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 

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 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)

Jesus Christ Never Offered "Eternal Life" To Anyone

Here are 3 helpful videos by Martin Zender concerning "eternal" life.
 
Jesus Christ Never Offered "Eternal Life" To Anyone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDl_rMREzp4


How to Not Be a Hypocrite When Saying, "Jesus Christ Saved Me"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cyZCshTbL4

Proof That "Olam" & "Aion" Cannot Mean "Eternity"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKltgdiC3WU

Limited atonement is a doctrine of demons

What is a doctrine (or teaching) of demons?

1 Timothy 4:1 tells us the reality of these teachings,

Now the spirit is saying explicitly, that in subsequent eras some will be withdrawing from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and the teachings of demons

—Concordant Literal New Testament (CLNT)

We see some details in James 3,

¹⁵ This is not the wisdom coming down from above, but terrestrial, soulish, demoniacal. ¹⁷ Now the wisdom from above is first, indeed, pure, thereupon peaceable, lenient, compliant, bulging with mercy and good fruits, undiscriminating, unfeigned.

—CLNT

Demonic doctrines are not from above, but demon-inspired, man-made, and promoted as if they are from above and in line with the heart of God. They oftentimes contain enough truth to make them appealing to the masses.

Obviously the biggest thing about demonic doctrines is that they are not true. And we can get more details of what they are by contrasting them with what James 3:17 calls "wisdom from above." Demonic doctrines are the opposite of everything listed in verse 17.

One key attribute of wisdom from above is it is "bulging with mercy." One vital characteristic of many demonic doctrines is that they limit, twist, or altogether get rid of mercy. And in doing this, they distort the images of God and Jesus.

We've all been deceived at some point in our lives. I hypocritically limited Jesus for nearly 20 years, and I had no idea I was doing it. I was deceived and ignorantly believing demonic doctrines.

I didn't think in my mind or say out loud, "Hey, listen to me, I'm going to limit the almighty Son of God and give you a distorted image of Him!"

But I was limiting Him by what I believed, taught, and preached—eternal torment at first, then annihilation. Thank God these two limiting false doctrines can't actually stop God from accomplishing His will to save all (1 Timothy 2:4, 4:10).

But all who hear and believe these lies receive a limited and distorted version of Jesus, and this will have a negative effect on them. Lies bind people—mentally, emotionally and physically. The truth of Jesus they could know is hidden behind false demonic teachings.

But the truth does set us free.

When God opened my eyes to see how I was limiting Him, I was ashamed. But I am now free from these lies.  

When the subject of the salvation of all comes up, those who oppose God's plan to save all (eternal tormentists and annihilationists) immediately present Scriptures to limit Jesus' work. And they can find Scriptures that, on the surface, limit His work. But do these Scriptures really limit Jesus, or are they simply used to support false religious traditions? And are they properly seen in the entire context of the Scriptures by those who use them?

The purpose of this post

In this post I'm going to address a very important question that affects all of us: Did Jesus die to save all people?

I say "Yes, He did." Many who claim to follow Jesus say "No. He only died to save some, not all." Both sides claim the Scriptures as the source of their answer.

This is spiritual warfare. Punches will not be pulled. I'm not here to play nice with false teachers. I will expose their Savior-shrinking, mercy-limiting, demonic teaching. And I will use their own words against them.

I'm here to tell you how awesome our loving, merciful God and Savior are. This truth will set you free. Let's have a look at the evidence.

All Scripture quotes will be from the English Standard Version (ESV) unless noted.

Limited atonement

The teaching that Jesus did not die to save all people is called limited atonement. I may refer to this as LA throughout this post and to those who believe it as LA's (limited atonementists).

Limited atonement is one of the five points of Calvinism that come from the teachings of John Calvin—a French theologian who lived in the 1500's. But the teaching of LA can be traced back to Augustine in the 5th century AD.

Teachers of limited atonement would say their teaching predates Augustine and is actually found in the Scriptures. I would agree with this to a point—there are verses in the Scriptures that can be used to teach limited atonement. But many other parts of the Scriptures must be ignored or given less than adequate interpretations to shrink them down to fit into LA.

