FREE JUSTIFICATION
Romans 3:23-24 says, ". . . all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came (past tense) by Christ Jesus."
". . .The law of God condemns us all until, while we are still sinners, grace comes and liberates us from it's curse without a single condition attached; no improvements demanded, no promises extorted, just the extravagant, outrageous, hilarious absurdity of free grace and dying love." (Capon) Robert Farrar Capon is an Episcopal priest from New York.
One of the accusations attributed to my "Gospel of Inclusion" is that it is a new heresy espoused by those influenced by the end-time or last days' doctrines of demons mentioned by Paul in his 1st letter to Timothy, in Chapter 4 verses 1-5.
However, it has been my happy experience to learn that the idea of the ultimate salvation of all was the prevailing theological posture of the first 400 to 500 years of Christian Church history. It was the prevailing doctrine in Christendom as long as Greek, the language of the New Testament, was the language of Christendom. According to Dr. J. W. Hanson in his book, "Universalism the Prevailing Doctrine," the first comparatively complete systematic statement of Christian doctrine ever given to the world was by Clement of Alexandria, A.D. 180, and universal salvation was one of the tenets.
Clement declared that all punishment, however severe, is purificatory; that even the "torments of the damned" are curative. Origen, another of the early church fathers explains even Gehenna as signifying limited and curative punishment, and both, as all other ancient Universalists, declare the 'everlasting' (aionion) punishment, is consonant with universal salvation.
To quote Clements of Alexandria, "He saves ALL universally, but some are converted by punishment, others by voluntary submission."
Universalism was generally believed in the best centuries, (the first three, when Christians were most remarkable) for simplicity, goodness and missionary zeal. With the exception of the arguments of Augustine, (A.D. 420), there is not an argument known to have been framed against Universalism for at least 400 years after Christ, by any of the ancient fathers. All ecclesiastical historians and the best Biblical critics and scholars agree to the prevalence of Universalism in the earlier centuries. From the days of Clement of Alexandria, to those of Gregory of Nyssa and Theodoret of Mopsuestia (A.D. 180-428), the great theologians and teachers, almost without exception, were Universalists. The first theological school in Christendom, that being in Alexandria, taught Universalism for more than 200 years.
To quote Clement again, We can set no limits to the agency of the Redeemer: to redeem, to rescue, to discipline, in his work, and so will he continue to operate after this life" "All men are his . . . for either the Lord does not care for all men . . . or he does care for all. For he is savior; not of some and for others not . . . and how is He savior and Lord, if not the savior and Lord of all? For all things are arranged with a view to the salvation of the universe by the Lord of the universe both generally and particularly.
It appears to me that the early church fathers were not only advocates of the doctrine of universal reconciliation but, also of "Ultimate reconciliation" as well. Gregory of Nyssa said, "All punishments are means of purification, ordained by Divine Love to purge rational beings from moral evil and to restore them back to communion with God" ". . . God would not have permitted the experience of hell unless He had foreseen through redemption, that all rational beings would, in the end, attain to the same blessed fellowship with Himself."
Let's ponder for a moment, the way Mr. Capon closes the above quotation, He says, that all rational beings would "in the end," attain to the same blessed fellowship with Himself."
The issue of "Final Things" or the eschatology of the fear-based theologies of the world's religions, including Christianity, seems to be the overriding struggle paralyzing their adherents in horror and debilitating insecurity concerning how this entire scenario will ultimately turn out. If you doubt the outcome, you inevitably doubt the out-from. If you cannot and do not trust the Author, then you will not trust the Finisher of our Faith. Revelations 22:13 says, "I am the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."
Most people don't have difficulty beginning or starting a thing, whether marriage, business or ministry-it is the completion of the thing that seems to be the great paradox of choice.
The great question seems to remain, "How will this all end? What will be the final outcome of this intriguing ordeal we call Life?" God, who is omniscient, knew from the day He created man in His image and likeness, what man was capable of doing and what he would, in actuality, do. The scripture says Jesus is the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. (Revelations 13:8)
In Luke 10:17-20, Jesus tells His disciples to rejoice, not because demons are subject to them in His name, but because their names were written in heaven. Since this took place before the Cross or resurrection, how were their names already written? And who could have written them but God himself perhaps in creation or before it. The suggestion must be that this entire issue of the redemption of humankind to God was discussed and decided before the foundation of the world.
