Catholic discussion ping!
uh no.
“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
All who reject Christ Jesus during their early life will be judged by God unto eternal Hell and later the Lake of Fire for all eternity...there is no exception by God the Father nor has He spoken in Scripture a change of God's Holy decision to judge the un-believers and then move them into some sort of holy after-life existence - that kind of theology is un-Biblical and dangerous or risky at best.
Universal salvation is simply a lie from the Devil to deceive people into thinking that they have a 'second chance' with a Holy God - obviously, a Holy and Righteous God would never compromise His Perfect Will and Purpose in regards to Heaven and Hell. Amen.
“While realizing that we can never have a totally adequate understanding of human immortality and the criteria for salvation on this side of the grave...”
I disagree. We can’t know all things about human immorality or about the criteria for salvation, that that which has been revealed to us coupled with our limited understanding is easily sufficient to rule out universal salvation.
I hope so.
“In his thoughts the doors of hell are locked from the inside, the possibility of repentance and forgiveness is extended to those in hell. “
This is what you are left with when you abandon the Bible as the standard of truth.
“The Question of Universal Salvation: Will All Be Saved?”
Nope.
What a pitiful misunderstanding of Paul’s epistles this man has. It takes a particularly deceived mind to come to the conclusion that Paul was writing of Universal Salvation.
Sounds like God would be wasting his Time. We should then be able to see God as Jesus right now.
But the barrier is still in place. It is called unrepented sin.
This separation from God would never have taken place.:
Genesis 3
21" The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22 And the LORD God said,
“The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”
23 So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.
24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side[e] of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life."
But thank God! Praise Jesus!!
God promises!
Seek and You will Find!!
PSALM 9:7" but the Lord remaineth for ever. He hath prepared his throne in judgment:
8 and he shall judge the world in equity, he shall judge the people in justice.
9 And the Lord is become a Refuge for the poor: a Helper in due time in tribulation.
10 And let them trust in thee who know thy name: for thou hast not forsaken them that seek thee, O Lord."
************************************************************* He showed by opening his arms so wide to die on a cross by his love. John 3:16 Do we then Mock God? No! He will not be mocked. If God sees people knowingly rejecting the Death of his Son. The horror is theirs. But if we seek , He will help us find him.****************************************
Then EDEN will be restored.
Revelation 22
Eden Restored
1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
John and the Angel
6 The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God who inspires the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.”
7 “Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll.”
8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. 9 But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!”
10 Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this scroll, because the time is near. 11 Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile; let the one who does right continue to do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy.”
Epilogue: Invitation and Warning
12 “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you[a] this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”
17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.
18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.
PRAISE JESUS!!!
No.
The gift is free. But you have to ACCEPT it. It is not forced on you.
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Christ died for all. Receiving this free gift of salvation, it’s open to everyone. Not everyone will choose to receive the free gift, however.
Salvation is available to all, but not all are open to receiving salvation.
Everyone can be Save but not all will be.
Instead, some reveal a flippant "sucks to be them" and "they're just getting what they deserve" callous attitude. Anyone having such an attitude would do well to examine their own Faith, for Jesus himself wept at the sight of Jerusalem, knowing the coming destruction of the city - and, yes, all the wicked and rebellious people living therein. We also read: "God is not willing that any should perish, but desires all to come to repentance."
Is this our attitude? Or are we gloating that we are on the "right side," and all those sinners are only getting what's coming to them. We refuse to face the fact that we are just as deserving of hell as anyone else, and it is only by the Grace of God that He has had mercy upon us.
Let our attitude be that of our Heavenly Father: "As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?" (Ezekiel 33:11)
Reliance on these verses as proof texts for universalism has been thouroughly refuted for some time. Dr. James White recently went over it in a lecture which can be downloaded at sermonaudio.com
As a New Year’s resolution, I have decided to answer every stupid question posed in headlines that I see on FR; usually without bothering to read the article because there is no need.
So: No, next question.
He cast out the devil/angels in heaven, so I feel that he will cast out truly evil persons that do not love God.
I saw a three panel painting in France with the middle panel missing, but one panel was a glorious full of light looking upward towards heaven with a few people, while the other was very dark with many people tumbling downwards towards a fire (very dark, difficult and troubling to absorb).
I also had a friend that had a near death experience describe a similar situation where few were traveling upwards and many were going down (he described as raining cats and dogs).
Jesus has shown us the way with His Love for us, we need to Love Him back. He has suffered so much for us, and I can't imagine the hurt that he continues to suffer when we sin and reject HIs Love.
If we would only learn to accept and really Love GOD as he wants, we would be so much happier on earth and moreso in Heaven.
I just wish I could do more in letting others know (and convincing them) how much God loves them.
Deuteronomy 4:19 & Malachi 1:11.
If Hell is a lie, who originated that lie?