Grace Upon Allby David M. Timm, Oct 5, 2006I’d like to share a basic overview of what I believe concerning the restoration of all things. Many of these views I have held since 2004, and I have grown in them via personal study, visiting a fellowship with others of like mind, and through online conversation. In this paper I’m not going to be focusing so much on scriptures that teach the reconciliation of all things such as Acts 3:21, 1 Timothy 4:10, Isaiah 25:7, and Ezekiel 16 (where it talks about the reconciliation of Jerusalem, Sodom, and Samaria). Instead, I will consider rather why I believe the restoration of all things is the conclusion of my fulfilled perspective.
I believe that all things have been fulfilled and the veil of spiritual death that was over all nations has been swallowed up according to Isaiah 25:7-8. Sin has lost its power because the law was fulfilled in Christ and it passed away (1 Corinthians 15:56). This affects my view of salvation, election, falling away, and hell. In this article, I’m going to use many Israel-specific references, but there is a wider Gentile application for a lot of these things because all were under the economy of spiritual death.
I’ll talk about the importance of covenantal language, context, past fulfillment, and a proper timeframe concerning these subjects. Also, I want to look at a common theme found throughout the Bible; namely that after God brings judgment/wrath He always brings healing. On a personal note I want to acknowledge that before coming to what I believe to be true today I went through many different phases in my Christian walk. I went though the fear of possibly not being one of the elect. I would have moments of doubt and wonder if I was still a sinner in the hands of an angry God. I would question other believers’ salvation due to what I considered to be a lack of Godly living. I currently have a greater love for others and for myself than I had previously because I believe that I now have a better understanding of who God is and how important every single person is to God. I have a more accepting manner in regard to the fallibility of my fellow members of humanity. I see how amazing and all-inclusive God’s grace and love really is. Rather than being motivated by fear, I now love God more for who He is and what He has done.
Maps and Photographs
In an article titled “
Maps & Photographs,” we read: “The setting is John 6 and the feeding of the multitude. Jesus’ after-dinner address included a bit about their need to gain eternal life by eating his flesh and drinking his blood. Jesus was speaking metaphorically, but his audience failed to grasp this. Ronald Niebuhr said that ‘fundamentalists fail because they take the Bible too literally, while liberals fail to take the Bible seriously…The literal, idealist interpretation led his audience to conclude that he was a nut case; by taking him literally, they failed to take him seriously.””
Many people today look at the scriptures as a photograph rather then a map. They see the New Jerusalem as a literal golden city floating in the sky, hell as a never-ending dark fire pit, the resurrection as physical bodies floating in the air, and the judgment as people waiting in fear and standing in an endless line.
A map on the other hand refers to something beyond itself as it points to a higher truth. When we read the graphic language in Isaiah 34 concerning Edom that the mountains will be melted with blood and the heavens will be dissolved and that the land will become a burning pitch which will not be quenched forever and ever, we know this is map or figurative language referring to the literal event of the downfall of Edom. In like manner, the graphic map language of hell found in the Gospels pointed towards the destruction of Jerusalem via the Romans and the destruction of the old economy and its sacrifice system forever. Those animal sacrifices are no longer called for by God; Christ’s perfect sacrifice is enough in this new economy.
In the foreword of the book A House that Stands, Kevin Beck writes: “People of God sit in pews week after week and hear sermons about how the God of all grace who gave his only begotten Son to die on the cross, plans to send the vast majority of the multiple billions of human beings whom he made in his image, to eternal condemnation to be punished in Gulag Gahenna. After the sermon, these same folks sing hymns of God’s amazing grace, his wonderful story of love, and what a friend they have in Jesus. These are countered by the anxiety-ridden songs describing fearful defendants standing at the bar on high awaiting the answer of life or of death…Double-mindedness ends in instability. No wonder so many people feel and act schizophrenic. No wonder so many Christian people go to bed at night in tears as they doubt their everlasting destiny. No wonder so many believers berate others—Christians and those who are not—with all the ‘holy anger’ they can muster.”
