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Below is the set of notes from this series presented at our 2004 summer camp in Lake Geneva, WI. Its purpose is simply to enhance the teaching sessions that were presented in person and recorded onto the audio tapes. Please call (847) 894-2893 for information on how you can obtain a set of the audio tapes produced. This section of notes compiled by Bob Andersen Is there a hell? What is “sheol,” “gehenna,” “hades”? Foundation: forgiveness, propitiation, righteousness Believers are completely forgiven of all sins by faith – Romans 4:7; Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 2:13 The Father is completely satisfied with Christ’s cross-work – Romans 3:25; I John 2:2, 4:10 In the OT as the high priest went into the holy of holies, he did so with a rope tied to his ankles, in case the sacrifice he offered was not accepted and he would be struck dead, they could drag him out. Believers have Christ’s righteousness imputed to them by faith – Romans 3:24, 4:3-8, 9:30-33; Ephesians 2:8-9 God WILL impute sin on the unbeliever. Unbelievers reject Christ’s offer and thus do not have imputed righteousness – Romans 2:4-5, 8-9 Any person who chooses to reject God’s offer of gift righteousness and be judged according to their works will be given that opportunity – Romans 2; Revelation 20:12-13 “Whosoever will” may drink of the water of life freely. For those who refuse, God will not overlook sin - John 3:16, 4:14; Romans 10:11-13; Revelation 22:17 There are no second chances offered in scripture. What would be the point of warning every man of the judgment to come? – Daniel 12:2; Acts 24:25; John 16:8; Luke 16:24-28 – there is never a parable where a proper name is used!; Hebrews 9:27 judgment, NOT second chance! Human emotions and “reasoning” may view it as unfair for God to eternally punish man’s sins – committed in a short lifetime. This thinking grossly underestimates the seriousness of sin and makes light of Christ’s cross-work! God’s love for us is infinite and demonstrated for all eternity by the cross – John 3:16; Romans 5:8, 8:35-37 Does forever mean forever? Does eternal mean what we think it means? The Hebrew OLAM (H5769) can mean a defined period of time or perpetuity/without end – context is key! Exodus 21:6; Psalm 41:13, 90:2, 93:2, 100:5; Isaiah 45:17, 9:6-7 / Luke 1:33 The Greek words “aion” (G165) and “aionios” (G166) are often used to mean perpetuity/without end. To confine their meaning to simply “age” and “age-lasting” is wrong (in NT most eternals are aion) – Matthew 19:16, 25:46 LIGHT can mean light bulb, it can also mean not heavy. “Aionios” (eternal) is clearly contrasted with “proskairos” (G4340 “temporal” lit: for a season) in 2 Corinthians 4:18; Hebrews 1:8; Revelation 11:14 “For ever (Greek: eis aion) is defined in scripture as meaning “no end” – Daniel 2:44; Isaiah 9:6-7; Luke 1:32-33 “Forever and ever” “eis aion kai aion” as is used in Revelation 14:11 and 20:10 is the same phrase used for the reign of Christ (Hebrews 1:8) and the glory of God (Galatians 1:5, Philippians 4:20, I Timothy 1:17) Hebrew “sheol” and Greek “hades” and “gehenna Sheol (H7585): the unseen world; place of the dead; it is not simply the grave (Genesis 25:8-9) It is located somewhere in the depths of the earth – Deuteronomy 32:22, I Samuel 28:15, Psalm 63:9, 86:13, Proverbs 9:18, Numbers 16:30, Ephesians 4:9, Isaiah 66:24 (in the eternal state) Remember that revelation is progressive, more and more is known that throws light on earlier scripture In the OT all the dead went to sheol, including believers – Genesis 37:35, Psalm 16:10, Isaiah 14:9-11 People are conscious and aware in sheol – Psalm 139:7-8. Luke 16:19-31, I Peter 3:19 Ecclesiastes 9:4-6 some say this is the basis for man being unconscious (no regard for context) Discomfort and sorrow are associated with unbelievers in sheol; peace and comfort for believers – Deut 32:22; 2 Samuel 22:6; Job 14:13, 24:19; Psalm 18:5, 116:3; Isaiah 57:1-2; Luke 16 Hades (G86) is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word sheol, with further details revealed (Psalm 16:10 / Acts 2:27) Luke 16 reveals to us the two compartments of hades/sheol – the place of