The Evangelical Universalist Forum

The Restitution Of All Things

Featured Writers
#282

The life we now have is a progressing, growing, conquering life - the life of the ages.

It is life that has come by the quickening of our spirit by His Spirit, giving a new beginning, and the potential to become, in due time, all He is. We must confess that there is a great deal of progress still to be made, considerable growth to be experienced, much transformation to be wrought before we stand in Him in the fullness of that life that needs no change, no further development, no additional experience, no more growth, no fuller stature, no added triumph, no increase of wisdom and knowledge - that state of being as unchangeable as He is unchangeable, as eternal as He is eternal! Only faintly now do our eyes behold the splendor of that eternal realm which lies before us, but if we approach softly with reverence and godly fear, not disrespectfully and thoughtlessly as nosey children prying into some sacred thing, then the Lord of glory will meet us and will be a Father unto us and we shall be the Sons of God in whom the Father shall unfold the fullness of His life, mind, will and glory.

Thus shall we come into that same image and be sharers with the Christ in the glory He had with the Father before time was- eternal glory!

I think I know why some become so enraged when we tell them that we do not now possess the absolutely eternal life. Is it not because they would rather ignore this life of the ages, somehow projecting themselves into that life which is eternal, claiming “by faith” the finished product, while by-passing the tedious processing?

Ah, dear ones, it doesn’t work that way! God has graciously given unto us life aionios - the life of the ages - and how I thank God that my present state of being is not eternal NOT eternal!

There is more! I would follow on to know Him in all fullness. And it will take “the ages,” my friend, to unfold it all. As long as there is need for growth, change, and advancement, there is need for time. But redemption as a completed plan has a unique relationship to time.

Until redemption is complete its work will proceed in time, but the finished work of redemption stands at time’s end. Thank God! There is an end - then eternity, God all in all! -J. Preston Eby-

#283

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.
Your mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning,
new every morning:
great is your faithfulness, O Lord,
great is your faithfulness!

Never = ? ?

Welcome to the God of oudepote.

Oudepote =

Not ever.

Not at any time.

Never ever. Never at any time.

#284

The scope of Abba’s Reconciliation =

All of mankind. The radical all of pas.

The radical all of pas = the elect first fruits, (the especially), and the rest (all of mankind).

Pas is NOT tis (some).

“God IS the Saviour of all of mankind, especially those who believe (trust in Him). Command this & teach this.”

#285

Our Steady God

As the image of the invisible God, the radiance of His glory, the exact image of His Person, God’s Son continues always, through thick and thin, steady as His Father: “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and into the eons.” It’s the character of Jesus because it’s the character of Him who begat Him. For the Son, steady goes it, out from within His Father into the world, perfectly expressing that character of His Father by which He is unfazed in the face of the changing circumstances of this world, and especially unfazed by the enmity toward Him that characterizes, in the main, the present universal human condition.

That steadiness is the steadiness of love. The love that God is requires that He be unflinchingly steady whether He is loved or hated, obeyed or disobeyed, confessed or denied. He is never so conflicted that having been offended by us, He must set aside His love until proper punishment is handed out that satisfies His (supposed) need to have His holiness appeased:

“Sorry, I’ve got to hurt you, or hurt Someone standing in for you, or otherwise my righteousness stands in the way of my love for you.”

Conventional evangelicalism sees the need of, and the plan of, salvation as central to scripture’s story. But it’s not.

What’s central is what God planned before sin entered the picture, and what will remain when sin is gone. -John Gavazzoni-

#286

The forever & evers = aions & aions.

Endlessness is expressed in the Scriptures by the simple phrase " no end " (Lk. 1:33; Dan. 7:14; Isa. 9:7).

The thought of permanence is also expressed in Heb. 7:16, “the power of an endless (or indissoluble) life,” and in I Pet. 1:4, “an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fades not away.”

Now had the Holy Spirit wished to indicate true unendingness or true eternity as the time issue in the punishment and suffering of the lost, He could have used the word that He used in Rom. 1:20 to describe God’s "eternal power and Godhead, " literally God’s “perpetual” or “imperceptible” power and Godhead, one being unable to see to the end of it !

You see, had the Holy Spirit wanted to convey unendingness in reference to the punishment of the enemies of God, He could have used words that plainly denoted that, rather than the words “to the age… to the ages,” "to the age of the ages "to the ages of the ages, " etc., all which plainly denote SPANS OF TIME . -J. Preston Eby

#287

Age Lasting Correction

We miss so much vital truth by our careless scanning of the Bible, and by clinging tenaciously to the time-worn traditions of the religious systems, mistaking them for the holy truths of God.

It should be clear that if the “eternal life” of Mat. 25:41 is really the “life of the ages”, then the “eternal punishment” is likewise an age-lasting correction.

