Contending against the heretical doctrine of Universalism

To deny the existence of Hell as a place is to deny the reason why it was created by God. Hell is a dominion not simply an experience, whether of the few or of the many, it was created by God Himself, for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41), yet Hell is become the store house of tormented souls fearing judgement and without seeming hope. How are we able to understand this?
Jesus has the keys of Death and Hell (Revelation 1:18). He descended into that place for the purpose of taking captivity captive (Ephesians 4:8) and declaring liberty to those who were captive by it. Through obedience, even unto death of the cross, He has overcome Death and Hell. Here lies hope. Thereby Satan is unable to oppress us, by fear of death; who lay hold of The Lord of Life, knowing that Christ is become Lord of the living and the dead.

Revelations clearly shows that Hell itself is emptied of those, who at the time of the Great Judgement of the dead are yet captive by it. Only then is Hell cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:13). This event takes place after this earth and these present heavens have fled away from the presence of the Lord (Revelation 20:11). It is the Judgment of the dead, both the great and the small. It is the judgment of the ‘books’ and the ‘book’. It is the judgment of deeds read from the ‘books’. It is the judgment of the names in the ‘book’, concerning life and the second death (Revelation 20:13). He is a heretic who would add to this or take from it. The time or circumstance of this latter judgment directly precedes “the new heavens and the new earth”. The lake of fire is a ‘greater than’ hell, seeing that it is able to contain Hell itself. Here lies a singular point of wisdom. It is the knowledge of the second death (Revelation 20:14). Death and Hell will give up the dead which are in them and will be cast into the lake of fire; whereas the second death is eternal.

Our God is not a mocker of men. If by the time of the Great Judgment of the dead, you personally have no knowledge as to whether your name is written in the book of life, this is the time when you will find out. Clearly some names will be written in the book of life; else God does indeed mock men, leaving them without hope. Why seek for names if there are none to be found? Likewise we see that some names will not be found written in the Book of Life. “And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15).” To add more to this than is visible or to take from that, which is visible in Scripture, is heresy. Which is to say “that which divides the body” rather than that which “rightly” divides the word of truth?

This heresy of Universalism is having the effect of causing many, particularly young saints, to believe that they can live as they please. It is however not exclusive to the youth. It is a growing effect of the working of Satan. The effect is heresy because it is separating those who already believe from the truth of Scriptures regarding the importance of our present conduct. The coming kingdom of Christ will be a kingdom of authority and will be understood in that way by all who have a part in it, even as it is understood now by those who labour toward it. No one however, who today, takes the name of Christ, and yet lives to please themselves always, will find an easy entrance therein. Being born from on high with a new life is the spiritual minimum for entrance into this kingdom of God and Christ (John 3:3).

Those who teach Universalism are become an undoubted heretic and should be withstood prophetically and prayerfully. Otherwise many may be left wondering if they find no entrance into the kingdom; whether their name is written in the book of life. God takes no delight in the destruction of the creature. Neither should we. Any man, who in the end, having cause to wonder such a terrible thing, may be found wondering from hell or outer darkness, during the 1000 year kingdom of Christ, where separation from God is a torment and darkness is a patiently enduring, and the fearful expectation of judgement. To be the cause of stumbling is no trivial matter. Those who cause stumbling should flee from it, as from GodÂ’s wrath. The only remedy against this heresy of Universalism is a true knowledge of GodÂ’s word and a faithful and obedient walk. Always taking account of the flesh and its endless lusts and desires; which if we walk in them will rob us of our righteous inheritance in Christ and bring His holy name into discord amongst men at His appearing.

It is important that we understand that this lie of Universalism did not originate with a man or with men. The originator is the opponent of God. Even Satan, which by name means’ the opponent of God’. He is the ‘father of lies’ as well as the ‘father of liars’. Those who believe his lies in this world. by believing become his children. Having been set free from this world and delivered unto Christ to be His possession, we must resist entanglement with the world. When the full effect of Satan’s working has come in, it will be to an abominable effect. Its name is the “mystery of iniquity”. A man standing in the Holy Place declaring himself to be god and causing blasphemies to be spoken which will become a terror to all men.
Today its effect is the tending to apostasy. It is the falling away from the simplicity of faith in Christ alone. Having been taught by the apostles from the beginning; is now being rejected to a full effect in our day.

Are you looking for a response or just making a statement? (TMK)

The article was written 5 weeks ago and is in part taken from a post I made in another thread. I have never attempted to write anything on this heresy before. I have done so now because it is a heresy which to my own understanding is so desirable to the natural mind that it may be easier to believe than other heresies which abound. If it is believed it will make ruin many people’s faith. Young believers are especially vulnerable to its claim. Yes a response is always expected no matter how emphatic the claim may be. Otherwise it would be unbalanced to post it publically.

