O, death where is thy sting?

WHEN A MAN DIES

(We have no mysterious story of death or after-life. We intend to share a message from God's word on a topic important to everyone.)

When a man dies, he is taken by an enemy, the enemy death. Death is so powerful that none can escape. However, Jesus has overcome death and He will rule as a king until death is destroyed. "The last enemy that will be abolished is death."--1 Cor. 15:26 NASB

The Cause of Death

Death is caused by sin. Scripture says "The sting of death is sin." "All unrighteousness is sin." "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."--1 Cor. 15:56, 1 John 5:17, Romans 6:23

Those Bible teachings are truly enlightening. They are truth for our mind and light for our life. They remove the darkness of error and misunderstanding. God never said that 70 years of inherited sin and disobedience deserved an eternity of conscious punishment. Every day more people are learning that the Bible never taught a hell of torment. Enlightened clergy acknowledge that an appreciation of God's love is far more effective in motivating people to do good than is a terror of Him.

Many Christian religious leaders have perceived the majestic character of the one true God--His justice, wisdom, love, and power--through its manifestation in His activities and promises. Consider the following statements on the much-misunderstood subject of judgment after death by but some whose conviction caused them to write openly on the teaching.

"The idea that forgiveness is impossible in the next life [that is, in the resurrection] has only to be stated...to be rejected."<1>

"Our goal is to grow into the likeness of God...how many of us are even in sight of that goal when we die?...If there be no growth or purification in the waiting life, what hope is there ever for any of us of fitness for the presence of the all-holy God?"<2>

"It seems hard and unjust that a man's salvation, a man's life, should hang on the age into which he is born; that the sinners of Sodom, for example, should have had a worse chance than the greater sinners of Capernaum. ...the New Testament teaches us to believe that men who die in their sins will be adjudged to a state in which for an age...they will be exposed to a corrective discipline far more searching and severe than that to which they are now exposed, and by which we may hope they will be recovered to righteousness and life."<3>

"How stands the case with the overwhelming majority of mankind, who have lived and died in the condition in which they were born and educated, and who never heard of Jesus Christ" and of "those vast multitudes in nominally Christian countries, in which the gospel which has been proclaimed has failed to set forth...the character of God as a God who is holy, loving, just and true...The righteous Judge of all the earth will condemn no man for not having accepted a gospel of which he has either never heard, or of which he has heard only an imperfect version...What then awaits them?...I can only conceive...a condition of things beyond the grave in which they will enter upon a more favorable state of probation than has been vouchsafed [granted, furnished] them here..."<4>

"I trust that by God's mercy, and through Christ's redemption, the majority of mankind will ultimately be saved...I believe that in some way or other, before the final judgment, God's mercy may reach them, and the benefit of Christ's atonement be extended to them, beyond the grave."<5>

"...anything that we can learn from any source within or without us respecting God, in any way sanctions the popular dogma of an irreversible doom at the moment of death."<6>

"Personally, I do not believe that Jesus taught the doctrine that human destiny is fixed at death, that...the chance of moral change is withheld from men, and that those who die in their sins are condemned to everlasting torment. I believed it once, but I thank God I believe it no longer...Apart from the awe and mystery attaching to death, there is no reason for assuming that at its crisis man's destiny is irrevocably fixed."<7>

Is Death Really Death?

From whom came the idea that death is not really death at all? The idea came from the one who was lifted up with pride and said to Eve, "Thou shalt not surely die." That was the serpent's statement.--Genesis 3:4

You and I became involved with death when we were born. That is because we came from the family of Adam. Adam himself was dying--he himself had been condemned to death--and he could only pass on to his offspring the life which he possessed.
Adam had been created by God perfectly able to obey God. He possessed that ability. He was mentally and morally an image of God. He was intelligent. He had a mind, a will; he could think, reason, and make decisions. He could direct his own actions. Having been created with those capabilities, he was in God's likeness, but, having a human body or organism, he was a human being.

The Bible uses simple words to explain man's creation to us. "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."--Genesis 2:7

Man is a soul

He "became a living soul." He has life. He is not mysteriously constituted. He is similar to the lower animals, but his higher organism and intellect with the capacity for eternal life caused him to be in the image of God. Disobedience in the simple test would bring a dreadful penalty. Man would die. The whole being would die, as God had commanded Adam: "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die [margin, dying thou shalt die]."--Gen. 2:16,17

The Soul That Sins Dies

Eve was not certain that God's warning to Adam was true. The serpent's assertion, "Thou shalt not surely die," deceived Eve, but "Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression" (1 Tim. 2:14). Adam's sin was blameable. Adam sinned against full knowledge. God had told him directly what the results of disobedience would be. Eve may have received her instructions second-hand, but such could not be said for Adam. He surely knew what death meant--otherwise he too would have been deceived. But the Apostle Paul, writing under direction of the holy spirit, assures us that Adam was not deceived.

The Old Testament assures us that the faithful ancient prophets understood that the soul that sinned would die (Ezek. 18:4). Greek philosophers, however, had a different idea, an idea that conflicted with God's revelation. They thought that a human consisted of several components, one of which could not die. The Greeks denied the Bible teaching that man is a soul and that man dies because of sin. The expression "immortal soul" originated from those Greek ideas. It does not appear in Scripture!<8>

The Apostle Paul encountered a group of Greeks in Athens who believed the error taught by those ancient philosophers. Paul declared to them a god about whom they knew little. Paul told them about the one true God's wonderful purpose of eternal judgment in the time of resurrection, of which God had given assurance by raising from the dead the one whom He had appointed to conduct that judgment. The Greeks thought they knew better. Unwittingly, they had accepted Satan's lie. They believed that people do not die. So, they mocked and laughed when they heard about the resurrection of the dead. For they believed that if deceased people weren't really dead, they did not need a resurrection.--Acts 17:22-32

This controversy clears up when the simple Bible teaching is accepted- -"The soul that sinneth, it shall die." That warning would be meaningless if God made man an immortal soul. But that is not what the Bible teaches. Its record is so plain and simple: "Man became a living soul," not "an immortal soul."

With these truths in mind, Gen. 2:7 is easily understood. "God formed man of the dust of the earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life [Hebrew, neshamah, meaning "the puff of life" or "the power to live"], and man became a living soul."

When a man dies, the power of life in his being ceases. Usually death occurs from an interruption of the natural processes which sustain life. That power of life originally came from God, and because He will give life again in the resurrection, Scripture says that the power of life returns "unto God who gave it" (Eccl. 12:7). Our Savior's words on the cross confirm that to be true. He said, "Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit" (Luke 23:46). Life ceases at death. There is thereafter no life at all until it is given again by God's resurrecting power.

What Do the Dead Know?

All societies have their conjecture about what the dead might know. On this point the Bible is exceedingly clear. The Psalmist and Solomon wrote, "His breath [Hebrew, ruach, meaning "spirit" or "power of life"] goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish" (Psa. 146:4), and "For the living know they will die; but the dead do not know anything, nor have they any longer a reward, for their memory [record] is forgotten. Whatever your hand finds to do, verily, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or wisdom in Sheol where you are going."--Eccl. 9:5,10 NASB

Those simple teachings of the Bible as to what happens when a man dies explains other questions. We learn that man has no knowledge, no life, no sensibilities when dead. He can not be tormented for ever and ever, nor for a day; no, not even for a moment. We need not worry about the Dark-Age idea which long seemed so strange and foreign to the concept of the loving and merciful God that the Bible reveals. The creedal teaching of "hell" gives place to an understanding of the Bible hell, which is quite different. Hell is simply the condition or state of death. It is not a place or condition in which people are tormented.

The Bible is the one trustworthy and true source of knowledge about the human condition. In the Bible we learn that all people die the same death. Whether they are good or bad, saint or sinner, all who die are in the same condition: death. All who die are in the Bible hell-- death.

Confusion on the meaning of Sheol

Sheol is a Hebrew word used in the Old Testament 65 times. Its meaning is sometimes hidden to us who do not understand that language because this one word has been translated in very different ways. In the King James Bible it is translated "grave" 31 times, "hell" 31 times, and "pit" 3 times. Had sheol been translated the same way each time, its meaning would have been much easier to understand. We would have seen what it cannot mean, because it would stand out by its inappropriateness in contexts where erroneously translated. Let's look at two examples.

Faithful Jacob, believing that his special son Joseph had died, expected to die in his grief and go into sheol. "And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave [Hebrew, sheol] mourning. Thus his father wept for him."--Gen. 37:35

God's righteous servant Job prayed to go to sheol to escape distress, and wrote that both good people and bad people are together in death. "O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave [sheol], that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands" (Job 14:13-15), and "Why died I not from the womb? Why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly? Why did the knees prevent [receive] me? or why the breasts that I should suck? For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest, With kings and counsellors of the earth, who rebuilt ruins for themselves; Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver: Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light. There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest. There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor. The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master."-- Job 3:11-19

All People Go Into Sheol, Hades

Yes, Scripture says that sheol (hades, "oblivion") receives all mankind, good and bad alike; that it has no light, no knowledge, no wisdom, no device; that there no tongue praises the Lord, neither blasphemes His name; that it is a condition of absolute silence, and in every way an undesirable condition, except that all therein are promised resurrection.--Eccl. 9:10, Psa. 31:17, Acts 24:15

The Bible tells us that, in death, man has no preeminence over beasts. Death is the same for both. The one preeminence which man does have in regard to death is the promise of resurrection. Christ died to redeem Adam and all mankind from sin and death. The Bible is silent regarding any redemption of the lower animals.

Death means death

"For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath [Hebrew, ruwach, meaning "spirit"], and man has no advantage over the beasts; for all is vanity. All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down to the earth?"--Eccl. 3:19-21 RSV

Animals too are souls [Hebrew, neh-phesh, meaning "soul"]. Neh-phesh is often translated "living creatures," as in Gen. 1:21 and six other places in Genesis, describing sea mammals, fowl, and beasts. God sees them all, including man, as "living souls."

Resurrection is God's great blessing for Adam's family, of which are all the human dead. Those who teach that the dead are not dead deny the resurrection of the dead.

Firstfruit Assures an Afterfruit

Sheol is the only "hell" of the Old Testament. Its exact equivalent in the New Testament is hades, and hades is always translated "hell." The correspondence between these two words is shown by the Apostle Peter's quotation of Psa. 16:10 in Acts 2:27. There he used the Greek word hades, where the psalmist used the Hebrew word sheol. "Because thou wilt not abandon the soul of me in Hades, nor wilt thou give the holy one of thee to see corruption" (Marshall Interlinear). Why is this important? Because it means that Jesus was in hell when He was dead. Jesus ceased to exist--completely, totally. He was in the death state. After dying, He was resurrected to life on the third day by God's mighty power.

Note what the Apostle Paul meant in writing that Jesus is the "firstfruit of them that slept" (1 Cor. 15:20). He had in mind the "after fruitage," a later blessing to come as a result of Jesus' death. There were others who would be resurrected from hell, which is precisely what Jesus had taught.

And Jesus' words testified that the subsequent resurrection work would be of two kinds: "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment."--John 5:28,29 NASB

Death to be Destroyed

Death and hell will be destroyed. When will this happen? After they have delivered up all their dead; after all in their graves have come forth; after Rev. 20:13 is fulfilled. "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire."--Rev. 20:13,14 NASB

These verses inform us of the manner in which death and hell are destroyed. They are cast into the lake of fire. "This is the second death." Everything cast into the lake of fire is burned up. Everything burned is transformed in the purifying flames of fire and brimstone. All those that are cast into this lake are changed. Brimstone is the Greek word for sulphur. Sulphur is curative and corrective. This is not to infer that there will be no pain involved but that the burning will accomplish its purpose; there will be no evil left-over. God will be all in all after death is destroyed as the scriptures inform us. --1 Cor 15:26,28

This article's opening Scripture promised the destruction of our enemy death. A prophet foretold it: "Oh death, I will be thy plagues; O sheol, I will be thy destruction."--Hosea 13:14

Our Master's resurrection promise in John 5:28,29 was noted foregoing. It promises that all of Adam's family will have an opportunity to obey and gain life. While they have been dead there has been no change in them at all. When they come back in resurrection they will be judged individually, but not according to what they did when they were ignorant of God's will and purpose. No! People will be judged by how they respond to the knowledge of the Lord's glory when they understand it. Afterall, "Will the Judge of the earth not do right?" In other words, God will be fair.