torment and Abraham’s bosom Luke 16 gives us a clear picture of the consciousness of the soul after death, and the torment of the unbelievers in hades (Matthew 17:3; Luke 16, 23:43; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; I Thessalonians 4:14) Absent from the body only happens from death to rapture; the rest of the time we have a body Others who have no hope: universalists have hope There is no indication that Luke 16 is a parable. It uses a proper name and does not use comparison, typical of parables. Luke 16 teaches plainly: § The sheer vanity of “success” on earth § The disconnect that is possible between one’s physical and spiritual condition § The importance and finality of decisions made on earth § The all-importance of scripture! § A testament to the fact that miracles don’t persuade men Abraham’s bosom, aka “paradise” is now located in the third heaven – Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 12:1-4; Ephesians 4:8-10; Revelation 2:7 Christ holds the key of hades – Rev 1:18 Hades (the place of torment) will be thrown into the lake of fire – Rev 20:14 Gehenna – means literally “Valley of Ge Hinnom” It is translated “hell” in every instance in the NT It is a deep and narrow ravine with steep, rocky sides to the south and west of Jerusalem It was a place of horrendous sin by Israel including murdering their children – offering them as sacrifices to Molech - 2 Chronicles 33:6; Jeremiah 32:35 King Josiah converted this valley into a place of abomination, a place for the dumping of trash and dead bodies, making it ceremonially unclean – 2 Kings 23:13-14 This awful place, filled with burning trash and dead bodies, thus totally defiled becomes the symbol of eternal judgment used by Christ in the gospels and in Revelation This was a perfect way for Christ to illustrate the true gehenna using a then present day example. We do this all the time, an example being “…like ground zero on 911” There is an unmistakable correlation between gehenna and fire – Matthew 5:22, 18:9; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16; James 3:6 (notice use of CAST – thrown!) Gehenna fire is judgment in the lake of fire – Rev 19:20, 20:10, and 14-15 – note: CAST The final description of man after second death is a “worm” – Psalm 22:6; Isaiah 66:24; Mark 9:43-48 The heresy of
Universal Reconciliation Closely tied with the thinking that eternal does not mean into perpetuity but always “age-lasting”, and that men are unconscious after death; God created Satan and man to sin; all humans will ultimately be saved Some passages of scripture seem to support this Matthew 17:11, compare Colossians 1:20: does “all” here mean “all without exception”? They stopped using Mt because if Elias restores all things Colossians would not mean anything (Christ restoring all things) John 12:32 – drawing all men (via the cross and the Word – John 6:44) does not equate to all men accepting Him Acts 3:21 Restitution (setting straight) of all things – the things that had gone wrong with Israel’s program. The “all” is qualified by the statement “by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began” Romans 11:26 Does this teach that every Israelite of all time will be saved? How about Judas? What about those that committed the unpardonable sin? I Corinthians 15:22, 28 Verse 23 “subdued” entails force. All of those “in Christ” will be saved. All are born “in Adam” but not all die “in Christ” Philippians 2:9-11 this is a prediction, not a proposition, like Romans 10:9. This is universal subjugation, not universal reconciliation Ephesians 1:9-10 this is teaching the ultimate “heading up” of all things under Christ, not the salvation of all people Colossians 1:19-20 note the emphasis on “in Him” and “by Him”. It pleases the Father that Christ is the only way of salvation I Timothy 2:4-6 God desires all men to be saved. The fact that not all are saved does not diminish His omnipotence or sovereignty one iota. The same is true when He says that He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, yet they die. He cannot morally save unbelievers because of their rejection of Christ – they are still in their sins. I Timothy 4:10 He is specially the Savior of those that