Can There be Such a Thing?
As a Biblical Universalist, I believe in the lake of fire. (Just wanted to get that out of the way)
As a matter of fact, I believe in the gospel (the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ). I believe Jesus is God, manifest in the flesh, born of a virgin, suffered on the cross, buried, risen and that, without the finished work of calvary, there is no salvation.
I believe you must be born again of water and Spirit to see or enter the kingdom of God, which is the church, Christ being its head. I believe that it is the church that will be caught up at the appearing of the Lord and that those who miss this event will suffer during a time of great tribulation.
After that, I believe that all the dead will live again, raised by God, to face judgment at the great white throne and that the books will be opened and the book of life. Anyone whose name is not found in the Lamb’s book of life will be cast into the lake of fire. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
If you believe in the eternal torment of the lost, this is where you and I part ways (theologically – I still love you and am praying for you). I believe the lake of fire to be a corrective and refining event that the unrighteous will suffer only as long as it takes to purify them of the wickedness of unbelief so that they can be restored to righteousness and be reconciled to God.
Some experience a knee-jerk reaction, at this point, to what I’ve said so far and ask, of what use, then, is the cross? I believe in the cross and that its effectiveness does not end at the grave. I believe the blood is powerful and able to wash and restore even after the death of billions, all the way to the lake of fire and beyond.
It is funny, but many Christians believe that Christ made His way to hell during His three days in the tomb to preach to the souls held captive there. Why do the antediluvians of Noah’s day get a second chance after they were crushed by floods of water, but those alive today get one chance and, if they miss it, it’s off to a burning eternal torment?
(Note: I believe that the dead are dead until the resurrection of the dead, either at the catching away of the church or the great white throne. There are no souls today in a hell that doesn’t exist. Those interested can refer to my free webbook, Undressing Orthodoxy: Stripping Church Doctrine of the Garb of Philosophy)
Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Ephesians 1:9-10
This passage speaks of the mediatorial role of Jesus the Messiah, begun at the cross, effectively working well into the future, past the death and subsequent resurrection, judgment, and purification of billions of those we see as lost today.
God, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
Colossians 1:20
This passage speaks of the blood of the cross being effectual well past the death and subsequent resurrection, judgment, and purification of billions of those we see as lost today.
As a matter of fact, the mediatorial role of Christ is effectual all the way to the end, when He delivers up the kingdom to God, even the Father, after He has put down all rule and all authority and power. Christ will reign, which means His mediatorial role will be intact until God puts all enemies under His feet. The last enemy He will destroy is death. And when all things are subdued unto Him, then Christ will subject Himself unto the Father, that God may be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15:24-26, 28) It is at this point, and not before, that God will have been totally victorious in reconciling all things unto Himself, through the blood of the cross.
This is the very end of everything as we know it or will know it. After this point in the history of God’s dealings with humanity, God becomes all in all. All things, whether they are thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; visible or invisible, all things were created by Christ, and for Christ: He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. Christ, however, will subject Himself to the Father and God will be all in all.
Not until this very instant does the effectual saving power of the cross cease to perform its mediatorial work. God in His omnipotence, in His wisdom and foreknowledge, God by His will and purpose has created all things in heaven and in earth and under the earth, but not before He devised a plan whereby, He would reconcile all things to Himself in total and undisputed victory.
This is Universal Reconciliation, and it is genuinely Apostolic.
I stand toe to toe with my brothers and sisters in Christ, armed with the scriptures and with an argument that claims neither God’s Word nor church history nor the qualities of a loving God support the false doctrine of eternal conscious torment or the annihilation of billions of people whom God loves and for whom Christ paid a heavy ransom.
Those interested are encouraged to engage by reading the following blog posts and commenting on them. The church has been given the Word of reconciliation; we should make sure we are not preaching only part of the message.
Biblical Universalism 