The Bible assures us that then they will all learn and understand. "The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." "When the judgments of the Lord are in the earth, the inhabitants shall learn righteousness."--Isa. 11:9, 26:9

And it is reassuring that the same prophet, Isaiah, also predicted the destruction of death: "He [God] will swallow up death for all time, and the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces, and He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. And it will be said in that day, 'Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited; let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.'"--Isaiah 25:8,9 NASB

To such a wonderful testimony we can only answer: "How wonderful! How truly like a loving God to propose such blessings for man through Jesus Christ's sacrificial offering of Himself." Indeed, it is through Jesus that all of God's promises can be fulfilled.

"God...wishes all men to be saved and to come to a full knowledge of truth. For there is one God, also one Mediator of God and of men, a man Christ Jesus, the one having given Himself a ransom on behalf of all, the testimony in its own times."--1 Timothy 2:4-6 Marshall Interlinear
How wonderful that in God's due time all mankind "may...call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent."--Zeph. 3:9

NOTES

Archdeacon R. H. Charles
Dr. Paterson Smyth, one-time Professor of Theology at the Univ. of Dublin and Rector of St. George's, Montreal
Dr. Samuel Cox, c. 1870-1890, Baptist Minister and one-time Editor of the Expositor
Dr. C. A. Row, Prebendary of St. Paul's Cathedral
Mercy and Judgment, by Dr. F. W. Farrar, chaplain to Queen Victoria, and Dean of Canterbury
Eternal Hope, by Dr. F. W. Farrar
Dr. Samuel Vranken Holmes, Minister of Westminster Presbyterian Church, Buffalo, NY, USA, March 1907, published in Buffalo Express, March 15, 1907

God is the only immortal king and lord. All others are mortal. Either they will die or else they exist only in human mythology. Paul's teaching in 1 Tim. 6:15,16 is the total Bible testimony regarding deity of the Greek word for immortality, athanasia. The only other use of that Greek word in Scripture, 1 Cor. 15:53,54, refers to the resurrection of Christian believers.
Some Bible versions inadequately use the words "immortal" or "immortality" to represent the Greek aphthartos or aphtharsia. Such verses, rightly translated, read as follows: 1 Tim. 1:17--"Unto the King eternal, incorruptible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever"; 2 Tim. 1:10--"...our Saviour Jesus Christ hath abolished death, and brought life and incorruption to light through the gospel"; Rom. 2:7--"To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek after glory and honor and incorruption, eternal life."

RSV--Revised Standard Version, 1952

NASB--New American Standard Bible,

1958 Marshall Interlinear--Samuel Bagster & Sons, London 1958

Greek Mistranslation Leads to Faulty Bible Doctrine

The Vision of the Last Judgement by

William Blake, 1808

Let me preface this study by stating for the record that I do not claim to be a Greek scholar. In my search for the Truth and for harmony in Scripture, I was led to study the Greek language. I have several Greek Bibles, references and other studies that have helped me to understand the true meaning of God's Scriptures. Ultimately though, true knowledge ONLY comes from the One True Teacher- the Spirit of Truth which is of God. It is this Spirit of Truth, and not men, that guides us to understand God's plan, motives and actions which all harmonize within God's greatest force- LOVE. The greatest motivating force is love from God and not the fear of going to hell. It is through God's love shown in Jesus Christ and given to us freely that ALL mankind will be saved. The early Christians were full of this Truth which gave them a joy that no man could take away. Origen was one of the most famous martyrs and Church Fathers of the second century. He believed as did nearly all early believers that God was going to save all of mankind through Jesus Christ. THIS WAS THE GOOD NEWS that was to be spread throughout the earth for those with ears to hear.

Unfortunately this original Gospel, the Truly Good News, became corrupted by carnal minds within the Church system. The harmony of God's inspired words of the Bible was lost due to carnal minds creating an image of God according to their thoughts and desires. The darkest doctrine ever devised by men was that of an ETERNAL HELL for the billions of souls that die lost from Christ. Like wolves among the sheep, carnally-minded men within the Church system found it effective to use the fear of an eternal hell to control the masses of pagans entering into their religion.

This study will not go into the history of how this dark doctrine was conceived and help fuel many unbelievable atrocities in the name of Christ, but rather it will investigate some key Greek words upon which this false belief is hinged. When these misconceptions are removed, this dark doctrine of demons falls to the ground and dies along with our fear. The Truth will set us free from fear. The fearful will not enter the Kingdom of God. Are we afraid of the Truth?

Hell- Hades, Gehenna, Tartarus

The first word to consider is "HELL" which is actually many Greek words. The word hell is used 54 times in the King James Bible. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word translated hell is "SHEOL." This would be a good place to start. A couple of interesting points here. First, many believe that in hell souls are separated from God and that there is no way to get out. Consider these verses:

PS 86:13 For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest HELL.

PS 139:8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in HELL, behold, thou art there

Well, it seems those notions don't fly in harmony with these Scriptures. But wait, there is more!

PR 15:11 HELL and destruction are before the LORD: how much more then the hearts of the children of men?

PR 15:24 The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from HELL beneath.

PR 23:14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from HELL.

Do you read Scripture here! "Hell and destruction are BEFORE the LORD" and "DELIVER his soul from hell" should make many reconsider some false beliefs they may have about hell. As some may quickly and rightly point out, this word "sheol" has been MISTRANSLATED. Yes, indeed, if we look into other Bibles we find many different words in the Old Testament but not the word hell. In fact, the NIV Bible does NOT use the word "HELL" once in all of the Old Testament! Didn't it exist before Jesus came to the earth? Didn't God tell the prophets of old about it? Yes, God did tell us about hell, but it was correctly known as the GRAVE or PIT. Everyone no matter if they were good or bad, sinner or saint went to SHEOL. In the New Testament, its Greek equivalent is "HADES" according to Divine Authority.

Look at Acts 2:27-

Acts 2:27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in HELL, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

This verse corresponds to Psalm 16:10:

PS 16:10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in HELL; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

In Psalms, "hell" is from the Hebrew "sheol," and in Acts from the Greek word "Hades." So it should be clear that according to the Holy Spirit of God, Hades and Sheol are equals- the grave or death. Here are a couple of passages from a more accurate translation of the Bible where "HADES" is correctly translated. Remember it means grave or place for the dead.. Let's examine these correctly translated passages:

"and I did become dead, and, lo, I am living to the ages of the ages. Amen! and I have the keys of the hades and of the death." REV 1:18 Young's Literal Translation of the Bible

"and the death and the hades were cast to the lake of the fire -- this [is] the second death;" REV 20:14 Young's Literal Translation of the Bible

So, as we read Jesus Christ has the Keys to death and hades. And further they BOTH are destroyed in the Second Death which is really the death of Death. This is to say the death of sin, suffering, deception and ignorance- the destruction of the "WORKS OF THE DEVIL" as Jesus promised. So it should be clear that HADES or (hell) is destroyed in the Lake of Fire which will be looked at later. Hades- the place of the dead is destroyed along with death. This is Christ's victory! With that settled, we must now consider the other two words that have been translated "hell" in the King James Bible.

"GEENA" or more commonly called "Gehenna" is from "Valley of Hinnom." This word is also translated as "hell" in many Bibles, but not all. Some literal and more accurate Bible correctly render it "Gehenna" which was a garbage dump outside of Jerusalem where the "fire was never quenched and the worm didn't die." In the Old Testament times, this area was used to sacrifice children with fire in worship of Moloch which God found abominable!

JER 7:30 " `The people of Judah have done evil in my eyes, declares the LORD. They have set up their detestable idols in the house that bears my Name and have defiled it. 31 They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire--something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind. 32 So beware, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when people will no longer call it Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter, for they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room.

This is the same valley that was now used to burn garbage continually. As we read, not only did this sacrifice not enter God's mind, but He calls this evil and punishes them for it. I find it a bit ironic that the same thing our Father finds evil and detestable is what many Christians are accusing Him of doing to lost souls. That is throwing His children into the fire of hell. With a little study on this word and its derivation, one will find that Jesus was referring to the dump outside of town in many instances where it has been mistranslated "hell." Here is an example of one:

MT 23:15 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of HELL as you are.

This is one of my favorites as Jesus rebukes the "men of God." Oh yes, the religious ones are still swelled with pride even today- going door to door to "win" someone to Christ. Let no one be fooled- God draws us to Christ and not man. Can you imagine Jesus Christ saying this to the most religious and pious men on earth! Oh, by the way, if your righteousness does not exceed that of the Pharisees, watch out! Another verse which clearly links the "fire of Geena" with this garbage dump is this verse:

MK 9:47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into HELL, 48 where `their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'

MK 9:49 Everyone will be salted with fire.

Our Lord speaks metaphorically in many instances. His words are Spirit and Life, not torture and death. Do you believe our Lord is speaking literally about throwing souls into a burning dump near Jerusalem? Even so, He is making a point about punishment of those who haven't overcome sin yet. Yes, the fire burns as long as there is something to burn. Have you felt God's fire yet? You will! ALL will be salted with fire- believe it! Only those who have overcome this world and sin with Christ will not be harmed by God's Holy Fire (REV 2:11, 21:8). So, we should understand that Jesus was speaking metaphorically of the punishment for correction, but it doesn't take an eternity which is a silly statement of itself. Eternal and eternity have NOTHING to do with time as we'll look at later.

The last word translated "hell" is "TARTARUS" which is used only once in 2 Peter 2:4 and means to thrust down below the earth. In Greek mythology, it was the prison for the Titans who rebelled against Zeus. It was below ground like a grave or pit which certainly stands in perfect harmony of all of Scripture.

There is so much more that could be said about "HELL," but the main point is that "HELL" is not in the more accurate translations of the Old Testament- not once! And further, "HELL" shouldn't be in the New Testament because it is a mistranslation of other Greek words. Have you ever realized that Paul never used "HELL" in all of his letters! Why not? And have you considered that "HELL" is not mentioned in the Old Testament until Deuteronomy 32:22 and even there it is rendered "DEATH" in better translations? Why was not Adam told of this "ETERNAL HELL"- seems like an important thing that he should have been warned about doesn't it? If Adam was responsible for our fall into sin (though he was NOT), wouldn't it be JUST to warn him of the consequences of his actions? What was Adam told by God would be the penalty for eating of the tree of knowledge? It was death, and we read again that the wages of sin is death- NOT ETERNAL HELL. This concept is from the carnal and cruel imaginings of men. Please reconsider God's word in harmony with His plan and love for mankind, and then perhaps you will see a New Light shining. A Light that will show our God and Father to be more glorious, powerful and forgiving than we ever imagined!

Eternal- Aion, Aionion, Aionios

The next word to look at is "AION" and its derivatives- "AIONION" and "AIONIOS." That ugly doctrine of "eternal" hell greatly depends on this word meaning forever. I don't want to get bogged down in semantics, but in it's truest sense, "ETERNAL" is timeless and has nothing to do with time. Something that is eternal doesn't have a beginning or ending and doesn't change which only applies to God. So an "AION" can not be eternal, everlasting or forever. In turn, the "hell" that it describes is not either. "Hell" lasts for an limited period of time bound by the ages or AIONS.

Anytime translators take the same word "AION" (and its derivatives) and translate it into at least 7 different words, confusion is born. This is exactly what has been done with this simple word- "AION." No one who has studied Greek would argue that "AION" means simply "AGE."

