Rebirth to Physical Life (2)

This is the conclusion to “Rebirth to Physical Life (1)”.  Part 1 should be read first, before continuing with this Part 2.  Also, I suggest you read “Universal Christian Salvation”, before proceeding here.

In “Rebirth to Physical Life (1)”, we read about God’s future for the men of ancient Sodom, and for men in both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah in the light of Ezk.37:1-14.  A physical rebirth.  The apostle Paul wrote in Ro.11:26, “All Israel shall be saved”.  Not just a remnant!

We considered the book of Job, when he was suffering.  Jb.1:21 Tanakh KJV Septúagint “Naked came I forth from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there.”  Job indicated he could later be reborn from a mother’s womb, his spirit indwelling a human newborn!  Job symbolically compared himself to the ancient phoenix bird (Jb.29:18 Tanakh), which would live again after a cycle of 500 or 1,000 years.  (see Part 1.)  cf. Re.20:5 “The rest of the dead lived not again until the 1,000 years were completed.”  Re.20:8 the dead, resurrected and returned to physical life, would inhabit “nations” of the earth.

Where in the Bible do we read of an individual, a human spirit, indwelling a second physical body…a personality who later did return to a mother’s womb (as Job indicated) to live another physical life?

The prophet Elijah lived in the early 800s BC.  He was a famous character in Israel’s history.  There’s no scriptural record of Elijah’s death.  2Ki.2:1-14 he was translated into heaven by a whirlwind.

{Sidelight: Elijah’s immediate successor Elisha then received a double portion of God’s Holy Spirit, unlike other “sons of the prophets”.  Elisha performed miracles (ref 2Ki.2:9, 15, 1Co.12:28-29).  Poole Commentary 2Ki.2:9 “Elisha seems to have had a greater portion of the prophetical and miraculous gifts of God’s Spirit.”  Elisha still had his own human spirit of course; it wasn’t replaced by Elijah’s spirit!}

In the 400s BC the Lord said in Mal.3:1, “Behold, I will send My messenger; he will prepare the way before Me”.  Mal.4:5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and dreadful day of the Lord.”  Consequently, the Jews expected a bodily return of Elijah.  Alfred Edersheim The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, p.100 “The coming of Elijah…he was to appear personally.”  Traditionally, each spring they’d set a place for Elijah at the Passover Seder table and leave the door open for him.  Rabbi David Kimchi “When God shall bring him [Elijah] to life in the body, He shall send him to Israel.”  He’d be sent from God, bodily.

John the Baptist was a man “sent from God” (Jn.1:6).  Lk.1:13, 24-27 John was born 6 months before Jesus.  John’s mother was Mary’s aunt Elizabeth.  Mk.1:1-4 John “prepared the way” for Jesus’ ministry.

Jesus identified John the Baptizer as the Elijah who was to come!  Jesus said of John in Mt.11:13-14, “This is Elijah”.  John the Baptist was the Elijah who had lived approximately 900 years before!  Jesus said later in Mt.17:12-13, “Elijah has already come, and they didn’t recognize him. Then His disciples understood He was talking to them about John the Baptist.”  Cambridge Bible Mt.17:12 “[Many Jews] didn’t recognize him as the Elijah prophesied by Malachi.”  Mk.9:13 re John, “Elijah has indeed come”.

The angel Gabriel foretold Zacharias re John his son to be. Lk.1:14-17 “He will go before Him [Jesus] in the spirit and power of Elijah”.  The same human spirit in Elijah was in John the Baptizer.  Both were empowered to call the people to repentance.  Jews believe Elijah will return bodily.  He did.

Let’s now notice several similarities between the lives of Elijah and John the Baptizer:

Both dwelt in the wilderness east of the Jordan River (1Ki.17:2-6 & Mt.3:1-3, Lk.1:80).

Both characteristically wore a shaggy cloak and a leather belt (2Ki.1:8 & Mt.3:4).

Both were witnesses for the true God (1Ki.18:37 & Jn.1:14-15).

Both mocked their opponents who displayed a form of religion (1Ki.18:27 & Mt.3:7-9).

Both reproved their wicked king who disobeyed God (1Ki.18:17-18 Aháb & Lk.3:18-19 Herod Ántipas).

Both were wanted dead by the king’s evil wife (1Ki.19:2 Ahab/Jezébel & Mk.6:17-24 Herod/Herodiás).

Both endorsed their replacement, Elisha and Jesus (1Ki.19:16, 19 & Mk.1:9, Jn.3:28-30).

John the Baptizer even ministered at the same site on the east bank of the Jordan River from where Elijah had been taken up into heaven 900 years before (2Ki.2:1-14)!  Scripture reflects too many similar characteristics for it to be just coincidence.  They were the same personality, the same human spirit.

Ja.5:17 Elijah was a man with faulty human nature, as we.  He made mistakes, one serious.  1Ki.18:4, 13 Israel’s evil queen Jezebel had killed prophets of the Lord.  Elijah took vengeance by killing Jezebel’s false prophets.  1Ki.18:40 “Elijah said to them [Israel], ‘Seize the prophets of Báal [450 men, v.22]; don’t let one of them escape.’ They seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishón and slew them there.”  Ellicott Commentary 1Ki.18:40 “The ruthless slaughter of Baal’s prophets.  Pulpit Commentary 1Ki.18:40 “It is true that the spirit of Elijah was not the spirit of Christianity (Lk.9:56); because our religion instructs us to leave it to Him who has said, ‘Vengeance is Mine.”

Elijah wasn’t a civil authority.  Yet he made the decision to kill the false prophets without having the authorization to kill/stone false prophets (cf. De.18:20, 13:6-11).  The Lord didn’t tell him to kill them.  Elijah chose to kill them…with the sword.  1Ki.19:1 “He had killed all the prophets with the sword.”

1Ki.19:2-3 after slaying the prophets, Elijah fled for his life in fear.  He escaped from evil queen Jezebel.

However, 900 years later John the Baptizer died by the sword, at the behest of evil queen Herodias!  ref Mk.6:17-29.  v.27 the king’s executioner had John “beheaded in the prison”.

Elijah, as John, eventually reaped what he’d sowed!  Ga.6:7 Paul wrote, “Whatever a man sows, this he will also reap”.  Cause and effect.  Elijah killed with the sword…John the Baptizer died by the sword.  Mt.26:52 Jesus said, “All who take up the sword will perish by the sword”.  What goes around, comes around.  Oba.1:15 “As you have done, it will be done to you.”  Ps.7:16 “His violence shall come down upon the crown of his own head.”  Barnes Notes Ps.7:16 “He’d be treated as he had designed to treat others.”  God is just.  Karma?  John reaped the payback for Elijah’s unauthorized ruthless treatment of the false prophets.  Although Jezebel failed to kill Elijah, Herodias succeeded in having him/John slain.

Jesus said John the Baptizer was Elijah.  Jn.1:21 but John didn’t think he was Elijah.  It seems that God mercifully causes amnesia to set in before or by the time children mature.  So a person (like John) isn’t tormented with guilt from any memory of his previous life when he’d committed major crimes or sins.

Elijah was considered a great prophet.  In the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), Moses typified the Law and Elijah typified the Prophets…the “Law and the Prophets”.  And in Lk.7:28, Jesus said there’s no greater prophet than John/(Elijah)!  Mt.17:3-4, 10-13 in the Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus.  The representatives of the Law and the Prophets were two witnesses to Messiah Jesus’ upcoming death (Lk.9:30-31).  Note that the Transfiguration occurred after John the Baptizer was beheaded (back in Mt.14:10).  Elijah couldn’t have been present in the Transfiguration if John was still alive in Judea.