believe. Potential and actuality are in view here. Compare Romans 3:22 2 Corinthians 5:15/I John 2:2 He did give His life for the sins of the entire world! Does this mean everyone will accept the offer and by faith be saved? No! Righteousness must be imputed by faith “…they which live…” Note Paul’s plea in 2 Corinthians 5:20 – why would he plea if ultimately all will be reconciled?! Implications of Universal Reconciliation; this is not a minor doctrinal difference but dangerous heresy. § Holiness of God impugned – God is the creator of sin/Satan and thus responsible for sin (Isaiah 14; James 1:13) § Human responsibility is avoided – God caused us to fall; no need for justification. What reason has God to be full of wrath against ungodliness? § God owes us forgiveness and salvation – no more grace! § Distinction between unsaved and saved man is lost – time is the only difference (Romans 8:28-30) § Evangelism is meaningless – everyone will be saved anyway. Why put yourself through what Paul endured? § Why study? What would be gained? Does it matter if you are tossed to and fro if salvation is your end regardless of what you believe? (This life is so short anyway, eat drink and be merry appears to be the correct path to take) § Teaches a second chance after death – something not seen in scripture (2Corinthians 6:2 – “now is the day of salvation”) § Hebrews 9:23-27 § It implies that men can either pay for their sins after death (then why did Christ die?) or can be corrected (why any judgment at all?) by torment to believe after death (Luke 16 and many other scriptures refutes this strongly). This would not be salvation by faith but by sight (Hebrews 11:6) § It stands against the many statements of scripture about the fate of unbelievers – John 3:16, 36; Romans 1:18, 2:3, 3:16; Ephesians 5:6; Philippians 3:19; Colossians 3:6; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; Hebrews 6:8; I Peter 4:17; 2 Peter 2:1; Revelation 21:6-8 This section of notes compiled by Peter Philippi The built-in danger of being dispensational and having had to change our doctrine Bible study does not guarantee arriving at THE truth § Need to follow the principles of Bible study § Cannot ignore context – immediate, book, Bible § Must rightly divide § Need to recognize figures of speech (door, bread, rock, shield, high tower, consuming fire) The foundation of Romans and Ephesians – wind of doctrine… We need to be so grounded that the moment we hear a deviating doctrine we immediately pick up on it, and flee to scripture to refute it Matthew 4 – Christ’s temptations Colossians 1:9-23 grounded II Timothy 4:2 preach, rebuke, exhort Galatians 2:3-5 an hour We must ask ourselves: why do we believe what we believe? § Because we have always believed it/heard it § Because we have a conviction based on what we have seen in scripture Romans 1: 16-18 – what Paul’s gospel reveals The righteousness of God revealed The wrath of God revealed – 1 & 2 The love of God revealed – 5:8 If annihilation: eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die – Luke 12:16-21 The seriousness and urgency in Paul… The seriousness and urgency of our ministry… The seriousness and urgency of witnessing… If restoration: of sinners, on what basis other than faith? Other than the substitutionary work of Christ applied by faith? 2 Thessalonians 2:13 “Today is the day of salvation, NOW is the
appointed time” – Our witnessing would dramatically change, or we would be dishonest (same problem as with predestination) Of angels: Hebrews! The folly of giving credence to a doctrine because of who believes it – Galatians 1 The church: pillar and support of truth § God’s design § Our protection The lessons of Luke 16 § The sheer vanity of “success” on earth § The disconnect that is possible between one’s physical and spiritual condition § The importance and finality of decisions made on earth § The all-importance of scripture! § A testament to the fact that miracles don’t persuade men § The certainty of death § The sheer torment of those who refuse to believe on earth § The full awareness after this life § The complete hopelessness once an unbeliever has died § The instant correction that takes place once someone dies |