Aion is the noun form, aionios is the adjective form and aionion is the plural form. But the translators of the King James Bible decided that these words could mean: age, world, course, eternal, ever, for evermore, forever and ever. A quick question- how does one add to "FOREVER"? Did the Holy Spirit of God inspire the writers of the Scriptures to be foolishly redundant? Doesn't forever mean forever by itself? What does forever AND EVER mean? It must be longer than forever- oh what NONSENSE! This is my point! These mistranslations bring total confusion and lead us away from God's glorious truth! All that God does is for our good in accordance with His will to bring us to repentance and be saved.

Let's backtrack just a bit into the Old Testament, so that we have solid footing and understanding of time and ages. The Hebrew equivalent for "AION" is "OLAM." It may be beneficial to see how those prophets of old used this word. Did "OLAM" mean "forever?" Consider this passage from the NIV Bible:

JONAH 2:6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in FOREVER. But you brought my life up from the pit, O LORD my God.

Do you know how long Jonah was "barred" inside the great fish? Try THREE days, not forever. The word mistranslated "forever" is OLAM which is an age. Some Bibles do correctly translate this an age which means a finite period of time. Here is another passage to show this point from the King James Bible:

EX 21:6 Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him FOR EVER.

Do you suppose that these slaves are taken to "heaven" to be slaves "FOR EVER?" Now that's a sight! No, I hope that all truth-seekers would gather that this was for the life of the slave, or an age. And what of Ecclesiastes 1:4 where it says the "earth abides forever." Doesn't this contradict what Jesus told us in Matthew 5:18 and in other Scripture too about the "earth passing away"? It doesn't if it means an AGE. This is the ONLY way to harmonize God's word. There are many passages I could cite showing that AION or OLAM doesn't mean forever, but concerning an AGE or AGE-LASTING. The many derivatives of AION are relating to an age or of the ages. Aionios is rendered "age-lasting" in better translations. The corrective punishment God uses is only for as long as it takes to bring godly sorrow and repentance. Many literal translations of the Bible have corrected this mistake as to bring back loving harmony to God's word as you will read later in this study. To reiterate, aion means an age- a limited period of time and NOT eternal, forever nor forever and ever.

Finally, it should be noted that there are Greek words that would be more akin to "ETERNAL" or never ending. There is "akataklutos" which means indestructible or endless and "eis to dienekes" which means continuous or never ending. Yet, these words are never used to describe hades, gehenna or tartarus (i.e.. Hell). God inspired the writers of Scripture to tell us that the wages of sin is death. And that any punishment is corrective and for an age or age-lasting. He has told us that He is a CONSUMING FIRE. He has told us that ALL will be salted with this Divine Fire of God. In this way, we are sanctified by the Living Christ. Jesus lit a Fire 2,000 years ago. Does He burn in you?

Sulfur- Theion

While on the topic of "FIRE," let's consider another strong passage from Revelation.

REV 14:10"...he will be tormented with burning SULFUR in the PRESENCE of the holy angels and the Lamb"

In this verse we see the word "SULFUR" used for "tormenting" (punishing) those who follow the Beast. Also note that this is done in the PRESENCE of Jesus and not in some subterranean fire pit away from God. It is this PRESENSE of our holy God that causes their pain to be sure. So what is SULFUR? Well, in some Bibles it is translated "brimstone," but the Greek word here is "THEION" which can also be translated DIVINE as in something from God. Places that lightning touched were called "theia" and left a sulfurous smell. Also sulfur was used in purification ceremonies in that day by some outside of Judea. The real key here is that THEION is derived from THEOS which is GOD! Yes, THEOS is God in Greek and the word THEION comes directly from this Source.

Consider this passage from Acts:

Act 17:29 "Being then the children of God, we ought no to think that the DIVINE Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man."

The word translated here DIVINE is THEION which has been translated sulfur in other passages like in Revelation. The lake of Fire has a direct connection to the Divine because it comes from God. Not only is this a Divine Fire, but it is one that PURIFIES whatever it comes in contact with. Are we to suppose that our God and Father has no purpose in this Fire that torments those He created in His image and likeness? All that God does has purpose, we simply can't comprehend it yet.

Punishment- Kolasis

God's punishment is another subject that many misunderstand. Why is it that many see or heavenly Father as a cruel monster who dishes out the punishment and that Jesus Christ comes to our rescue from God's wrath? Dear believers, this is SO WRONG! This thinking breaks my heart and, I am quite certain, the heart of our God and Father. You MUST understand that God's heart is Jesus' heart. THEY ARE ONE! Our invisible God expresses Himself in Jesus Christ and eventually in all of us. God's desire is the same as Christ's- to save us from this world, from sin, from death and from ourselves. Our "old man" must die and the NEW MAN must mature and become a son of God. Sufferings are a necessary part of the salvation process. Jesus was made Perfect through his sufferings (Heb 2:10) and Paul speaks of sharing in Christ's sufferings that we may also share in His Glory (Rom 8:17).

Our Father is love. Love is defined in 1 Corinthians 13 completely. As earthly fathers and mothers we know what love is and how to use it as it concerns our children. Here is where many hearts and minds short circuit by not applying what God teaches us to God Himself. God is love and the Perfect Father yet many believe that He is capable of giving up on His children and their development into sons of God. Have not ALL been created in His glorious image and likeness? Is He going to turn His back on those HE BROUGHT INTO THE WORLD! NO, CERTAINLY NOT! God is the Perfect Father and we should expect Him to be immeasurably better as a Father than we could ever be here on earth. So why do so many not see our Father in this true and loving light? Carnal ideas have created an evil image of our God and Father- one that attempts to veil His love and glory shown in Christ. Well, the veil is being lifted!

The problem is fear of punishment in our carnal minds. The carnal, or natural man fears God's punishment. But fear is not of God and should not be a motivating factor in believers. In 1 John we read this:

1JN 4:18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

Also the "fearful" or cowardly WILL NOT enter into God's Kingdom( Rev 21:8). But it is exactly FEAR that has been used by so many preaching God's word to keep the masses in line. The weight of the Law and the FEAR OF HELL have crippled Christendom! Both of these dark doctrines have been put to death by Jesus Christ. There is no Law of death in Christ who is Life! There is NO FEAR in Perfect Love which is God! Some are quick to say that we should "fear God," and I agree. The "Fear of God" is the BEGINNING of wisdom. Are you ready to move on?

All must fall before God's love in total awe and respect. God is calling us closer than that now. When a child is too young to reason with, the most effective motivation is NOT love, but fear. Love your two year old all you want, but it will be the "fear of punishment" that keeps him in line.

All children need correction, or punishment. But no good parent TORTURES their children for doing something wrong. Then why do we suppose our Father in heaven will torture souls FOREVER for committing a few years sin? Some will quickly say that God is not torturing them, but "justly" punishing them. I say that punishment WITHOUT END is torture of the WORST KIND! It would be far worse than the concentration camps of W.W.II. In fact, if just ONE soul is thrown into hell forever, God will administer more pain and suffering than ALL the SINS of mankind ever did- simple math people! You see, ONE "INFINITE" beats a TRILLION "finites" EVERY time!

I desperately want you to know that God only uses punishment as any loving Parent would- to correct and bring us back into loving submission. Even Jesus Christ, the Son is submissive to the Father. The Expressed One is not greater than the One Who Expressed Him. Parents mold their children and sometimes this is painful for the child, so it is with God and us. God is creating us in His image and likeness- or has His purpose for mankind changed? Many point to this gripping passage and are fearful:

MT 25:46 "Then they will go away to eternal PUNISHMENT, but the righteous to eternal life."

The word for punishment here is "KOLASIS." The meaning is to punish, but for CORRECTIVE purposes and not out of vengeance. God is correcting those nations on His left with "aionion kolasis" which is translated this way in these Bibles:

"And these shall go away into age-abiding CORRECTION" -Rotherham's Emphasized Bible

"And these shall go away into aeonian CHASTISEMENT" -New Covenant by J.W. Hanson

"And these shall be coming away into CHASTENING eonion" -Concordant New Testament

"And these shall go forth to the aionian CUTTING-OFF"-Emphatic Diaglott

"And these shall go away into age-lasting CUTTING-OFF" -The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Anointed

First notice as shown earlier that "AIONION" means "AGE-LASTING" as these more accurate translations show. Now, it may seem strange that translators have taken the word "KOLASIS" and rendered it "CUTTING-OFF," but this is correct as well! "KOLASIS" was used when speaking of pruning fruit trees so they would bear more fruit! It was a necessary "cutting-off" of the dead or useless wood so that the tree would be more fruitful. This was exactly the sense our Lord was speaking of. God wants to correct these children as any loving Father would. He takes no pleasure in the pain that is felt, but He KNOWS what will be produced after this pruning of our souls! He will be quick to provide Water and Sunlight after your pruning! He wants good trees to bear the good fruit of His Spirit!

Destruction- Apollumi

Many holding on to the Dark Age belief of an eternal hell and everlasting torment are quick to bring up rather frightening passages like this one:

MT 7:13 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to DESTRUCTION, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

2TH 1:8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting DESTRUCTION and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power

Here are just a couple of the strong warnings relating to man's destruction. But what does it mean to be led to "destruction" or "apollumi"? According to my Vine's Greek Dictionary, the meaning is not of extinction, but of loss of well-being. It is to ruin or to lose. These who are destroyed feel empty, ruined and lost. To further this point, consider this passages where the same Greek word for destruction- "APOLLUMI" has been translated "LOST":

LK 15:22 "But the father said to his servants, `Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was LOST and is found.' So they began to celebrate."

Yes, those who are lost or destroyed can be FOUND! Jesus came to seek the APOLLUMI, but many have not felt that feeling of despair and ruin YET. Don't you have to be lost before you are found? God brings this LOST feeling upon us that we may repent, turn, believe and be saved!

Read and believe!

2COR 7:9 yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. 10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

ROM 2:4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?

Do we understand and believe that God is in EVERY part of the salvation process? He destroys us, draws us, finds us and restores us! He brings destruction upon us which leads to godly sorrow which leads to repentance. So, it should be clear if you were never "APOLLUMI" then neither could you could have never been FOUND by Jesus Christ.

Desire- Thelo

I hope that no Christian would argue this fact- GOD DESIRES ALL MEN TO BE SAVED AND COME TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF TRUTH. This is the statement made by Paul in his first letter to his student Timothy. Here is that passage:

1TI 2:1 I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone-- 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who WANTS all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all men--the testimony given in its proper time. 7 And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle--I am telling the truth, I am not lying--and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles.

First, Paul says to pray for EVERYONE to please God WHO wants/desires ALL men to be saved and come to the once hidden knowledge of Christ Jesus. Jesus Christ has ALREADY given ransom for ALL of mankind. Every soul is His by ownership. But not all have been given this testimony yet by the Spirit of Truth which is the ONLY way to truly believe. Paul said that this testimony would be given in its proper time (according to God). He adds, "I AM NOT LYING." "I am a teacher of the TRUE FAITH" which is ALL will be saved. The key word in this whole passage that many try to twist, distort and water down is "WANTS" which is the Greek word "THELO" which is translated "desires," "wills" and "wants" in other instances.

It should be clearly accepted that it is one thing for man to desire something and quite another thing for God to desire something as we read:

ISA 55:11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

Strong words from an Almighty God! God's will or desire is absolute and guaranteed! There is NOTHING in His universe that will stop His desire. If there is, please tell me what it is and perhaps you should remind God of this too. But in my study of Greek words, I found that this Greek word for "wants" in 1Tim 2:4 is "THELO." After searching the Scriptures, I found this exact same word used in exactly the same context by the same author. Here is that passage:

RO 9:16 It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he WANTS to have mercy, and he hardens whom he WANTS to harden.

Again, it should be clear to believers that God does as He wants, wills or desires. This passage is speaking clearly of God's sovereignty and purposes. God's ways are above ours and yet we question how He accomplishes His wonderful plan to restore creation and to universally reconcile mankind! Has God hardened your heart as well? The words are simple and true. God speaks and it happens. His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Especially- Malista

Now, this last one is one of my favorites! Have you ever REALLY considered what is said in 1 Timothy 4:10? Many see these simple words and say, "huh, does that really mean what it says it does?" Let's look at that wonderful passage that crystallizes Paul's ministry and God's plan.

