"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness."
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FURTHER INFORMATION ON UNIVERSAL RECONCILIATION
The entire study on "Universal Reconciliation" is only available on audio tapes consisting of twelve messages on six 90-minute audio tapes packaged in a convenient and attractive cassette album.
To obtain the album on "Universal Reconciliation" enter Tape Album A014 on the order form.
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IS THERE LIFE AFTER DEATH FOR ALL?
or "The Restitution of all things."
INTRODUCTION
It could be said that everyone would like to experience life after death and this means they are also interested in obtaining immortality or being immortal. Christians look forward to the resurrection into life into eternal life or an immortal state. In order to address life after death, from a Christian perspective, we must concentrate on the three theories of what happens to the unsaved after death: 1) a conscious state of eternal torment, 2) annihilation, and 3) universal reconciliation -- biblically referred to as the restitution of all things.
A case can be made for all three from the Bible, but only one can be correct. Among the subjects under consideration in this study are: will believers be annihilated, salvation of all mankind, the vivification of all mankind, universal reconciliation, hell, destruction, and the justification of all mankind.
Also included is a separate study on the soul, the spirit, the state of the dead, being born again, Christ the firstfruit, the two types of resurrections, immortality, and Life Unto Death and Death Unto Life.
If you grew up like most of us, you were hauled off to church on a regular basis and while some of you didn't mind that -- others of you did not like it one bit. I must confess that I, for one, was bored to tears. Another problem was that preachers were always talking about those who were going to hell and would be in eternal torment. Or perhaps some of you learned that you will die the second death after judgment and exist no more.
Of course, those who teach these doctrines have no trouble using the Bible as their justification for their positions. I don't know about you but eternal death and eternal torment, has just never set well with me.
One thing that just about everyone in Christianity agrees upon is that the believer, who trusts alone in the blood of Jesus Christ, is certain of some kind of lasting bliss, and I say some kind because everybody seems to have an opinion about their life in the kingdom with Christ as their king.
Again, for those people who do not believe in Christ, we have been told that their destiny will be to be tormented forever, and others will tell you that they will simply cease to exist. But there is a third alternative, as some will tell you, that eventually -- all will be saved.
If we were to put this to a vote by all Christianity, I venture to say that eternal torment would be voted as the truth. But we might also take into consideration the fact that the Scriptures speak of the present as a time of apostasy, and that being the case there are grounds to believe that the majority are more than likely to be wrong.
But who is right and who is wrong? Those who advocate eternal torment have no problem finding support for their position in the Bible, and among those, the strongest one would probably be the "everlasting punishment" we read of in Matthew 25:45-46:
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
The reason that verse 46 is such a strong verse is because "everlasting punishment" occurs in contrast to "eternal life" in the same verse, and, before I continue, I need to point out that the words "everlasting" and "eternal" used in verse 46 are the same word in the Greek. But since "everlasting punishment" is used in contrast with "life eternal," they come to the conclusion that punishment must have the same duration as the life, and certainly, I would have to agree with that.
Based upon their understanding of the word "eternal," we would have to agree that if "life eternal" is endless, then eternal punishment would also have to be endless, and while we are looking at passages which support this position, we might as well look at Revelation 20:10:
"And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever."
Before I can proceed with their logic we must also read Revelation 15:7:
"And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever."
You should have noticed in these two verses that they both contain like words. In Revelation 20:10, we read "and shall be tormented for ever and ever." and in Revelation 15:7, we read that God "liveth for ever and ever."
Again, their position seems very logical, as they reason that since God's life is "endless," then it follows that torment will also "endless." Of course "endless" is their word -- not what Scripture says -- but nevertheless, they tell us that "for ever and ever," means endless, but what they fail to understand here, is that the word "ever" came from the same root word as "eternal," and the Greek word refers to a specific and definite period of time. In other word, eternal has a beginning and an ending point.
Nevertheless, if we concur with their understanding, and if we ignore many other passages in Scripture to the contrary, then they have given us sufficient proof that those who are thrown into the lake of fire will suffer eternal or endless torment. But it is also interesting that only the Adversary, or the devil if you prefer, and the wild beast, and the false prophet are the only ones spoken of in Revelation who will suffer this eternal torment, and in saying that, I have just opened a can of worms for those who use this verse to support eternal torment.