Not all Calvinists or LA's are the same. Some say Jesus didn't die for all. Others will admit that Jesus died for everyone in a general sense, but in the next breath will say that His death won't do most people one bit of good. The only ones to benefit will be a relatively small group of people called the elect or the chosen. So some LA's basically say Jesus died for all, but He didn't die to save all (makes perfect nonsense to me). Calvinists say the elect are chosen by God for salvation while the rest are chosen by God for eternal judgment (torment or annihilation).

The underlying faulty foundation of limited atonement

No single teaching stands on its own. It overlaps and is related to other teachings. Another demonic traditional teaching that is foundational to LA is this:

Jesus can (or will) only save people in this life, so if someone dies while not believing in Jesus, all hope for his salvation also dies

Here's the big problem: This teaching can't be found in the Scriptures!

Death is not the deadline for someone to be saved. This is a Savior-shrinking teaching that puts an artificial limit on the "Savior of the world" (1 John 4:14). Calvinist/annihilationist Chris Date admitted,

If people are given a post-mortem (after death) opportunity, I don't think they will be, but I also cannot marshal a persuasive, to me, biblical case against it.

(Pastor With No Answers podcast #63 - 1:12:20)

Chris is a smart guy, but he can't build a persuasive biblical case for his belief that Jesus can (or will) only save people in this life. Then I wonder why he believes it.

Jesus doesn't care how smart we are or aren't. He wants us to have faith. So He gives each person the faith required to believe in Him for salvation when He decides to give it (Philippians 1:29; Romans 12:3; Ephesians 2:8–9).

It requires additional God-given faith to believe Jesus died to save all people. And it requires this level of God-given faith to believe He will actually bring all to experience salvation (1 Timothy 2:4). Calvinists and LA's currently lack this level of faith because God has not yet given it to them. But they will all see in due time.

It's an observable fact that many people die not believing in Jesus. LA's who think these unbelievers' eternal destiny is sealed at death must now have a reason as to why they weren't saved, and will never be saved. The demonic doctrine of limited atonement is the solution to a problem that doesn't exist—a problem that was created by limiting Jesus to saving people in this life only.

Here is LA's reasoning as I see it,

• People can only be saved in this life.
• We see people die all the time who aren't saved.
• They will never be saved.
• Why weren't they saved?
• Apparently Jesus didn't want to save them, because He could have.
• So His death must not have been for their salvation.
• He must have died to save only those who are saved in this life.
• Therefore, His atonement is limited in scope.
• He is not the Savior of the world.

The statements in red are all false. Show me Scriptures to verify the red statements are true and I'll quickly recant. Would you hold a belief that is based on this many false components? Many do.

This reasoning is based on what LA's see: people dying as unbelievers. It is not based on faith in what Jesus will accomplish in the future (1 Corinthians 15:20-28). He will do all of God's will (Greek- thelema), and God wills (Greek- thelo) all to be saved (Acts 13:22–23; 1 Timothy 2:4).

If LA's admit that Jesus died to save all, but hold to their belief that He doesn't save all, then they must admit that He's a failure. They rightly squirm at this thought. So they believe and promote the lie that Jesus died only to save a relatively tiny portion of the world that "God so loved" (John 3:16).

The immortal Savior

So is Jesus limited to saving people in this life only? Hebrews 7:23–25 tells how Jesus' immortality is a key component in God's plan to save all.

And [Levitical priests] indeed, are more than one, having become priests because death prevents them from abiding; ²⁴ yet that One, because of His remaining for the eon, has an inviolate priesthood. ²⁵ Whence, also, He is able to save to the uttermost those coming to God through Him, always being alive to be pleading for their sake.

—CLNT

Verse 24 tells us Jesus is "remaining for the eon." This is speaking of the 1000-year reign of Christ on the earth. Jesus doesn't die at the end of the thousand years; He's immortal (John 5:26). Verse 25 above expands on verse 24 and tells us "He is able to save to the uttermost those coming to God through Him, always being alive to be pleading for their sake." There it is, "always being alive." When does He stop being the "Savior of the world" (1 John 4:14)? Never. Even after He brings all to experience salvation, this title will still apply to Him in a completed sense.

