presence; ²⁴ thereafter the consummation, whenever He may be giving up the kingdom to His God and Father, whenever He should be nullifying all sovereignty and all authority and power. ²⁵ For He must be reigning until He should be placing all His enemies under His feet. ²⁶ The last enemy is being abolished: death. ²⁷ For He subjects all under His feet. Now whenever He may be saying that all is subject, it is evident that it is outside of Him Who subjects all to Him. ²⁸ Now, whenever all may be subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also shall be subjected to Him Who subjects all to Him, that God may be All in all.

There it is, the vivification of all in verse 22 (also 1 Timothy 6:13, "... God, Who is vivifying all ... "). I see it so clearly now. But when you're tied up in an erroneous knot, clear things are often muddied or completely unseen. And we can only see truth when God opens our eyes (Luke 24:13–35; Acts 16:14; Philippians 1:29).

All of us, whether we are a believer or an unbeliever, will die the first death because of our relationship to Adam. Some will die in the second death as a result of their absence from the scroll of life (Revelation 20:12–15). But Death (the first and the second) will be abolished and have absolutely no victory. 1 Corinthians 15:54–55,

Swallowed up was Death by Victory. ⁵⁵ Where, O Death, is your victory?

Death will have zero response to Paul's taunting question. Death will have no victory in the end when all are vivified and put beyond its reach. Death will be totally inoperative. That is an almost unimaginable scenario for us, given the fact that death currently reigns over all humanity. Have faith in Christ. He will gain total victory over Death!

The 3 vivified classes

Paul tells us there are 3 classes vivified in 1 Corinthians 15. The first is Christ, the Firtsfruit. The second and third classes will follow Him in vivification. What's true of Him will be true of us. The second class is "those who are Christ's in His presence." This is the resurrection of life for those who are granted belief in this life. The third class will be at the consummation (not the great white throne). This is the consummation of the eons when Christ successfully accomplishes all of God's will. The spectacular events at the consummation are detailed for us in 1 Corinthians 15:24–28 (read above). The Israelite jubilee was a time when all were set free (see Leviticus 25). The jubilee is a type of the consummation of the eons. There will be freedom for all through Christ.

Eternal tormentists and annihilationists proclaim everlasting death

Orthodox Christianity teaches the world that death is unending (whether it be eternal torment or annihilation). They obviously contradict God's version of the final, glorious events of the consummation of the eons. They ignorantly diminish Jesus' work and blaspheme Him while giving death and Satan great victory over a mass of humanity. They say Jesus didn't save the world on the cross. They say that Adam's sin has a greater scope of impact than Christ's work. And an unwitting world believes their lies and sees a grotesque distortion of God and His Son. And the world is depressed thinking everlasting death (whether literal or figurative) is the fate of most of humanity. Don't believe their lies. I did for a long time. The truth of Jesus set me free. Despite what orthodox Christianity teaches, Jesus is the Successful Savior (1 Timothy 2:4-6, 4:10; 1 John 2:2, 4:14; John 1:29).

Believe Him.

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Images
Tree Image by 12272790 from Pixabay
Knots: Christian Mercat [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Second Childhood by anoldent (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Rat-poison Bible versions

Jim loved Beth. And he loved Beth's homemade mashed potatoes and beef gravy. (They do look delicious.)

Beth hated Jim. But she loved money, especially the money she couldn't collect until Jim was dead. Beth's biggest problem? Jim was young and as healthy as a healthy horse.

Beth knew she could use Jim's weakness for her award-winning cooking. So she increased the frequency of the dish at suppertime, with just a pinch of one new ingredient sprinkled in for a little extra zing. Jim gobbled up every plateful Beth set before him, unaware of the addition to the killer recipe.

Jim slowly became less healthy than a horse. Beth realized her plan to end him was working. She was willing to be patient and didn't mind seeing him suffer on the way to his grave.