1TI 4:9 This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance 10 (and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.

Hellfire preachers would likely avoid this Perfect Passage. It is complete and trustworthy, so why do so many discredit what it clearly says? It says that God is the Savior of ALL men. It doesn't say that He would be if they would ask Him; it doesn't say that He is the "potential" savior of all men; it doesn't say that He could be the savior of all men. It plainly says that HE IS the Savior of ALL men. Well, those hell-bent on discrediting the word of God, must scramble for an explanation because they have been sending millions, perhaps billions, of souls to hell including unbaptized children, pagans and others outside "their" church. Many will argue that "especially of those who believe" is the key to their dilemma. They say that "especially" here means that these are really the only ones who are saved. They say that God "wants" (already covered that, right?) to save ALL of mankind, but that ONLY those who believe will be saved. Sounds plausible, but what does this word "especially" mean? Well the Greek word that has been translated "especially" is "MALISTA" in the Greek. When trying to discover a word's true meaning and the author's true intent, it would be nice to compare a similar verse with exactly the same word. Well, we have such an example found here:

Galatians 6:10

"Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, ESPECIALLY to those who belong to the family of believers."

As it turns out, Paul uses the same exact Greek word here in exactly the same context. Thank God! Do you suppose that Paul only wants Christians to do good to those of our faith? No, he is saying do good to ALL, but ESPECIALLY to those of our faith. You see clearly here that the word especially means exactly what God's loving harmony would dictate. "Especially" means MORE SO---- TO A GREATER EXTENT!

In 1 Timothy 4:10, Paul is telling us that God is the Savior of ALL men, but to those who believe, EVEN MORE SO! These who believe are born of God's Spirit and have the Living Christ in them! They are alive in Him and are blessed with heavenly gifts right now! They have something that no man can take away! These who truly believe are SPECIAL, but only because they are already among the "firstfruits" company in Jesus Christ. ALL others will follow as Jesus Christ draws ALL men to Himself. He came to this earth to gather the lost sheep. First he was sent to fulfill prophecy and offered the Jews His salvation. After being rejected, killed and resurrected, He is now a Life-giving Spirit sent to save ALL of mankind. Will He accomplish what He desires?

For myself, it wasn't necessary to understand these Greek words to believe that our Father and God was being misrepresented in the worst way. My heart has sought God most of my life and knows that He is our Father. My heart seems to have always known that ALL underestimate God's goodness, grace, mercy, power and love. Many don't understand that He has a plan that can NOT fail. Many really don't believe that He does ALL that He desires. They believe that man's will is greater than God's.

The only advantage to knowing these Greek words and their true meanings is that my head is catching up to where my heart was led by God many years before. God told my heart that hell was for correction. God told my heart that He has a perfect and glorious plan for mankind that we can't even imagine! God told my heart that His Kingdom is coming! Finally, my mind is starting to understand. The Mind of Christ must renew our thinking. We must let go of carnal traditions, doctrines and beliefs that were and are still used to enslave church members with the fear of hell. Instead, God has the only pure motivation- LOVE.

Love from God conquers all things and is stronger than all things. We will carry out God's will because we love Him as Jesus said, "if you love me, you will obey my commandments." But the ONLY way we can do HIS WILL is if the Living Christ is within our being. Only Christ can love God and can be perfect like His Father. Out of God came Jesus Christ. Then we along with ALL that is seen or unseen came out of Jesus Christ. We are to return to God through Christ by God's love, or grace.

JN 14:15 "If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-- 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."

Believe that God is God and there is no other. He will accomplish all that He desires. He will save YOU and EVERYONE from sin and death. How much "salting" from His Fire do we need?

Jesus Sin? - NO!

Is Jesus the World's Greatest Sinner? No.

By Gary Amirault

"To Sin" from Strong's Concordance: Greek "hamartano"-to miss the mark (and so not share in the prize), to err.(number 264) Hebrew from the root "chata"- to miss.(number 2398)

WHAT WAS THE PURPOSE OF JESUS CHRIST'S DEATH AND RESURRECTION?

* God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. (John 3:17)

* Who comes down from heaven and gives Life to the world. (John 6:33)

* The Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them. (Luke 9:56)

* And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself. (John 12:32)

* As you have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as you have given Him. (John 17:2)

* The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. (John 3:35)

* God, Who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, Whom He has appointed heir of all things, through Whom also He made the worlds. (Hebrews 1:1,2)
His purpose is very clear: to reconcile all things back to His Father. (Col. 1:16-20)

According to Scripture, Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, created all things, reconciles all things, is Heir of all things, has authority of all things, will have all men to be saved, His grace comes to all men, He takes away the sin of the world, He gives His flesh for the life of the world, He is the propitiation for the sins of the world, whose gifts are irrevocable of which life is one of the gifts, He manifested to put away sin, holds the keys to death and hell, who changes not, He is Lord of both the living and the dead, he will destroy all enemies of God the last one being death, Who made all things alive, Who completes the work the Father gave Him to do, Who restores all things, gave Himself a ransom for all, He takes away the curse and said He came to do the will and work of the Father who wills that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth so that God, the Father may be all in all! I could lengthen this paragraph considerably, but I think the point has been made.

Jesus said He finished the work and accomplished His purpose which was also the Fathers purpose...to be the Savior of the whole world...to reconcile everyone back to His Father and our Father!

According to many Christians, billions of people are going to a place called Hell to be tormented by God for all eternity. Please hear this very carefully. If Jesus loses just one soul, he will become the world's biggest sinner. How so you say? Because He will have missed His mark...that is , to reconcile all things back to His Father. "For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And he is before all things and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the ecclesia, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross." (Colossians 1:16-20) Please understand that when the scriptures talk about "things" being reconciled back to God, He is not talking about rocks and trees. It was descendants of Adam who were cast out of the presence of God in the garden of Eden, remember? We need to be restored, reconciled, redeemed and the Scriptures make it abundantly clear that His purpose, goal, will and work was to reconcile all.

These Scriptures make it abundantly clear what the goal, the mark, the target which Jesus was aiming at when He went to the Tree of Crucifixion. The majority of the church says Jesus either will not (Calvinist) or cannot (Arminianist) due to the power of "free-will," save all mankind. The majority of the church says He will sin, that is, miss the mark. There has always been a minority in church history, (which used to be the majority before the dark ages) who believe the Scriptures that declare Jesus Christ the actual Savior of the whole world. This minority pays close attention to Scriptures and notices things like the fact that Paul, the apostle to the nations, never preached salvation as deliverance from our modern concept of Hell. As a matter of fact, he never used the word "Hell"! That should make one think Go to a concordance and see for yourself.

As Bibles get closer to the original languages, Hell and "eternal" punishment passages in Bibles are disappearing. The King James Bible used the word "Hell" 63 times. The best present-day Bibles such as the NIV, NASB, and NRSB, do not contain the word in the Old Testament at all, and only about a dozen times in the New Testament. Many translations do not contain the words "Hell" nor "eternal punishment." When one looks at Bible translations such as Young's Literal Translation by Robert Young, author of the famous Young's Analytical Concordance, one will find Hell completely gone and the incorrect and very pagan "eternal punishment" replaced with "age-during punishment." Other translations have "age-abiding correction," "eonian chastening," "punishment of the ages," etc.

This article is much too short to get into the subject, but none of these Hell or "eternal punishment" type of phrases should ever have been brought into English translations. The Roman Catholic Church, with its "convert or die" policies, took almost all of the pagan and idolatrous practices of the countries it forced to convert and "christened" them, that is, incorporated them into the church. Thousands of pagan ideas and practices became Christian that way. When one seriously studies the Reformation, we realize that Protestants did not go all the way in clean up the "House of the Lord." They left many false doctrines in tact. One of these false doctrines which came from pagan countries is the idea of a place of eternal punishment called "Hell." A quick look into an encyclopedia should tell a person this word in its religious form comes from Norse mythology, not from the Greek and Hebrew in the Bible. The whole concept of a place of eternal torment comes from a mistranslation of the Hebrew word Sheol and the Greek words Hades, Gehenna, and Tartarus all being translated into the Anglo-Saxon word "Hell." The Reformation translators translated from their traditions, not from knowledge of Hebrew and Greek. As Bible translations get closer to the original languages, our pagan concept of Hell will fade away. Paul never preached a place of eternal torment to anyone! That is why he could say in 1 Timothy 4:9-11, "This is a faithful saying worthy of all acceptance. For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially those who believe." He could also say and mean, "Love never fails!" (1 Cor. 13:8) John tells us that "God is Love." (1 John 4:8) Therefore, God never fails! He never misses the mark! We, in our short-sightedness may have brought Him down to our image, that is, a sinner, but He will be vindicated. When He is, will you hang your head in shame? It is not too late to "study to show yourself approved" and see for yourself the glorious Truth that the salvation of the world does not depend upon a hypocritical, lazy, selfish church. No, the world, all of it, is in much better hands...Jesus Christ, the Savior of all mankind, Who gave Himself a ransom for all, including you, whether you presently are aware of it or not.

"It is finished," He cried from Calvary. Ask the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, Who will lead you into all Truth to reveal to you the full meaning of those three words which declare Jesus hit the mark at which He was aiming. It is important for you to do this. You, also, have a mark set for you. To give God full Glory. Don't fall short by saying He will fall short.

A Puritan's Mind...NOT the Mind of Christ!

Graphic from: A Puritan's Mind

I am sure that the owner of A Puritan's Mind means well but...

there is one grammatical error,one error in definition, one Christological error, and one major theological error with the graphic above. Can you, dear reader pick them out???

Very well, the grammatical error is that a 'singular soul' cannot be "they." The error of definition is found in Ezekiel chapter 18:4

Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

And not only do we find death, that means the cessation of life, in the Hebrew Scriptures as the punishment for sin; moreover we find the same truth in the pages of the New Testament --

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Punishment for sin has always been death in both Old and New Covenant scripture. Matthew 10:28 provided the above verdict. Here is a second witness from the apostle Paul (Romans 6:23)--

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Christological error is that NOWHERE in scripture is Jesus referred to as Lord God Almighty!!! In order to save space, I would direct your attention to the side bar video -> "My God" Jesus has a God. It only runs 16 minutes and covers what we need to know from the Biblical record; no Church Councils are appealed to in the presentation, neither are any vain traditions of men - such as a hypostatic union of Christ, also known as the Incarnation to our Trinitarian friends or as Dual Nature as it is known to those of United Pentecostal persuasion; for certainly the UPCI's appeal to what is written below is nothing more than a restatement of Chalcedon's decree with their own "spin". I must admit that through much mental wrangling on spokesman Jason Dulle's part it is the best example of verbal hoop-jumping that I have read regarding the topic:

[...]If we apply the communicatio idiomatum to mean that whatever can be said of one nature can be said of the other, then we have God's essence being tempted and dying. Such a conclusion is absurd. This is explained by saying that God as He exists in a genuine human existence was tempted. How exactly this could be without splitting up the union of the two natures I cannot adequately explain. This is where our understanding breaks down. Even Chalcedon could not pinpoint the truth; it could only draw a box around it by saying what can and cannot be true, and let the truth lie somewhere inside the box. I am also asserting what must be true, and what cannot be true (insofar as it is knowable), and leaving the rest to the box of mystery.[...] SOURCE

Nay, gentle reader, there is a much more rational and satisfactory answer. An answer that does not appeal to ancient philosophies, Church councils, mysteries, or humanly devised traditions.

Our answer is that God anointed, appointed,and approved a MAN to redeem the world; to die a sinless death, as a perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world; and to mediate between God and man. No gross theological gymnastics involved. NO appeals to Greek sophistry. No Councils or appeals to any such nonsense. READ THIS

Please watch the video with your mind and Bible open to prove to yourself the message.

As for the overarching theological error that the graphic promotes, that would be "death equals eternal life!"

Death means d-e-a-d.

Merriam-Webster's dictionary definition:dead

1: deprived of life : no longer alive

2 a (1): having the appearance of death; lacking power to move, feel, or respond; incapable of being stirred emotionally or intellectually.

