Part I
Understanding God's Plan of Universal Reconciliation for All
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Part I Understanding God's Plan of Universal Reconciliation for All |
CHAPTER 3 UNIVERSAL RECONCILIATION SCRIPTURES
The riches of Christ is the truth of Universal Reconciliation, which has been kept a mystery from the beginning of the ages and only revealed to God’s Apostles and Saints, His Elect, as we explain in detail in Chapter 5. The riches of Christ have remained a mystery to traditional Christianity because of its belief in the false doctrines of Hell and the Trinity. There are literally dozens and dozens of scriptures, which clearly speak of the universal reconciliation and salvation of all. We shall cover many of these treasures of Scripture in this chapter, starting with Colossians 1:15-20. We give a detailed commentary on this key scripture because it states the truth of the Universal Reconciliation of ALL things, precisely, clearly and powerfully. Colossians 1:15-20 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the pre-eminence. 19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20 and by Him to reconcile (apokatallasso) all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. How marvellous and how wonderful this scripture is. This is unquestionably and without any doubt the full Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There is no bad news here whatsoever. Think about it. God will do what? God will reconcile ALL things on earth and ALL things in heaven through Jesus Christ having made PEACE through the blood of His cross. Please note that these verses, Colossians 1:15-20, are constructed in such a way that they leave absolutely no room for any doubt whatsoever that the word ALL can only mean ALL, without any exception. Apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, repeats the word all seven times before coming to the key verse, verse 20, which says that God will reconcile all things to Himself through Jesus Christ. If you believe verse 16, that Jesus Christ created all things in heaven and on earth, then you have no option but to also believe verse 20, which says that Jesus Christ will reconcile to God the Father, the same all things that He created, thus making peace with all of His creation. How could the existence of a place of eternal torment called hell represent God’s peace with all of His creation? Traditional Christianity, because of its long established and entrenched belief in the doctrine of eternal torture in hell, is unable to accept at face value, the glorious truth contained in verse 20. This is why it has failed to understand God’s Plan of Universal Reconciliation, which God is working out in ages through Jesus Christ. If you believe in the doctrine of endless torment in hell or annihilation, then you do not believe in Colossians 1:15-20, and in your mind you have added to or taken away from the truth contained in this scripture. Jesus Christ warns us not to add to or take away from His Word (Revelation 22:18-19). The Bible is the Word of God and it never contradicts itself. All contradictions in the Bible are totally due to either man’s mistranslation or misinterpretation of the original relevant Hebrew and Greek words. We explain these mistranslations and misinterpretations in Chapters 15-19. The doctrine of hell and the truth of universal reconciliation through Jesus Christ can not both be true at the same time. We challenge anyone, including theologians and Bible scholars, who believe in the doctrine of eternal torture in hell, to show us how their belief can be reconciled with the scripture Colossians 1:15-20, without adding to or taking away from its clear inspired meaning. In this book, we will show you that the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, upholds the truth of universal reconciliation and that it is the doctrine of hell, which is false and completely unbiblical. We will show you that there is not a single verse in the Bible, including those verses spoken by Jesus, which in any way contradicts the truth of universal reconciliation as stated in Colossians 1:15-20. You may find it shocking to accept the full truth of Colossians 1:15-20, which clearly states that God will not only reconcile all men unto Himself, but He will also reconcile all fallen angels. ‘Thrones or dominions or principalities or powers’, as given in verse 16, definitely includes Satan and the fallen angels, which we explain in detail in Chapter 13. The truth that God will reconcile even Satan and the fallen angels exalts God’s power, wisdom, love, mercy, forgiveness and His justice to the full. God’s nature is to overcome evil with good and He asks us to do the same (Romans 12:21). God will ultimately overcome all evil with good, so that the purpose of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for universal reconciliation is fully accomplished. Don’t misunderstand, God is not soft on sin, and He never condones sin. God’s power, love and His judgement will break all rebellion whether it is from men or angels. In God’s time and in His order, which extends beyond this present age, all fallen men and all fallen angels will repent and willingly come to accept, by God given faith, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. The Eternal Kingdom of God of the New Heaven and the New Earth will not be established until God has reconciled