There is no heretical doctrine I so desperately want to believe in as Universalism. The reasons being we have too many who have spurned the call of God on their life. But God did not ask for our opinion so I am trusting him to be wise and just because He always was and is and will be. If He dooms man to an eternal hell, He knows they deserved it, painful as that may be {GinnyRose)

I found myself drawn to this doctrine of Universalism one day whilst thinking about it, especially the idea that Hell wasn’t somehow real. By the time I got to the end of that thought I was shocked to realise that I would also end up having to believe that Satan would be a beneficiary as well. At that point I physically rejected the lie contained in Universalism which leads to that inevitable conclusion. I have seen several men over a 28 year period falling away from the faith precisely on the grounds that a thought came into their minds which caused them to reject God. They felt compelled to reject God even though they had led others to God and had walked faithfully. The thing which they believed in the end was that God could not possibly send anyone to Hell because He is Love. Knowing that God is indeed love and being resisted in the lie, that no one will ultimately perish proved too much to live with. In their struggle they lost the ability to believe and walk. In essence they could no longer trust God Himself. If today this lie is taught by those who are believed and trusted with the Gospel of grace, then there is no struggle, just a simple matter of trusting a man.

Anyways, now that you've made the effort to explain the 'lie', I'm left wondering if you might also have something of a solution to offer to people needing to dismiss the ideas behind doctrine.

Put aside everything and read the Scriptures. It is easy to read what others have said. Especially if we have good reason to admire them. In the end lies are personally believed and may remain hidden in our hearts and minds without every seeing the light of Christ. Trust God and tell Him what you actually believe. Then read the Scriptures.

This lie as with all lies is based on a truth. In this case it is the most precious truth in the universe. Yet to know that you are loved of God and that He gave his only begotten Son to die for your own sins, whilst it is full of Truth, it is a Truth which must be held in visibility with the whole of God’s character. So that in this mind you see also that it is God’s own Righteous character which requires that Jesus die for the sins of the world, else no one could be saved. In that balance it is easy to accept that to include Satan in this benefit must be false. The wicked one is a murderer and a liar and the deceiver. Whatever his mind may be, his end is already spoken about and it is certain. At least in this regard the lie of Universalism is clearly exposed. If it is exposed once it is altogether a lie and must be rejected. In the Light there is no darkness at all.

Beyond this there are countless numbers of souls who have rejected God. Apart from those who we believe have never heard the Gospel of Christ there are millions who have. If we go back to our own beginning we should remember our first love. How precious was that hour we first believed! Many wept with thankfulness to come into the knowledge of God's love. In Truth the first time we knew that God is indeed God and that he gave His Son for us, was the beginning of a new life. In that knowledge can we say that other's must be denied it? Universalism if believed will do just that. It will remove any need to seek God and any need to preach Christ Crucified for sin. If just saying a prayer of contrition seems too easy and results in many living without a true faith, imagine what Universalism will do in the end. We will end up inviting the wicked one himself into our lives and caress his sweated brow, saying sorry for having misunderstood him for so long. I think in the end we will. He will be called the Man of Sin.

The reason I asked my question is because I am not sure why you are posting this here, in this forum, where 99.9% of the posters would agree with you.

I would like to respond to some of the items in your post, but i have promised the moderators that I would not do so, so the matter is really not up for discussion. (TMK)

As you have agreed not to post or discuss this topic then you are bound by that agreement. I have no such agreement. I have stated in a private e-mail to another member that I would not post against Greg's own understanding. This is because SI is a ministry and as such it would be clearly wrong to post against a persons own understanding if that person thought that something was divisive or harmful to the vision which they have received. To that end any of the moderators can e-mail me privately or else state it publicly and I would obey that leading. I imagine that at times this has happened. Yet I cannot lie so I have to say that the ultimate purpose of the web site is like shifting sand to me. It seems at times as though the simple ambition of seeking revival of the saints is mystical and hinges on a revelation that Christ Himself manifestly visible in and through believers equates to revival. At other times it seems to be a belief rooted in prophetic ministry dating back 10 years or so. Things spoken prophetically by pastors and teachers in local churches in North America primarily, which thus being "tested" and heard with the ear, make for a growing conviction. Perhaps it is both of these things. Perhaps it is other things. In any event to one who lives in the England the focus is otherwise.

As to why I posted on this subject! There are many more people reading these posts than writing them. Many of them will be young people. Some of them will in fact be faced with this heresy and could easily be led into it. Do I think that a believer could be lost eternally even if they did believe the heresy. NO! I don't believe that any one who has the Spirit of Christ in them can be lost eternally. But I do believe that a believer can neglect their salvation to the point of being rejected during the 1000 year kingdom.