Please notice that the dictionary definition is completely in agreement with the counsel of our Bibles--

"the dead know not anything" (Ecc. 9:5) and that "His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them" (Job 14:21). It is the scriptures that tell us where the dead are and their condition; that they are experiencing neither joy nor sorrow, pleasure nor suffering; that they will have no knowledge of anything done under the sun until their awakening in the resurrection.

Remember the wise man's words, "Do with thy might what thy hand findeth to do, for there is neither wisdom nor knowledge nor device in (sheol) the grave, whither thou goest." (Ecc. 9:10) Both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament it is written of both the good and the bad that they fell asleep in death.

The apostle Paul speaks of those who "sleep in Jesus," (1 Thes. 4:14) and of those who have "fallen asleep in Christ" (1 Cor. 15:18) who, he declares, are perished, if there isn't a resurrection of the dead. Could they perish in heaven or in purgatory or in a hell of torment? Assuredly no one teaches such a thing.

They are already in a perished condition in the tomb; and the perishing would be absolute, complete, unless a resurrection be provided for their deliverance from the power of death. Hence we read, "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

To completely cover the doctrine of how "Hell" became a place of eternal and fiery torment in Christian doctrine, in a proper manner, would require an entire book--Perhaps I may write one.

Many theological works have been presented over the ages, which contradict the concept of Hell as a place of eternal suffering, since this concept was formally introduced to the Christian world by Justinian, in 530AD. (William Barclay, J.W. Hanson, John A.T. Robinson, Lightfoot, Hosea Ballou, F.W. Farrar, Marvin Vincent, etc.)

Claiming that Hell is a place of eternal suffering is a doctrine with a solid foundation, is to ignore theological reality, and, in fact, is to discount simple logic.

Here are just a few points of logic that give strong evidence that the Hell of the Bible and the Hell of Christian doctrine are two completely different concepts:

* Is God a hypocrite by commanding his people to do something evil and, yet, condemning billions to the same fate, not in a temporary mortal sense, but eternally? "And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin." (Jeremiah 32:35)

* No doubt, Hell, as portrayed in Christian dogma, is the worst possible fate any human could possibly imagine. That being obvious, why did Moses not give warning about this horrible fate in the Mosaic Covenant, which contained over 600 laws, ordinances, and warnings, yet, only stated blessings and cursings in this lifetime.

* The concept of "any" human suffering eternal torture after death is completely contradicted by this New Testament verse: “Since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 15:22) And this one: "Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." ( Romans 5:18)And this one: "For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe." (1 Timothy 4;10).

Unless the word "all" has been declared as synonymous with "some", this gives strong evidence that the Christian doctrine is "negated" by the very scriptures they claim as authority for all their doctrines.

* Why did Paul never mention “Hell” in any of his epistles, except to declare the triumph of Christ over it in 1 Corinthians 15:55? The word “grave” in the passage is the Greek word “hades.”, the same word translated into Hell in other verses. And, why is it not mentioned once in the book of Acts, or in any of the evangelistic sermons that were recorded by the early Apostles?

* Why is the concept of a place of eternal suffering not used by any contemporary of Christ, nor was it ever thus employed by any Christian until Justin and Clement first used it in 150AD?

* If most of the world's population will end up a place of eternal torture, doesn't that imply that Jesus, at least partially, failed in his mission, which is found in this verse? "And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world." (John 12:47) And, does that mean that the Father of Jesus, also, failed because of this verse?"For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." (John 3:17)

Combined with the fact that a place of eternal torture was the doctrine of many false, "pagan", religions condemned in the Bible, long before it became a part of modern Christian dogma, there is good reason to question the orthodox view of Hell. For further study on this subject we recommend that our readers consider the wealth of evidence presented in this research work online: What Does the Bible Teach About Hell.

What the hell...?

Hell: an artist's rendering

Cormac Cardinal Murphy O'Connor

Hell has long been used as a tool of oppression to keep the flocks of Catholics and Protestants in line by the ecclessiastical authorities. Yet, for the first five hundred years of Church history -- followers of Jesus feared no such thing! Not until Patriarch Mennas of Constantinople condemned several of the teachings of Origen in 544 c.e., and emperor Justinian brought the condemantion to bear in 553 c.e. during the council of Constantinople II (the fifth ecumenical council) were any injunctions against teaching Universal Restoration or Reconciliation punished.

Ironically, in 2005, Cormac Cardinal Murphy O'Connor, Archbishop of Westminster, reiterated that Universal Salvation was entirely compatible with Catholic teaching and expressed his personal hope for universal salvation. Perhaps this should not be too surprising since the Vatican rescinded the concept (officially it never was a doctrine) of Limbo -- that place where Old Testament saints and unbaptized infants were said to reside. Limbo went the way of the dodo in October 2006. Can hell be far behind?

Yes, the wheels of change grind slow but ultimately God's will is being accomplished "on earth as it is in heaven."

Free Will of Man vs. God's Ultimate Sovereignty

Hans Sebald Beham

Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil

The subject of man’s “free” will in relation to God’s absolute sovereignty is a doctrinal dilemma that is just as controversial today as it has been in past centuries. Many believers do not understand how the choices of men can be reconciled with the plans of God, and so it is often dismissed by the average Christian as being too hard a subject to comprehend. Theologians have tried their best to figure out this “mystery,” but instead of reconciling the two issues, they have divided themselves into two distinct camps—the “free” will camp (Arminianists), and the “sovereignty” camp (Calvinists). Both of these views have elements of truth, but both also contain falsehoods. In this essay, we will look at both views and see that they need not oppose one another, but together, they can give us the COMPLETE picture of how God uses the choices of men to bring about His will. While the “natural man” cannot understand these things, God, through His Spirit, illuminates the deeper truths of Christ to those who have the spiritual “ears to hear.” Proverbs 25:2 says:

It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the glory of kings to search out a thing.

This passage is very interesting and sets the standard for how God reveals truth to men. Most believe that God intends for His Word to be easily understood through simple Bible study methods. Yet the truth be told, God hides the deepest riches of His Word from the proud and haughty man. Study tools and systematic approaches, as helpful as they may be cannot, in and of themselves, unlock the key to God’s mysteries. In fact, oftentimes this type of approach in interpreting the Scriptures leads man down a path of intellectualism, and results in taking him further from the truth. The Word of God is a spiritual book and, as such, must be unlocked by the Spirit.

We will not even begin to understand the mystery of the working out of God’s will until we see two very important truths: one, how POWERFUL God is, and two, (and this is more difficult), how PUNY man is. Certainly these two things are made abundantly clear in the Scriptures—however, reading about Truth in the scriptures is one thing; internalizing Truth into one’s heart is quite another. When Isaiah saw the greatness of the Lord in the temple (Is. 6), his own sinfulness was exposed and he cried out, Woe is me, for I am undone….for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts (verse 5). Has this same work been done in our own temple? Has the glory of the God exposed the pride, haughtiness, and self-righteousness that dwells in our own flesh? Do not think for one minute that Christians are exempt from these sins of self-exaltation. Let us remember that it was a religious man, a Pharisee, who looked at the humiliation of the publican and thanked God that he was not like him.

Beloved, we must receive a PERSONAL revelation of the wretchedness of our own flesh. Isaiah got this revelation from seeing the Lord of glory with his own eyes, not through the eyes of some “gifted” man or “anointed” teaching. Teaching is fine and I am very grateful for the men and women to whom God has blessed with great spiritual insight. However, unless we get a revelation of the glory of God in our own experience, we will only be eating the manna of someone else’s revelation, and thus we will have great difficulty discerning for ourselves the difference between Truth and a lie. If we somehow think that we will learn the most sacred things of God (Ezra 2:63) by study methods alone, we may instead find that we have accumulated nothing more than a wealth of carnal doctrines, but have not even come close to touching the heart of God on a matter. Even prayer, if not done from a spirit of brokenness resulting from a crucified life, will not move God into revealing a deeper glory of Himself.

With the pure You will show Yourself pure; and with the froward You will show Yourself froward. (Ps. 18:26)

I like what T. Austin Sparks said concerning the above passage:

If you and I are more or less careless about spiritual things the Lord will meet us on that ground, and we shall never get anywhere; but when we get to the point of being burnt up to the last ounce in the interests of the Lord, God will meet us on that ground. Is it not true with so many that the Lord has had to bring them to the place where it was a matter of desperation, life or death hanging upon a new knowledge of Himself? He has not been able to give them that inward unveiling until there could be for them no more life unless there was a new knowledge of the Lord. They wished not to live unless the Lord came to them in a new way.

“Father, grant to us such a hunger and thirst for You, that unless you fill us with the fullness of Your Son, we would surely die. Reveal Yourself, Oh, Lord, in a new, fresh, and living way!”

Romans 9 - God's Choice

Dealing with this issue of God’s sovereignty, Romans, Chapter 9 is the classic passage on the subject. Paul is making the case that, ultimately, it is God who will fulfill His own purpose, and that puny man cannot frustrate it. This truth is found all throughout the scriptures but no better place can be used as our example than in the 9th chapter of Paul’s great treatise to the Romans. Paul defines the truth of God's sovereignty by quoting from Exodus 33:19:

For He saith Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. (Rom. 9:15).

He reiterates the same truth a few verses later when he writes,

God has mercy on whom He will have mercy and harden whom he chooses to harden. (v.18)

Paul, being the scholar that he is, anticipates the skeptics charge that God is unfair.

You will then say to me, Why does he then find fault? For who has resisted His will? (v. 19)

In other words, “If God’s choices are greater than ours, why does he then judge us? Why does He hold us accountable for the choices He makes? That's not fair!”

Paul uses two Old Testament examples to defend his point. Pharaoh was chosen as a “vessel of destruction” to display God’s power (vs. 17, 22), and Jacob was chosen over Esau—not because of any good that Jacob had done, or any evil that Esau had done (v. 11). Paul then makes this powerful statement.

So then it is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy. (v. 16)

Neither Pharaoh nor the sons of Isaac had any choice in the matter—it was pre-determined by God Himself! This choice was made before either was born in order that God’s purposes might be fulfilled.

Paul’s answer to the skeptic’s charge that “God is unfair” is very simple. Who are we to argue against God?(v. 20) He then gives the analogy of the Potter and the clay saying, Does not the Potter have authority over the clay, out of the lump to make one vessel to honor, and one to dishonor? (v. 21) Paul’s point is clear: God is the Potter and He can do whatsoever He pleases with His creation (the clay).

God’s sovereign choices are above the will of man. He doesn’t do things in reaction to something that has gone wrong with His plan. This is the basic teaching of the organized church. Orthodoxy teaches that God never intended for Adam to fall, but since he did, God had to come up with another plan. We will attempt to show that this “theory” is not biblical and that there is never a plan “B” with God. God wasn’t surprised by Adam’s sin neither was He caught off guard. In fact, as we will show, Adam’s sin was a definite part of God’s overall plan and purpose. Not only was the “fall” ordained by God, but so was the remedy, and all of this was determined beforehand according to the counsel of His own will. (Eph. 1:4, 5, 11) God has specific reasons for doing the things that He does (we will elaborate later as to the reasons why the fall was necessary). God’s ultimate purpose is to be all in all (1 Cor. 15:28), and so everything He does accords with this purpose. Neither man nor Satan will ever be able to thwart God’s purposes or force Him to implement a plan “B”. Daniel 4:35 says,

And He does according to His will among the army of Heaven, and among those living on earth. And no one is able to strike His hand or say to Him, What are You doing?

For what purpose does God move the hearts of men and of nations? Peter talks of the restoration of all things (Acts 3:21), and Paul about the reconciliation of all things (Col. 1:20). What do they mean? To help us understand God’s great purpose, we must look at His role as Owner and Creator.

In the Beginning

If we want to understand where man is going, we have to go back to where he began, for it is in the garden that the principle of God’s ownership is first revealed.

