OBJECTOR>> You make too much of one verse with Romans 11:32. One verse cannot prove that God loves all mankind!
ME>> You make an excellent point that one verse cannot build an entire system of truth. However, I would add that one verse cannot build an entire system of truth... that is at contradiction with the remainder of the Bible. HOWEVER, one verse can speak truthfully and powerfully. One verse can speak truth that cannot be compromised by any other Scripture. One verse can speak the grand conclusion of the Bible and the history of redemption just as Romans 11:32 has done.
However, to entertain your objection I join Martin Luther who posted 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church of Wittenberg and offer you a second 95 Theses. Each of the 95 points below challenge tradition with a question or verse that cannot be answered without adding either human condition or blind hypocrisy to the grace of God.
SCRIPTURE TELLS 'ALL'
- 1 John 2:2, "And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the WHOLE world."
- 2 Corinthians 5:14, "For the love of Christ constrains us; because we judge thus, that one died for ALL, therefore ALL died."
- Acts 3:21, "Whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of ALL things, which God spoke long ago by the mouth of his holy prophets."
- Genesis 12:3, "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who treats you with contempt. ALL the families of the earth will be blessed through you."
- Genesis 3:15, "I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and HER OFFSPRING. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel."
- Isaiah 66:23, "'It shall happen that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, ALL flesh will come to worship before me,' says Yahweh. "
- Philippians 2:10, "That at the name of Jesus EVERY knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth."
- Psalm 22:27, "ALL the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to Yahweh. ALL the relatives of the nations shall worship before you."
- Revelation 5:13, "I heard EVERY created thing which is in heaven, on the earth, under the earth, on the sea, and EVERYTHING in them, saying, 'To him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb be the blessing, the honor, the glory, and the dominion, forever and ever! Amen!'"
- Romans 11:16, "If the first fruit is holy, so is the LUMP. If the root is holy, so are the BRANCHES."
- Romans 11:32, "For God has bound ALL to disobedience, that he might have mercy on ALL."
- Romans 3:23-24, "For ALL have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus;"
- Romans 5:18, "So then as through one trespass, ALL men were condemned; even so through one act of righteousness, ALL men were justified to life."
- Zephaniah 2:11, "Yahweh will be awesome to them, for he will famish all the gods of the land. Men will worship him, everyone from his place, even ALL the shores of the nations."
- Zephaniah 3:8-9, " 'Therefore wait for me', says Yahweh, 'until the day that I rise up to the prey, for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour on them my indignation, even all my fierce anger, for all the earth will be devoured with the fire of my jealousy. For then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that they may ALL call on Yahweh’s name, to serve him shoulder to shoulder.' "
WORDS HAVE MEANIING - "AGAPE", especially with respect to God, means certain, guaranteed, unconditional "Love" period!
- "AION" and "AIONIAN" means "Eon" and "Eonian", even more precisely the "duration" or "life" of the subject in question or "whole" and "complete", Romans 16:25-26.
- "ALL" may not always mean absolutely "All", but "All" does mean "All" if there is not a very specific reason against it!
- "APOLLYMI" translated "perish" in John 3:16 means catastrophic loss, but not necessarily eternal loss, for example Matthew 2:13.
- "FAITH" means to trust in, depend upon another and so faith itself then CANNOT be a condition to our confidante's guarantee, that would be utterly ridiculous!
- "GRACE" is the unmerited favor of God, his unconditional love towards his chosen people.
- "HADES" is the TEMPORARY place of punishment for unbelieving deceased humanity, Matthew 16:18, Luke 16:23, 1 Corinthians 15:55, and Revelation 20:14.
- "TARTARUS" is the TEMPORARY place of punishment, deeper than Hades, for imprisoned fallen angels, 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 6.
- "THALAASA" in Revelation 20:13 refers to the prison "TARTARUS" of 2 Peter 2:4 or the retreat of some fallen angels as fully explained in my article, Fallen Angels at the Great White Throne Judgment.
- "THE LAKE OF FIRE" is prepared for the Devil and his Angels and NOT humanity! Matthew 25:41 and Revelation 20:10, 21:8.