In North America saints are living in an abnormal condition where the world and wickedness is mingled in with the Church and the Church is also driving politics. It makes for an almost unique situation. The very nation was politically founded in this way even though the root was not thus. The root is the Pilgrim Fathers and the Nation is the Founding Fathers. Today America is said to be post christian from a political perspective. This present political reality has been embraced in many places, especially northern europe. It has led to every kind of perverse inclination being accepted at a national level as normal. I think that it is impossible for me to understand this beyond this simplistic point. I genuinely do not want to start or provoke a political debate. That would be against SI rules. So even in saying this I may have gone into disobedience. Yet to me as someone who has always rejected politics and especially party politics I find North American culture almost impossible to grasp. That is why posting on SI is so difficult and seems like shifting sand.

I love the Lord Jesus above all else. Yet that could never mean sticking my head in the sand box. If it did, then I would have to see that I only love myself after all. I am sorry for the length and scope of this reply. But your own words provoked it.

"I have seen several men over a 28 year period falling away from the faith precisely on the grounds that a thought came into their minds which caused them to reject God. "

"They felt compelled to reject God even though they had led others to God and had walked faithfully. The thing which they believed in the end was that God could not possibly send anyone to Hell because He is Love." amrKelly

This must hammer into our minds the extreme unction to adhere and cling to Holy Doctrine as defined by the Scripture. In our minds we hold the handle of faith in HOW we think about Truth. We must learn ..

" That; The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,

Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God,.....to...

!!!" Bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,!!!

This is the Mind of Christ as contained in the Bible, The Word of God Almighty Jesus.

"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

But He answered and said, “It is written!", ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, [ or our own thoughts ] but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:.....[Satan twisting the Word out of context and faith ]

‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’and,
‘In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” [ the devil quoting the word...]

7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”

Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you,[ Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”

Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.............

I had a close friend do the same, and it started with him on an Internet web site. He kept this secret to everyone, until it seemed to completely devour him. One day, he worked up the courage, or the pride, to reveal it to me; I do not know.

His lie was a little different twist than NO HELL. He believed in a purgatory period for the rebel in the Lake of Fire, and for all sinners, including the Demons and Satan. This was a purifying discipline to punish the wicked, and after this severe agony, all would then be pure again.

The idea substituted the Blood of Jesus, the atonement of His life sacrificed, with God's just punishment, all twisting the scripture; just slightly. There was a focus on the words Eternal, and forever. Eternal did not mean Eternal, and forever and ever were looked upon in the original languages as temporary and limited.

Then, there was a logical empirical descent that if Hell was not eternal, then either was punishment, which led to and end, which led to life. I call this Satan's Gospel, and to believe it is to cling to it, and thereby be bundled with it.

I told, or preached this truth to my friend, that if he continued in this unscriptural lie, he too would experience the truth of the eternal Lake of Fire. It was a clear path to deny Jesus, and to void out the work of the Cross.

Jesus died in vain if Salvation could come from any other source. He remained adamant, and after a few admonitions and pleadings, I cut him off from me, and warned others about him. He had became a wolf, and spread his new found faith around, for it was now within him, and a part of him.

Very sad, but we must close our minds to anything but the Truth, as in the Bible. I like that old saying about the Bible. "It says it, and I believe it."....Nothing else but...." Same voice that audibly came from Sinai speaking to all of the Israelites under Moses. It Is Written.

I had a close friend do the same, and it started with him on an Internet web site. He kept this secret to everyone, until it seemed to completely devour him. One day, he worked up the courage, or the pride, to reveal it to me; I do not know. (Brother Tom)

The idea that your former friend had worked up the courage or the pride to declare his new found belief is rather sobering Tom. To be in such a state of conviction over something clearly contrary to the truth could only be courageous if it were sincerely held. But if a lie is believed contrary to one’s own conscience then it is a matter of pride. The deceived person would have to go against their own conscience not once but many times in order to come to such a condition. The resulting knowledge is often held in a kind of elite way, as though only a few were in on it. Historically there have been Universalists as ginnyrose pointed out. Today more and more people are willing to lay the claim at the feet of others openly. Robert Bell has just concluded that very thing. He influences numbers of young people with a singular focus. It is truly fearful.

