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Another point made by the bible is that if one
was annihilated in gehenna he could not experience
any type of torment. The peoples end is the same as
the demons if they reject Christ. Rev. 19:20 "Then
the beast was captured, and with him the false
prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which
he deceived those who received the mark of the
beast and those who worshipped his image. These two
were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with
brimstone." We find the scriptures say Rev. 13:12
"Those who worship the beast and receive his mark
"he himself shall also drink of the wine of the
wrath of God, which is poured out full strength
into the cup of His indignation. He shall be
tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence
of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and
ever; and they have no rest day or night, who
worship the beast and his image, and whoever
receives the mark of his name" (Rev. 14:10-11).
These people receive the same punishment as those
who follow the false prophet and the Beast. Rev.
20:9-10 "The devil, who deceived them, was cast
into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast
and the false prophet are. And they will be
tormented day and night forever and ever."
We are in the time of grace when the gospel is
offered to all people. Acts 17:30-31 "Truly, these
times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands
all men everywhere to repent, "because He has
appointed a day on which He will judge the world in
righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He
has given assurance of this to all by raising Him
from the dead." This means that one must turn to
Christ to have assurance on that day where He
judges the living and the dead. Acts 26:20 "but
declared first to those in Damascus and in
Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea,
and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent,
turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.
The universalists ignore the biblical warnings
and examples and say things like, God loves us all,
God is love, he will not send anyone to hell." God
is love and universalism uses this by divorcing it
from God's other attributes, such as holiness and
justice.
God has expressed His love by mercy not in many
ways but a certain way. To show love to those who
accept his love he must punish evil or he cannot be
a God of love.
The Scriptures consistently categorize people
into one of two classes (saved/unsaved,
believers/unbelievers).
In Matthew 13:30 Jesus in a parable said, "Let
both [tares and wheat] grow together until
the harvest. At that time I will tell the
harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in
bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and
bring it into my barn." Here unbelievers and are
spoken of as tares, believers as wheat. Two
classes. They are separated in the judgment of
Mt.25. Universalists discount the Scriptures that
tell us about the separation and punishment of
those who refused to believe. In Matthew 25:32
Jesus said that following His second coming, "All
the nations will be gathered before him, and he
will separate the people one from another as a
shepherd separates the sheep from the goats." Here
believers and unbelievers are differentiated by the
terms "sheep" and "goats." The sheep will enter
into God's kingdom (vs. 34) and inherit eternal
life (vs. 46). The goats go into eternal punishment
(vs. 46). One group goes into the kingdom the other
goes into hell.
Depending on what each person's decision is on
earth about Christ and the acceptance of the gospel
they will end up in one of these places, heaven or
hell (Acts 16:31). Heb.9:27 " it is appointed for
men to die once, but after this the judgment." In
Luke 16:26 we find Abraham in the afterlife telling
the unsaved rich man: "Between us and you a great
chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go
from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over
from there to us." Hades had two compartments:
"paradise" for those who are in the faith, and
"torments" for the unsaved - and these compartments
were separated by a great chasm or gulf. Now they
are separated with even a greater gulf as paradise
is in heaven and hell is still in the same place
under the earth. The Bible does not support any
merging of believers and unbelievers in the
afterlife.
Repentance
is needed for salvation
Satan is bent on the destruction of people, his
purpose is to deceive people so they will die in
their sins and go to hell. His focus is on
destroying the truth. He is filled with hatred for
mankind. Because of a higher degree of intelligence
and power he is also extremely shrewd in his
inventions of religion and philosophy. I believe
Universalism is a tool of the devil in the last
days. It denies the gospel, the need to trust in
Christ in this life in its place it promotes an
acceptance to all, and a second chance
afterwards.
The in house debate that God might save some in
His sovereignty and grace such as infants who die
and are aborted, or the mentally handicapped has
nothing to do with those who use universalism to
destroy the proclamation of the gospel of Christ to
the unsaved. There are no second chances for one to
repentant after this life.
By promoting Universalism, Satan works his false
doctrines through its adherents. Jesus said to
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved, this
would not be a absolute true statement. Satan wants
people not to be concerned about receiving Jesus
now, there is always later. But it is Christ who
says, "behold, now is "the acceptable time,"
behold, now is "the day of salvation" (2 Cor. 6:3).
"Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your
hearts" (Heb. 4:7). Salvation is always offered as
a now proclamation. If one can wait in after life,
to be saved then if they are wrong now, they will
be right later. Luke 8:12 "Those by the wayside are
the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes
away the word out of their hearts, lest they should
believe and be saved." No one is saved without
using their will to make a choice and it is God's
work on their heart for this to occur. One must
have faith in Christ and continue in it for the
result of salvation, there is no other way.