The commission given to John the Baptizer as “My messenger” (Mal.3:1, Is.40:3 & Mk.1:2-4) came to pass in the 1^st century AD, although unconverted Jews still don’t think John was the prophesied Elijah.

Rebirth to physical life was a common belief in Bible times.  Elijah was expected to personally appear on the scene.  Philo Judaeus (ca 20 BC – 50 AD) wrote of the Lógos (Greek), the Word of God.  Works of Philo: The Special Laws 1, p.541 “Now the image of God is the Logos [Word], by which all the world was made.”  The apostle John affirmed in Jn.1:1-4, 14, all things came into being through the primordial Logos/Word who became Jesus in the flesh.  Philo preceded the apostle John.

Philo also wrote in On Dreams 1:138-139, “Now of souls some descend upon the earth with a view to be bound in mortal bodies. Of these, those which are influenced by a desire for mortal life, and familiarized to it, again return to it.”  According to Philo, some Jews returned to a physical life and others didn’t.  (This wasn’t the false New Age belief of transmigration of souls into lower animal bodies!)

Josephus Antiquities of the Jews 18:1:3-5 “Pharisees believe souls have an immortal rigor, and under the earth [cf. Paul’s Php.2:10] there will be rewards or punishments. Virtuous souls have the power to revive and live again, the vicious to be detained….The doctrine of the Sadducees is that souls die with the body…The Essenes teach immortality of souls and esteem that the rewards of righteousness are to be earnestly striven for.”  Pharisees & Essenes thought there was life after death.  Paul had been a Pharisee.

Roman author Pliny (23–79 AD) wrote admirably of the Essenes.  Biblical Archaeology Review Spring 2020, p.49 quotes Pliny. “So fruitful for them [Essenes] is the repentance which others feel for their past lives. Natural History 5:17:4.”

Jews who encountered Jesus thought He too had lived previously.  Some mistakenly thought Jesus was the expected Elijah to come, or that Jesus was John the Baptizer reincarnated.  Mk.6:14-16 “People were saying, ‘John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him [Jesus].’ But others were saying, ‘He is Elijah.’ When Herod heard of it, he kept saying, ‘John, who I beheaded, has risen!”  Evidently Herod didn’t hold to the Sadducean doctrine of no resurrection.

Others thought Jesus was an Old Testament prophet (other than Elijah) returned to life.  Jesus asked His disciples in Mt.16:13-14, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ They answered Him, ‘Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the Prophets.”  Some of Jesus’ countrymen thought He was Jeremiah (lived ca 650–570 BC) physically alive again.  Why Jeremiah?  Jeremiah had prophesied of the future Messiah (Je.23:5-6) and New Covenant (Je.31:31-ff).  Both Jeremiah and Jesus were persecuted by Jewish leaders who opposed them (cf. Je.20:7-10).  JFB Commentary Mt.16:14 “Jeremiah…suggested by a supposed resemblance between the ‘man of sorrows’ [Is.53:3 Messiah] and the ‘weeping prophet’ [Je.9:1, 13:17]?”  Jeremiah’s book of “Lamentations” means “weeping”.  So it is perhaps understandable why some would (wrongly) think Jesus & Jeremiah were the same human spirit.

Jn.9:1-3 Jesus’ disciples asked Jesus about the man born blind from birth.  “His disciples asked Him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents that he should be born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents, but in order that the works of God might be displayed in him.”  Jesus then displayed the works of God by miraculously giving sight to this man.

We understand, a human embryo or fetus in the womb doesn’t commit sin.  Jesus’ disciples assumed the man sinned in a past life and his blindness in this life was the payback; he was reaping what he’d sowed.  Or else the man’s blindness was caused by some sin committed by his parents.  Jn.9:34 Pharisees who opposed Jesus accused this man of being “born entirely in sin”.  Although sin wasn’t the cause with this man, Jesus didn’t tell His disciples that a person couldn’t have sinned in a prior physical body.

Gill Exposition Jn.9:2 “The disciples asked whether this man had sinned in a pre-existent state when in another body. This notion, Josephus says, was embraced by the Pharisees.”  Barnes Notes “Many of the Jews believed…that the soul of a man, in consequence of sin, might be compelled into other bodies, and be punished there.”  The nature of the past life sins may not be capital crimes or wholly evil.  Ellicott Commentary ties Jn.9:2 to the apocrypha book Wisdom of Solomon 8:20. “Being rather good, I came into a body undefiled” (KJV 1611 edition).  He’d been more good than evil; his rebirth body had no congenital defects.  (In Mt.12:42, Jesus referred to the “wisdom of Solomon” 6:1.)  Jesus didn’t tell His disciples that belief in a rebirth from a mother’s womb (as Job believed, Jb.1:21) was erroneous.

Jn.5:28-29 Jesus said that from the graves there is resurrection to eternal Life (Strongs g2222, Greek) for those who did good, and resurrection to judgment for those who didn’t.  Judgment involves evaluation.  Ac.24:15 Paul said there shall be “a resurrection of both the just and the unjust”.  Cambridge Bible Jn.5:29 “This passage and Ac.24:15 are the only direct assertions in the New Testament of a bodily resurrection of the wicked.”  (also cf. Da.12:2 with Je.23:40.)

He.11:35 a resurrection to eternal Life with a spiritual body is better than resuscitation, and better than resurrection to another physical life.  1Co.15:44 that which is planted a natural physical body is raised a spiritual body.  Paul is referring to the just who believed, repented, and lived by the Holy Spirit.  (see “Life and Death – for Saints”.)  The just were “firstfruits” (Ja.1:18, Re.14:4), rising to eternal Life.  The just who sowed good works reap a spiritual body to be with the Lord.

He.9:27 all die at least once physically.  cf. deaths: He.11:35, Jn.11:44, 1Ki.17:22, 2Ki.4:35.  Re.20:14 a second death which terminates consciousness is indicated for the very few.  (see “Gehenna (2) – Lake of Unquenched Fire”.)  Yet based upon God’s principle of justice seen in De.19:21, “life for life”…there wouldn’t be a second death without a second life preceding it!  To hear the name Jesus, believe, repent.

Alfred Edersheim The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, p.1064 “It is at least conceivable that there may be a purification or transformation of all who are capable of such…and that in the end of what we call time, only that which is morally incapable of transformation, be it men or devils, shall be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone.”  (Also, some few view the lake of fire as a refiner’s fire of purification.)

So what do the scriptures reflect will be the final result when every human, BC and AD, has had ample opportunity to hear of salvation via Jesus’ sacrifice, and time to show belief and repentance from sin?

Re.5:11-14 “And every [g3956] created thing – which is in heaven, on the earth, under the earth, in the sea, and all [g3956] that are in them – I heard saying ‘To the One who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb [Jesus], be blessing and honor and glory and dominion to the ages of the ages. Amen.”  Ellicott Commentary Re.5:13 “The whole universe joins in this grand acclaim.”  Barnes Notes “Ascribing praise. All worlds seem to join in it.”  JFB Commentary “The universal chorus of creation.”  Every creature.

So this is total.  At this time all will worship, giving honor and praise to the Lord.  This is done of their own free will.  2Ti.1:10 Jesus has “abolished death”!  There are none left in a hell agony, resisting God!