A few pages later in that book, we read about a man who had been a devoted Christian most of his life. He was active in his church and seemed unwavering in his faith. Yet on his deathbed he was scared about his eternal salvation due to a situation that had occurred to him long ago, one that was not even his fault. This story reminds me of a few events which have occurred in my life. This past year has been the most difficult year of my life. I have lost three people who were very close to me. Two of them had cancer, and one had a heart attack. All three of them were Christians, yet two of them became very concerned about their eternal destiny shortly before their death. So why are so many Christians unsure of their salvation? Why do so many Christians doubt their security after a lifetime of church attendance and Bible study?
I believe it is due to the demands and fear placed on them by religion. David Embury administrator of
http://www.talkgrace.com/ has written, “Trouble is – take away ‘threat’ and you remove ‘control’ and religious righteousness reacts to that, for therein it thrives.” By taking much of the Bible too literally, people may not be taking it seriously enough.
People try to earn God’s approval rather then accepting who He truly sees them as…as His reconciled children. I believe it comes from having a misunderstanding of that which occurred in the first century and believing that the words written to the original audience are as specifically relevant for us as they were for them. We are not the church or the firstfruits. They had a particular time and place and a very specific, important task. Our responsibility is to share what they through Christ accomplished and what it means for everyone today. We should want to do this because of our faith in Christ and what He has accomplished.
Mapping the “World” in the NT
The New Testament uses three Greek words that often are translated into English as “world.” Knowing the significance of each word and recognizing the context will help make sense of the particular passage.
The first is “aion.” It is Strong’s concordance #165, and it is most properly translated as “age.” Seven percent of the English translation “world” is aion. One example isMatthew 24:3 (KJV). “And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what [shall be] the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world [165]?”
The second is “oikoumene.” It is Strong’s #3625, and according to Strong’s it means “inhabited earth, Roman Empire.” It is 6% usage in the NT. We see it in Matthew 24:14. "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world [3625] as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.The third is “cosmos.” It is Strong’s #2889 cosmos, and it refers to an apt and harmonious arrangement or constitution, order, government. It makes up to 87% usage of the translation “world” in the New Testament. 1John 2:17 is a good model. “The world [2889] is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”
In 1John, we read about the passing of the world. I understand this to be the old order under the law. “On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining…For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:8, 16-17).
When we compare 1John with Hebrews 8:13, we find them to be speaking about the same world passing away. We also notice that they refer to the same timeframe.“In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”
The four types of death
Just as the New Testament applied the concept of “world” in multiple ways, the scriptures speak of death in more than one way. Below are four examples.
John 11:14. “Then Jesus told them plainly, ‘Lazarus has died…’” (physical)
Genesis 2:17. “…but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." (spiritual)
1Corinthians 15:31. “I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day!” (Covenantal)
Romans 8:13. “For if you live according to the flesh you are about to die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (the second death/Lake of fire, spoken of in Revelation 20:14).
Related to the “end of the world” and “death” is the controversial issue of “losing the soul.” We find Jesus discussing them all in Matthew 16:24-27. “Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life [soul, according to the old economy] will lose it; but whoever loses his life [soul, according to the old economy] for My sake will find it [according to the new]. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world [2889] and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.”
This “world” is the same “world” that John said was “passing away.” It is the old economy. Here we see the soul is attached to the world that passed away. This requires the soul to be seen as a covenantal identity.
Paul is one of those who were elected to lose his life/soul according to the old economy, and he was then born again and found his life/soul according to the new economy. He writes about it in Galatians 6:14. “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” Concerning the same subject Paul writes about crucifying the flesh in Galatians 5:24, crucifying the old self in Romans 6:6, and dying to the law in Romans 7:4.
Connected to the loss of the soul is the subject of eternal life. Jesus spoke of it in four important settings. First in Matthew 25:46, he said, “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." Second in John 3:16, Jesus told Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begottenSon, that whoever believes in him should not perish [covenantally] but have eternal life.” Third Jesus announced, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24). Finally in John 12:25, Jesus promised, “Whoever loves his life/soul loses it, and whoever hateshis life/soul in this world [old economy] will keep it [New Economy Soul] for eternal life.”