TRADITION TRAPS EVEN THE BEST - WHY not give Scripture the trump card over tradition?
- WHY not oppose tradition in light of the overwhelming evidence?
- WHY not recognize the future judgment of fallen angels in 2 Peter 2:4, Jude 6, and Matthew 25:31-46?
- WHY not reconsider the distinction between Sheol, Gehenna, Hades, Tartarus, Thalaasa, and the Lake of Fire?
- WHY not reconsider the mistranslation of 'AION' and 'AIONIAN'?
- WHY not trust that God's unconditional grace and love is truly without condition for all mankind?
LEARN HISTORY OR BE DOOMED TO REPEAT IT - Are you AWARE of the large number of Christian writers that have promoted the salvation of all mankind?
- Are you AWARE of the significant Universalist movements in the early history of the United States?
- Are you AWARE that hope for all mankind lost much ground when the Bible was not available in the common tongue?
- Are you AWARE that hope for all mankind was commonly accepted before the 5th century?
- Are you AWARE that hope for all mankind was rediscovered when the Bible became available in the common tongue after the Reformation?
- Are you AWARE that many early church father's advocated the salvation of all mankind?
- Are you AWARE that NO early church creed condemns the salvation of all mankind?
ARMINIANISM REDEFINES FAITH AND GRACE - IF God's unconditional love is conditioned on our faith, THEN why do the Scriptures emphasize that God loved us first while our hearts hated him?
- IF mankind's sins are fully atoned and God's wrath is propitiated by Christ's blood, THEN how can anyone be held guilty for their sins eternally?
- IF most of those who God's loves are damned eternally, THEN how good and effective can God's love really be?
- IF my faith 'applies' Christ's blood to my guilt, THEN how am I different than an Old Testament priest applying the blood myself?
- IF my will is already 'free' before Christ, THEN what does it mean that Christ sets me 'free'?
- IF my will is 'free', THEN why does the Bible say that apart from grace I am 'dead' and 'bound' to disobedience?
- IF you claim God also loves those in the Lake of Fire, THEN how can anyone be saved from the Lake of Fire by the same love?
CALVINISM BLINDS PEOPLE WITH HYPOCRISY - IF 'ALL' can mean absolutely 'ALL' in at least one use case, THEN why do you insist it does not in this particular case?
- IF Jesus became the Second Adam, the new Federal head of ALL humanity, THEN how was Christ sacrificed on the cross for only PART of humanity?
- IF election can speak of various appointments, THEN why not agree that all mankind is elected to forgiveness, but not all are elected to believe it?
- IF God did not chose all mankind, THEN how is knowledge of salvation by grace objectively possible? On what basis? What is the object your faith?
- IF God does not love all mankind, THEN how can you be objectively certain that God loves any particular person?
- IF God does not love all mankind, THEN how can you be objectively certain that God loves you?
- IF the redeemed can never be punished after death, THEN why are redeemed false teachers punished in Hades, 2 Peter 2:1-9?
MISUNDERSTANDINGS KILL RELATIONSHIPS - MISTRANSLATION of 'aion' easily accounts for much of the confusion in Christendom.
- The fearful voice of tradition and its MISUNDERSTANDINGS has drowned out the truth of God's love for all mankind.
- The incredible patience of God easily allows for grave MISUNDERSTANDINGS within his church as history shows.
- The judgments of angels are easily MISSED in Scripture because these people are hidden from our material eyesight.
- The religious tendency of the human heart easily explains the favor of Arminian and Calvinistic MISGUIDANCE.
- The unavailability of Scripture in the common tongues easily accounts for reliance on tradition and MISUNDERSTANDING through the Middle Ages.
- God apparently allows these blatant MISUNDERSTANDINGS to save the Pearl of Great Price for those who earnestly seek him.
TRADITION TRADES REASON FOR IGNORANCE - HOW are the unborn and infants saved without your required volitional decision to trust Christ?
- HOW can Christian conscience or reason find a gracious purpose for eternal damnation?