Since LA's, eternal tormentists and annihilationists think Jesus is limited to saving people in this life only, to them, time is a huge limiting factor in God's salvation plan.

But the Savior of the world is "always being alive," and is able to resurrect any and all from the dead to save them and give them immortality when He renders death completely inoperative (1 Corinthians 15:26). And this is exactly what He'll do according to 1 Corinthians 15:20-28.

So, time and death are not limiting factors in God's plan to save all. They are not the great hindrances to God that Christianity makes them out to be. There are no deadlines for Jesus to meet. God will be "All in all" in His perfect timing (1 Corinthians 15:28).

Limited atonement equals limited love

Dean Hough of the Concordant Publishing Concern wrote,

If we limit the work of redemption we must limit the love. And when we limit the love of Christ a coldness will creep into our hearts which cripples our testimony and our usefulness to Him. Yet how fervent is our joy and genuine our concern for others when we realize that Christ died for all. This is what presses out hatred and envy and prejudice, for if our Lord is so genuinely concerned with everyone that He endured the cross for the sake of all, indiscriminately, so will our love for all grow more truly (cf 1 Tim.2:1-7).

-Unsearchable Riches Vol.65, p.219

I've found Dean's words to be true in my life. As I grew in my understanding of God's plans for all mankind, the grace and love I felt for other people grew. Growing out of eternal tormentism to annihilationism then to the salvation of all through Christ, my joy also grew as I comprehended more and more of the enormity of God's love.

"But Wes, God still loves people He'll torment forever in hell!"

LA's try so hard to put a good spin on their Savior-shrinking doctrine. And they fail miserably. But  popular Calvinist/eternal tormentist John Piper tries his best,

[Definite atonement] is important. Sometimes it is called “limited” atonement, which is an unfortunate designation, because it seems to minimize or diminish the work of the atonement. In fact, what we are arguing for is not something less than others believe but for something more. This what I mean: The Bible speaks about God loving the world (John 3:16). And he speaks about Christ being “the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe” (1 Timothy 4:10).

And I think in that little phrase what I want to say is: in a sense, Christ dies for all but not in the same sense for all. In the sense that he dies for all, we mean that he dies in such a way that you can offer his death to all without exception and say to them without no qualm, “Here is Christ. I offer Christ to you. If you will believe in Christ, it is yours. Everything he bought from the Father for eternal life he bought for you if you will have it.” So, “if you will have it” enables us to preach the gospel indiscriminately to every single person on the planet and say, “This death will cover your sins if you will believe it.”

...

Here are a couple of practical implications. One is that I want the Church to feel loved by Christ in the covenant way that he really loves his bride. He loved his bride and went after her, and he purchased her and brought her home to himself. So we don’t just feel ourselves loved generically, like we are loved in the same way as people who are in hell or going to hell. We are loved in a covenant way in which God is going to pursue us. He is going to overcome all our rebellion. He is going to make us his own. He is going to beautify us for his Son, and he has fixed his heart on us. And we know that because he has put the faith in our hearts to embrace it.

(What Is Definite Atonement, and Why Does It Matter?)

I hope you see the weaknesses of his attempt to beautify this hideous teaching. I don't have time to comment on all of it, but this one disturbing statement really stood out to me,

"So we don’t just feel ourselves loved generically, like we are loved in the same way as people who are in hell or going to hell."

It takes a supernatural (Satanic) blinding to the truth to make a statement like this. LA's misuse and abuse the tremendous word love in order to squeeze it into their teeny-tiny theology. And what does this statement say to the world about God—the very One Who the Scriptures teach is love (1 John 4:8,16)? While LA's try to shine their shitty doctrine, they tarnish the name of God. "For because of you the name of God is being blasphemed among the nations ..." (Romans 2:24 CLNT).

Because of the blasphemous lies told about our Creator, the world rightly questions His character as is evidenced by the lyrics in the currently popular song The Violence by the rock band Rise Against, "is the violence in our nature just the image of our Maker?"

Coupled with his belief in LA is Piper's belief in another demonic doctrine: hell is eternal. That's right, according to Piper, God's generic love lands people in an eternal hell. "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20).