John envisioned in Re.21:1, 4 “I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and earth had ceased to exist. He [God] shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death will not exist any more; or mourning or crying or pain; for the former things have ceased to exist.”  There’s no cries of pain & torment from a hell-fire!  Gill Exposition Re.21:4 “There will be nothing to afflict the mind.”

What great news this is in regards to our ancestors, family members, friends & loved ones who died unconverted/unsaved!  Their ultimate fate isn’t eternal conscious torment in hell!  The same goes for “all Israel” (not just a remnant).  And for the unnamed multitudes who lived in BC times.  God is so good!

Needless to say, Christians should hope that Universal Salvation for all through Jesus will eventually be a reality in the ages to come.  God’s loving, impartial plan for mankind, created in His image, is greater than we’ve thought!  Praise the Lord!

Rebirth to Physical Life (1)

This topic is follow-up to the two-part topic “Universal Christian Salvation”.  As background, I suggest you read/review the Bible verses referenced in “Universal Christian Salvation” before proceeding here.

In “Universal Christian Salvation”, we examined pertinent passages in the New Testament (NT) and the Old Testament Septúagint/LXX which contain the Greek term for “all”…“pas” (Strongs g3956).  This term “pas” occurs 1,240 times in the NT.  In several of those verses, all/pas pertained to all of mankind.

Universalism or Universal Christian Salvation/Reconciliation is the belief that all or most humans will ultimately be reconciled to God, saved through Jesus.  (It isn’t pluralism; since not all mans’ religions are from God.)  Two disparate beliefs of Christians are…Eternal Conscious Torment in hell-fire, held by Calvinists & Arminianists…and Annihilationism extinction.  see “Universal Christian Salvation (1)”.

A person may cite isolated Bible verses which seem to support any or all of the above three beliefs!

Yet God is love (1Jn.4:16).  Universal Christian Salvation/Reconciliation does comprehensively reflect God’s love.  God is also fair, impartial.  Ro.2:11 “There is no partiality with God.”  He’s no respecter of persons (Ac.10:34).  And God is just.  Ro.9:14 “There is no injustice with God.”  Is.61:8 the Lord loves justice.  1Jn.1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.”

But if all humans end up ‘saved’, how does such Universal Salvation also reflect God’s character as just & consistent, with the requirements for His forgiveness and mans’ salvation the same for every person?

Over the millennia, most of humanity died without believing in the name of Jesus, the only name by which we’re saved (Ac.4:12).  Many or most never even heard His name!  e.g. the multitudes of gentiles who lived in BC times, before Jesus’ incarnation.  All men are sinners (Ro.3:23).  Some die cursing God.

Yet Paul wrote in Php.2:10-11, “At the name of Jesus everyone [pas g3956] in heaven, on earth, and in the world below will bow the knee. And every [g3956] tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  That’s universality…even including those “under the earth” (KJV)!  also cf. 1Pe.3:19.  Geneva Bible Php.2:10 “All creatures will at length be subject to Christ.”  Meyer NT Commentary Php.2:10 “The bowing of the knee represents adoration.”  Cambridge Bible Php.2:10 “Created existence, in its heights and depths…being said to worship.”  Ellicott Commentary Php.2:11 “The acknowledgement of universal Lordship and majesty.”

However, many didn’t believe and repent, two requirements for salvation (Mk.16:16; Jn.3:18, 36; Lk.13:3; Ac.2:38, 16:31).  If they’re saved without belief and repenting from sin, it would seem that God has a double standard!  Yet God is just and impartial.  Mankind reaps what he sows (Ga.6:7).  How may this be reconciled?  Jesus and Paul said there were other “ages to come” (e.g. Mt.12:32, Ep.2:7).

Ge.18:20 the sin in the ancient cities of Sodom & Gomorrah was “exceedingly grave”.  Consequently, the Lord destroyed their inhabitants with fire from heaven (Ge.19:24-25, Jude 1:7)!  Therefore, we may think it would be intolerable for them in the judgment.  Condemnation.  But that’s not what Jesus said (speaking to the unrepentant who opposed Him).  Mt.11:24 “It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”  What?!  also Mt.10:15.  Having destroyed those wicked cities with fire, for their judgment to be “more tolerable”…implied is a measure of future forgiveness.

The Lord asserted in Ezk.16:53-55, “I will restore the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria [Israel’s 10 tribes] and her daughters….Sodom with her daughters will return to their former state.”  The Jordan River plain.  Keil and Delitzsch Ezk.16:53 “What the apostle teaches [1Pe.3:19, 4:6]…is equally applicable to the Sodomites…and indeed generally to all the heathen nations who either lived before Christ or departed from this earthly life without having heard the gospel preached.”  So it’s not hopeless for those ancient Sodomites!  They would eventually be restored.  Such tolerance could also include the children of those utterly corrupt heathen nations/Canaanites who Christ commanded Israel to exterminate in De.20:16 & Jsh.6:20-21?  Those ancients may still obtain salvation!

But those individuals all died.  How can they return to their former lands and hear the saving gospel?  Furthermore, reanimation doesn’t apply only to those gentiles; it applies to the entire house of Israel too!     

The dry bones passage of Ezk.37:1-14 reflects the whole house of Israel rebirthed to physical life!  (It’s too long to quote here in full.)  Their corpses (slain, v.9) had decomposed.  v.4-5 NET “Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord, I Am about to infuse breath into you and you will live.”  Barnes Notes Ezk.37:6 “In Ezk.37:5, not ‘I will cause’, but I cause or am causing.”  It was about to start happening.  v.6 “I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you…and you will know that I Am the Lord.”  (cf. Job said in Jb.10:11, “Did you not…cloth me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews?”)  These are literal breathing physical bodies with human spirits!  Cambridge Bible Ezk.37:6 “Their becoming actual men of flesh & blood.”  At death their human spirit had returned to God who gave it (Ec.12:7).  God sends those same spirits into new flesh bodies.

Ezk.37:11-13 “These bones are the whole house of Israel. I will open your graves and bring you back to the land of Israel.”  This pertains to all Israel.  They’ll all return to the land of Israel.  Similarly, the Lord said ancient Sodom’s inhabitants would return to their land area.  Ezk.37 is a fleshly rebirth of all Israelites.  v.14 “I will put My Spirit in you.”  God’s Holy Spirit (HS) too is given to them.  God will call them to Himself, they’ll be taught the gospel (Jn.6:44-45) and receive the HS to walk in His ways.

Paul said in Ro.11:26, “All Israel shall be saved”.  (also cf. Is.45:17, Zec.8:13.)  Not just a remnant!  Not just the 100^th generation, but excluding most of the previous 99 generations (with those who went into Assyrian & Babylonian captivities) who burn forever in hell-fire!  No.  God puts His Spirit in the historical house of Israel!  All will have the opportunity to repent & believe, and be saved through King Jesus (Ezk.37:24).  God loves all who live, both BC and AD.  His will is none perish forever; that all come to repentance, 2Pe.3:9.