That brings us to those who want God to annihilate all who do not believe, and so from their perspective there is no torment or suffering as death follows judgment, and of course with death there is an absence of any kind of sensation. Basically their position is that man is mortal, and that there is no immortality outside of Christ, and so, for them, the second death is the practical extinction of those who are cast into the lake of fire -- all three of them I suppose.
This brings me to the third belief -- those who believe in universal reconciliation. These people claim that "everlasting punishment" is a mistranslation, and should read "eonian," or "age-lasting chastening," and that it applies to only a few at a particular time. They go on to say that it does not deal with their final fate at all, but that this refers to being judged for their acts, and after they are judged they will suffer the second death, and later on they will be made alive again and be reconciled to God.
Let's look at a few verses they use to prove that all will be saved and justified and made alive:
3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior;
4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:3-4)
And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. (Colossians 1:20)
And finally, 1 Corinthians 15:28:
"And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all."
Those who advocate "universal reconciliation" claim that all of the verses I have just read to you deal with man's final state, and say that the other passages we read concerning "everlasting punishment," and "torment for ever and ever," are concerned with intermediate matters -- that is with things before the final state.
I think that we can say with certainly that those who advocate eternal torment and annihilation are going to have a very difficult time explaining the passages above which support universal reconciliation. Basically, the universal reconciliation people base their position on the contention that the words eternal, everlasting, for ever, for ever and ever, etc., are limited time periods and should have been translated as such.
The problem is this: based upon the current translations of God's Word there is an irreconcilable conflict between eternal sin and universal righteousness, between eternal death and universal vivification, and between eternal punishment and universal reconciliation. You see, if sin and death and judgment are endless, then righteousness and resurrection and reconciliation cannot be universal.
That being the case, the translations must be wrong. A study of the doctrine of the eons (ages) shows that the eternity of evil is unfounded and false, and by now you should realize that I advocate universal reconciliation, and there are many reasons for my position which you will learn about before this study is completed.
Nevertheless, one of the problems we have in accepting "universal reconciliation" is that we are believers, and as believers we want those who are not believers to receive some kind of punishment for not believing. In other words we want a reward for believing and we want all others to be punished. After all, is it fair that we believed and walked the Christian life, while others did not and yet all are to be reconciled to God? Heaven forbid such a thing. Right?!!
Thus, what Christians normally do is to ignore those who advocate such heresies. But for the true student of God's word, we cannot afford to ignore this position without violating the context of what is said in the Bible on the subject, and I will again tell you that the real discrepancy lies in understanding the meaning of the words "everlasting," "endless," and "eternal," which have no equivalents in the original text.
What I am telling you is that the key to understanding the cause, the character and the consequences of sin lies in its life span -- so to speak -- and it does have a life span, and so, as students, we must ask ourselves: "is sin a temporary condition or is it endless in its nature?" If evil is eternal, and if death is indestructible, and if separation is irreconcilable, then we will never be able to grasp their object. Even worse than that, if these things be not understood, then what we have is a God who created all things, to include evil, and yet provided for no possible reconciliation for them after they had done His will.
Hopefully, you can think of some examples of this. If not, remember Pharaoh, of whom it was said, "God hardened his heart." In other words, if God had not hardened his heart against Himself and the Israelites, then God's purpose would not have been achieved, and since God personally hardened Pharaoh's heart, will there never be an opportunity for him to be reconciled unto God? Is this what we should believe? I should hope not!
I say that because to do so would limit the power of God, for God would not be capable of carrying out His will, which means that God would not be sovereign. But if you can accept the "universal reconciliation" of all things, then God suddenly becomes greater and grander and more glorious than we even gave him credit for.
When we talk about a "universal reconciliation," we are not advocating a mere return to some former state of things, and we say that because a creation restored to its former state would still contain the presence of evil, wouldn't it? Yes it would, but evil is something that must be done away with in universal reconciliation.
Sin leads to separation. In other words, sin brings a breach between God and His creatures, and it makes them His enemies. But God has an answer to this and it is "reconciliation" but again, not a mere restoration to a former condition. It is far more than that: God has the greatest love for His creation, and His way of obtaining their love is through the use of sin, and so sin is a necessary thing at this time.
IS PUNISHMENT EVERLASTING?