The lie of LA is like any other lie in this way: when you tell one lie you have to keep producing more lies to keep the first lie going strong. "Jesus can save only in this life" is propped up by "the atonement is limited" and "hell is eternal"—the three demonic amigos.

(See an excerpt from Duration of Destruction that sheds light on the demonic teaching of eternal hell.)

More juicy niblets from John Piper

I'm sorry for overloading you with John Piper, but I think words from a leading Calvinist/LAist are important. He says,

One of the clearest passages on God’s particular intention in the death of Christ is Ephesians 5:25–27.

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

Here Paul says that the intended beneficiary of the death of Christ is the church, the bride of Christ. One of the reasons I am jealous for this doctrine of limited atonement or particular redemption is that I want the bride of Christ to be properly moved by the particular love that Christ had for her when he died. This was not only a world-embracing love; it was a bride-purchasing love. God knew those who were his. And he sent his Son to obtain this bride for this Son.

There is a particular love for the bride in this sacrifice that the church misses when she only thinks that God did not have any particular people in mind when he bought the church with his Son’s blood. I used to say to the church I served, “I love all the women of this church, but I love my wife in a very special way.” I would not want Noël to think that she is loved just because I love all women and she happens to be a woman. So it is with God and all the people of the world. There is a universal love for all, but there is a particular love that he has for the bride. And when Christ died, there was a particular aim in that death for her. He knew her from the foundation of the world, and he died to obtain her.

God does not mean for the bride of his Son to only feel loved with general, world-embracing love. He means for her to feel ravished with the specificity of his affection that he set on her before the world existed. He means for us to feel a focused: “I chose you. And I send my Son to die to have you.” This is what we offer the world. We don’t horde it for ourselves. And we don’t abandon it by saying, all we have to offer the world is God’s general love for all people.

(https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-we-believe-about-the-five-points-of-calvinism#Atonement)

I'd like to finish Piper's analogy. He says, "I love all the women of this church, but I love my wife in a very special way." Here's my version of the rest of the story that makes his analogy line up completely with his teaching of LA and eternal torment,

"Ladies, ladies, please, can I have your attention? Thank you for attending this fine get-together that I have prepared especially for you. After our meal today, Noel and I will be going home to our beautiful estate to enjoy well-deserved naps. As we leave, I will be locking you inside the church building. Then I will set it on fire. It's going to be a spectacular blaze! There will be no escape, so please, conserve your energy. And try not to scream too loudly, we do have neighbors. And, miraculously, you will not die in the fire. How's that for a cool trick? You will be tormented forever. But, please, remember as you suffer forever, that I truly love you with a general, world-embracing kind of love. I hope this gives you a measure of comfort in your never-ending agony. Well, enough of that, eat up ladies! This is your last meal. And don't forget to grab a piece of Noël's famous cherry pie."

I have to assume some of the sharp women in Piper's congregation fully understood the unspoken end of his ridiculous analogy.

God's "general love"

Piper speaks of God's love for all mankind as "general love," as if it's a bad thing in comparison to His real love that is limited to His chosen. Let's not forget, Mr. Piper, it's God's "general love" for the world that moved Him to give His only begotten Son (John 3:16). That level of "general love" makes every kind of human love seem shallow. I'm getting angry as I think about Piper's and LA's gigantic distortions of our God and Savior.

I believe the reason Piper has such a low view of God's "general love" is that, according to his false teaching, God's "general love" for the non-elect lands them in an eternity of torment. One of Piper's mistakes is equating eternal torment with any kind of love. It makes his reasoning absurd, and puts a massive hole in his defense of LA.

If eternal torment is true, I'd like to survey those in hell 200 billion years after they are cast there (yes, Ethel, eternity really is that long, and much, much, much longer). I would ask the inhabitants if God loves them in any way. Remember, according to Calvinism and LA, these hellions will be there because of God's choice, not theirs. Love? Really?

A few words from Martin Zender

My friend Martin Zender has been a great mentor to me. His words fit well here.

I want the distinction made between those I love dearly and those I love especially dearly. Think about it. We love everyone, but especially our families. Even within families, we love our children more than aunts and uncles. We want no one in this world to suffer, but we want our children to be especially comfortable. (It doesn’t mean that we give our children electric blankets while electrocuting strangers.) We love our parents more than our cousins, without hating our cousins. Paul said in Galatians 6:10—

Consequently, then, as we have occasion, we are working for the good of all, yet specially for the family of faith.