Hosea prophesied to the northern 10 tribes of Israel around 750 BC.  Ho.13:12-14 “The iniquity of Ephráim [the northern kingdom] is on record…I will deliver them out of the power of Hades, and will redeem them from death. O Hades, where is thy sting?”  (Paul quotes this LXX verse in 1Co.15:55.)  But when?  First…Ho.13:15-16 in 722 BC Shalmanéser V will attack from the East, since the guilty northern Israel (capital at Samaria) has rebelled against God.  Israel will be deported by Assyria into captivity.  Those Israelites will die in the attack and in captivity.  Then later…Ho.14:4-5 “I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely, for My anger is turned away from them. I will be like the dew to Israel.”  v.8 “O Ephraim…it is I who answer and look after you.”  The Lord will care for them.

But those had all died!  Yet the Lord will bring back those apostate Israelites from Hades (the realm of the dead); the sting of death is past.  MacLaren Expositions Ho.14:5 “That promise in its depth and fullness is applicable only to Christian Israel.”  That deported generation of northern Israel will have opportunity for salvation.  Again, “All Israel shall be saved”.  Sanh 10:1 “All Israelites will have a share in the world to come.”  Including the hardened, Ro.11:15, 25.  But those individuals will have to live a right life…believe, and repent (of apostasy).  God’s standards are consistent; He is impartial (Ep.6:9).

Later the Jews of Jerusalem and the southern kingdom of Judah were killed or sent by God into captivity to Babylon (between 606-586 BC).  Lam.2:21-22 they were slaughtered!  La.1:5 God’s wrath was due to the multitude of their transgressions.  La.3:42-43 the Lord didn’t pardon them then.  La.4:6 “The iniquity of Thy people is greater than the sin of Sodom.”  Adult survivors died in captivity.

Yet Je.32:36-40, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel concerning this city [Jerusalem], ‘It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, famine, and pestilence. Behold I will gather them out of all the lands to which I have driven them in My wrath, and I will bring them back to this place and make them dwell in peace and safety…And I will make an everlasting covenant with them.” (cf. Ezk.37:13-14, 24).

But they’d died (elsewhere)!  JFB Commentary Je.32:37 “The ‘all’ countries implies a future restoration more universal than that from Babylon.”  Not just after the 70 years of Je.29:10.  That generation was killed in the siege, and over the decades the adult survivors from 597 BC had died in captivity.  Barnes Notes Je.32:39 “Under the new covenant they will walk with one consent in the one narrow path of right-doing.”  Ellicott Commentary Je.32:40 “The ‘new covenant”…which shall abide forever.”  Gill Exposition Je.32:40 “An everlasting covenant…which is known and made manifest at conversion.”  Cambridge Bible Je.32:40 “It is the ‘new covenant’ of Jer.31:31, etc., which is meant.”  Jesus said in Lk.22:20, “This is the new covenant in My blood”.  Yet those Jews had perished 600 years before the inauguration of the New Covenant in the 1^st century AD at Jesus’ Last Supper!

The southern kingdom of Judah, long since dead, would be restored to their land too.  Paul wrote in Ro.11:15, “What will their [the Jews] acceptance be but life from the dead”.  v.23 God is able to graft them in again.  Ro.14:9 Christ is Lord of both the dead and the living. (cf. Ezk.37:12.)  It’s not all over for those Jews who perished in the first half of the 6^th century BC!  They’re part of “all Israel”.

Alfred Edersheim The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, p.116 “In view of Isa.53 and other passages…the Messiah is represented as willingly taking upon Himself all these sufferings, on condition that all Israel – the living, the dead, and those yet unborn – should be saved.”

1Sm.2:6 “The Lord kills, and makes alive; He brings down to Sheól and raises up.”  also see De.32:39.  God, the author of life, has the right to end a life.  He may kill the wicked.  The Lord sent Israel/Judah to die in captivity.  Men reap what they sow (2Co.9:6).  But the order in the above two verses isn’t ‘He makes alive and then kills’, later…it’s vice versa.  After God kills, He then makes them alive again.

God allowed the patriarch Job to suddenly lose his wealth, children, and health in his trials.  Job was suffering, thinking God was angry over his (unknown) sin.  Jb.14:13 Job lamented, “If only you would hide me in Sheol until Your anger passes”.  He wanted to go to the realm of the dead (temporarily).  Though Job didn’t understand why this evil had come upon him, He didn’t blame God.  Instead, Job said in Jb.19:26 KJV, “Though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh I shall see God”.  Job didn’t doubt God existed.  Cambridge Bible Jb.19:26 “Before death he shall not see Him.”  Then when?

Jb.1:21 Tanakh KJV LXX, “Naked came I forth from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there.”  What?!  Job said he would later be reborn from a mother’s womb; his same spirit indwelling a human newborn!  After death, the Lord would make him alive again (1Sm.2:6).  cf. Is.26:19 “Your dead will live; their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust. The earth will give birth to the departed spirits.”  Ellicott Commentary Is.26:19 “Like the vision of dry bones in Ezek.37:1-14.”  Physical rebirth.

Job said in Jb.29:18 Tanakh, “I shall die with my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the phoenix.”  Barnes Notes Jb.29:18 “Herder observes that the phoenix is obviously intended here…The rabbis generally understand here the Phoenix; a fabulous bird, much celebrated in ancient times…Jannai adds that ‘This bird lives 1,000 years, and in the end of the thousand years, a fire goes forth from its nest, and burns it up. But there remains an egg, from which again the members grow, and it rises to life.”

Job thought he too would experience another physical life, as the ancient phoenix bird.  Clément was a fellow-worker with Paul (Php.4:3).  1Clem.12:2-6 describes a 500-year life cycle of the very rare phoenix.  v.6 “The Lord…even by a bird shows us the greatness of His power to fulfil His promise.”  (A phoenix was exhibited in Rome during the reign of Emperor Claudius, 41–54 AD).  Tacitus Annals 6:28 (117 AD) “There is no question that the bird is occasionally seen in Egypt.”  The phoenix symbolized rebirth.  We understand that Job’s physical life did end well (Jb.42:10).  But that’s not the case for every human.

Re.20:5 “The rest of the dead lived not again until the 1,000 years were completed.”  Interestingly, an ancient Greek & Roman belief was…the spirits of the dead dwelt in Hades for 1,000 years, and then were resurrected or reincarnated to earthly life.  [Note – ref for Hades: Lk.16:23; 1Co.15:55; Re.1:18, 20:13-14.  also see the topic “Thousand (Years)’ in the Bible – (2)”.]

Re.20:8 at that time, after the 1,000 years, there are “nations in the four corners of the earth”.  Physical nations!  cf. Ec.6:6 “Though a man live 1,000 years twice told….”  May this include the men of Sodom and ancient Israelites/Jews reborn to another physical life (Ezk.16:55; Mt.11:24, 10:15)?

The Jewish apocryphal book Wisdom of Sírach, called Ecclesiásticus, was written ca 180 BC.  Its writer Yeshúa ben Síra alluded to a rebirth to physical life, for the righteous.  WisSir.46:11-12 “Whoever did not turn away from the Lord – May their memory be blessed, may their bones revive from their place, and may the name of those honored live again in their sons.”  This brings to mind the “dry bones” of Ezk.37.  Also WisSir.49:10 “May He indeed revive the bones of the twelve prophets from their place.”

The Jewish book of 2Maccabees was written ca 125 BC.  Its writer too believed in rebirth to physical life.  2Mac.12:44-46 KJV 1611 edition “If he had not hoped that the slain should have risen again, it had been superfluous and vain to pray for the dead. Whereupon he made reconciliation for the dead, that they might be delivered from sin.”  Wikipedia: Resurrection “The concept of resurrection of the physical body is found in 2 Maccabees, according to which it will happen through re-creation of the flesh.”  (also ref 2Mac.7:22-23, 28-29; Ezk.37.)  It was their custom to pray for the deceased.