all things in heaven and all things on earth through the blood of the cross. The Greek word for reconcile used in Colossians 1:20 is apokatallasso. There are only three places in the whole of the New Testament where apokatallasso occurs. These are in Colossians 1:20, 21 and Ephesians 2:16. The context of these verses shows that reconciliation to God is only possible because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2). Universal Reconciliation is also known by other terms such as Universal Salvation, Christian Universalism and Biblical Universalism. We know that our book will create a great deal of controversy and debate in the Christian world because Universalism is considered a heresy by mainstream Christianity. However, God has powerfully revealed to us that He is the Saviour of the world (John 4:42). Therefore, we are now compelled to communicate the Good News of the True Gospel of Jesus Christ as widely as possible and by all means available to us. We know that there are some standard objections to Universal Salvation, such as, ‘If God is going to save everyone, then why bother evangelising and why should unbelievers repent now?’ or ‘Surely you don’t mean that even Hitler and Satan will be accepted into the Kingdom of God?’ Furthermore, ‘Doesn’t this teaching take away our God given freewill to accept or reject Jesus Christ?’ In this book, we will show you from the Bible that all such objections are unfounded. The Bible means ALL when it says ALL We need to first expose the fallacy, which says that the Bible rarely means all when it says all, before we give many glorious scriptures that uphold the truth of Universal Salvation through Jesus Christ. Charles H Spurgeon, a very influential preacher in the nineteenth century, did a great disservice to the Word of God when he preached that the word all in the Bible very rarely means all, but that it usually means some of all sorts. Here is a quote from one of Spurgeon’s sermons. The words ‘world’ and ‘all’ are used in some seven or eight senses in Scripture; and it is very rarely that ‘all’ means all persons, taken individually. The words are generally used to signify that Christ has redeemed ‘some of all sorts’ some Jews, some Gentiles, some rich, some poor, and has not restricted his redemption to either Jew or Gentile. (Spurgeon, Particular Redemption, A Sermon, 28 February 1858) One can easily prove how wrong Spurgeon was by examining the biblical verses in their context, where the word ‘all’ is used. The Greek word for all is pas, which is used 1243 times in the New Testament. We have examined each and every verse where pas has been used, and we could not find even one single verse where pas means ‘some of all sorts’ as preached by Spurgeon. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the context immediately makes clear to whom or to what all or every refers. There are only very few verses in the New Testament where the context of the verses does not immediately make clear what or to whom pas is referring. Spurgeon and all those who believe in hell have seized upon such verses to explain away all verses, which uphold the truth of universal salvation. We give below a couple of examples of the very few verses where the context of pas is not so immediately obvious. Philippians 4:13 The argument goes that in this verse pas can only mean some of all things as obviously Apostle Paul did not mean that he could do all things. This is fallacious reasoning and misunderstanding of the scripture. The correct understanding of the verse is that Apostle Paul could do all things in line with the will of God through Jesus Christ who strengthened him. Matthew 3:5-6 (KJV) This scripture speaks of the ministry of John the Baptist. The argument goes that all in this scripture can only mean some of all, since obviously the whole population of Jerusalem and Judea and the region around the Jordan did not go out to John the Baptist and they were not all baptised by Him. At face value, this argument appears to be reasonable. However, once again, this is fallacious reasoning and misunderstanding of the scripture because these verses have been badly translated in the KJV above. The correct way to understand Matthew 3:5-6 is as translated by the NIV. Matthew 3:5-6 (NIV) Please note that people went out from Jerusalem, all parts of Judea and all the region around the Jordan to John the Baptist and were baptised by him. This scripture does not say that all people, i.e. the whole population, went out from these places and all of them were baptised in the Jordan River. Exactly how many people went out to John the Baptist and how many of them were actually baptised is not stated. The next verse, Matthew 3:7, confirms that not everybody who went out to John the Baptist was baptised by him, as he did not baptise many of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Matthew 3:7 Spurgeon was a strong believer in the doctrine of hell, and he needed to justify his belief in it by negating many scriptures which use ‘all’ when referring to universal salvation. Preachers, like Spurgeon, who say that the Bible ‘rarely means all when it says all’ are adding to or taking away from the truth of many clear scriptures such as Colossians 1:15-20 that speak about the Universal Reconciliation of all things through Jesus Christ. Try replacing ‘some of all’ in Colossians 1:15-20 every time this scripture states ‘all’ and prove to yourself that it is a fallacy to say that the Bible usually means some of all when it says all. We now go on to give many more of the treasures of Scripture, which shine out the biblical truth of Universal Reconciliation. Let us believe the Word of God, taking it at its face value and accepting that in these scriptures all means all and every means every. Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the World John 4:42 1 John 4:14 Yes, Christ is indeed the Saviour of the world. How can He be the Saviour of the world and yet, at the same time, not save the whole world? Please note that the Greek word for world is kosmos, which means not only the whole earth but also the whole universe. There is absolutely nothing in the whole of the universe, which will not be saved or reconciled through the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. John 1:29 1 John 2:2 (NIV) Romans 5:6 Jesus died for the ungodly to take away the sins of the whole world. God loves all sinners but not their sins. In God’s time and His order all people will come to believe in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and all will receive the free gift of God’s Righteousness. Even if only one person’s sins remained unforgiven for eternity, then the work of the cross would have failed, and these scriptures would become false. Luke 23:34 This is Jesus’ last prayer and the most important request to Father God just before He died on the cross for the sins of the whole world. Jesus asked God to forgive His very murderers. Do you think that Father God will not grant Jesus’ request to forgive all those who played a part in crucifying Him? If Jesus’ murderers can be forgiven then everybody else, including Hitler, can be forgiven. There is no such thing as an unforgivable sin; the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit remains unforgiven for this age and the next age only, but not forever. All unbelievers will be forgiven during the Lake of Fire Judgement Age after they have repented and believed in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ through the gift of God given faith, as we explain in Chapter 12. 1 Timothy 2:3-6 (KJV) This is a powerful scripture as it stands, because God’s sovereign will to save all people and have them come to the knowledge of the truth cannot be frustrated by man's freewill or Satan. This scripture becomes even stronger once we understand that the primary meaning of the Greek word thelo is to be resolved or determined as given in Strong’s Concordance - G2309. Unfortunately, the NKJV and the NIV use the weaker meaning of thelo, which is to desire. God not only desires that all men will be saved, but He has resolved and determined that all men will be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 4:9-11 Notice that it is a command from God to teach the truth that God is the Saviour of all men. Once again, we ask the question, ‘How can God be the Saviour of All men and yet not save them all?’ Luke 19:9-10 How many are lost? All people are born lost with a sinful fallen Adamic nature. The Bible says that there is not one righteous, no, not even one (Romans 3:10). Jesus Christ will save all people without exception, as man’s fallen rebellious will cannot frustrate God’s sovereign will to save all of the lost. Jesus Christ died for All 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 Romans 6:10 We had better believe what the Bible says. Jesus Christ has already earned everybody’s salvation because He died for all, and He died to forgive the sins of not only believers but also the sins of the whole world. John 12:32-33 (NIV) Jesus Christ was lifted up on the cross to die for the sins of the whole world. The cross of Jesus Christ has unlimited power to draw all to Jesus. Ultimately, in God’s time and His order, which extends beyond this age, all will be drawn to Christ because of the finished work of the cross for the salvation and reconciliation of all without exception. Please note that in the original Greek manuscripts, verse 32 above simply says: ‘But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all to myself’. This means that all fallen men and all fallen angels will be reconciled to God through the work of the cross, as stated in Colossians 1:15-20. Jesus Christ will make All People Righteous Isaiah 45:25 To be justified means to be made righteous. We can see from this verse that all Israelites will be saved and reconciled to God. Romans 5:18-19 Yes, all without exception will be made righteous because of Christ’s obedience. It is clear that ‘many’ in verse 19 above refers to ‘all’ in verse 18 above. This scripture once again confirms the truth that each and every person, without exception, will be made righteous and saved through Jesus Christ. All will be saved but each in his own order 1 Corinthians 15:22-26 Notice that it is one hundred percent clear what this scripture says. All who die in Adam is exactly the same all that shall be made alive in Christ, which means that each and every human being will be made alive in Christ, meaning saved. It does not say that only some of all of the people in Adam shall be made alive in Christ. It is also important to note that everyone will be made alive in Christ in his own order, which is in God’s time and in accordance with God’s Plan of the Ages for the reconciliation of all things. It is the false doctrines of hell and annihilation that are the stumbling blocks preventing people from believing the obvious and glorious truth contained in this scripture. 