Is this not the same principle? Is not God at least this good?

...

Even among the twelve disciples, Jesus’ favorites were Peter, James and John. Only these three witnessed the Master’s transformation on the mount (Matthew 17:1-2). Even among these, John was called, “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23). See? “Playing favorites” is a God thing. Screwing the rest is not.
(Greater Than Adam, Part 5: p.8-9)

And this,

We must not fall into the Calvinist trap of thinking that God chooses the elect in order to damn the rest. No. God chooses the elect so that He can use them later to reach the rest.
(Vessels of indignation: p.5)

God uses the few to reach the rest

One Savior dying to save all mankind is the most obvious example of God using one person, or a relatively small number of selected people, to work with Him to accomplish His will.

He chose Abraham to reach the world,

And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”

—Galatians 3:8

The elect saints will judge with Jesus,

Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? ³ Do you not know that we are to judge angels?

—1 Corinthians 6:2–3

And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, ¹⁰ and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”

—Revelation 5:9–10

The elect will reign with Jesus over the non-elect to achieve God's good goals for all. Please don't see this in any way resembling the selfish human judging and reigning we now experience on the earth. Remember, Jesus will be King.

We must see that there is a good goal to all of Jesus' judging and reigning with His saints. He says in John 5:22–23 what the purpose of all judgment is,

For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, ²³ that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

There's God's purpose for all judgment—"that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father."

And it's going to happen because Jesus is in charge of it.

I'm not sure what LA's, eternal tormentists or annihilationists would say is God's ultimate purpose in judgment. But I'm pretty sure it's not beneficial for God or those who are judged.

And, believe it or not, Jesus and His band of believers will attain all the goals of their ruling and reigning. And the results of their work will be enduring.

Do the Scriptures really limit Jesus' work?

Here are two options for discovering in the Scriptures who Jesus actually died to save.

1. We can start with the Jesus-died-for-all verses and whittle them down as we find other verses that seem to shrink the group of people He died for until the group's size is acceptable to us.
2. We can start with the LA verses and enlarge the number of people Jesus died to save with the Jesus-died-for-all verses.

If you use another method, you must still take into account all the verses that are relevant. There are no second-class Scriptures. But how you prioritize all these verses will affect the conclusion you come to. If you give more weight to the LA verses, you're going to lean towards LA. The same is true if you give priority to the Jesus-died-to-save-all verses. And we must all check our motive and reasoning for our prioritizing.

I've done my best to list LA's most persuasive verses.

Verses supporting limited atonement/limited love

As you read through these verses, try to find evidence that the atonement is only for the elect.

In John 10 Jesus says in verse 11, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." Continuing in John 10,

¹⁵ according as the Father knows Me, and I know the Father. And My soul am I laying down for the sake of the sheep. ¹⁶ "And other sheep have I which are not of this fold. Those also I must be leading, and they will be hearing My voice, and there will be one flock, one Shepherd. ... ²⁶ But you are not believing, seeing that you are not of My sheep, according as I said to you. ²⁷ "My sheep are hearing My voice, and I know them, and they are following Me. ²⁸ And I am giving them life eonian, and they should by no means be perishing for the eon, and no one shall be snatching them out of My hand. ²⁹ My Father, Who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one is able to be snatching them out of My Father's hand.

—CLNT

Jesus is talking here about the elect—those who "should by no means be perishing for the eon" (v. 28). The eon He's talking about is the 1000-year period after He returns to earth. The elect will be immortal at this time. And in many of the verses LA's use to limit Jesus' work, He is talking about the elect. He does have unique plans for them. But these in no way cancel His plans for the rest.

Jesus says in John 17:6,9,19,

I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. ... ⁹ I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. ... ¹⁹ And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

John 11:48–52,

"If we [chief priests, Pharisees] let [Jesus] go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” ⁴⁹ But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. ⁵⁰ Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” ⁵¹ He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, ⁵² and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.

Revelation 5:9–10,

And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you [Christ] to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, ¹⁰ and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”

Verse 10 is speaking of the elect. Who will the elect reign over?