I have already briefly mentioned the doctrines of Universal reconciliation, eternal punishment, and eternal death, and before we get into the specifics of universal reconciliation, I think we should first look at the other two in a bit more detail, and so to begin, we will look at the doctrine of eternal punishment.
As Christians we are taught to be forgiving, and in saying the Lord's prayer, we pray to God that he would "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." Now stop and think about this for a minute. We are taught to forgive those who trespass against us and we like to believe that we are Christian enough to do so. I sometimes wonder whether we really mean this when we pray it, but nevertheless, it is a doctrine we are taught.
Praying that, can we honestly say that it is our grandest desire that our enemies' lot is to live in endless torment for their wicked acts towards us? I think not. But if so, what good did it do to forgive their trespasses against us? Or I might ask, why even forgive them in the first place? After all, they are doomed to eternal torment aren't they? and if they are doomed to eternal torment, I again ask, what good did it do to forgive them in the first place? Is this supposed to make us feel better, or something? Well, I hope that's not the reason.
Now if it is God's will that we forgive those who trespass against us, can anything less be expected of Him? I think not, and again, please think about this: Are we told to forgive after someone comes to us and asks our forgiveness? No we are not we are told to forgive before they ask. Well, if that's true, if we are to forgive without being asked to forgive, then can we expect anything less of God? I think not. If I am correct on this point, then, even though we ask him for forgiveness, it is his nature to do so without being asked.
If that is true, and if God has forgiven them of their sins, then why should they be doomed to live in eternal torment? Do you find these questions interesting? I would hope so.
We all know the nature of God and that God is love, and that, to me, means that "everlasting torment" is contrary to God's revealed character, for how can you be a God of love and tolerate "eternal torment?' And I would add to that, that since we are God's children, then eternal torment is also contrary to us. But just saying that does not disprove it does it? No it does not. But we can say that whatever God's Word teaches, it is true, can't we? You bet we can, and so, as Christians, we believe in the inspired word of God, but to that I must add, as the word was given to those who were inspired to record it. The point I am trying to make here is that we do not speak or understand the original Hebrew or Greek languages. In fact, they are both lost languages, as over time, they have both evolved into what they are today.
In fact, if you were transported back in time to merry old England of the mid-1880's, you would not even be able to communicate with those people, and the reason for that is that the English we speak today is not the same English that was spoken then, and I might add that you would not be able to read or write it either.
Therefore, as we read our Bibles, we must keep in mind that our Bibles are only a translation, and any time men translate something into another language, it will carry with it the biases and prejudices of those doing the translating.
But try and tell this to some people. Many years ago I lived next to people who were hard core Baptists, and when I would bring up a possible translation problem, their answer was always the same: "The KJV is the infallible word of God." Of course, I would suggest that the KJV is man's translation of the infallible word of God. On one occasion, I asked their Pastor why all the obsession over the KJV, and his response was amazing: He said, "Well, you gotta hang your hat somewhere." I could hardly believe what I was hearing.
But later I discovered what I believe to be the reason for such a dogmatic stand. You see if the KJV is the infallible word of God, then all is settled in its reading, since what is contained therein cannot be questioned. But if it is not the infallible word of God, then much study may be required to understand the scriptures, and therein lies the problem such people do not want to have to study that hard to understand the word of God, and so the easy solution to study is to say that the KJV is the infallible word of God.
Nevertheless, from my perspective, as we study our Bibles we need to ask ourselves, "what does the original teach? And in the case before us, "does the original teach endless punishment?
For starters, if you will take the time to study the problem words I have already given you (everlasting, eternal, for ever, and for ever and ever), you will soon find out that most people's understanding of these words is not correct, and I should inform you that there are several good books which take the time to explain these words in great detail.
I say that because I am not going to take the time to do an in-depth study of these words, but I do want to appeal to your logic a little bit, and to do so I will begin by quoting Colossians 1:26:
Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
The point of quoting this verse is to show you that the mystery spoken of here was hid "from ages and generations," both words being plural. This plainly tells us that prior to the writings of Paul, there were not only many generations but also many "ages." Or perhaps we could say there was more than one age, and I use the word in the singular here because an age denotes a period of time that has a beginning point and a termination point, but when we speak of more than one age, then we must say ages. Again, I want to stress the fact that an age has a beginning and an ending point -- it does not means endless.