Orthodoxy teaches that Adam was created in a perfect (complete) state—a state in which God was totally satisfied. In other words, if Adam had never sinned, God would have been happily content in keeping Adam and Eve in the garden with no higher purpose or goal in which to achieve. They would have continued in the same relationship as husband and wife, tending to the affairs of the garden, and fulfilling their role as propagators of the human race. I strongly suggest that this is not true. Ps. 8:5 gives us a hint of man’s incompleteness: For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels.... The Hebrew word for “lower” is chacer which literally means “to lack” or “fail.” Adam was not created perfect as most Christians teach, but lacked something. When Jesus was asked about the resurrection, He said this:

The sons of this age are given in marriage—but they who are worthy to obtain that age, and the resurrection of the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage; for they cannot die any more, for they are equal to the angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection (Luke 20:34-36).

It is clear from Jesus’ teaching that there was something higher and better awaiting Adam than what he originally had in the garden. Ps. 8:5 tells us that man was made LOWER than the angels, yet Jesus tells us that the sons of God will be EQUAL to the angels. In addition, Adam’s name literally means “the red earth.” While Adam was formed from the dust of the earth, God’s destiny for those now “in Adam” is heavenly, not earthly. The problem with the orthodox view is that most Christians believe that God is bringing man back to what Adam originally had in the garden, but the truth is God is bringing man forward to something higher and better!

The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. (1 Cor. 15:47)

God’s purpose is not found “in Adam” but “in Christ.” (1 Corinthians, chapter 15 is more than clear on this). Paul suggested this same idea when he prays that we might be granted a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the FULL (Gk. epignosis) knowledge of Him….(Eph 1:17) While it is certainly true that Adam walked in innocence, he did not possess a FULL knowledge of God and His ways. Adam did not know what it meant to be “in Christ.” He did not understand the effects of sin and the need for God’s judgment of it, or greater still, He did not know the great lengths in which God would go in order to redeem man back to Himself. Yes, Adam walked with God, but he was ignorant of many things and would, through struggle, have to learn who His God really was. No, it was never God’s original purpose to keep man in the state in which he was created, but to bring him to a deeper maturity...a fuller KNOWLEDGE (the knowledge of good and evil)—one beginning in the earthly realm, and progressing to a heavenly one.

Common theology also assumes that Adam and Eve had a perfect knowledge of good and evil. If this were true, why was it necessary for God to plant a tree that contained knowledge they already possessed? It is also interesting that the knowledge of “good” was not separate from the knowledge of “evil.” There were not two trees with two kinds of fruit, but one tree containing both fruits. Adam did not possess the knowledge of good anymore than he possessed the knowledge of evil—he was completely ignorant of these things. By eating the fruit of the tree, the process of learning both evil AND GOOD had been set into motion.

The philosopher and scholar Jacob Boehme wrote “that in order for Yes to be Yes, there had to be a No otherwise Yes would have no meaning.” He called this “Dialecticism.” Norman Grubb, who studied Boehme extensively, called this the “Law of Opposites.” Simply stated, the Law of Opposites says that in order for growth and maturity to take place, there must be an opposing force that resists or contradicts its opposite. For example, a muscle in the human body cannot grow unless there is a resistance or force applied to that muscle. This resistance first weakens the muscle actually breaking it down; however, with rest and proper nutrition, the muscle grows bigger and stronger. A child cannot understand what cold is until they touch something that is hot--they learn and become wiser by experiencing the opposite. Applying this to the spiritual, good cannot truly be understood until the effects of evil are seen and experienced. Obedience means nothing to us, until we see the results of disobedience. We cannot understand the holiness of God until we see the ravages and effects of hatred and selfishness in our lives and in the world around us. This is the “Law of Opposites” and it is the learning process that God has ordained for us. All we need to do is look at our own experiences to see if this is true. Does not a sunrise give us a great sense of peace and security only because we have experienced the loneliness and fear of the night? Can anyone really appreciate the joys of life until we have tasted the sorrows of death? Do we not appreciate the sweetness of His grace only because the law first condemned us? Is not the Cross of Christ embraced by us because we were first separated from God by our own sin? We must experience the evil in order to appreciate the good! I quote Don Godfroy:

However, they (mankind) will not be as they were originally, but in a higher dimension. When Adam gained the knowledge of good and evil, he gained resistance that would also grow him up. You can only build muscle by repetitive motion against resistance. Adam was innocent and immature. He now could experience the power of love against the power of evil. He now had something to “overcome.” He would find that he could only be an “overcomer” by the infinite mercy of God found in Jesus Christ. In this, he would have the experience of knowing the love his Creator had for him, by the depth He would go to save and restore him. He could also build spiritual muscle by carrying the disciple’s cross. This is why Paul cries out in Rom. 11:33, “Oh the depth of the riches of both the wisdom and knowledge of God!” What a master plan!

Adam was created in the image of God, but that does not mean he possessed the knowledge of his Creator. A child is created in the image of his or her parents, but that doesn’t mean they are exactly like them. They may look like them and have some of the same mannerisms, but they do not possess the same knowledge and wisdom that their parents do. Parents cannot pass those things onto their children at birth. While children certainly inherit physical traits from their parents, the knowledge of good and evil is not one of them. This has to come through a long process whereby their offspring learn by their own trials and experiences—their own triumphs and failures. It was no different with Adam and Eve. God had a plan for Adam (man) that would involve a long process of struggle (good versus evil) in order for him (mankind) to be brought into full maturity (sonship).

God made a tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He made it pleasing to look at. He didn’t place it in some remote place in the garden, but right in the center of man’s reach. There was no fence around it, nor were there cherubs with a flaming sword to guard it (until after Adam sinned). On top of all that, God allowed a tempter in the garden to be an adversary to Adam. So with all the pieces in place, let us now look at the issues of ownership and ultimate responsibility.

God’s Ownership

God created man and as owner of man, He holds Himself ultimately responsible. God’s own law (which He cannot violate) proves this. In Exodus 21:33-34, God gives laws for landowners. If a landowner digs a pit on his own land and fails to cover it up, and an animal falls in and dies (whether of its own stupidity or “free” choice), the owner of the land shall make restitution to the animal’s owner. The landowner then gets the rights to the dead animal (all souls belong to Him—Ez. 18:4).

So God made a pit in the garden (the tree) and failed to cover it up. Adam, unable to discern the difference between good and evil because of ignorance, fell into the pit by eating of the tree. So in accordance with God's very own law, He was responsible to make it right—and make it right He did! God’s restitution to man was none other than the blood of His own dear Son, and in this way He provided the only avenue of escape from this pit of death. As Creator of man, “all souls belong to Him,” and so God, being the owner of all that is in the world did the only thing a responsible owner could do—take the responsibility of restoration upon His own shoulders.

All of us inherited the result of Adam’s sin, which was death—even those who did not sin after the likeness of Adam’s sin. (Rom 5:14) And because we inherited mortality from Adam, we are in a constant state of dying—which quite naturally brings forth sin, resulting in separation from God. All men are born into this world in a state of death, separated from God. None of us had a choice of whether or not we wanted to be born in such a sorry condition. Nevertheless, each of us commits sin because of the mortality we inherited from Adam. While God indeed holds men accountable for the choices they make (Rom 1:20), He does not hold men ultimately responsible for the mortality and death brought about by Adam’s disobedience. We had nothing to do with that. So the question we should be asking ourselves is, “Who is ultimately responsible to make things right? Who should fix what Adam did to all of humanity?” The answer seems clear. Is God not the owner of the whole earth? Is He not responsible for it?

God’s responsibility as landowner is ultimately greater than the choices of men, and because of this, God sent His only Son to reverse the damage that had been caused by Adam.

As in Adam, all die, so in Christ, all shall be made alive. (1 Cor. 15:22)

This verse says it all. Adam brought death to all men. He was the origin of the “indwelling” sin problem that all men are cursed with. However, the good news is that because of what Christ has done, life will come to all men. This is what the verse says. The first Adam condemned all of humanity to a life separate from God’s life; the second Adam assures all of humanity to a life in God. For those who understand that God works in successive ages (or dispensations), we know that not all men will experience this life (in Christ) in this current age. In fact, Jesus made it very clear that narrow is the path that leads to life and few would find it. However, this doesn’t change the fact that God did what He had to do in order to undo the consequences of Adam’s sin. How can “where sin abounds, grace does much more abound” be true if most of God's creation will be forever lost? Is the first Adam’s disobedience greater than the second Adam’s obedience? Is the disease (sin) greater than the cure (the Cross)? Does Adam have the power to curse all of humanity but Christ only the power to save a few?

If God holds us personally responsible for Adam’s sin, then God is guilty of the biggest injustice in the history of the world. First, He sets up a chessboard that is impossible to overcome (the tree, the seductive beauty of it, and the tempter), and then as a result of Adam’s inevitable choice, He declares that most of His creatures will be lost forever. My dear friends, this goes against the very nature of God as love, His power to save all, and His ultimate responsibility to fix (not just provide a way) for man’s confused and lost state. According to modern theology, Christ did not fix the problem caused by Adam’s sin—He simply paves a way so that if a man chooses Christ by His own “free” will, then his own personal sin problem is cured. However, this clearly contradicts Paul’s universal thrust in Romans 5:12-18, 1 Cor. 15:22-28, Phil. 2:10,11, and all throughout the Scriptures.

He is the Savior of all men, but especially those who believe. (1 Tim. 4:10)

Evangelical theology cannot answer the truth that says, “Jesus IS the Savior of all men.” Their explanation is that Christ WANTS to be the Savior of all men. However, this is not what the Scriptures say. They not only declare that Christ died for all men, but that He is also their Savior. As believers, we have already appropriated that Saviorship and are receiving the blessings of that relationship right now. However, most people do not yet know the good news of the gospel. Their salvation MUST come in the “ages to come.” So instead of having the faith to believe God for the impossible, they offer a weak substitute that, in the end, can only manage to save a small percentage of all of God’s offspring. In essence, they have made God weak and ultimately a failure. They have placed the whole destiny of mankind on the shoulders of their own “free” will instead of rejoicing that God has already accomplished the victory in Christ (the complete fulfillment of this victory is yet to come).

Ultimate Responsibility

Whether or not man has “free” will is really not the issue (although we try and make it the issue). The real issue is who is ultimately responsible? Modern evangelicalism tries to do everything it can to take the responsibility off of God. If we really think about it, God is the one who has “set us up” to fall. For reasons beyond our comprehension, God created man and put him in a "no-win" situation. (*See note 1 below) Adam really had no chance other than to fail. How long could Adam have held out against this temptation? A day? A week? A year? Maybe ten years? Do you really think that Adam had the strength to say “no” to that temptation day after day? Do we think that somehow we would have performed better than Adam? I think not!

Most of us can’t handle the thought that we were set up by God, so we blame Satan—but mostly we blame man. We do not want to think that ultimate responsibility lies with God. If we say that all of the world’s suffering is because of man’s choice or Satan’s deception, and we fail to attribute all things as coming from God (see note), even evil (Judges 9:23; Job 2:3; Is. 45:7; Amos 3:6; Rom 11:36), then God is not totally sovereign. In other words, something happened beyond God’s control. (*See note 2)

Arminianism teaches that God knew what would happen in the garden, but couldn’t prevent it because of man’s “free” will. If this is true and something actually happened beyond God’s control, what makes us think that something like this won’t happen again? If God had to put plan “B” into effect, what makes us think God won't resort to a plan “C” or a plan “D”? You say, “That's just being plain ridiculous!” Yes, this is my point exactly, but this is what the “orthodox” church teaches. According to the common view, God could not stop evil from coming in and putting a stain on His creation. God wanted Adam and Eve to remain in a state of permanent bliss in the garden, but He couldn't stop sin from entering in, so He had to change His plan—He had to come up with something better. This, my dear friends, is ridiculous. In our efforts to relieve God of the responsibility for evil in the world, we devise a man-made doctrine which undermines the sovereignty of God and should give every child of God a reason to question whether they can really trust God or not.

Calvinism, on the other hand, teaches that God not only knew what would happen, but wouldn’t stop it because the “fall” of man was ordained. In this case, there is an element of truth; however, the inevitable result of this view is to say then that God ordains most people to spend a conscious eternity without Him. This view is too grotesque to even dwell on it at length.