Jesus says in Mark 10:45,

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

He says in Matthew 26:28,

for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Hebrews 9:28,

so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Isaiah 53:12,

Therefore I will divide [Christ] a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Ephesians 5:25–27,

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, ²⁶ that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, ²⁷ so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

Romans 8:29–33,

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰ And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. ³¹ What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? ³³ Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.

Acts 20:28,

Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

John 15:13,

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

Matthew 1:21,

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. 

You can read John Piper's explanation of limited atonement verses.

I believe all of these Scriptures are true. But none of them explicitly limit the number of people Jesus died to save. And if someone's going to say He died to save only a portion of humanity, he better have rock-solid Scriptural proof that He died only for some and not all. I see nowhere in the Scriptures this kind of limitation placed on Jesus' loving work.

Verses supporting unlimited atonement/unlimited love

I also believe the following verses are true. They in no way contradict the previous verses.

Here's where the Christ-limiters fail: They don't believe the Jesus-died-to-save-all verses as written, so they must batter them with their seminary degrees until they fit into their dinky demonic doctrinal systems. And they think their arguments are so convincing because the masses swallow it. It's sometimes comical to see how LA's explain these verses. Who knew theology could be so much fun? But you don't have to buy what they're attempting to sell you.

Jesus said in John 12:32–33,

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” ³³ He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

This is a direct promise from the Savior of the world. Why would anyone doubt Him?

1 Timothy 2:4–6,

[our Saviour, God] wills that all mankind be saved and come into a realization of the truth. ⁵ For there is one God, and one Mediator of God and mankind, a Man, Christ Jesus, ⁶ Who is giving Himself a correspondent Ransom for all (the testimony in its own eras)

—CLNT

1 John 2:2,

He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Could this be any clearer? Yes, Ethel, the apostle John said, "not for ours only."

Romans 5:18,

Therefore, as one trespass [Adam's sin] led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness [Jesus' death] leads to justification and life for all men.

Here it is folks, the heart of the good news of Jesus—"life for all men."

Romans 5:6–8,

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— ⁸ but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 11:32,

For God locks up all together in stubbornness, that He should be merciful to all.

—CLNT

The worst sinner, Saul/Paul, wrote this in 1 Timothy 1:15,

Faithful is the saying, and worthy of all welcome, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, foremost of whom am I.

2 Cor 5:14–15, 19,

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; ¹⁵ and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. ... ¹⁹ that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

John 1:29,

The next day [John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ..."

If limited atonement is true, this pie represents God's plan.

1 John 3:8,

Yet he who is doing sin is of the Adversary, for from the beginning is the Adversary sinning. For this was the Son of God manifested, that He should be annulling the acts of the Adversary. —CLNT

Jesus will undo the works of Satan. There's no good reason I see that it will be only some of his works. No, it will be all of his works. Think about the full impact of this for all of humanity.

1 John 4:14,

And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

John 3:17,

For God does not dispatch His Son into the world that He should be judging the world, but that the world may be saved through Him.

—CLNT

John 4:42,

They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world."

Jesus said in John 6:33, 51,

... but My Father is giving you Bread out of heaven, the true, for the Bread of God is He Who is descending out of heaven and giving life to the world. ... ⁵¹ I am the living Bread which descends out of heaven. If anyone should be eating of this Bread, he shall be living for the eon. Now the Bread also, which I shall be giving for the sake of the life of the world, is My flesh.

—CLNT

John 12:47,

If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.

Luke 19:10,

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.

Jesus doesn't state the quantity of the lost He came to save. Does He have to? Or can we trust, based on the rest of these verses, that He meant all the lost?

Hebrews 2:9,

But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

2 Peter 2:1,

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.

Jesus bought all people on the cross. We see here that this includes false teachers who secretly bring in destructive heresies, deny Jesus, and bring swift destruction on themselves. These are not the elect. But He loves them and bought them and has goals for them beyond judgment.