And now I am going to quote Ephesians 2:7:
"That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus."
My point in quoting this to you is to show that in the future there will be more ages. The word translated as "ages" here is the Greek word "aion," and actually the best translation of the word would be "age." But not so in our Bibles, as it was translated 72 times as "ever" (such as in "for ever" or "forever and ever"), and as "world" 36 times that's right, world. Quite an inconsistency, I would say. In fact, the word "world" is a glaring error, and if you would change every appearance of the word to "age or ages," then those verses will make perfect sense. Now in saying that, do not I say again, do not change every appearance of the word "world" in your Bibles to "age," because other Greek words were also translated as "world," and so, caution is necessary.
The point of all this is to show you that an age is composed of a definite period of time that has a beginning and an ending, and if you read your Bibles with that in mind, then it may completely revolutionize your understanding of God's Word.
If we can perceive that "for ever" has a beginning point and an ending point, and say that an age ceases, for example, at the beginning of the new heavens and new earth, and if we can then perceive that "for ever and ever" lasts only one eon longer, then we almost have a new Bible. Because with this kind of an understanding, then most of our dark, despairing, unreasonable difficulties with the Bible simply vanish, and in their place we find a righteous God Who brings His creation through awful judgments to its glorious goal by means of the Mediator He has appointed, that mediator being Christ Jesus, and so, instead of being defeated, God is triumphant, and instead of a failure, He is a success. And instead of being a heartless fiend, He actually becomes an affectionate Father. In a word, He is a real God!
Nevertheless there are many people who oppose this simple truth, and of course they have no problem using various Scriptures to support their positions, and so, at this time, I want to consider the principal passages usually used to refute our teaching on this subject of punishment, together with our reply, and so, the question is, What does God's Word teach regarding the judgment of the wicked?
We begin with Psalms 9:17, as translated in the Authorized Version:
"The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God."
I might say here that this verse is often used to support the orthodox doctrine of hell, but "Hell" is a most confusing and misleading theological term. It is used of Hades or Sheol in the Old Testament, and actually means the imperceptible, or the unseen, and the word is used not merely when speaking about the realm of the dead, but of all that cannot be perceived by the human senses.
We are taught that all go there at death, saint and sinner alike, and even our Lord went there after He had finished His sacrificial sufferings. But surely He did not suffer in "hell" did He? I don't think so, and I will add to that, that over the years, the word "hell" has become so corrupted by human error that, that I wish we could replace it with some other word.
Gehenna is another misused word that actually refers to the valley of Hinnom, near Jerusalem. This place was used as an incinerator of the city's garbage -- even in this century, I might add, and since we can see this place it is not imperceptible as was Hades.
The "lake of fire" is still another concept, and it is never called "hell" in the Bible, but we know that those who come out of Hades are cast into it, and so, if the lake of fire were hell, then people would come out of hell only to be cast back into Hell. Makes no sense does it! And finally, the lake of fire should never, never be confused with Gehenna, or with the unseen.
But getting back to our primary subject, Perhaps the most widely used passage on the subject of "eternal punishment" is, as I mentioned earlier, Matthew 25:46:
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment but the righteous into life eternal.
I have said this before but it bears repeating: it is possible to prove just about anything by the Bible if we are free to use verses out of context. On the other hand, if we can keep each verse in its proper place and read and understand it in conjunction with the verses above and below it, then we can almost be certain that our understanding will be the truth.
In Matthew 25:46 we are dealing with a specific event, the advent of Jesus Christ, and that being the case, do we have any right to apply what is said here to all time? I don't think so.
I have addressed this time issue before, but I do so again because we must be aware of the time of which Scripture speaks, and here, it is addressing a future time not the present, and if we fail to address the subject of time, then we reduce what is said to utter confusion and I will give you an example of what I am talking about.
Let's assume that what is being talked about in Matthew 25 is "the final judgment of the wicked." That being the case, then Israel will not be judged! And why do I say that? Well, because if you read the entire story you will learn that only the nations are judged, and they are judged according to their treatment of His brethren.
In other words, the nations are judged on how they treated Israel. Now, if this were the final judgment, then "the final judgment" does not deal with the sins of all men, but only with their treatment of the brethren - or Israel! So we see that the context clearly shows that this cannot be the final judgment. But when He does come, one thing on His agenda will be to judge the living nations in order to determine their place in the Kingdom.
