"I'm curious to see who believes in God on my friends list...there is no bribe of a miracle or anything like that. If you truly believe in God, then repost this bulletin and title it "My Best Friend". If you don't believe in God, then just ignore this. In the bible, Jesus says, "If you deny Me before man, then I will deny you before my Father in Heaven."The passage quoted is Matthew 10:32-33. The Concordant Literal New Testament verses are:
32 "Everyone, then, who shall be avowing Me in front of men, him will I also be avowing in front of My Father Who is in the heavens.33 Yet, who should ever be disowning Me in front of men, I also will be disowning him in front of My Father Who is in the heavens."
Context is so important. Take something out of an entire context and the meaning can change. Put that piece of Scripture taken out of context and stick it in a MySpace bulletin to everyone and it looks like an unfriendly ultimatum. It is not followed up with the rest of the Truth. It is not followed up with the whole story, just a section that looks like a threat to the recipient. Two topics to soapbox about that won't gain one friends on an open forum like MySpace: politics and religion. The person who posted this bulletin, I can say in all honesty, is relatively "new" to Christianity, so her newfound zeal is misled in an incomplete message.
This passage does not imply eternal damnation, but rather a judgment. It means you will have to answer for your actions on this earth, and yes we will all be purified of our sins, but we will all acknowledge and return to God. All is of God and all will return to him. God has a goal. He intends to become All in all of His creatures. He will accomplish this by way of reconciling all His enemies by the blood of Christ's cross, by justifying, vivifying, and saving all mankind at the consummation. Those who believe now are saved by His grace. For those who do not believe there is a process of judgment, all the while leading to the same bright goal.
“God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:17)
Christ is "the Savior of all mankind, especially of believers" (1 Timothy 4:10).
Not exclusively of them.
Spiritual author Mark T. Chamberlain beautifully descirbes the consummation of all citing Scripture in a way I could never improve upon, here it is:
To bring this out clearly, I'm going to quote from a number of texts that have been pieced together like the links of a chain that all fit together to show that the Kingdom of Christ will one day include everyone who has ever lived and God will truly be "all in all."
The chain begins at creation when all things were created by Christ with full knowledge of the fall of man that was to come and a plan already in place to redeem mankind. He who created all things will "reconcile to himself ALL things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross" (Colossians 1:20). This reconciliation or restoration of ALL things was foretold by God when He "spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago" (Acts 3:21). God has appointed His Son to be the "heir of ALL things" (Hebrews 1:2) and in God's Son "shall ALL the nations be blessed" (Galatians 3:8).
God has given His Son "authority over ALL flesh, to give eternal life to ALL whom He has given Him" (John 17:2). "The Father has given ALL things into the Son's hands" (John 3:35) and so "ALL flesh shall see the salvation of God" (Luke 3:6). Because of "the unchangeable character of God's purpose" (Hebrews 6:17), because His love for His enemies is unchanging and "He is kind to the ungrateful and evil" (Luke 6:35). "He desires ALL people to be saved" (1 Timothy 2:4). He "gave himself as a ransom for ALL" (1 Timothy 2:6). He "is not wishing that ANY should perish, but that ALL should reach repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). He "has consigned ALL to disobedience, that he may have mercy on ALL" (Romans 11:32) "for from him and through him and to him are ALL things" (Romans 11:36).
So God's plan is "to unite ALL things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth" (Ephesians 1:10). The Father has "put ALL things under Christ's feet" (Ephesians 1:22) and has "given ALL things into his hands" (John 13:3). Jesus has promised to "draw ALL men" to Himself (John 12:32) because "the Father loves the Son and has given ALL things into his hand" (John 3:35). Jesus said, "ALL that the Father gives me will come to me" (John 6:37). Jesus says that like a good shepherd, He will search for each of His lost sheep "until he finds it" (Luke 15:4). "God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him" (John 3:37). "The grace of God has appeared bringing salvation for ALL people" (Titus 2:11).
Jesus is the "Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). Jesus gave His flesh as bread "for the life of the world" (John 6:51). "He gives life to the world" (John 6:33). He is "the light of the world" (John 8:12). "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2). "He is the Savior of ALL people" (1 Timothy 4:10), “the Savior of the world” (John 4:42; 1 John 4:14). "He appeared to destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3:8).
Jesus "abolished death" (2 Timothy 1:10). "He has put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Hebrews 9:26). His power "enables him to subject all things to himself'” (Philippians 3:21). "The gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does" (1 Peter 4:6). He has "the keys of Death and Hades" (Revelation 1:18). He will throw "Death and Hades into the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:14).
"In Christ shall all be made alive" (I Corinthians 15:22). He "accomplished the work" that the Father gave Him to do (John 17:4). "He restores all things" (Acts 3:21). "At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:10-11). "Every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, `To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever! "' (Revelation 5:13).
"Then comes the end, when he [Jesus] delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For 'God has put all things in subjection under his feet.' But when it says 'all things are put in subjection,' it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all" (1 Corinthians 15:24-28).
These verses have not just been thrown together haphazardly. They are the expression of that purpose that runs through the Bible, a purpose first stated in mankind's creation in the image of God, a purpose that can be traced throughout the entire Bible, in the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets, and most clearly in the New Testament. From it we learn at least three things:
1. Christ came claiming the entire human race as His own, to the end that He would save and restore the entire race, not just part of it.2. He came with full power and authority over all men, having received all power in heaven and earth over all hearts, all evil, all wills.3. He lived and died and rose again, completely victorious, having fully accomplished the work His Father gave Him to do, which was the salvation of the world.
To deny universal restoration and reconciliation is to mutilate the Scriptures. We are not dealing with a few isolated verses in which it might be possible to say that "all" was used loosely and doesn't really mean "all." We have a connected series in which link follows link---a series that teaches the actual, not potential, universality of Christ's Kingdom. Let's look closer at these passages, taking them in their natural and fair meaning, not obscured by the traditions of men.
Luke 19:10: "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." The question is this: Will Jesus Christ really do what He said He came here to do? He didn't say He came to save some of the lost. He came to save the lost. And that is everybody! Apart from Christ, we are all lost, but He came to seek for us until He finds us (Luke 15:4).
Luke 3:6: "All flesh shall see the salvation of God." This verse is probably taken from Isaiah 40:5, which says, "And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken." Surely these verses point in the direction of universal salvation. Matthew 5:8: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."
[End quote]
The threats of Scripture taken out of context do not attract people to Christianity, but repel them from it. That's simple psychology. God is the Great Psychologist. He knows that threats will not turn men's hearts. It is a shame the poster of that MySpace bulletin does not realize she is doing more harm than good. I guess ignorance is bliss when you have a whole church backing up that falsehood by teaching from an incorrectly translated Bible. Humans are base and bloodthirsty creatures, they want to see their enemies, murderers, etc. burn for eternity. They get pleasure from thoughts of that. But God's ways are not man's ways. Man wrongly spun God's message into a very human ultimatum. Believe in my gracious love......OR DIE FOREVER IN A FIERY HELL!!!
Does anyone else see what's wrong with this?
What a shame that the ultimate message of peace and love that God gave the world is consistently raped by the ignorance and blindness of bloodthirsty men who want to make God out to be a spoiled child tyrant king who stomps his feet and smites you for ALL ETERNITY when He is not acknowledged. And all of these typical Christian existing believers wish to stand by and watch as the pitiful "unbelievers" are skewered over the barbeque. And they all smile wide at their pain.
Hypocrisy? Your order is up. Would you like fries with that?
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