After eight months Jim finally arrived at the cemetery. Beth is now wealthy, young, and single.

Killing us softly, slowly, and surely

Mortality by itself is hard enough on us. We carry the weight of death every day. Our ongoing struggle against death will end with its inevitable victory. Additional poisoning elements that compound our suffering on our journey to the cemetery don't help.

One possible source of hope and joy in our lives—the Bible—could actually be slowly, consistently poisoning us. Even if you don't read the Bible, you're not immune. The poison has been spewed for centuries from the pens and mouths of preachers and writers and infected humanity. The poison is dispersed, sometimes subtly, sometimes blatantly, through movies, TV shows and music. Pay attention, you'll see it.

99.995% safe

If you were told that something was 99.995% safe, you probably wouldn't think twice about eating, drinking, snorting or injecting it, let alone reading it.

The rodent-ridding brand d-CON^® rat poison contains .005% active killing ingredient. The other 99.995% is inert. d-CON^® was initially promoted as "undetectable (odorless and tasteless) by rats and does not produce bait shyness."

The poison in most English Bible versions is undetectable (odorless and tasteless) and does not produce Bible shyness. Millions of people continue to open their poisonous Bibles everyday and consume the toxins, unaware.

The poison is intentional mistranslation. I say "intentional" because the scholars who translate the Bibles should know better, having been trained in the original Hebrew and Greek languages of the Scriptures. But their tradition, and position in the club—The International Order of Bad Theologians (TIOoBT)—are more important to them than the truth. So they hide pellets of death within the lines of their self-proclaimed "Holy" Bible versions.

How to test your Bible for poison

Is your beloved Bible is poisoning you? Here's a simple test. Open your Bible to 2 Thessalonians 1:9. This is one of 12 verses (by my count) that speak of the duration of destruction for unbelievers. Here it is in three versions,

Authorized King James Version (AKJV)

who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;

English Standard Version (ESV)
They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,

International Children's Bible (ICB)
Those people will be punished with a destruction that continues forever. They will not be allowed to be with the Lord, and they will be kept away from his great power.

The bold red word in each version is the interpretation of the Greek adjective aionion. I call it an interpretation, and not a translation, because translation is the unbiased use of words from one language to accurately convey the meaning of words from another language. An interpretation happens when a translator goes rogue, alters the meaning, and biases his "translation" to fit his personal theology. This muddies, and sometimes completely conceals, God's intended message to humanity through His sacred Scriptures. Thus we have unholy Bibles masquerading as holy Bibles. There's the .005%. It only takes one twisted word out of the 700,000+ words in the Bible to spoil the whole book. Throwing a bunch of seminary degrees and a very profitable pricetag into a Bible version doesn't make it holy. God's intended message remaining intact makes a version holy.

(And yes, you saw that correctly, they are even poisoning children through the ICB.)

2 Corinthians 11:13-15 fits nicely here,

For such are false apostles, fraudulent workers, being transfigured into apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ And no marvel, for Satan himself is being transfigured into a messenger of light. ¹⁵ It is no great thing, then, if his servants also are being transfigured as dispensers of righteousness -- whose consummation shall be according to their acts. 

Satan's servants produce works, including unholy Bible versions, that appear to dispense righteousness. Don't be fooled by their supernaturally-white teeth and glossy seminary certificates. You might pose a common protest, "So you're telling me that all those theologians and scholars who translate Bibles are wrong?" Yes, Mary, that's exactly what I'm saying. If they distort God's words, they are absolutely wrong.

Here's 2 Thessalonians 1:9 properly translated,

Concordant Literal New Testament (CLNT)
who shall incur the justice of eonian extermination from the face of the Lord, and from the glory of His strength --

Young's Literal Translation (YLT)
who shall suffer justice -- destruction age-during -- from the face of the Lord, and from the glory of his strength,

God will judge unbelievers. This fact I am not disputing. But attempting to stretch His righteous eonian/age-during judgment of them into an unrighteous everlasting/eternal/forever judgment is wrong. Trying to squeeze God into a man-made religious tradition will land the scholarly interpreters in the bullseye of His judgment. They've added to His words. They've twisted something that is limited to the eons into something that never ends. But even their judgment will be limited.