Again, this judgment will not deal with other sin, so to speak, but depends entirely on the nations' treatment of His brethren that is, Israel. It seems obvious that Matthew 25 deals with the Kingdom and with the time of its establishment, and so, chastening is here limited to the nations who did not befriend the faithful of Israel in their time of distress, so we see that this is a judgment of nations and has no bearing on the sins of individuals.
There are other problems with this verse. For example the Greek word which was translated as "punishment," in the Greek means correction, and the root word means "to lop or prune, as trees, to curb, correct." When you prune a tree, you are not trying to punish or torment it -- are you? No, you are pruning it in order to cause a better growth in the years that follow, and so the word "punishment," as used here and in three other places in scripture, should refer to corrective chastisement.
But, for most people, the problem with using corrective chastisement is that "everlasting correction" implies that eventually the error of those nations will be corrected, and once correction is over, then there is no need for any further correction. Ahhhh ha. But that negates endless punishment or torment -- doesn't it -- and we certainly cannot do that, for we all know punishment is to be endless in time, and a place where everyone jumps from hot brick to hot brick eternally. But what is spoken of in Matthew 25, is age-lasting correction -- not eternal or endless punishment.
When we read 1 Corinthians 15:26, we learn that death will be abolished. I don't think very many really believe this, but God has said it. In fact 1 Corinthians 15:26 states:
"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."
We learn here that death is the last enemy, but how will this abolishing of death be accomplished? Well that's simple, as according to 1 Corinthians 15:22 "in Christ shall all be made alive." I guess the next question would be, when will this happen? How about at the end of the eons, or ages? I say that because Scripture is concerned with ages or eons.
At the appointed time, the believer receives the life of the ages or age-lasting life not eternal or endless life. But depending upon time, it appear to be endless. You see, if given age-lasting life in the age that precedes the abolition of death, then the believer would have age-lasting life until there is no death, and at that point of time, there being no death, his life would become endless, and so, there is nothing wrong with endless life the problem is when it is received.
As for the unbeliever, he also receives eonian, or age-lasting judgment or correction until such time as death is abolished, and then, because death has been abolished, both believer and unbeliever receive "everlasting" life. It is difficult for me to place this in a time frame because I simply do not know. But we know that there will be an age-lasting life for believer and non-believer, we know that there is a second death, and I apply that to the unbeliever, and we also know that death will be abolished, which means that all will receive endless life.
As I mentioned earlier, I think that it is against our very nature to desire endless punishment for anyone, as we would prefer that they be corrected of their evil ways and come to the saving grace of our Lord and Saviour (and I think this is what Scripture teaches us), and so, in their hearts all might agree that there is something wrong with the sentence of everlasting or endless punishment for failure to help Israel, while entirely ignoring all the other sins and crimes committed by each individual in the chastened nations.
But if we simply make this eonian or age-lasting life, and all is clear, even if it seems severe. But if this be the case, then each one will later stand before the great white throne to answer for his other delinquencies.
While much more could be said on this subject, I am going to quit, and move on to the next subject which will be "eternal annihilation."
The study concentrates on the three theories of what happens to the unsaved after death: 1) a conscious state of torment, 2) annihilation, and 3) universal reconciliation. A good case can be made for all three from the Bible, but the one that makes the most sense is universal reconciliation. For instance, God said it is not His will that any perish, and if God's will is sovereign then none will perish. In other words: ""For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." 1 Cor 15:22
Among the subjects under consideration in the study are: will believers be annihilated, salvation of all mankind, the vivification of all mankind, universal reconciliation, hell, destruction, and the justification of all mankind.
Also included is a separate study on the soul, the spirit, the state of the dead, being born again, Christ the firstfruit, the two types of resurrections, immortality, and Life Unto Death and Death Unto Life.
FURTHER INFORMATION ON “Is There Life After Death”
What you have read is only the first message of 6 messages on this subject. The entire study on “Is There Life After Death” is only available on audio tapes. It consists of six 45 minute messages recorded on three 90-minute audio tapes and is packaged in a convenient and attractive cassette album.
To obtain the series “Is There Life After Death,” enter Tape Album A014 on the order form.
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