Paul wrote in 1Co.15:29 Good News trans, “What about those people who are baptized for the dead? What do they hope to accomplish? If it is true, as some claim, that the dead are not raised to life, why are those people being baptized for the dead?”  In the 1^st century, it seems it was a custom to not only pray for the dead but to also be baptized by proxy for the dead.  Several interpretations have been offered for 1Co.15:29.  Expositor’s Greek Testament 1Co.15:29 “How futile Christian devotion must be, such as is ‘in those baptized for the dead’, if death ends all.”  Pulpit Commentary “Why do some of you get baptized on behalf of your dead friends?”  Cambridge Bible “The natural and obvious explanation is that the apostle [Paul] was here referring to a practice, prevalent in his day, of persons permitting themselves to be baptized on behalf of their dead relatives and friends.”  Perhaps prayers and vicarious baptism was efficacious for their comrades and loved ones who would later have a physical rebirth.

Where else in scripture do we read about belief in physical rebirth (besides Jb.1:21)?  As well, a rebirth could be great opportunity for our ancestors, children, family members, friends & loved ones who died unconverted/unsaved!  Their ultimate fate wouldn’t be eternal conscious torment in hell-fire!

{Sidelight: For our non-religious relatives/ancestors who’d lived a peaceful quiet life to suffer hell-fire forever equally with genocidal tyrants…such injustice wouldn’t reflect just retribution!  God is just.  The punishment fits the crime; the lex talionis principle of equality (e.g. Le.24:17-22).}

This topic is concluded in “Rebirth to Physical Life (2)”.  (The future for converted/saved Christians is addressed in the topic “Life and Death – for Saints”.)

Universal Christian Salvation (2)

This topic is the continuation of “Universal Christian Salvation (1)”.  The Bible verses addressed in Part 1 won’t be repeated here in Part 2.  Part 1 should be read first.

Universalism or universal Christian Reconciliation is the belief that all or most humans will ultimately be reconciled to God, saved through Jesus.  (It isn’t pluralism; all mans’ religions aren’t from God.)  Two disparate beliefs of Christians are…Eternal Conscious Torment in hell-fire, held by Calvinists & Arminianists…and Annihilationism extinction.  see brief explanations in Part 1.

A person who knows their Bible may cite isolated verses which seem to support any or all of those three main beliefs!  Yet God is love (1Jn.4:8).  Which belief best reflects God’s character, His love & justice?

In Part 1, we began examining pertinent passages in the New Testament (NT) and the Old Testament (OT) Septúagint/LXX which contain the Greek term for “all”…“pas” (Strongs g3956).  This term “pas” occurs 1,240 times in the NT.  Continuing with other pertinent verses containing the word “all” (pas):

In scripture, “all” (pas g3956) can mean ‘each & every’ man, without limits.  e.g. in Ac.1:24, 17:25, Ro.3:23, He.12:23…“all” means ‘each & every’.  But “all” doesn’t always mean ‘each & every’.  (see Part 1).  However, “all” rarely means only ‘some’ (unless exaggeration to prove a point was in view).  And “all” doesn’t mean the minority of the class referred to.  At the least, “all” indicates the majority.

Ro.11:32 Aramaic Bible “God has shut every [g3956] person into disobedience, so that He shall have mercy upon every [g3956] person.”  Here, all Jews and gentiles in parallel.  As all have disobeyed God, all shall eventually receive mercy.  Meyer NT Commentary Ro.11:32 “The totality, namely, all Jews and gentiles jointly and severally.”  Every person.  Barnes Notes Ro.11:32 “All are represented as in prison [under sin], confined by God, to be liberated only in His own way and time.”  Pulpit Commentary “Certainly the prospect of a universal triumph of the gospel…carries with it to his [Paul’s] mind further glories of universal salvation for all.”  As disobedience is universal…mercy is universal.  In parallel.

In Ro.11:26, Paul writes that in time “All [g3956] Israel shall be saved”. (cf. Is.45:25)  That’s quite an assertion!  Grotius said it was “a maxim among the Jews that every Israelite should have a part in the future age”.  Gill Exposition Ho.1:10 “The Jews will be converted, and all Israel saved, Rom.11:25.”  Meyer NT Commentary Ro.11:26 “All Israelites who up to that time shall still be unconverted, will then be converted to salvation.”  But that time isn’t fulfilled yet; it’s into the future.

Peter preached to the Jews at Jerusalem in Ac.3:26. “God raised up His Son Jesus and sent Him to you first, blessing you, by turning every one [g1538 hékastos] of you from your wicked ways.”  But every Israelite hasn’t yet believed, repented, and become converted to salvation.  “All Israel” isn’t saved yet.

1Co.15:22 NASB “For as in Adam all [g3956] die, so also in Christ shall all [g3956] be made alive [g2227].”  Surely, we all die.  Dr. Spiros Zódiates says of the Greek term translated “made alive” (KJV “quicken”) g2227, “Generally used in reference to salvation”.  Family NT Notes 1Co.15:22 “He shall raise to life the whole human family.”  Pulpit Commentary “It is so impossible to understand the phrase, ‘shall all be made alive’, of a resurrection of endless torments.”  This parallel “all” doesn’t allow for an eternal hell-fire.  1Co.15:23 “But each in his own order.”  Not until each believes and repents.

Mt.18:14 “It is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.”  All humans are children of God, the Father of spirits (He.12:9).  This includes the mentally disabled.  Bengel’s Gnomen Mt.18:14 “We ought to subserve the Divine will in caring for the salvation of all. The universal desire on God’s part to bestow it [salvation].”  Pulpit Commentary “It is inconceivable that anyone can hold the doctrine of the eternal reprobation of certain souls [Calvinism & Arminianism].”

Lk.3:6 “All [g3956] humanity shall see the salvation of God.”  Here Luke quotes Is.40:5 from the old Greek version (which became our Septuagint/LXX).  Cambridge Bible Note Lk.3:6 “The blessedness and universality of the gospel.”  JFB Commentary Lk.3:6 “Every obstruction shall be so removed as to reveal to the whole world the Salvation of God in Him whose name is the ‘Savior’ [Jesus].”  (cf. Lk.2:30-32, Ac.13:47.)  In time, no one will be without opportunity for salvation through belief in Jesus.

But how will the 14-year-old girl who died in an auto accident without knowing God see the “salvation of God”?  Or how will the Eskimo who lived and died in 100 AD without ever even hearing the name of “Jesus” see the “salvation of God”?  The Lord has His ways!  He is just & fair, no respecter of persons.

Jesus stipulated in Jn.6:44-45, “No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him. As it is written in the Prophets [Is.54:13], ‘They shall all [g3956] be taught by God.”  All.  The inducement to come to Jesus is God’s doing.  Gill Exposition Jn.6:44 “They [men] have neither power nor will of themselves.”  (Ro.6:16 “It doesn’t depend on human will or effort, but on God who shows mercy.”  That’s not Arminianism.)  Jn.6:65 “No one can come to Me, unless the Father has enabled him.”  We become enlightened and drawn via God’s Holy Spirit.  Expositor’s Greek Testament Jn.6:65 “All that brings men to Christ is the Father’s gift.”  But does God choose to never draw some men, wanting them instead to burn in hell forever?  Would that reflect love/impartiality, not respecting persons (Ac.10:34)?

