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September 29 - December 4, 2020
They do not understand His sovereign intent of good for them because they are taught that even God has His limits and conditions on love.
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.
wasn’t it these very people He hid truth from during His public ministry? How could He hold their blindness against them now?
nobody ever had a change of heart or felt remorse over coercion or punishment.
How could any finite being, limited in power and knowledge and wisdom, subject to deception and blindness, ever do anything that would deserve such punishment by way of a just recompense?[40]
Everyone is infinitely valuable and ultimately redeemable to God, no matter how seemingly hopeless.
What need would there be for Jesus and His chosen to be ruling and reigning over people if the “unsaved” were sent to hell and the rest were a faithful, unified body of believers?
The people being talked about in this passage were those who already knew God, stopped acknowledging the truth about His character, suppressed the truth that had been revealed to them, and then taught lies. This is not saying that all people everywhere have had the truth of God revealed to them, but rather that those who did were not faithful with it, becoming darkened in their understanding. It is these people who are without excuse.
such punishment is of heathen origin, rather that of the Bible.
the word eternity did not have roots in the Greek
The English word is a late 14th century word, derived from the Latin word aeternus,
if you study carefully the place of “weeping and gnashing of teeth” from a Hebrew perspective, it is not hell or eternal torment, but a place “on the outside looking in,” for a time of the necessary inner reflection that leads to longing and transformation. Outer darkness is a figurative description of living outside the light of the city—the New Jerusalem—away from the felt or experiential presence of the Lamb.
“outer darkness”
a place of restoration, renewal and re-instruction in the ways of the Lord.
they are given the gift of belief immediately at their resurrection, foregoing any kind of restorative process.
How can God force someone to believe anything? If he can, he could have arranged for that to happen prior to death.
Jubilee was a great time of celebrating. Even more than what is described here, all debts were cancelled, slaves went free, and people were restored to their families and to their own land that they may have had to sell off because of debt or misfortune.
The law of Jubilee is the basis of forgiveness and grace.
Such a god (and his world) was not safe!
Yet C.S. Lewis claimed that God is not safe, but is still good. Could he have been wrong?
if free will truly exists the way we teach it, then we have many big problems on our hands. Other than what we have already mentioned of tying God’s hands, it would also mean that people actually have the ability to ruin the ultimate destiny of others.
Ever heard of the burning bush? It’s a bush that burns without burning up. See Moses and the burning bush (Exodus 3:1-4)
Whenever a passage is about something that carries a negative connotation, such as being lost or destroyed, translators correctly use the word soul. Whenever a passage conveys mortal existence or carries a positive or neutral connotation, they swap soul for the word life.
Did you know that Jesus gave His soul for you? This would not be possible based on modern theological teachings that want you to think the soul is immortal and only dies when it is eternally damned.
After I shared the true Gospel with Mom, she was so consumed by the joy of it that she began sharing it with most everyone around her—her hospice nurse, her cleaning lady, and yes, even her friends. You see, that’s the effect that the true Gospel—the irresistible Gospel—has on people. You can’t wait to tell people about a love so powerful, so complete, and so pure that it offers value, hope, and purpose to every human being, with no strings attached.
inasmuch as God undertook very personal and painful measures to open the way to accurate knowledge concerning Himself and His son Jesus Christ (John 17:3), one may safely presume that such knowledge is fully intended to be attainable and clearly understandable.[69]
StudyLight.org.
online Lexicon (biblehub.com/strongs.htm or biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas).
biblehub.com)
The perishing is only preparatory to change and renewal.
Understood correctly, apollumi never implies a total, permanent loss, death, or destruction of anything.
In fact, throughout the NT, people or things that have been “apollumi-ed” are found, saved, and restored. It’s a temporary putting away of the old through a process of finding that which is lost, correction, renewal, and restoration. Isn’t that wonderful news?
…The [early] Catholic Church and the Church of England both used the word “church” and its meaning as a building to hold the people in subjection to their control.
Even today, without a building the clergy system would fall.
This system was totally foreign to the vocabulary and the life of the disciples of Jesus, who built and depended on the move of the Holy Spirit through all the people being built together.[73]
Truth is a journey, not a destination.
The whole point of the Good News is to give people hope, purpose, and healing in their lives, starting right now, through a relationship with their Father.
Well, it’s not that we should, but if we are impacted by the good news, (like winning the sweepstakes) we “will” naturally want to share. I would even argue that, when witnessing to those who have been hurt by the church, we can address that issue to help segue into the “real” good news.
God sees our motives, and fear-based service is not worthy of reward or “eonian life.”
Rebellion against God and selfish living leads to death, whether literally or figuratively. Try it if you want. Go out and have an affair, cheat your employees out of their fair wages, point out all the “specks” in the eyes of your friends, acquire a drug addiction, eat yourself into oblivion, mistreat your kids, live
completely for yourself, and then ask yourself in a couple years if your existence is characterized more by life or death.
You reveal your true motives for obedience—loving and obeying your Father out of desire and gratitude, not fear or duty. This in and of itself yields a life of great joy, proven by all who have lived in a loving and obedient relationship with Him.
The “unbelieving” are not “the world,” but those called out who have forsaken true belief in the power of their God.
Don’t you find it strange that Paul, the apostle to the non-Jews, never once mentions everlasting punishment or hell to his non-Jew audience? If hell is the worst thing that could happen to a person, shouldn’t he have at least mentioned it, especially when he had the perfect opportunity with those unsaved, pagan Greeks who knew nothing about God in Acts 17?
If we’re going to call it “free will,” then the same person who chose not to love God (though they were blind to Him) should also be able to use their free will to not be sent to hell. If their will were truly free, they should then be able to exercise it not to go to hell and God would have to comply.
“And your sister Sodom and her daughters shall be restored as they were from the beginning”
if people are only turning to God as a way out of hell, it’s not a true conversion, but only lip service, and God detests lip service (Matt. 15:8).