The Diaglott says, “Depart from Me, you cursed ones, into that aionian fire… and these shall go away into a cutting-off age lasting.”

The Bible in Modern English by Farrar Fenton reads, “And these He will dismiss into a long correction.”

Rotherham’s New Testament says, “These shall go away into age-abiding correction.”

Young’s Literal translation renders, “And these shall go away to punishment age-during.” -J. Preston Eby-

#288

I take the Living God seriously.

He declares death & hell are consummated in Himself.

I believe it.

He states He will draw all mankind unto Himself.

I believe Him.

He instructs His disciples to gather up leftover fish & bread that nothing be lost.

The souls of mankind for whom He is the propitiation & at-one-ment are more important than leftover elements of fish & bread.

I do not believe it, do you?

#289

The word punishment is from the Greek kolasis which means simply that - punishment.

It comes from the root kolazo which reveals the true nature of the punishment. Kolazo according to Strong’s Concordance, means “to curtail” or “to chastise”.

The word means “a pruning” according to Liddell and Scott’s Greek English Lexicon. it is so used all through the Greek language. That punishment of which the Christ spoke was the very thing that helped me to see the glorious hope for all who are unbelievers or rebellious against God - because the word punishment there means chastisement or pruning. I saw in a moment that it was not the destruction of the man; it was the correcting of the man. it was not the destruction of the tree; it was the cutting back, and the pruning, that it might bring forth fruit. Some rightly reason that kolasis cannot mean corrective punishment or pruning if it is everlasting.

But everlasting is itself wrong - who ever heard of everlasting correction! It is age-lasting punishment, age-abiding correction, age-during pruning.

There are those who did not enter into His life in ages past, there are those who do not enter into His life in this present age, and there shall be those who will not enter into His life in the age to come. But in the world where God is the King you can count on it - every man will finally have to face up to his waywardness, and being thoroughly disciplined, broken, and purged of self-will, until he is prepared to respond to the love of Christ, to advance from the realm of punishment into the blessing of His life and victory.

If you do not punish a criminal for his improvement, for what do you punish him? There are just two right reasons - to protect society and to restore the criminal to society improved by the punishment. The “aionian” punishment which will come to every sinner who goes to hell will be a punishment that will break his stubborn, rebellious spirit and bring him back to God! -J. Preston Eby-

#290

Never forgiveness

It is most regrettable that many Bible translators have been careless in their translation of words that concern the ages.

The common thought seems to have been that any age following this present age must be identical with eternity, which, of course, is gross error, and we get ourselves into all manner of confusion by thinking that such is the case. For instance, according to the King James version Jesus, speaking of the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, is clearly quoted as saying, “He that blasphemes the Holy Ghost has never forgiveness” (Mk. 3:29).

Because of this faulty rendering we have concocted the fallacious notion of an unpardonable sin.

But the Emphatic Diaglott translates the passage correctly thus: “Whoever may blaspheme the Holy Spirit has no forgiveness to the age, but is exposed to aionian (age-lasting) judgment.”

Likewise also the passage in Mat. 12:32… “Whosoever speaks against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come."

The word world here, as the margin of your Bible will probably indicate, is translated from the Greek word AION, which means age or a period of time. See also Young’s Concordance. Hence the translation should be, “It shall not be forgiven him, neither in this age nor in the coming age” (Diaglott).

Jesus was born in the age of law. Therefore, when He spoke of this age, He was speaking of the age of law, the age to come being the Church age in which we now live. -J. Preston Eby-

1 Like
#291

The God of revenge & vindictive action ?

God’s precious people, saturated and literally “oozing” with the false doctrines of the harlot Church systems have long viewed God’s judgments as a vindictive action prompted by a motive for revenge and supported by a tumultuous wrath that must be pacified.

NOT SO!

Such is a gross caricature of our God! His mercy and grace are super-abundant, His mercy endures to all ages, and though He finds it necessary to chasten, His wisdom and righteousness produce a just and pure chastisement conditioned to correct the situation, and bring forth a creature prepared to respond to the delivering and redeeming power of God.

All of God’s judgments are corrective in nature, conceived in His wisdom, motivated by His love, administered by His power, and used to work out the divine purpose, into our good, and unto His praise!

This does not deny that “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men” (Rom. 1:18).

There is no doubt whatever as to the fact that the Bible clearly teaches wrath - not only in this age but in that which is to come and in dim and distant ages beyond that. But it is a just wrath; the judgment is everywhere said to be according to our works (Ps. 62:12; Rom. 2:6; Rev. 20:12-13).