1 Timothy 2:6 Jesus gave Himself as a ransom for all to be testified in due time, which is in God’s time and His order for each and every person. Ephesians 1:9-10 This scripture clearly reveals that the mystery of God’s will is to gather together in one absolutely all things in Christ. The wonderful and powerful expression ‘in Christ’ means that all will come to believe in Christ and accept Him as their Saviour and Lord. This will happen in the fullness of times, which means when God has completed His Plan of the Ages for the reconciliation of all.This will be at the creation of the Eternal Kingdom of God of the New Heaven and the New Earth. God chastises us as a loving merciful Father, and is not angry forever Proverbs 3:11-12 Revelation 3:19 Hebrews 12:6 (NLT) God is Love and He loves the whole world (1 John 4:16, John 3:16). God’s love demands that everything He has done, is doing and will do flows out of His love. Even God’s anger, wrath and judgements flow out of His love to bring His righteousness. Jeremiah 3:12 Romans 11:32 Lamentations 3:31-33 The false teaching of everlasting punishment in hell completely contradicts these scriptures and the loving merciful character of God. God’s Judgements lead to Righteousness Isaiah 26:9 Hebrews 12:11 Isaiah 46:12-13 God’s fiery judgement refines and purges unrighteous people to bring them into God’s Righteousness and Salvation. Malachi 3:2-3 God is like a refiner's fire that purges people like gold and silver in order to purify and make them clean with His Righteousness, through the work of the cross. God's refining fire is not a hell of eternal torment for unbelievers. Jeremiah 9:24 God delights in His loving-kindness, judgement and righteousness. God’s judgements flow out of His love for the purpose of making people righteous and not for throwing them into hell. Ultimately, in God’s time, even the most stubborn hearted person will embrace God’s righteousness. God will destroy the veil that is spread over All Nations Isaiah 25:7-8 Notice that God Himself will destroy the veil of unbelief that is spread over all nations, and He will wipe away tears from all faces and destroy death forever. Indeed we have a merciful and loving Father God. Psalm 98:1-3 This is a prophetic Psalm. His Right Hand and Holy Arm, who gained the victory for Father God, is referring to the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. All the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God because of the victory over sin and death won by Jesus Christ for all people. Matthew 21:31-32 (KJV) Jesus Christ condemned the self-righteousness of the Pharisees using very strong language. In this scripture, Jesus says that many tax collectors and harlots will repent and believe and enter the Kingdom of God before the self-righteous Pharisees. Please note that though most Pharisees died as unbelievers, Jesus Christ knew and took it for granted that ultimately all self-righteous Pharisees, together with all other sinners, will repent and believe in Him and enter the Kingdom of God. This will be in God’s time and His order extending beyond this age, in accordance with God’s Plan for the salvation of All. Jesus Christ will Save and Reconcile All His enemies Romans 5:8, 10 10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Jesus Christ died for His enemies meaning that He died for each and every person. We are all born into this world with an Adamic, ungodly, sinful nature as enemies of God and as children of Satan. Jesus Christ died for each and every one of us to save and reconcile us all to God. The amazing thing about God’s Plan and His great power is that ultimately, in God's time and His order extending beyond this age, all of God’s enemies will submit themselves to Him and worship and praise God. Psalm 66:3-4 Such a wonderful scripture! God’s works are awesome indeed. Through the greatness of God’s power all His enemies shall submit themselves to Him. This prophecy speaks about the wonderful time when the whole earth will worship and praise God, when all of God’s enemies have been saved and reconciled to Father God by Jesus Christ through the blood of the cross. Psalm 110:1 ‘Till I make Your enemies Your footstool’ is repeated six times in the Bible. The purpose of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ was to make sure that all of God’s enemies are made His footstool, which means that all His enemies will bow down in willing submission at His feet in worship and praise to God. 1 Corinthians 15:24-25 Jesus Christ will return to establish the Kingdom of God on earth. He will rule and reign on earth, and make sure that all His enemies come under His feet, as His footstool. This is when Jesus will have accomplished His task of reconciling the whole world and hand over the Eternal Kingdom to Father God. The old Adamic sinful nature of man is a proud and rebellious enemy of God. God will humble each and every person through the greatness of His power. Ultimately, all will submit themselves and come under God’s feet as His footstool. Yes, in Adam we are all born as enemies of God as children of Satan, but in Christ we shall all become friends of God as children of God. Hebrews 10:12-13 Please note that God is waiting for the time