If, as a result of man’s choice, most men suffer endless torment, then God has failed—in particular, the Cross has failed. Either he can’t make it right (Arminianism) or He won’t make it right (Calvinism). Each view maligns the nature and character of God. The first says God is weak and limited by Satan and man. The second says that God is cruel, unjust, and unloving. Both are unthinkable.

Praise be to our God that the scriptures teach that He will take ultimate responsibility and reconcile all men to Himself (Acts 3:21; 1 Cor. 15:22-28; Col. 1:20). If God CAN’T save all men because of their “free” will, what does this say about His sovereignty? If He WON’T save all men because of His own choices, what does this say about His love and mercy? God is going to reconcile all things (Col. 1:20), restore all things, (Acts 3:21), make all things new (Rev. 21:5), sum up all things in Christ (Eph. 1:10), fill all things with Christ (Eph. 4:10), and become all in all (1 Cor. 15:28). How is He going to do this? Will He accomplish this restoration by FORCING most of His creation to bow the knee and make confession? Men take power and authority by force. Will God follow the ways of man? If God does, what does this say about His responsible ownership over the world He has created? Will He violate His own law in failing to take responsibility as Landowner of the universe? Will He throw most of His creation in the dumper all in the name of “free” will? What does it say about the sovereignty and power of a god who reconciles and restores most things by brute force? Which do you think brings more glory to God—forcing most of His creation to bow to Him OR winning each and every one of us by the power of His love? The good news is that the scriptures do not paint God as One who either cannot or will not save men. God will destroy all His enemies by making them friends!

Note 1: In actuality, God placed man in a "win-win" situation because in man's disobedience, God set into motion the long struggle in which man would eventually attain victory (in Christ) and ultimately receive the maturity of sonship. Yes, he would have to suffer the consequences of sin, but alas, this was the way God designed (from before the foundation of the world) for man to learn and to grow. So what has been explained by theologians as a bad situation for Adam that God had to somehow overcome, was actually intended for Adam's good. Satan did not foil God's creation, but was actually a pawn used in accomplishing God's will.

Note 2: There is no doubt that many will accuse me of calling God evil. I will address this later in the "arguments" section.

The “Free” will of Man

As previously mentioned, man DOES make choices, however, he DOES NOT have ultimate and final control over his own destiny. It is God who is in control of all forces and environmental conditions and He will use these however He chooses in order to accomplish His will.

Man devises his way, but the Lord directs his steps. (Prov. 16:9)

Man's goings are of the Lord. (Prov. 20:24).

The King's heart is in the hands of the Lord, He turns it wherever He desires. (Prov. 21:1)

Men make choices and decisions every day, but something (or Someone) creates a circumstance that causes these decisions. If I scratch my body (my own choice), I do it because I have an itch. If I eat a meal (my own choice), I do so because I am hungry. If I hurt another person (my choice), I do so because they did some harm to me. For every choice we make, there is a cause greater than the choice. It is your basic cause/effect principle. For every effect (in this case our choice), there is some cause that prompted the action. As no one would deny that God is sovereign over all things (including Satan), it is God who can change circumstances as He pleases to bring about the desired effect. In this way, we may think we are totally independent from God in the choices we make, but in reality, there is Someone greater than ourselves working behind the scenes to bring about a perfectly orchestrated finale. God is the great conductor who controls and leads men to respond with a simple wave of His baton.

Jesus said, If I be lifted up, I will draw all men to Myself. (John 12:32) The Greek word used for “draw” is the word “helkuo” which literal means “to drag.” Jesus says, “He will drag all men to Himself.” What does this say about man’s “free” will?

In Isaiah 10, the King of Assyria is bragging about how he had ransacked Jerusalem. He says,

By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent; and I have removed the bounds of the people, and I have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man. (verse 13)

This sounds like someone very familiar, doesn’t it? Remember, Nebuchadnezzar? We all remember how God dealt with his arrogance. But it is clear that God not only chose this pagan nation to judge His people, but He turned the heart of the king to accomplish the job. The Lord says,

Shall the axe glorify itself over him chopping with it? Or shall the saw magnify itself over him moving it? As if a rod could wave those who lift it. As if a staff could raise what is not wood! (verse 15)

The king thought he had “free” will, but he was nothing more than an axe. It was God’s arm doing the chopping!

Another illustration I sometimes use is that of a dog being led by a leash by its master. A dog has some ability to roam from the master, but only inasmuch as the master allows. When the dog begins to stray too far or get into something it shouldn’t, one yank of the leash brings the dog back into submission. While we may devise our own way, it is God who “directs our steps” by yanking our leash whenever it suits His purposes. The idea that man can somehow act independently of God’s purposes is an idea totally foreign to the Word of God.

No, it is God who moves the steps and hearts of men and will work all things out according to the counsel of His own will. And what is His will? Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. (1 Tim. 2:4, KJV) LISTEN AGAIN... “WHO WILL HAVE ALL MEN TO BE SAVED....” The Greek word for “will” is the word thelo which means “intend” or “to be resolved or determined.” I find nothing in the Word of God that teaches that God will NOT get what He intends or determines.

...My counsel shall stand, and I will do ALL MY DESIRE. (Is. 46:10)

God is moving all of His creation toward His ultimate purpose of “summing up all things in Christ.” (Eph 1:10) and having His will DONE on earth as it is in Heaven.

NOTE: To accomplish His purposes, God allows this illusion of “free” will. However, it is only for a season and is used by God as a tool to teach His creation the principle that nothing exists apart from Him--not even our ability to make choices. And like all idols, the idol of man’s supposed independence from God will one day be totally destroyed. When the ages of the ages are complete, there will not be one speck of independence left in all of God's universe--all creation will be in absolute submission to God and be totally dependent on Him! (The orthodox teaching on the lake of fire contradicts scripture because it forever leaves a huge percentage of humanity in a state of independence).

Can Man really Reject God?

For those who believe in the “free” will of man, this question will seem rather ridiculous. Again, I cannot deny that man can make a choice to reject God—we see it all around us. However, there are two questions I want to pose: first, “Is it possible for man to make a “fully” informed decision to reject God forever?” Second, assuming that man can become “fully” informed, “Would it then be possible (or rational) for him to do so?”

It is important for us to understand that when a man rejects God, he is in essence rejecting his own self. The reason for this is simple: each man has his beginning in God, and so a rejection of God is to reject the very purpose for which he was born (to find his end in God). If God is a loving Creator, which no Christian would deny, then God’s desire for each and every one of His creatures must be that they experience total fulfillment and happiness. Those of us who have had our eyes opened to this truth understand that, without Christ, our life would be empty and unfulfilled. Not only does God desire man’s happiness, but man wants the very same thing for himself. I mean, honestly, can you think of one person, no matter who they are, who doesn’t want to be happy and to find ultimate purpose in their life? Each of us pursues different things, but nevertheless, all of us are trying to find that one thing (or person) that will give us lasting peace. So God, who desires man to be happy, and man, who desires himself to be happy, have the same end in mind. Therefore, a loving God will never be satisfied until He gives to man that which he is desperately trying to find. This is why it is God’s will that “none should perish, but that all would come to repentance.”

All men are born into this world lost and blind, stumbling in the dark, trying to find the answer to the question, “Why am I here and for what purpose was I born?” Each man, in the course of his life, seeks to answer that very question. Apart from God, all goals and dreams in this life are simply illusions at best, and until these illusions are shattered and revealed to us for what they are, man can never be happy and fulfilled. These illusions act as barriers to keep man from seeing clearly who God is. This reminds me of the story of the blind man whom Jesus touched to be healed. After the first touch, the man could only “see men as trees, walking.” It took a second touch from Jesus to complete the healing. (Mk. 8:22-25) Jesus was obvious showing us that “healing” is a process where, over time, things become clearer and clearer to us concerning the things of God. The same thing happens to us as we are trying to find the Source of true happiness. As each idol of man is torn down piece by piece, he slowly comes to realize that there must be more to life than what merely meets the eye. So until the last illusion of man is shattered, his rejection of God is NOT a rejection of God Himself, but rather of who he “thinks” God is or as He is represented by those who call themselves Christians. He sees contradiction and division in the Church and has a tendency to judge God based on the behavior of those who are supposed to represent Him. This is why our testimony is so important. If Christians are not walking as if they are clearly seeing God, then how can we expect an unbeliever to see God the way He truly is? It is sad fact that most Christians are often the biggest stumbling block as to why men CANNOT see God.

Does man really have the knowledge to be able to truly reject God in this life? Think about it. Man came forth (from God) and is born into this world with a dead spirit. Even though he is born lost, there is a part of him that yearns to find his Creator even though he doesn’t know who or what He is. However, there are forces outside of man (temptations) and forces within him (a foolish heart) trying to keep him from being reunited back to his God. God’s plan IN THIS AGE is to reunite only a few. The Bible calls these men “the elect.” The rest of humanity (non-elect) continues to stumble in the dark trying to find that one thing (or person) that will finally give them the happiness they yearn for. Unfortunately, most will die still clinging to the illusions that keep them from seeing God clearly. It is quite arrogant of Christians to condemn his fellow man for not being able to find “the answer” when he himself continues to cling to his own illusions apart from God. How can I say this?—because I speak from experience. In my own life every time I sin, I am saying, in essence, that God is not enough to meet my need in this particular area. In other words, God has not yet become my whole desire and so I must resort instead to that which I think will provide me some satisfaction. It would be wise for us Christians to remember back to the time when we were ignorant of the devices of the enemy who kept us in the dark, and even now keeps Christians in the dark. The apostle Paul tells us,

We see through a glass darkly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known. (1 Cor. 13:12)

If Christians are still holding on to some of the illusions of this world, how much more should they pity those who have not had their eyes opened to the reality of their own illusions? (We know much “theology,” but we know very little of the heart of God.)

I contend that it is impossible for a man to be “fully” informed concerning the true character and nature of God until ALL of his illusions are broken—and this will not occur in the non-elect until the coming ages. Those who reject God in this life are not rejecting the true God, but instead are rejecting a false impression of God. I quote Tom Talbott from his book, The Inescapable Love of God:

If I suffer from an illusion that CONCEALS me from the true nature of God, or the true import of union with God, then I am again in no position to reject God freely. I may reject a caricature of God, or a false conception, but I would be in no position to reject the true God Himself.

Those who die in this life without coming to a saving knowledge of Christ are NOT “fully” informed, and WILL NOT BE UNTIL the lake of fire shatters all their illusions. The illusions of this world that promise happiness and fulfillment keep men blinded to the true nature of God and His purpose for them. (2 Cor. 4:4) Man is incapable of seeing God as He truly is until every last self-effort of man has been totally destroyed. Until this happens, God cannot condemn a man forever for being less than “fully” informed. One day, however, man will become “fully” informed, and when he finally sees the true Person of God in Christ—with no barriers obscuring God’s true image—he will be unable to resist Him (nor will he want to).

Beloved, this is God’s plan for each and every person. We make a grave error in believing that this work will be completed in this lifetime. For believers, we are INTRODUCED to the true God, but even for us, there is much work yet to be done as God continues to tear down all falsities in us so that we may be able to see Him clearly. God shows no favoritism. What He’s been doing for us now, He will surely do for all men in the ages to come when He will shatter every illusion and break every ignorance that keeps each man from knowing the true source of his happiness. When this finally happens for each individual, they will then see God as the only true source of happiness for their life. If, after all this, a man can still reject God, then he would either be considered a fool or totally irrational for rejecting the only Source that could make him eternally happy. However, the scriptures teach that no man can forever resist the grace of God. On that day, man will be neither foolish nor irrationally for Paul prophesies, “as in Adam, all die, so in Christ, all will be made alive.” (1 Cor. 15:22) Men may be fools in this life by rejecting an obscure image of God, but in that day they will not reject the True God. When man finally sees God as He really is (through the work of the Cross), he will willingly and graciously bow to His Creator. On that day, it will be IMPOSSIBLE for any man to forever reject God, thus God’s purpose for man to have ultimate happiness will have been fulfilled, and man’s happiness for himself will have been found. On that day, when all of God’s creation is finally in accord with His will, all of us will be able to say with Paul,

That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil. 2:10, 11)

What a day of rejoicing that will be when we will all “know as we are known!”