So what do these verses teach about eternal life? They suggest that the new identity (spirit, light, law of Christ, etc) would not perish/die in the wrath during 70AD. It is eternal and could not be destroyed. As for the unbelievers their sinful soul/body of sin (Rom 6:6) would die. This was not directed toward their physical lives or a statement on their postmortem fate.
Paul and the other believers had to lose their soul according to the old economy in order to bring about the new. The old economy involved the impossible attempt of earning God’s favor though works of self-righteousness (justification by the works of the law). For example lusting after someone was the equivalent of committing adultery. Falling short at one point made one fall short at all the points. Rejecting Christ, of whom the law pointed, caused one to fail to keep the law.
Paul talks about the fruits of law breaking in Galatians 5:18-21, and he says that those who practice those things would not inherit the kingdom of God. These evil fruits must be seen in their covenantal context and in this context was specific to the first century because the law which convicted those who practiced them has been fulfilled and has passed away. The old covenant world and its lusts (see 1 John 2:17) passed away for all.
Humanity may be imperfect in regard to our thoughts and actions. Humanity obviously still does evil things, of which there are earthly consequences, but in the spiritual realm we are seen by God as being clothed in Christ’s righteousness.
Hellfire
Jesus spoke the parable about the harvest and the burning of the tares in Matthew 13:40. "So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age [aion].” In Matthew 10:28, he encouraged his disciples, “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Gahenna is the Greek word translated as hell. It is used in 9 passages in the New Testament. In the KJV the word “hell” is used much more often then it should be. In that version, and some others, it is also used for Sheol in the OT and Hades in the NT, which is a subject beyond our scope here.
Importantly, Matthew 10:28 shows both the covenantal (soul) and physical (body) aspect of what could be destroyed in hell. This leads me to believe Gahenna refers primarily to the spiritual destruction of the Old Covenant, and it was physically manifested as the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70AD
To my knowledge, the scriptures never speak of physical death as a prerequisite for entering hell or the Lake of Fire. Similarly, Paul and the other believers didn’t have to be physically crucified to have their old economy soul/identity lost. In like manner, the unbelieving Jews and Gentiles didn’t have to physically die to have their old economy souls destroyed in the Lake of fire when that judgment occurred in 70AD. While many unbelievers did physically die during the destruction of Jerusalem many did not. Those who did not die physically during this time still “lost their soul” because Acts 3:23 states that “every soul” would be destroyed that did not heed Christ.
Barry DuPont, administrator of
http://www.talk-grace.com/, observed, “All are delivered from the old economy. Some were [delivered] through transformation, which was much better for they were not touched by the ‘second death’ which is the catastrophic end of the old economy. These also didn’t lose any of their rewards. Others were brought to deliverance through destruction. In covenant identity these who would ‘utterly perish in their own corruption’ along with their works did indeed perish in AD 70. This however is their deliverance from the old economy. The first shall be the last.”
We find some other examples of scriptures which use “hellish” language that refer to previous judgments. Isaiah 34:4-10 employs vivid language. “[A]nd all the host of heaven will wear away, and the sky will be rolled up like a scroll… For My sword is satiated in heaven, Behold it shall descend for judgment upon Edom And upon the people whom I have devoted to destruction…Its streams will be turned into pitch, and its loose earth into brimstone, And its land will become burning pitch. It will not be quenched night or day; its smoke will go up forever [this symbolic language is also used for the lake of fire in Revelation]. From generation to generation it will be desolate; none will pass through it forever and ever.”
Jude 1:6-7 says, “And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.”
Jude compares the physical destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah to the judgment of hell. The Biblical language here of “forever and ever” does not represent time but rather annihilation. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are no longer physically burning, and the same is true of Edom and old covenant Jerusalem, but the consequences of these judgments are irreversible. These cities no longer exist.