Rather, Jn.12:32 “If I am lifted up above the earth, I will make everyone [g3956 pas] want to come to Me.”  Eventually, that is.  (May it involve living more than one physical life?)  Pulpit Commentary Jn.12:32 “The attraction of the cross of Christ will prove to be the mightiest and most sovereign motive ever brought to bear on the human will, when wielded by the Holy Spirit as a revelation.”  It was Father God’s will that Jesus die on a cross (Mt.26:39), for all.

Ac.17:30-31 “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all [g3956] everywhere to repent…having raised Him [Jesus] from the dead.”  If God was to condemn to eternal torment in hell-fire the ignorant masses who lived before Jesus walked the earth…such condemnation would contradict “God overlooked”!  Meyer NT Commentary Ac.17:30 “Heathenism is based on ignorance.”  Cambridge Bible Ac.17:30 “God hasn’t imputed to men the errors they committed in ignorance.”  Is everlasting torment in a hell a just & fair punishment for ignorance?  Yet God can enable all to repent, in His time.

And not only the masses of gentiles historically who didn’t know God.  Again, “All Israel shall be saved” (Ro.11:26)!  Descendants from all 12 tribes (Ja.1:1) of Israel too, including the Jewish people.  Alfred Edersheim The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, p.116 “In view of Isa.53 and other passages…the Messiah is represented as willingly taking upon Himself all these sufferings, on condition that all Israel – the living, the dead, and those yet unborn – should be saved.”

Ro.14:11 “It is written [Is.45:23], ‘As surely as I live’, says the Lord, ‘Every [g3956] knee will bow to Me and every [g3956] tongue shall confess to God.”  Yes, surely God does live…therefore every human will come to acknowledge Him and bow in worship!  Gill Exposition Ro.14:11 “Everyone that has a tongue.”  Meyer NT Commentary “The correct explanation is: every tongue shall praise God (as the Judge), and therewith submit to His judicial authority.”  No tongues are left in hell-fire cursing God.

The Lord doesn’t force people to honor and worship Him, against their will.  They’ll do so of their own free will.

He.2:8-9 “You [Father God] have put all [g3956] things in subjection under His [the Son of Man’s, v.6] feet. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to Him. But we see Jesus…that He might taste death for every [g3956] man.”  JFB Commentary He.2:9 “His death [is] applicable for every individual man.”  Meyer NT Commentary He.2:9 “Distinctly to bring out the thought that Christ died on behalf of each single individual among men, not merely for mankind as a totality.”  Barnes Notes He.2:9 “How could words affirm more clearly that the atonement made by the Lord Jesus was unlimited in its nature and design? The advocates of the doctrine of limited atonement [e.g. Calvinists] cannot thus use scripture language to express their belief.”  Christ’s atoning death isn’t limited to God’s elect in this age alone.

1Co.15:28 “When all [g3956] things shall have been subjected to Him [the Son], then the Son Himself will be subjected to the One [Father God] who subjected all [g3956] things to Him [the Son], that God may be all in all [g3956].”  Totality.  In the final consummation, all will be reconciled and bow to God…“all in all”.  (And Jesus the Son too will still be in subjection to His Father’s greater authority, cf. 1Co.11:3.)  Benson Commentary 1Co.15:28 “The Godhead…may be over all beings, in all places, and the immediate object of their worship and service.”  Pulpit Commentary 1Co.15:28 “It is quite an easy matter for commentators to say that the scope of the words ‘must be confined to believers’, if they chose to make ‘all’ mean ‘some’. I confine myself to…‘All things’, and therefore all men, without any interruption.”  No rebels.  It seems that “all” here, at the very least, indicates the vast majority!

Col.1:19-20 “Through Him [Jesus the Son] to reconcile all [g3956] things to Himself [God]…whether things on earth or in heaven.”  Cambridge Bible Col.1:20 “The human and angelic ‘worlds’ are the objects of the ‘reconciliation’ in view here.”  Vincent Word Studies Col.1:20 “Must be taken in the same sense as in Col.1:16-18, the whole universe, material and spiritual.”  Meyer NT Commentary Col.1:20 “The only sense therefore is, that the entire universe has been reconciled with God through Christ.”

Ti.2:11 “The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all [g3956] men.”  God most graciously sacrificed His Son Jesus.  Barnes Notes Ti.2:11 “None were excluded from the offer; that provision had been made for all.”  Benson Commentary “It concerns all persons, in whatever situation or condition.”  Expositor’s Greek Testament “The all-embracing scope of the saving grace of God.”  In time, will all persons who ever lived hear this good news and have opportunity for God’s salvation?

He.8:11 “They shall not teach each one his countryman, and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all [g3956] will know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.”  This is to result from the New Covenant and the indwelling Holy Spirit.  Barnes Notes He.8:11 “It does not mean that all persons, in all lands, would know the Lord – though the time will come when that will be true.”  That time is still yet to come.  To date, only some have known the Lord (via the Holy Spirit).

Php.2:10-11 “At the name of Jesus everyone [g3956] in heaven, on earth, and in the world below will bow the knee. And every [g3956] tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  This indicates universality!  cf. 1Pe.3:19.  Geneva Bible Php.2:10 “All creatures will at length be subject to Christ.”  Meyer NT Commentary Php.2:10 “The bowing of the knee represents adoration.”  Cambridge Bible Php.2:10 “Created existence, in its heights and depths…being said to worship.”  Pulpit Commentary Php.2:10 “All Creation…uniting in the universal adoration.”  Ellicott Commentary Php.2:11 “The acknowledgement of universal Lordship and majesty.”  Yet some have died cursing God.

The apostle John envisioned in Re.5:11-14, “And every [g3956] created thing – which is in heaven, on the earth, under the earth, in the sea, and all [g3956] that are in them – I heard saying ‘To the One who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb [Jesus], be blessing and honor and glory and dominion to the ages of the ages. Amen.”  Bengel’s Gnomen Re.5:13 “The harmonious song of all the inhabitants whom the four quarters of the universe contain.”  Pulpit Commentary Re.5:13 “All animated creation now joins in the ascription of praise.”  Robertson’s NT Word Pictures Re.5:13 “No created thing is left out.”

So this is total.  All will give honor and praise to the Lord.  Again, this is done of their own free will.  There are none left in a “hell” agony, resisting God!

John also envisioned in Re.21:1, 4, “I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and earth had ceased to exist. He [God] shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death will not exist any more; or mourning or crying or pain; for the former things have ceased to exist.”  There’s no cries of pain & torment from a hell-fire!  (also ref the two-part topic, “Gehenna”.)  Gill Exposition Re.21:4 “There will be nothing to afflict the mind.”  The gates of Hades will not be able to stand (Mt.16:18)!

Can we believe…no more crying or pain will exist?!  According to Bible scholar F.F. Bruce, “Eternal conscious torment is incompatible with the revealed character of God.”

John did write of a “second death” (Re.2:11, 20:6, 14, 21:8).  Jewish Targums refer to a second death as annihilation for the very few who remain incorrigibly wicked, after all is said & done.  see “Gehenna”.