John the Baptist began his ministry by saying,
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"
(Mt. 3:2). Jesus began his ministry by saying, "The
time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at
hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel" (Mark
1:15). Luke 13:3 "after telling a story about a
true catastrophe" I tell you, no; but unless you
repent you will all likewise perish. And repeats
the same warning in v.5. Acts 2:38 Then Peter said
to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the
remission of sins." Acts 17:30-31 "Truly, these
times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands
all men everywhere to repent, because He has
appointed a day on which He will judge the world in
righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He
has given assurance of this to all by raising Him
from the dead."
To repent means to believe on the Lord Jesus to
save you and turn toward God and leave your old
ways behind,.
For those "Christian" universalists that assume
everyone who practices different religions are
acceptable Jesus has this to say Rev 9:20 "But the
rest of mankind, who were not killed by these
plagues, did not repent of the works of their
hands, that they should not worship demons, and
idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood,
which can neither see nor hear nor walk."
Universalists
Jesus said "Beware of false prophets, who come
to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are
ravenous wolves."
A sheep is someone who actually follows the
shepherd. There are wolves that think they are
sheep, there are wolves that know they are not
sheep but want to look like sheep, but deny Him as
the only way to others.
Unitarian universalists and mostly
annihilationists such as Jehovah's Witnesses "We
have also learned that Gehenna does not mean a
place of torment, but is used in the Bible as a
symbol of everlasting destruction" (You Can Live
Forever in Paradise on Earth, p. 89)
Jehovah's Witnesses also deny the doctrine of
the incarnation of God. They also deny the
personhood and deity of the Holy Spirit. Many of
these same denials are held by others who are in
the Universalist camp. If they deny these
essentials they cannot be classified as Christians
even if they claim they are. Many of the cults hold
this annihilation view. The Seventh day Adventists
prophetess E. G. White said: "It is beyond the
power of the human mind to estimate the evil which
has been wrought by the heresy of eternal torment"
(E. G. White The Great Controversy, p. 536) .
The beliefs of Unitarian Universalists vary.
Members are not required to hold any specific
belief concerning God, Jesus, heaven, hell, etc.
but have the freedom for their personal view.
Within the church there are diverse beliefs about a
deity. Some are Arian (God is one person, Jesus is
a creation) some who claim Christianity are
Trinitarian. There are some individuals who believe
in the existence of god or gods and goddess(es),
monotheism or polytheism. We are unable to
categorize all of universalists into a certain
belief system as they vary. Others hold new age
concepts of man's potential and divinity. What we
find is universalism is not united by any specific
doctrine. They hold various views on life after
death, annihilationism to reincarnation.
Approximately 10% of Unitarian Universalists
consider themselves to be Christians having
agreement with liberal Christian denominations.
Liberalism is a movement away from being God
centered having human centered philosophy
The American Unitarian Association was formed in
1925 rejected Bible doctrines such as the total
depravity of man, the Trinity, and eternal
punishment in Hell. The Unitarian-Universalist
Association of Congregations in North America was
formed from a merger of the American Unitarian
Association and the Universalist Church of America
in May 1961. They found truth in the universal
teachings of prophets and teachers of all ages and
traditions. That the bible is included in the
collection of religious writings from all ages.
They believe in the brotherhood of man and justice
and peace as goals for their actions.
What do Unitarian Universalists think of Christ:
Unitarian Universalist minister Waldemar Argow
states: "They [Unitarian/Universalists] do
not regard him as a supernatural creature, the
literal son of God who was miraculously sent to
earth as part of an involved plan for the salvation
of human souls.' (Waldemar Argow, Unitarian
Universalism-Some Questions Answered (pamphlet)
(Boston, MA. Unitarian Universalism Assoc., nd.),
p. 6.)
The Universal life church founded by Hensley
Kirby wanted to see religion bring people together
not divide. He taught heaven was nothing more or
less than the position of having what you want;
hell is when you do not have what you want.
Most if not all Universalists hold that all
mankind will go to heaven despite their various
beliefs (or as the Christian universalist camp
teaches because of Christ atonement everyone in all
the different religions will end up there --there
are a variety of views held within this framework
as well).
Yet the Bible teaches, "If any man have not the
Spirit of Christ, he is none of His" Rom. 8:9. The
proof of ones forgiveness of sins is the promise of
the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, one receives Him
when they believe the gospel. Therefore no
reception of the gospel no Holy Spirit and no
entering the kingdom.
The world does not want the Jesus Christ as the
Bible teaches. This is what the universalism
teaching does, it negates His exclusive statements.
What would be a uniting religious concept that
would tend to unite different religious systems?
Universalism! Where is this all headed. I can see
this as being part of the fulfillment of Rev.17 --
Mystery Babylon. Universalism will be held so the
concept of the spirit being poured out on all flesh
can be called a reality for all people. Think about
it. If everyone is going to be saved, then
Buddhism, Islam, Catholicism, Mormonism, Hinduism,
etc. will all keep people from judgment and hell,
and all are equally valid to bring the people to
heaven to be with God. The question that
immediately rises from this is, which God? Are we
all believing in the same God?
part 2 The
influence of Universalism on society and the
Church
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Universalism
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