Note: It is impossible for man to forever reject God once he becomes “fully” informed. No one, seeing God in His full glory, will be able to curse Him and want to be separated from Him for all eternity. No doubt, there will be a special blessing for those who love God without seeing, for Jesus Himself said, “…blessed are those who have not seen and believe.” (Jn. 20:29) I, for one, do not know the exact details of how God will work out His plan to those who reject Him in this life. I do know, however, that He will use the elect to reach each and every lost sheep, and none will be forsaken. Each person is special to God and all will come to know their Creator in God’s perfect timing.

Arguments

I want to very briefly address some arguments that are used to refute some of the ideas we have just discussed.

First, there will be those who will accuse me of teaching that God is evil because God wanted Adam to fall. I teach no such thing. God is good and in Him there is no darkness, but to accomplish His purposes, God can (and does) use evil in this world and yet be totally free from sin Himself. For reasons only known to God, He has chosen to teach His children by using the “Law of Opposites.” He has chosen to impart the knowledge of good and evil to His creation by having them experience both firsthand.

Secondly, it will be said that if God willed the “fall,” then why not continue to sin so God will be glorified? Paul addresses this very question in chapters 3 and 6 of Romans. Rom. 3:5 says,

But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God...,

and in verse 7,

For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory,

and in Rom. 6:1,

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

Paul teaches truth in the form of asking questions. It is clear that Paul is saying that our unrighteousness, lies, and sin commends God’s righteousness, truth, and grace. How does it do that? Very simply, it shows the contrast between the GLORY of God and the SINFULNESS of man (again, the “Law of Opposites” at work). Job saw it. Isaiah saw it. Peter saw it. Each of these three, when confronted with the glory of God, discerned a much greater distance between God’s righteousness and their own self-righteousness. Every time we sin, we show just how sinful we are, and by doing so, the contrast between God and man is made more distinct. (This, of course, is not for God’s benefit, but to show man the contrast.) The gap between God and man seems insurmountable. Could anything bridge the gap between the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man? This is what makes the Cross of Christ so wonderful and glorious! The greater the distance between God and man, the greater is the work of the Cross! The greater the depravity, the more glorious the saving!

But to answer the specific charge as to whether we should continue in sin so as to glorify God, Paul answers with an emphatic, “God forbid!” (Rom. 6:2) You see, neither I (or Paul) are advocating intentional sin so that God may be glorified. Man doesn’t need to intentionally sin because, by nature, he is quite good at it. However, once the distinction between darkness and light, good and evil is discerned by the individual (i.e. coming to an end of oneself), God imparts His life to that person by the work of the Cross. From that moment, the distinction between God and man should be getting less and less as God’s life begins to conform that man to the image of Christ and brings each of us into the maturity of sonship. This of course is a lifelong process. God’s eventual goal is to bring all of creation into this same process—the elect start this process in this current age; the non-elect will begin in the ages to come.

No, God is not promoting sin in order to exalt Himself. He wants us to hate sin and love righteousness. He wants us to reject evil and cling to that which is good. He wants us to overcome evil by its contrast, love. However, sin is needed in order to show the distinction between man’s glory and God’s. Eventually, there will be no need for this contrast because Christ will “fill all things,” God will be “all in all,” and all things will reflect His glory.

Lastly, some will say that God did not really want evil in the world, He simply allowed it. This is faulty reasoning because any omnipotent being who allows something to happen and has the power to stop it is ultimately responsible for it. If God allowed evil to enter His creation and had the power to stop it—but didn't—must have a very good reason for it. The modern church likes to use the phrase “foreknowledge” quite a bit when debating this question. However, it is impossible for an all-powerful being to simply have foreknowledge alone. Credit is usually given to the devil for all the bad things that happen in the world by justifying that “God only allows it, but Satan causes it.” However, when righteous Job was afflicted by Satan, it was God who said,

“...And he (Job) is still holding to his integrity, although you (Satan) INCITED ME (God) AGAINST HIM, TO SWALLOW HIM....” (Job 2:3)

Even though God gave Satan permission to attack Job, it was God who TOOK RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE EVIL! God said that it was He who came against Job although He used Satan to carry out His own will. It is simply impossible for an all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-wise God to ONLY know what is going to happen. If God CAN stop it and He DOESN'T, then He must have willed it. There is no way around this. God Himself says,

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD DO ALL THESE THINGS.” (Is. 45:7)

The Hebrew word for “evil” is the word ra, which is used all throughout the Old Testament to mean “wickedness.” God created wickedness by allowing a temptor to introduce sin into His universe—sin to be used by God to accomplish His purposes. Paul understood this as well when he said that ALL things are of Him, through Him, and to Him.... (Rom. 11:36) This is why the believer should never despair by the presence of evil because God allowed evil to be a part of His plan. Let us remember that evil is only temporary, but in the meantime, while it is in our lives, we can trust that God will use it for man's good in the end!

Man’s Enemy – His Carnal Nature

Perhaps our biggest problem is our lack of understanding concerning our own carnal nature, for if we really understood the state of this death that we are born into, we would know that none of us have any capacity in our old nature to seek after God. This is an extremely important point, for if we truly believed that all of us are born into this world spiritually blind, we would know that it is only God who can heal us from our blindness in order that we may see the truth.

All we like sheep have gone astray. (Is. 53:6)

Every man has turned to his own way. (Is. 53:6)

There is NONE that seeks after God. (Rom. 3:11)

A brother once said, “Men seek out God AFTER they are saved, not BEFORE.” This is so true. It’s amazing to me how often I hear pastors and musicians preach and sing about how we can’t do anything apart from God—and Amen!—this is a true testimony; but then in the very next breath proceed to tell the sinner that a decision for Christ is ALL UP TO THEM. Yes, we must come unto Christ, but who is the One who manipulates circumstances at the right time and manner to CAUSE a man to willingly come? When a man rejects Christ, he rejects Christ because God did not bring about the circumstances for that one man to come. But rest assured, God is not partial. What He has done for you and me, He will do for ALL men—in due season.

The doctrine of man’s sovereignty (“free” will) demonstrates how very little we know about the depths of our own depravity. Man always tries to come up with a way to help God or worse, become like God (Gen 3:5). The doctrine of man’s sovereignty, ultimately, is the same old lie that was told in the very beginning—that we can become as God.

Isaiah, when He saw the greatness of God said, “Woe is me. I am a man undone….” Job, when confronted with the glory of God said, “I abhor myself….” And Peter, when He saw the miracle of Jesus said, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” God is trying to get us to see the same thing. He wants us to see the futility of doing anything—and I mean anything—in our own strength. God is (if I can say this) a “selfish” God (I speak as a man). He wants all the glory for Himself. God will not allow any man to usurp or steal the glory from Him. Oh, He may let man think so for awhile, and it does appear that God gives man the illusion that his will is totally free, but just as Isaiah, Job, and Peter, when we finally see Him as He is, we will see how little we really are. Isaiah 40:15, 22 says, that the nations are as a drop in the bucket, and the inhabitants of the earth are as grasshoppers. The problem is, most of us haven’t really seen the Lord (with spiritual eyes), and so in contrast, we really do not understand how lost and helpless we are apart from Him. Isaiah is the perfect example of the “Law of Opposites” at work. Once he saw the glory of God in fullness, he couldn’t help but see the opposite of God’s glory which was his puny, wretched self.

We have seen with our own eyes what man is like when he lives his life apart from God. We have seen it in the religious, the power-hungry, the political, and the greedy. Some of us have seen it in ourselves. Many are still blind to the wickedness that is in their own hearts. We still think that we are better than most others. God will eventually show all of us what abominations really hide there—things that many of us are unwilling to look at. And when we get to the point (through the fire of trials) where we see God’s great and ultimate purpose, that is, to become “all in all” (1 Cor. 15:28), we will then see how man is in no position to dictate to God who is going to be saved and who is not. We then begin to understand how we really are nothing apart from God and if left to ourselves, we would all wander forever in a state of confusion and lostness. Calvinism is wrong when it says that God only picks a few to be saved and suffers the rest to endless torments. Arminianism is wrong when it says that man picks, through “free” will, who will be saved and who won’t. Can't we see that without God’s intervention, none of us would be saved??

Conclusion

Why is this issue so important? As mentioned at the very beginning of this essay, many will either classify this topic as vain philosophy or simply resign themselves to never being able to understand it. However, understanding that “all things come from God” (including evil) is critical in recognizing that God has a sovereign purpose for everything—even the things we perceive to be negative. God is good and created man with only good intentions. Evil was not a mistake but a force that God allowed in His creation for a specific reason. Without evil, none of us would understand good, and most importantly, we would not have witnessed and experienced the glorious remedy for sin’s consequence—the Person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I see many Christians who simply do not have an explanation for the terrible things that happen in this world—causing many to fear and lose faith in God. They also have an unbiblical view of Satan in that they attribute to him more power and glory than he deserves. On top of all that, the doctrine of “free will” gives glory and preeminence to man and makes him the final determinate concerning his salvation—ultimately stealing glory from God and making himself the last word.

One day, God will humble all of us and show us that salvation is His creative work. It is God who opens our eyes, it is God who keeps us from falling, and it is God who will eventually deliver us from this “body of death.” He is the author and finisher of all things—and so we must see that salvation is His work, not ours.

“...He which hath BEGUN a good work in you will PERFORM it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Phil. 1:6)

Who begins the work? Who performs it? Who finishes it? Oh, I know it’s hard, but for some reason men have great difficultly accepting God’s free gift. We feel like we have to work for it or do something to keep it. But taking God’s free gift means we have to admit how bad we really are, and that’s hard for all of us. But on that day, we will realize the great truth of who the author of our salvation really is, and the only part we played was to simply respond to God’s “dragging” us to the Cross. When we stand before Him, none of us will accuse God of creating us to be robots. We won’t argue that it was unfair that we didn’t have “free” will. We won’t accuse Him of manipulating our choices to conform to His will, crying out to Him, “That isn’t fair.” (Shall the clay say to the Potter, “Why have you made me thus?”) Oh, no, no, no! We will be filled with eternal gratitude and praise for how great and mighty (and loving) God really is—how He has not just chosen to manifest Himself to a few, but to ALL men. Most of us will be terribly ashamed when we think of how we have trampled on the Cross of Christ by diluting its scope and effectiveness and exalting this so-called “free” will of man. No, on that day we will not boast or glory in ourselves. We will not take credit for anything that we have done in any way. We will be in awe of His great plan, purpose, and wisdom and we will be able to say, like Paul,

O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? (Rom. 11:33-34)

For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, all things to whom be glory for ever, Amen. (Rom. 11:36)

NOTE: The word “free” will has been placed in quotes throughout this essay because this phrase, as it is taught by the Church today, cannot be found in Scripture. The author does not deny that the Bible speaks of men’s choices and the will of men (self-will). But nowhere in Scripture does it say that man was given a “free” will that allows him to be totally and finally independent of God by choosing his final destination. This contradicts God’s ultimate purpose of being “all in all.” The viewpoint this author holds is that man is free to choose only in the direction of the strongest influence, and that God is in sovereign control over all influences (Acts 17:28). Each person is being fitted into God’s plan in God’s own special way for them. Each person responds to his or her own unique set of “strongest influences.” And ultimately, when the time period of the ages has ended, God will have transformed the consequences of everyone’s choices into something glorifying to Himself, and beneficial to the chooser. So in light of the hundreds of passages that speak of God’s ultimate sovereignty and responsibility over all His creation, this author’s conclusion is that the Bible clearly does NOT teach that man can usurp God’s plan and purpose by his own “free” will.

________________

Ultimate Responsibility: Man’s “Free” Will and God’s Absolute Sovereignty by Ken Eckerty

See:

The Work of the Cross

God's Perfect Judgment

Savior of All