According to the old religious periodical Manford’s Monthly Magazine, Abraham Lincoln said in regards to eternal punishment: “If God be a just God, all will be saved or none.”  Lincoln appointed a universalist minister as a U.S. Army Chaplain during the Civil War.  Protestant ministers objected because the man believed in the salvation of all souls, that even the Confederate rebels would be saved!  Lincoln’s response was…if that be so, then he deserved to be a Chaplain in the U.S. Army.” (ref Nelson Simonson Dictionary of Unitarian & Universalist Biography.)

William J. Wolf The Almost Chosen People, p.105-106 “Describing a theological discussion in 1858 in Lincoln’s office. He…cornered his interrogators and left no room to doubt or question his soundness on the atonement of Christ, and salvation finally of all men. He didn’t pretend to know when that event would be consummated, but that it would be the ultimate result, that Christ must reign…over all.”

How can God bring to pass the salvation of most all individuals who ever lived, via the sacrifice of Jesus?  Historically, many or most people lived & died without believing in Jesus, or never hearing His name!  Such as the multitudes of gentiles who lived in BC times, before Jesus’ incarnation.  They didn’t believe and repent, two requirements for salvation (Mk.16:16; Jn.3:18, 36; Lk.13:3; Ac.2:38, 16:31).

Yet God is able to bring to pass all things, according to His will, His word!  Universal Salvation is great news concerning our ancestors, family members, friends & loved ones who died unconverted/unsaved!  Their ultimate fate wouldn’t be eternal torment in hell-fire!  So, it goes without saying, we Christians should hope that Universal Reconciliation for all through Jesus will eventually become a reality.

To explore how God might bring to pass the salvation of most everyone who ever lived, see the topic “Rebirth to Physical Life”.

Universal Christian Salvation (1)

All of us Christians have ancestors, friends, and loved ones who died unconverted.  They may (or may not) have been generally good people…but they didn’t believe ‘Jesus saves’.  Are they doomed to an eternity of torment in hell-fire?  This topic seeks to satisfactorily answer that question, that dilemma.

Nancy Evans Bush Dancing Past the Dark, p.82-83 “As simply a place for the dead, the idea of an underworld has existed as long as there have been societies. Many of the underworlds look remarkably similar, their function as a place of punishment…eternal punishment is a concept only within some sects of Christianity.”  (Also there are Islamic scholars who believe in an eternal hell/jahannam.)

There are three main Christian beliefs regarding the ultimate destiny of erring humans: #1 Eternal Conscious Torment in hell-fire; #2 Annihilationism; #3 Universal Reconciliation/Salvation.  This topic focuses on Universal Reconciliation through Christ Jesus, that is, Christianity.  Protestant views….

Calvinism is a Protestant theology named after the Swiss reformer John Calvin (1509–1564).  Calvinists think that God doesn’t desire to reconcile or save all of humanity, because God elected to save only a few.  They think most humans are predestined by God to receive eternal conscious torment/punishment in hell-fire (#1).  This seems sadistic.  (also ref the two-part topic, “Gehenna”.)

Arminianism is a Protestant theology named after the Dutch theologian Jacóbus Armínius (1560–1609).  It is today’s most common Christian view.  Arminians think that God wills for all people to be saved through Jesus.  But they think that God is unable to save or reconcile most of humanity, because God won’t infringe on the free will He gave to mankind.  Arminianism thinks that a man may freely choose to accept or reject God.  And those who reject God will then be tortured forever in hell-fire (#1).

Annihilationism (#2) is the belief that the wicked who don’t know God will perish, ceasing to exist.  It is also called Conditional Immortality; the fate of the wicked isn’t eternal life in hell-fire torment.

Universalism or universal Christian Reconciliation is the belief that all or most humans will ultimately be reconciled to God, saved through Jesus (#3).  This may involve living more than one physical life.

However, Christian Universalism doesn’t mean that false religions (e.g. New Age) are of God, or that sin is okay!  Jesus declared in Jn.14:6, “I Am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”  Ac.4:12 Peter said of Jesus, “There is no other name under heaven…by which we must be saved.”  According to the New Testament, Jesus is the only way to (universal) salvation!

A person who knows their Bible may cite isolated verses which seem to support any or all of those three main beliefs!  Yet God is love (1Jn.4:8).  Which belief best reflects God’s character, His love & justice?

New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, v.12, p.96 (quoted in Bob Evely At the End of the Ages, p.113). “In the first five or six centuries of Christianity, there were six theological schools; of which four (Alexandria, Antioch, Caesárea, and Edessa-Nísibis) were Universalist, one (Ephesus) accepted [annihilationist] conditional immortality, one (Carthage or Rome) taught [hell-fire] endless punishment of the wicked.”  From approximately 170–430 AD…four schools believed in Christian universalism, one school believed in annihilationism, one school believed in eternal conscious torment.

Let’s examine Bible verses supporting Christian Universalism; most people will eventually be saved.

In the New Testament (NT) and in the Old Testament (OT) Septúagint/LXX, the Greek term for “all” is “pas” (Strongs g3956).  This term “pas” occurs 1,240 times in the NT, and 7,000 times in the LXX.  Following are representative verses containing the word “all”/“pas”.

The Greek term pas can mean each & every (person).  In Ep.4:6 e.g., the apostle Paul asserted that there is “One God and Father of all [pas g3956], who is above all [pas g3956].”  Here, “all” indicates ‘each & every’; all are below Father God.  Ellicott Commentary Ep.4:6 “The word ‘all’ must be taken as applying to all God’s rational creatures, made in His image (and indeed even to all His creatures).”  Also 2Co.5:10 “We must all (pas g3956] be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ.”  Everyone must.  Barnes Notes 2Co.5:10 “All’ – None shall escape by being unknown.”

Some pertinent OT LXX verses with “all” (pas g3956): Ps.22:27-29 “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord; all the families of the nations shall worship before Him…All who descend into the earth shall fall down before Him.”  All peoples who lived & died to eventually worship the Lord!  Clarke Commentary Ps.22:27-29 “Each family shall embrace it [the gospel] for their own salvation. They shall worship before Jesus the Savior. Every dying man shall put his trust in Christ.”  Benson Commentary Ps.22:29 “The whole human race.”  All die.  Gill Exposition Ps.22:29 “Who go down to the house of the grave’. Christ is Lord, both of the dead and living.”  Lord of all (Ac.10:36)!

Ps.65:2-3 “Praise becomes Thee, O God. To you all flesh shall come. You shall pardon our sins.”  Pulpit Commentary Ps.65:2 “In this Psalm the writer [David] is universalist, and embraces all mankind.”

Is.40:5 LXX “The glory of the Lord shall appear, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”  (Luke quotes this OT verse in Lk.3:6.)  Barnes Notes Is.40:5 “All human beings.”  This must be yet future.

Many or most people in history lived their lives without ever hearing the name of Jesus/Yeshúa.  (The only name by which there is salvation, according to Peter in Ac.4:12.)  Individuals who never heard His name or never knew the Lord’s way of life…would a loving & just God condemn them in their ignorance to endless torment in hell-fire?!  Is that really the kind of God we worship and serve?

The Lord foretold in Is.45:23 LXX, “By Myself I swear, My word has gone out of My mouth; that to Me every [g3956] knee shall bow, and every [g3956] tongue shall swear by God”.  God swore by Himself!  (cf. He.6:13 “When God made His promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself.”)  Ellicott Commentary Is.45:23 “The highest form of asseverátion.”  Benson Commentary “The highest and most solemn oath possible.”  Pulpit Commentary Is.45:23 “This universal turning to God.”  Poole Commentary “A posture of reverence and subjection.”  Is the Lord able to bring it to pass…will every knee bow and will every tongue swear allegiance to God?