The punishment will fit the offense, and it is for a purpose. If we teach that it is endless we will have to tear the Bible all to pieces. -J.Preston Eby-

#292

The Arrogance Of Religion

Picking up my copy of Karl Barth’s Commentary on Romans, as I often do, I just opened it up at random, and began to read when the phrase, “the arrogance of religion” caught my attention. I believe, from my recollection of that moment, Barth repeated himself in a short context. Whatever one might think of the man who was considered the greatest theologian of the twentieth century, one would have to admit from even a cursory reading of Barth, that he, in the strongest language, exposed the difference between God and what religion presumes to know and declare of Him. According to Barth, there is between the two a vast and deep chasm.

Sometimes the arrogance of religion is just plain out-in-the-open apparent.

J. B. Phillips took that arrogance to task noting that God doesn’t not fit in our conceptual box(es), declaring appropriately, that our God (the God according to us) is too small. Yes, I’m generalizing when I say, “our” and “us,” because the indictment is applicable to all in some measure or another since we all have an inclination toward the kind of presumption, as the story goes, of a child telling her teacher that she was drawing a picture of God. “But, no one knows what God looks like,” explained the teacher.

Nonplused at that claim, the child said, “well they will when I’m through.” Yep, that sums up the arrogance of religion.

But it’s not always just plain out-in-the-open apparent; it’s more, as the saying goes, hidden in plain sight… -John Gavazzoni

-Continued below-

The Arrogance of Religion

#293

Serious failure on the part of the Creator of all ? ?

“As an escape from the doctrine of eternal torment, I at first embraced the doctrine of annihilation for the wicked, and for a little while tried to comfort myself with the belief that this life ended all for them. But the more I thought of it, the more it seemed to me that it would be a confession of serious failure on the part of the Creator, if He could find no way out of the problem of His creation, but to annihilate the creatures whom He had created.

One day a revelation came to me that vindicated God, and settled the whole problem forever. I saw that it was true, as the Bible says, that ‘as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.’

As was the first, even so was the second. The ‘all’ in one case could not in fairness mean less than the all in the other. I saw therefore that the remedy must necessarily be equal to the disease. The salvation must be as universal as the fall.

I saw this that day on the tram-car on Market Street, Philadelphia – not only thought it, or hoped it – but knew it.

It was a Divine fact. And from that moment I have never had a questioning thought as to the final destiny of the human race. The how and the when I could not see; but the one essential fact was all I needed – somewhere and somehow God was going to make everything right for all the creatures He had created. My heart was at rest about it forever.” -Hannah W. Smith- (My unexpected discovery)

#294

Turning eternal love into exasperated hate.

George Hawtin has so aptly written: "Is it any wonder that in the face of such sadistic humbug there has been a wholesale manufacture of infidels?

All these statements (by eternal hell-fire preachers) may be a show of oratorical eloquence, but they are nothing more. They hold no part of truth. They deny every attribute of God. They make wisdom foolishness, turn eternal love into exasperated hate, make omnipotence helplessness, and make the justice of God the grossest injustice in the universe.

To say that I believe in such repugnance would be a lie of the first order. I do not believe it because it is contrary to the nature of God. It is contrary to the love of God. It is contrary to the justice of God. It is contrary to the power of God. It is contrary to the Word of God and it puts God in the ridiculous position of being the almighty King of kings and Lord of lords yet having in His dominion a vast pocket of hate and resistance that even He cannot overcome.

Further than this it makes the mighty sacrifice of Christ that was made for all the world to be almost impotent in its power and scope. Worst of all, it frustrates the purpose of God laid down in the beginning when He said, ‘Let us make man in our image and after our likeness.’ Some will immediately ask me whether I do not believe in hell.

My answer is very definite on this point. I most certainly do believe in hell, but the hell of the Bible and the hell of human tradition are not the same thing at all.

The hell of tradition is hopeless and eternal, while the hell of the Scripture like every judgment of God is corrective, remedial, and restorative."

-J. Preston Eby-

#295

Is the throne of the Lord white or black?

The throne is white.

May the One Who will be seated upon it keep us from painting it black. The judgment is viewed in the light of its outcome.

If it leads to eternal conscious torment for all who stand before it as orthodoxy demands, then the throne is black and an outrage on justice and a heartless exhibition of fiendish cruelty.

It is only when we see that the outcome of this judgment is universal reconciliation (Col. 1:20), that we can really acknowledge that the throne is white.

It is only when we limit the actual infliction of pain and penalties to the judgment era that we are able to appreciate the righteousness of God’s throne.

The judgment is as varied as the individual.

It is as different as their acts. Some will suffer severely, some slightly, and all according to their deserts. But there is no reason to prolong this time to infinity. It is preparatory to their reconciliation. -Unknown author-

#296

In Christ shall all be made alive

There are many texts in which aion and aionios cannot bear the meaning of eternity. And there are no texts in which the meaning of a limited period of time does not make reasonable sense.

Our great loss is that when we ascribe the meaning of eternity to these words, we obliterate from view God’s purpose of the eons. Further, the character of God is slandered, making Him the inflictor of incomprehensible woe.