Additionally, hell also touches on the covenantal aspect. The soul (covenant identity) destroyed in hell no longer exists and will never exist again. The old covenant is gone forever and the new covenant in Christ’s blood will always remain.
Salvation
In 1Timothy 1:19-20, Paul states that “some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme.” Their being handed over was not the final word, though.
The Bible speaks of the day of the Lord as a time of great wrath but also great deliverance. 1Corinthians 5:5 puts is like this, “I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh [soul], so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” I understand that “day of the Lord” to refer to the AD 70 events, and Paul alludes to the deliverance of this person’s spirit following the destruction of his flesh. God’s mercy follows God’s wrath.
In 1Corinthians 3:11-14, Paul talks about those who would be saved by fire. “For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident; for the day [of judgment, 70AD] will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he [believer] will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he [unbeliever] will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”
The apostle Peter suggests that those who were dead in the flesh would ultimately live. “For the gospel has for this purpose been preached even to those who are dead, that though they are judged in the flesh [covenantal] as men, they may live in the spirit according to the will of God” (1Peter 4:6).
This leads us to a curious statement of Paul. In 1Timothy 4:10. “For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.” How is Christ especially the Savior of believers? The believers escaped the old economy and thus it’s destruction by being born again. They gave up their old soul via covenantally dying and received their “new soul” before the judgment. This is being born again. Physical baptism was practiced during the transition period as a sign to others of that which was spiritually taking place for the individual. They were covenantally dying to the old covenant of death and Moses (through baptism) and being resurrected into the new covenant of life/Christ.
This dying and resurrection process was completed when the resurrection of the just and the unjust took place at Christ’s second coming. The church members (elect, called out) did not lose their soul through wrath because they were completely separated from the old when the judgment took place and thus their spirit, soul, and body were saved. They were delivered from wrath.
On the other hand, the unbelievers lost their soul and only had their spirit saved (1Cor 5:5). Their soul, which is their old covenant identity, died in its sins because “the soul that sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4). This is why Paul was able to say that “if you live according to the flesh you are about to die” (Romans 8:13) even though many unbelievers lived physically through the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD.
This helps makes sense of Paul’s prayer in 1Thessalonians 5:23. “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Again, Barry DuPont points out, “The unbelievers were not covenantally being transformed so their end is that they must covenantally perish when the old economy ended. As far as what they are through the old economy they are ‘without.’ So what is the ‘end’ of those who remained in the old? 2 Peter 2:12 show us that “they [first century unbelievers] shall utterly perish in their own corruption”.
It is in this light that we can understand the “rich” in James. First, in James 2:5 we read, “Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?” Then in 5:1-6 we find, “Go now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.”
Barry DuPont comments, “Their riches are covenantal in connection. Since the Old Covenant is attached to human possibility, this associated the material into the equation. Since the covenant passes away they lose all material possession covenantally. This is I believe perhaps why we may have some possible misunderstandings in Revelation and James and in some of the parables. They are often asked to give up everything of the material or natural connection…What makes the covenantal connection to it all is how the old covenant was attached to human possibility which in turn attached material and natural possession to Israel according to the flesh by alliance. Since human (natural) possibility extends only to this portion of life, the pinnacle of the old economy stands upon a temple made with hands and an earthly natural city.”
The old has no inheritance in the new. You can’t put new wine in old wineskins. The soul according to the old couldn’t enter the new, and all things were made new in 70AD (Rev 21:5). All things would be restored in 70AD according to Acts 3:21, and the old economy of death, including its strongest aspect being the old covenant, would be completely gone. All are now in the new economy because of the new covenant made with Israel (not just the church) and thus forgiven by Christ’s sacrifice.
The timeframe for election (30-70AD)
Paul had a clear idea about the timing of the last days. In Romans 11:5 he wrote, “In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God's gracious choice.” Paul saw his day as being the time of the elect. Then in 1Corinthians 1:27, he said, “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. Notice how God’s choice relates to the specific world in which Paul lived.