1 Peter 3:18,

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit

Isaiah 53:4–6,

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. ⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. ⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Luke 15:1–7,

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. ² And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” ³ So he told them this parable: ⁴ “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? ⁵ And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ⁶ And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ ⁷ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

"What man of you ... ?" Jesus poses this question to the false religious Pharisees. And I think we can ask it of ourselves. So I ask you, "What would you do for sinful humanity if you had the power to save all? Would you save all, or not?" Unfortunately, the hypocritical Pharisees would not save all people (but real sheep, now that's a different story). I've met a lot of Christians who think that God saving all just isn't fair to those who've believed throughout their lives. Are there some LA's who just don't like the idea of Jesus saving all people? I assume so, but they'd never admit it.

Jesus prayed to His Father in John 17:20–23,

I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, ²¹ that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²² The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, ²³ I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

Jesus works with the elect to reach the rest of the world in John 17 "so that the world may believe that you have sent me" (v.21, 23). This is the same world that hates Jesus and the elect (John 15:18, 17:14), and does not know the Father (17:25). But the Father has good plans for a hateful world. God not only truly loves His enemies, but also does good to them (Luke 6:27–36).

So we look at all these verses and see that the Bible says Jesus died for the church and that He died for the whole world (Ephesians 5:25; 1 John 2:2). Which one cancels out the other? Neither. They are both true. And I can believe both are true as written. LA's can't, and won't, believe all of these Scriptures as written because some of them are too big to fit into their small system. They honor their demonic doctrine above the Savior Who bought them at such a great price.

Do these verses limit God and Jesus even more?

To me, LA's are like a bunch of shady lawyers trying to find loopholes in the Scriptures to prop up their traditional teaching.

But I say they don't go far enough. We can limit God so much more! Why stop at the elect?

I'm betting that LA's wouldn't swallow my ridiculous limiting applications of the following verses.

In Exodus 3:6, God tells Moses, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” So He is God of only the four men mentioned.

Jesus said to the Pharisees in Luke 6:5, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” Jesus only gets one day? Who gets the rest? 

The apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 2:20, " ... the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Wow, Paul really is special! Jesus died only for him.

Jesus said in Matthew 15:24, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Well, if you're not an Israelite, sucks to be you.

Jesus said in Luke 13:28,"In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out." That's gonna be a very small party—Abe, Zac, Jake and the prophets (and no women!).

And Luke 22:20, "And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, 'This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.'" Jesus' blood was poured out only for those lucky enough to be at the last supper.

Luke 1:33, "and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." Lucky Jacobites!

Revelation 14:3–5,

and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. ⁴ It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb, ⁵ and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.

Jehovah's Witnesses truly believe that only the blameless 144,000 will be in heaven because of this passage. Who's to say they're wrong?

Please don't swallow my playful limitations here, and don't swallow LA.

Do you really want to limit God?

There's an interesting story in the Scriptures about limiting God. In 1 Kings 20 we read about a couple of butt-kickins.

Ben-hadad, the king of Syria, wanted stuff that belonged to Israel's king Ahab. Ben-hadad's huge army was set to put the beat-down on Ahab's tiny army. The tiny army struck first and easily won. Ben-hadad escaped with an "I'll be back!"

Before Ben-hadad tried again to defeat Israel, his servants told him why he got whooped in the first round. They said in 1 Kings 20:23,

Their gods are gods of the hills, and so they were stronger than we. But let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.

Ben-hadad saw the brilliance of their advice, so he prepared for another takeover of Israel. But the Syrians didn't realize they'd done themselves in before the second round even started. Ben-hadad again brought his massive army against Israel's tiny group of defenders.

1 Kings 20:28 tells us,

And a man of God came near and said to the king of Israel, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because the Syrians have said, “The Lord is a god of the hills but he is not a god of the valleys,” therefore I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.’”

Uh-oh. The Syrians thought Israel's God was small and limited to the hills. They diminished His authority, His power, and quite frankly just pissed Him off.

The moral of the story: don't limit God.

Those who attempt to limit the Almighty loving God to saving only the elect better think hard about what they are actually believing and teaching. Attempting to confine God's love and mercy, and Jesus' loving work on the cross, to a small theological box isn't wise.

But thank God no amount of limiting unbelief or demonically-inspired doctrines can change the fact that Jesus has already died and rose from the dead, securing the salvation of all mankind (Romans 5:18 - see "Mommy, why do people die?").


Sincerely,
Wes