Capon explains it like this: "In God the end is fully present in the beginning; the beginning is fully realized in the end. He didn't have to change his mind, drop a stitch, pull out a row, reverse engines or slam on his brakes."
The sins of Adam and Eve in the garden didn't shock heaven and throw it into chaos. The Master plan was already in place and there was a natural flow of response by God's power and Grace.
The book of Revelation ends with the masses of humanity "cast into the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the SECOND death" (Revelation 21:8) Even before John received his revelation, Paul writes the ultimate response to the question of death, the first or second. He says in 1 Corinthians 15:26 that the last enemy to be destroyed, (rendered inoperative) is death. Could that statement by the Apostle include the ultimate victory of Christ's blood even over the Lake of fire, the second death?
The Greek word for brimstone is "Theion" and it means flashing/sulphur. It is a derivative of the word "Theios" which means "godlike or in the neuter, divinity." Both these words are derivatives of the Greek word, "Theos" which means "deity or God." If the lake of fire is burning with divinity or god-likeness, or perhaps God Himself as a purifying agency, then the ultimate triumph of Christ over the last enemy is that much more logical.
The purging power of God in the flames of the Lake of fire, into which all remaining impurities are purged, means we can rejoice in the ultimate declaration of Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:55, which was a repeat of the words of the Prophet Hosea (Hosea 13:14), "Where O death is your victory? Where O death is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
"Where O death is your victory? Where O death is your sting?" The power of death is sin (washed away by the blood, John 1:29) and the power of sin is the law (abolished now by Jesus, Ephesians 2:15). But, thanks be to God! He gives us the victory though our Lord Jesus Christ!
The question posed to death (grave) infers it has lost its victory or its triumph. And death has lost its sting, which means in effect, its poison or toxicity its lethality. Through the cross, death has been defanged and defrocked. It literally has no power whatsoever! Hebrews 2:14-15 suggests that death has been neutralized, literally put out of a job, or lost its original functionality. The question Paul poses to death and the grave in the Corinthian passage is, in effect, a mockery of death. It literally pokes fun at death like children do to each other when one loses a game on a school playground. "Ha, ha, ha, death has lost its victory." It kind of reminds me of the song the munchkins sing in the movie "The Wizard of Oz" after the menacing wicked witch of the West dies: "Ding Dong the witch is dead, the wicked witch is dead."
The utility that gave death its sting (sin) has been cancelled, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away (expiates) the sin of the world" John 1:29 and 2 Corinthians 5:19. And the utility that gave sin its power (law) has been both fulfilled in Jesus (Matthew 5:17-20, Colossians 2:13-15) and abolished in His flesh (Ephesians 2:15).
If, in fact, Jesus nailed the law (with us) to the cross as recorded in the Colossian passage, then the punishment for sin has been assumed by Jesus; thus making hell or any further punitive action irrelevant, except perhaps for its curative value. Except for some form of corrective significance of purgation (purging) as inferred by some of the early church fathers, the way I see it, hell will have no significance in the ultimate finality of God's plan for a peace prevailing eternity where every knee bows and every tongue confesses the Lordship of Christ.
Many scholars interpret the word "punishment" used in Matthew 25:46 (kolasin in Greek) to mean purgative or curative.
In Revelations 20:12-14, an emptied death and an emptied hell is cast into the lake of fire, which proves it's (hell's) limitation. As pointed out earlier, the lake of fire will, more than likely, have an awesome as well as, if you insist, awful purifying effect. It will, in effect, burn off any remaining dross of unbelief, rebellion or disobedience. Remember, even those "under the earth" will proclaim the Lordship of Christ and bow their knees to his Excellency. (Philippians 2:9-11)
In closing, many may find it difficult to see a totally triumphant Christ, but I don't. I believe with all my heart that the Last Adam far exceeds in efficacy the first one. I believe as well, Jesus is in fact superior to Adam and that the better covenant with better promises are exactly that. (Hebrews 8:6).
I realize that much of what I say is a real stretch for most believers, even the nontraditional ones. However, if you want or choose to believe in a more "excellent way" and a completely victorious church, headed by a completely victorious Christ, then what you've just read will resonate with your spirit, even it if initially troubles your mind.
My prayer is that you will give it serious and prayerful consideration as something sent of God, revealed in this particular season and prepared for a 21st century harvest of souls and Kingdom advancements unprecedented since Pentecost and the days of the 1st century Pauline Epistles.