when all His enemies are made His footstool. Now let us continue to read the verses that follow this scripture to understand the glorious biblical truth of how Jesus Christ will bring all His enemies under His submission as His footstool. Hebrews 10:14-17 Please study and meditate on this powerful and glorious universal reconciliation scripture, and let the truth of God penetrate deep into your mind and spirit. God Himself will write His laws into the hearts of all His enemies. Here, God is talking about the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2), which will enable people to fulfil the righteous requirements of God's Law, the two great commandments of love; love for God and love for fellowmen. Father God will grant all His enemies the gift of saving faith to believe in the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins, and save all His enemies without exception. Yes, God indeed overcomes evil with good. He ‘destroys’ His enemies when He makes them His friends. We are now in a position to clearly understand why Jesus Christ taught His disciples to ‘love your enemies’. Matthew 5:43-44 These words of Jesus would not make sense if hell were true and if all of unbelieving humanity was destined to be tortured there forever. But hell is a false doctrine, and therefore, we can love our enemies, bless them, do good to them and pray for them, because Jesus Christ will save all of them, all of our enemies. Isn’t it wonderful and powerful to know that one day in the future, in God’s time and His order, all of our enemies will become our brothers and sisters in Christ? Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess Jesus Christ is Lord Isaiah 45:22-25 This is another beautiful and clear Old Testament scripture upholding the powerful truth of Universal Salvation. Notice that all men will be ashamed of their incensed, meaning rebellious, sinful behaviour against God. In this scripture, we see that all of God’s enemies will repent and they will all bow their knees and worship God saying, ‘Surely in the LORD I have righteousness and strength’ giving glory to God for their salvation. Philippians 2:9-11 The Bible is clear, abundantly clear, in the Old and the New Testaments, that everyone without exception will worship God and give Him all the glory. Those who believe in hell twist these scriptures to interpret that God will force unbelievers to worship Him in hell. A forced worship can never give glory to God. Psalm 22:27-29 Notice that all the ends of the world shall turn to the Lord (they will repent) and worship Him. Also, please note that all those who go down to the dust shall bow before Him, meaning all who die shall bow down and worship Him.This means that all of humanity without exception will be saved and willingly worship God. Revelation 5:13 These are wonderful and glorious prophetic scriptures. Just stop and think about them. When God's wonderful Plan for the Reconciliation of All is fulfilled at the creation of the Eternal Kingdom of God of the New Heaven and the New Earth, every created creature, men and angels will worship, honour and give glory to God the Father and Jesus Christ forever and ever. Jesus Christ will restore All Things Acts 3:19-21, 25 25 You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed’. Note that since the beginning of the world, God has spoken about the time when Jesus Christ will restore all things. God spoke this through the mouth of all His holy prophets. This emphasises just how important the restoration of all things is to God. The restoration of all things will be accomplished when Jesus Christ returns to this earth to fulfil the Abrahamic Covenant and to bless all the families of the earth, as confirmed in verse 25 above. Revelation 21:1-6 Yes, the time will come, at the creation of the Eternal Kingdom of God of the New Heaven and the New Earth, when Jesus Christ will bring to completion God’s Plan of Universal Salvation, which He is working out in seven biblical ages. This will be when there will be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor pain. This will be when God the Father Himself comes down to earth to dwell with all people and God will be ALL in ALL. 1 Corinthians 15:28 The Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, upholds the truth of universal salvation and reconciliation through Jesus Christ in other scriptures besides those given in this chapter. Yet, it is amazing that traditional Christianity, both Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, ignores, explains away, maligns and even twists all of these clear scriptures in favour of the false doctrine of hell, which has its roots in paganism and not in the Word of God. Please take time to study and meditate on the many glorious Universalist Scriptures given in this chapter. Let the Holy Spirit minister to your heart, mind and spirit about the riches of Christ so that you may be able to comprehend and know the width, the length, the depth and the height of the love of Christ, which passes knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:17-19). |
Part II Complete and Comprehensive Answers to Why, When, & How the Doctrine of Hell crept into Christianity Part III Additional Important Information for Understanding God's Plan for All |
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God's Plan for All |
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