This simple chart of the limited eonian times shows an overview of God's plans (Ephesians 1:9-12; 3:1-11). Look it over and check the Scripture references.

Note that the eonian times as a whole have a beginning and an end (red lines). And each single eon has a beginning and an end. Jesus' successful reign, which includes all judgment of unbelievers, will come to God's desired end. The details are found in 1 Corinthians 15:22-28,

For even as, in Adam, all are dying, thus also, in Christ, shall all be vivified.
²³ Yet each in his own class: the Firstfruit, Christ; thereupon those who are Christ's in His presence; ²⁴ thereafter the consummation, whenever He may be giving up the kingdom to His God and Father, whenever He should be nullifying all sovereignty and all authority and power. ²⁵ For He must be reigning until He should be placing all His enemies under His feet. ²⁶ The last enemy is being abolished: death. ²⁷ For He subjects all under His feet. Now whenever He may be saying that all is subject, it is evident that it is outside of Him Who subjects all to Him. ²⁸ Now, whenever all may be subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also shall be subjected to Him Who subjects all to Him, that God may be All in all.)

All are vivified (made immortal). All are subjected (including the Son). Death is abolished. God is All in all.

"Bill's a great guy, except for that child-molesting thing."

Bill is a great guy. And he doesn't molest children. But the rumor was started and advanced by trusted pillars in the community (all with seminary degrees). It spread like wildfire. Bill's life and reputation were marred by this one lie. 

False interpretations by theologians and scholars deform God's character in the eyes of those who swallow the .005% poison that is mixed into their trusted Bibles. Christianity, for the most part, seems to have no clue how their horrible teaching of everlasting destruction makes God look. Some, understanding that it does make Him look bad, never mention it. But if you probe them with alien-like skill, they'll spill the beans, and tell you that they do, in fact, believe in a forever-destroying god (intentional small "g").

This one horrible demonic doctrine permeates all of Christianity's systems. And the world says, "God's a great Guy, except for that everlasting-destruction thing."

The false idea of everlasting destruction, if it is believed, depresses anyone who has half a heart for their fellow man. I've known people who are nearly paralyzed at the thought of themself, or their unbelieving loved one(s), suffering at the hand of God forever. But it's a rat-poison lie. Don't believe it. Stop eating Beth's delicious mashed potatoes and beef gravy. You remember what happened to Jim, right?

I urge you to replace your poisonous Bible(s) with a health-inducing one. I don't care if you love your poisonous Bible and have had it since you were in diapers. If it's tainted (even if it's only .005%) and tells lies about God, it's J-U-N-K. I recommend the Concordant Literal New Testament. You can read it online or buy a copy. You can also get a copy of the Concordant Version of the Old Testament or download it.

Once you grasp the true meaning of aion and aionios, you will see God in a new light. And you will have hope, joy, and peace in anticipation of Him completing His plan for all mankind.

• For a more in-depth study on the Greek words aion and aionios, read How to overcome a major hurdle to the truth of the salvation of all through Jesus.

• Go here for several more versions of 2 Thessalonians 1:9 (most are rat poison).

• Here is a list of passages that reveal the duration of judgment for unbelievers. See them properly translated in the CLNT: Matthew 12:32, 18:8, 25:41,46; Mark 3:29; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; Hebrews 6:2; Jude 7,13; Revelation 14:11, 19:3, 20:10;

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Photos
Mashed-potatoes-mushrooms-salisbury-steak, Robert Loescher
"D-CON KILLS MICE AND RATS!!!!" by Chris (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0); cropped
Holy Bible by Derrick Alexander from Pixabay; "UN" added