Do you see what I'm meaning to say?
Our preachers confess the lie that God does works of the devil. Unbelievable! We have preachers saying that God kills and revives. That He tramples on your life one day while lifting you up the next. We have Christians claiming that it pleases God to give children birth deformities; to have children born deaf and blind; it supposedly glorifies His name. We Christians are saying that it is God who pays the wages of sin and death. (blayne)

I hadn’t given a thought to the motive of those who believe or accept the Universalist central tenet. But I guess it must be true that some people may well have a view of God which is blasphemous. On the other hand brother blayne it is impossible to reconcile the belief in a sovereign God Who holds the universe in His hands, with a God who doesn’t have the authority to resist evil and limit its effect and working. In Egypt it is God who sent the destroyer to kill the first born of every family. And God Who commands the way of escape. The blood on the door lintel by an act of obedience was the measure of escape. The obedience was a lamb slain. This directly parallels the Gospel of Christ. I feel sure that I must be ignorant of what is actually being preached in North America if it is as you say. Job shows another example and a different insight as to how evil comes on men’s lives. Satan tempted God and God must in His righteousness must show the wicked one that Job was in reality faithful. Job truly loved God.. Satan is both the accuser of the brethren as well as an instrument of suffering. It cannot be escaped from. God is sovereign over all. Satan cannot do as he pleases.

There are more books coming out along with preachers claiming that they have the revelation on God’s love and that nobody will eventually have to spend eternity in hell.

Brother rbanks this is the reality. There are more and more books being published claiming deeper revelation as to the measure of God’s love. Those who teach Universalism must in the end come to their beliefs themselves first. If so it must be essential to ask the question how they came to those beliefs. It is worth saying that it is by attending as closely as possible to the Scriptures as they can. Only in the end of their presentation does they twist come in. For this reason this deception cannot be intellectualised. If it is then some by just reading the books will find themselves being drawn irresistibly into the snare. We must determine to read Scripture and have a mind to believe what is actually real from God’s own position. If we see God from our own view point we will come to all manner of conclusions which in the end actually deny God Himself, because they deny His Righteous character as well as His great Love for men. For those who do not believe in God this lie will make the sacrifice of Christ meaningless and thus having unknowingly rejected Christ crucified for sin, it will result in many believing they are faithful children, because they have believed in God’s love. Not in Christ Himself. How will they resist the day in which they live if they deny Christ, Who alone is able to keep them? They will end up believing the most blasphemous lie in the universe. A man standing in the Holy Place declaring himself to be God, changing times and seasons and deceiving many. Those who do believe in Christ crucified for sin will be hated for rejecting the Man of Sin by those very same people who say they believe in God’s love. Their claim will be “we are serving God”.

"Jesus agonized in prayer until his sweat became as great drops of blood as he poured out his soul in the garden of Gethsemane, praying unto his Father saying “if it be possible let this cup pass from me but nevertheless not as I will but thy will be done”.

" There is no other way; and God will not let any thief or robber in heaven. There will be nobody in heaven that bypassed the cross of Jesus Christ. Everybody who refused the cross of Jesus Christ and who also taught others that there is another way instead of Jesus Christ and His redemption will be in hell." RBanks.

Amen. I believe it as a sign of falling away; of having attained to a seared conscience. The logical, analytical deduction seems to hinge on there being an ETERNAL HELL. By twisting the scriptures to deduce a temporal Hell, a LIMITED Judgment, then their logic shifts to emerging from the fire, with time left, as a saved, but severely punished child of God, for after all, God couldn't be that cruel.

Others twist the scripture into Annihilationism; a vaporizing of the soul.

"This reminds us that Seventh-day Adventism (SDA) denies many biblical doctrines. According to Adventist doctrine, for example, unsaved men do not go to Hell when they die; they merely sleep in the grave awaiting the resurrection. And when the unsaved are finally cast into Hell after the judgment, they are not tormented forever but are annihilated."; formed by [Ellen G. White]..Founder
wayoflife.org

This is how cults are formed. The Scripture is twisted and denied partially, or completely. The leader of Three Angels Broadcasting, the TV broadcast arm of the Adventists, Danny Shelton,lives in the county here in Southern Illinois. I have watched him preach many times.

His great deduction is; "THE PUNISHMENT FITS THE CRIME!"..meaning that in his mind, God would never...never...create ETERNAL fire...it is just too cruel; God is much too merciful and He isn't a sadist.

Obviously, the Word of God is irrelevant; It is his ideas and emotions that count; HUMAN ideas and emotions about God.

What then happens is the cancer of doubt is planted; "Has God !!!....REALLY!!!.... said?"

"Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

When we cast away the WORD, the Bible as our anchor of our thinking, we cast away the Map of our soul, and become gods unto ourselves, and then comes the destruction of our faith. Everything becomes a matter of what is right in our own eyes, and the FALLING AWAY begins...and soon after, blasphemy.

The blood of Jesus becomes arbitrary, or seemingly just the result of the acts of a righteous , good intended man. Then, it doesn't matter, because everyone will be saved anyhow, or to some, the bad will just be vaporized.

It makes me a little sick to write this. Satan is the most subtle of all beasts, and desires you in there with Him...THE ETERNAL LAKE OF FIRE!..which he so richly deserves, and those who follow him after their own way.