Paul’s “present time” is past and the world that the elect were chosen out of no longer exists. Biblical election is not about choosing some people to go to heaven and the rest to suffer eternally. Election has nothing to do about going to heaven but rather being called to serve. All the believers during the transition period (30-70AD) were a remnant elected out of Israel during the transition period to become the firstfruits on behalf the rest of Israel who made up the harvest.
The elected Gentiles were grafted into the previously started remnant, made up physical Israelites who believed in Christ (such as Paul, Peter, etc.), for the purpose of the Gentiles receiving their fullness (Romans 11:25) in 70AD.
Christ was the firstfruit. Christ was born under the law (Gal 4:4). He died on the cross to that world, and he was raised as the firstborn from the dead. The church being Christ’s body was in the transition of dying to the world below and rising to the New Jerusalem above. They were doing this through Christ on behalf of the rest of the harvest and that being Israel. When the promise was fulfilled in 70AD with all Israel being saved (see Romans 11, especially verse 26) by being brought into the New Covenant by either losing the old identity through faith or having it destroyed through hell, they were then able to keep God’s promise to Abraham to bless all nations.
Under the old covenant, Israel couldn’t deliver the earth (Isaiah 26:18). The new covenant after the judgment affected all of humanity (new economy) and the old economy of spiritual death and separation was forever removed.
This brings us to Acts 2:17-21. “'And in the last days [of the old economy] it shall be…. the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.'”
We are no longer in the last days of the old covenant age so how does that affect this passage of scripture? Salvation and reconciliation do not always refer to the same subject. In its common usage salvation through faith in Christ dealt with salvation from avoiding the wrath to come. This is what Jesus referred to when He said that “But the one who endures to the end (of the old economy) will be saved” (Mt 24:13). This statement by Jesus is one of the conditions that He said would be fulfilled during the generation of those whom He walked among (Mt 24:34). Those who believed and endured until the end of the age were no longer partially but rather completely clothed with their house from heaven (New Jerusalem/New Covenant) and received the salvation that Paul spoke about when he wrote “salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed” (Romans 13). Their soul was converted to the new economy and was saved from perishing with the old economy (Heb 10:39). The believers received their crown and rewards while the rest lost everything including their “souls.”
Faith in Christ, though it no longer includes delivering one from that covenantal hell because that covenantal judgment is in the past, is still critical today for one to have peace, close relationship, and fellowship with God in this life on earth.
Falling Away and Israel’s 40 year wandering
Just as some members of Israel’s Exodus generation were not able to enter the Promised Land due to unbelief following the 40 year wandering, first-century believers in Christ (the elect) who fell away during the 40 year transition (30-70AD) did not enter eternal life and lost their souls like those who had never believed. Eternal life, like many “already but not yet” conditions for believers in the New Testament, was obtained partially for the believers prior to the end of the old covenant age but not completely.
One example of this is in Romans 7:25. Paul writes “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.” Paul finds himself in the transition of the old and new covenants for the 40 years between the cross in 30AD and the destruction of Jerusalem and the old covenant temple in 70AD.
As time progressed from 30AD to 70AD the new covenant (Isaac/Jacob) was being revealed while the old covenant (Ishmael/Esau) was passing away. Remember that the brothers lived together in the same house for a period of time. God says in Romans 9 that He loves his elected Jacob and hates Esau. In context, God is saying that He hates the old covenant identity (darkness, flesh, rich in the world, etc) because reconciliation to God with it in the way is impossible. Any attempt for one to save themselves through their own efforts is foolish and impossible. There was no, “I’ll do part of the work and Christ will do the rest.” That is why Christ had to fulfill the law and his righteousness was imputed to mankind when the law passed away. Christ is the only one who could satisfy the requirements.