- HOW can your 'faith' be the condition to God's unconditional love, when true faith is trust that God's love is unconditional?
- HOW can God 'love' a person till their death, but switch gears and damn them eternally if they die before repentance?
- HOW can Jesus be the Savior of the world if most of mankind is damned?
- HOW can most Christians be so apathetic in evangelism if they truly believe most of mankind is damned?
- HOW can the first mention of eternal judgment in Scripture be as late as Daniel 12:2 if God is so concerned to save us from the Lake of Fire?
- HOW can you have confidence that Jesus forgave your sin while at the same time saying he did not forgive others?
- HOW can you ignore and even accept the major contradictions between Arminianism and Calvinism?
- HOW can you overlook the distinction between Gehenna, Hades, Tartarus, Thalassa, and the Lake of Fire with the use of one word, "Hell"?
- HOW can you say those in Heaven suffer no pain over those you claim are lost for eternity when even the wicked rich man in Hades agonized over his lost brothers?
- HOW can you stand on Arminianism, Calvinism, or the question mark in between?
- HOW could the Bible possibly be clearer about God's unconditional love for all mankind?
- HOW is Christ sovereign over salvation if the sinful will of a rebellious man is able to ruin God's desire that he be saved?
- HOW is Christ the victor if those that Satan tempts and accuses vastly outnumber the redeemed?
ALL MANKIND IS LOVED BY GOD! - IF Christ paid for the sins of any man, THEN he paid for the sins of all mankind!
- IF Christians have testified to God's love for all mankind throughout history, THEN God has provided his witness!
- IF human conscience testifies that the fate of any individual and all mankind alike rests in the final verdict of God alone, THEN God has provided his witness.
- IF the Atonement demonstrates that his cross is a finished work with all mankind represented in his vicarious death, THEN God has provided his witness.
- IF the Early Church Fathers openly testified to their confidence in the salvation of all mankind, THEN God has provided his witness.
- IF the Incarnation shows that Christ became a man and stands as the Second Adam and the new Federal Head of all humanity, THEN God has provided his witness.
- IF the Scriptures testify plainly to God's unconditional love for all mankind, THEN God has provided his witness.
HADES GIVES UP FINALLY - 1 Corinthians 15:55, "Death, where is your sting? HADES, where is your victory?"
- 1 Peter 3:18-20, "Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit, in whom he also went and PREACHED TO THE SPIRITS IN PRISON, who before were disobedient, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, while the ship was being built. In it, few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water."
- 1 Peter 4:5-6, "They will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For to this end the Good News was PREACHED EVEN TO THE DEAD, that they might be judged indeed as men in the flesh, BUT LIVE as to God in the spirit."
- 2 Peter 2:1,9, "But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who BOUGHT them, bringing on themselves swift destruction... The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment."
- Mathew 16:18, "I also tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly, and THE GATES OF HADES WILL NOT PREVAIL against it."
- Psalm 139:8, "If I ascend up into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in SHEOL, behold, you are there!"
- Revelation 20:13-14, "The sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and HADES GAVE UP THE DEAD who were in them. They were judged, each one according to his works. Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire."
MODERN WITNESSES WRITE - Read Christ Victorious by Thomas Allin
- Read Hope Beyond Hell by Jerry Beauchemin
- Read Life Time Entirety by Dr. Heleen Keizer
- Read The Evangelical Universalist by Robin Parry
- Read The Gospel of God's Reconciliation of All in Christ by Ernst Stroeter
- Read The Greek Word AION by John Wesley Hanson
- Read All You Want to Know About Hell by Steve Gregg
MORE THAN 95! - Read The Inescapable Love of God by Thomas Talbott
- Read God's Methods with Man by G. Campbell Morgan
- Read Destined for Salvation, God's Promise to Save Everyone by Kalen Fristad
- Read All In All by A. E. Knoch
- Read Ancient History of Universalism by Hosea Ballou
- Read The Modern History of Universalism by Thomas Whittemore
- Read online about the "Victorious Gospel" and "Larger Hope"