It does not say that “all in Christ shall be made alive.”

It says, “in Christ shall all be made alive.”

The word for made alive means to be made immortal.

After the great white throne, the unbelieving will participate in the second death – the lake of fire.

Finally, at the consummation, when death is abolished, all will be made alive in Christ.”

God is working all things after the counsel of His will and according to His perfect schedule. But the improper translation of “for the ages of the ages” ignores the purpose and climax of history.

The holies of the holies (plural/plural) were the two inner confines of the tabernacle. (1Kings 8:6 literal translation instead of the most holy place.)

They were more holy than the outer court and the camp and all the places outside the camp. In like manner, the ages of the ages are the two greatest ages of history because of what will transpire during their time.

It does not cast the smallest shadow on the brilliance of God’s glory to say that glory be attributed to Him during the climatic eons when His purpose will be realized by all and His glory seen more clearly than ever before.

-Philip Scranton-

#297

Jesus Christ is in fact the Saviour of all mankind

I have never believed that by teaching the ultimate salvation of all men we were pitting one group of Scriptures against another, for it is my conviction that the solution can only be found in the correct harmonization of all the Scriptures, not ignoring one group while advancing the other.

I believe I speak by the Spirit of God when I assert that the only sensible harmonization of all the Scriptures lies in the fact that Jesus is indeed the Saviour of all men, that He is in very fact the Saviour of the world, and that He will have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, drawing all men to Himself. To me this is a most glorious and wonderful fact!

I find all the judgments of God to be correctional and disciplinary rather than vindictive and final.

Therein lays the harmonization of which I speak. This leaves us free to believe ALL of God’s Word. It magnifies the cross. It glorifies God. It honors the atonement. It gives meaning to the ministry of the sons of God. It gives purpose to the ages yet to come, all planned and arranged beforehand by our wonderful Creator.

Sin, judgment, and death are temporary, all to be dealt with by the mighty power of God invested in His saints. The entire universe will be reconciled to God through the blood of Christ’s cross. God will become All-in-All. Here is a God worthy of your worship and adoration! -J. Preston Eby-

#298

Big bad megas giant beware

“ALL FLESH SHALL SEE THE SALVATION OF GOD.” (Luke 3:5)

St. Luke of course is quoting the prophet Isaiah (Isa. 11:5)

The seeing is twofold.

  1. The natural sight of Jehovah’s glorious deeds on behalf of His people.

  2. The spiritual recognition of Jehovah as the Lord.

These words point in the direction of salvation which shall be absolutely universal.

“For without holiness no man shall see the Lord.” (Hebr. 12:14

“The pure in heart shall see God.” (Matt. 5: 8)

Adam1 = “many made sinners.”

Last Adam = the identical many "made righteous."

#299

The Character of God

It is estimated that about one hundred and sixty billions of human beings have lived on the earth in the six thousand years since Adam departed from Eden.

Of these, the very broadest estimate that could be made with reason would be that less than five billion were saints of God.

This broad estimate would leave the immense aggregate of one hundred and fifty-five billions (155,000,000,000) who went down into death without faith and hope in the only name given under heaven or among men whereby we must be saved.

Indeed, the vast majority of these never knew or heard of Jesus, and could not believe in Him of whom they had not heard.

What, I ask, has become of this vast multitude, of which figures give a wholly inadequate idea?

What is, and is to be, their condition?

Did God make no provision for these, whose condition and circumstances He must have foreseen?

Or did He, from the foundation of the world, make a wretched and merciless provision for their hopeless, eternal torment, as many of His children claim? To these questions, which every thinking Christian asks himself, and yearns to see answered truthfully, and in harmony with the character of God, comes a variety of answers:-

-J. Preston Eby-

#300

What is the goal of our God?

Do you find your heart tardy to believe that God will have all mankind to be saved? (1 Tim. 2:4)

Those who would not yield an inch from the position that all have sinned means all, do not hesitate to rob God of His all in all shall be justified, all shall be reconciled, all shall be vivified, that God may be All in all.

This is God’s grand goal:

all saved, all justified, all reconciled, all vivified, that God may be All in all. This goal will see fruition when the eons have run their course.

Do not confuse God’s goal with His process.

-F. Neil Pohorlak-

#301

Big bad megas giant beware

“BUT I SAY UNTO YOU LOVE YOUR ENEMIES, DO GOOD TO THEM WHICH HATE YOU * * AND YOU SHALL BE THE CHILDREN OF THE HIGHEST.” Luke 6: 27-35.

But I say, love your enemies.

Will the advocates of endless penalty frankly tell us how that can be reconciled with the letter, or the spirit, of this text?

Will they explain why God commands us to love our enemies, when He consigns His own enemies to an endless hell, or annihilation: and why He bids us to do good to those who hate us, when He means for ever to punish and do evil to those who hate Him?