Reconciliation is all about what God has done, every single detail about it. The law is good in that it pointed to Christ, yet hardened Israel in their blindness did not see this. How does this relate to the falling away”? Those who became members of the new covenant via election and tasted the powers of it but then returned to attempt justification via the Mosaic law fell from grace and had no chance of avoiding the destruction of their covenantal souls. We see in Romans 3:20 that by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin (see Romans 2:14-15 for how the Law applied to the Gentiles).
The Book of Hebrews focuses on this event. It was written to address the falling away. First, we see it in Hebrews 3:14-19. “For we share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end [of the old economy]. As it is said, ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.’ For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.”
Next, we move on to Hebrews 6:4. “For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they then fall away, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.”
This theme continues in Hebrews 10:36. “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, ‘Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay [notice the time frame]; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.’ But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.”
These references in Hebrews weave the 40 year Exodus theme, the falling away, the age to come, the immediate timeframe, eternal life, and the destruction of the soul.
Peter discusses all this as well in 2Peter 2:20. “For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world [old economy] through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first [because there is no longer a chance of avoiding God’s wrath].” In this passage, we find the interrelated themes of the falling away and the world.
Both Peter and the author of Hebrews drew from the teaching of Jesus. In Luke 12:45-46, Jesus stated, “But if that slave says in his heart, 'My master will be a long time in coming,' and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk; the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers.” Here the servant of the master acted unfaithfully and underwent the same eschatological judgment as the unbelievers. It is interesting to notice that he thought the master would delay his arrival.
All men
Regarding the “all men” passages in the New Testament many people redefine “all” to mean “some.” They suggest that “all” refers to a complete number of Jews and Gentiles. In other words, both Jew and Gentiles will have some members that will be saved and others condemned eternally. But is this what it is saying? I don’t believe so.
The condemnation from the first Adam to all men didn’t mean that only certain members within both the Jew and Gentile groups were condemned. Every human was condemned regardless of being either a Jew or Gentile. By making “all men” in places like Romans 5:18 refer only to “some men” would be to change the meaning of the context. The second Adam (Christ) reversed all the spiritual separation brought by the first Adam, not just part of it.
Paul spoke about the extent of the work of Christ in 1Timothy 4:10. “For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.” Notice Paul doesn’t say “all men who are believers.” He reiterates this in Titus 2:11, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men…”
Finally, in Romans 5 Paul speaks extensively on the breadth of “all men.” “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned…So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men” (Rom. 5:12-18).
I feel that many people unintentionally give the consequence (spiritual death) of the first Adam’s sin more application towards mankind (affects everyone) than the reconciliation (affects few when compared with all mankind) by Christ’s sacrifice, resurrection, and Parousia. Just as people were separated from God without their say in the matter because of Adam’s sin (in the old economy), in the new world people are reconciled to God without any say in the matter. God loves all those that He has made in His image equally.
Conclusion
“Eschatological judgment and salvation (were) finalized in the end of the age [Luke 21:22]. The New Age has no eschatological transformation but an outworking of what was finalized” (Barry DuPont).
I believe that the entire Bible is inspired by God and that no verse can be thrown out because it clashes with any cherished beliefs. I do not believe that ignoring verses to justify any beliefs is beneficial. I understand scripture as a fulfilled covenantal story. Though I do not understand every verse, I do believe that I (and all of us) can have assurance in God. As Jesus stated, I believe that all people go through Jesus to get to the Father because this is God’s will.
I believe that the last Adam (Christ) reversed all the spiritual separation (Col 1:20; Acts 3:21; Isa 25:7) that was brought by the first Adam. This means that God the Father sees humanity through Christ's righteousness. Reconciliation is all about what God has done, and it has nothing to do with what we have done...not even our faith. I personally believe that when each person stands before God and sees Him for who He really is and what He has done they will greatly desire to worship and obey Him.
Thank you for your time in pondering these things. Some of the implications of my beliefs may include things that are not easy to accept due to our traditions but the completed picture is indescribably beautiful. Today we are people within a reconciled humanity. Our desire, out of love and gratitude, should be to share with others what our Lord has done for His creation. God Bless!