Joel 2:28 LXX the Lord promised, “I will pour out My Spirit upon all [g3956] flesh”.  (Peter quotes this verse in Ac.2:17 when the Holy Spirit outpouring began at Pentecost.)  Cambridge Bible Jl.2:28 “The measure of spiritual illumination will be extended to all. ‘All flesh.”  JFB Commentary Jl.2:28 “The consequent conversion of the whole world (Isa.2:2, 11:9, 66:23; Ro.11:12, 15).”  Scriptures indicate every knee will then bow in worship to God.

However, the Greek term for “all”, pas g3956, doesn’t always mean ‘each & every’.  Mk.1:36-37 “Simon and his companions searched for Him [Jesus]. They found Him and said to Him, ‘The people are all [pas g3956] looking for You.”  Here, “all” doesn’t mean ‘each & every’.  Gill Exposition Mk.1:37 “Not all the men in the world, nor, all the inhabitants of Capernaúm [v.21], but a large number of them.”  Key is the context in which all/pas g3956 appears.

Jn.3:26 “He [Jesus’ disciples, Jn.4:1-2] is baptizing, and all are coming to Him.”  But not each & every person came for baptism.  Cambridge Bible Jn.3:26 “All’ – an exaggeration very natural in their excitement.”  Rather, ‘many are coming’ (as in the Aramaic Bible rendering) conveys the meaning.

Yet would a God whose character is love (1Jn.4:16) only elect a comparative few for salvation?!  What about the ignorant multitudes who lived in BC times, before Jesus incarnated in the 1^st century AD?

Paul wrote in Ro.3:23, “All have sinned”.  Here, “all” does include each & every adult (except Jesus – 1Pe.2:22, 2Co.5:21).  Meyer NT Commentary “The sinning of every man is presented as a historical fact.”  And Ro.6:23 “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.”

Lk.13:3 Jesus warned, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish [g622]”.  Ro.2:4 “The kindness of God leads you to repentance.”  To who all does God give repentance (2Ti.2:25), so they won’t perish?

Peter wrote in 2Pe.3:9, “The Lord…not willing that any perish [g622], but that all should come to repentance”.  Benson Commentary 2Pe.3:9 “Any human being, any soul that He has made.”  God wills no one perish eternally, that all (eventually) repent from sin!  Cambridge Bible “Here the word ‘perish’ doesn’t mean annihilation, but the state which is the opposite of salvation.”  Expositor Greek Testament “His will is not even that ‘some’ should perish.”  He is God; in due time, can He bring to pass His will?

Job came to realize the Lord’s omnipotence.  Jb.42:2 LXX “I know that You can do all [g3956] things, and nothing is impossible with You.”  God is more than able to bring to pass His purposes & desires!  Gill Exposition Jb.42:2 “Job knew that…He [God] had a right to do what He pleased.”

1Ti.2:3-6 “God our Savior, who wills [g2309] all people be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. Who gave Himself as a ransom for all people.”  In this passage, “all” seems to include everyone.  (cf. the Lord’s assertion in Is.55:11 LXX, “So shall My word be…until the things that I willed [g2309] shall have been accomplished.”)  God’s will be done!  Vincent Word Studies 1Ti.2:4 “Prayer to God for all is acceptable to Him, because He wills the salvation of all.”  Meyer NT Commentary 1Ti.2:4 “In this verse the idea of the universality of God’s purpose is clearly expressed.”  Clarke Commentary 1Ti.2:5 “God equally wills the salvation of all.”  Barnes Notes 1Ti.2:6 “Who gave Himself a ransom for all’…a proof that God desires the salvation of all.”  JFB Commentary 1Ti.2:6 “In behalf of all, not merely for a privileged few.”  Thomas Whittemore (1800-1861) wrote, “1Ti.2:4 Undoubtedly to be understood all the human race”.  The passage indicates…God wills all be saved, our Savior died for all.  Parallel.  So it seems contradictory that God would elect only a few, predestining the majority to eternal torment!

1Ti.4:10 “The living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially [g3122] of those that believe.”  But not only of those that believe (now).  cf. Ga.6:10 “Do good to all, especially [g3122] to those of the household of faith.”  Do good not only to those of the household of faith, those that believe now.  cf. 2Ti.4:13 bring all the books or scrolls, especially the parchments.  Not only the parchments.  God will save ‘all’.  He does good to all of humanity created in His image.  He saves them out of trouble during their lives.  Ps.145:9 “God is good to all. His mercies are over all His works.”  Poole Commentary 1Ti.4:10 “[God] the Preserver of man and beast.”  And He’s the Savior of all, spiritually too.  But not until their time comes, when they believe & repent (Mk.16:16 & Ac.2:38).

Ro.5:12 “Just as sin entered the world through one man [Adam] and death through sin, so death spread to all people because all sinned.”  Sin is universal.  JFB Commentary Ro.5:12 “Thus death reaches every individual of the human family.”  (The next verses, Ro.5:13-16, are in parenthesis.)  Ro.5:17-19 “How much greater is the result of that done by the one man, Jesus Christ. As through one trespass all people were condemned, so through one righteous act all people were justified to [eternal] life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of the One many will be made righteous.”  This passage too reflects parallelism.  Cambridge Bible Ro.5:18 “The parallel of Adam and Christ.”  Barnes Notes Ro.5:18-19 “With the same certainty, to the same extent. Connected with eternal life. The ‘many’ – corresponding to the term in the former part of the verse, evidently commensurate with it; for there is no reason in limiting it to a part, any more than there is in the former.”  Poole Commentary Ro.5:18 “Many’ is sometimes put for ‘all’, as in Dan.12:2.”  It’s not only “many” who have sinned…everybody has sinned!  Pulpit Commentary Ro.5:18 “Indisputably denoting universality of effect.”  In parallel…as all have sinned, all will (in time) be justified to eternal life through Jesus!

However, we Bible readers may well recognize parallelism & universality in a passage…and yet dismiss its implication because of our presuppositions, preconceived notions, and past (false) teaching.  The same even goes for some Bible commentators (quoted by me), resulting in their seeming to contradict themselves elsewhere.  (This can give the impression of cherry-picking his contradictory comments.)

Questions to ponder: What is the ultimate fate of the 14-year-old girl who died last week in a car crash, without knowing the Lord?  What of the Maori tribesman who died in 1500 AD in New Zealand, never having heard the name of Jesus the Savior?  Do we think they’re doomed everlastingly to hell-fire?  Would an eternity of torment represent just retribution for them, as fair return for a few decades of life spent in sin or ignorance?  Yet God is just (Jn.5:30, Re.15:3).

{Sidelight: The earliest Christian missionaries didn’t arrive in New Zealand until 1814!  New Zealand History: Missionaries “They [Maori] rejected the low-church missionaries’ gloomy emphasis on an angry God looking to damn their souls to eternal fires. There were no Maori baptisms until 1830.”  It’s understandable that in 1814 those Maori would reject any thought of their (ignorant) grandparents or ancestors, deceased before missionaries arrived, burning forever in hell!  God is love, not sadism.}

Christian afterlife belief #3 (see the top), regarding the ultimate destiny or fate of mankind, offers a great hope…for our ancestors, family members, friends & loved ones who died ‘unsaved’!  This topic is continued in “Universal Christian Salvation (2)”.