Apokatastasis in the Bible

[St. SteVen]

Vengeance is not ours to mete out.

If it's a sin for us, isn't it a sin for God? (topic worthy?)

 

[Eternally Grateful]

C. S. Lewis testifies that is how he came to the Lord. "... kicking and screaming."

did he chose to say yes. or did he continue in unbelief?

 

[Eternally Grateful]

St. SteVen said:
On a pole? (SDA or JW?) Never mind. Let's stay on topic.

Uh... you said "pole", not cross.

what did you think I meant? have you even read John 3?

 

[Eternally Grateful]

What opportunity. You would have to believe that some people are born without a conscience. We are ALL created in God's image. Don't react against the fundamentalists who consign everybody to hell.

God saves the righteous...the weak, the poor, the meek, the suffering. God is merciful. And the saints will rule over them in the next age...according to the gospel.

and who are the righteous? How did they become righteous?

 

[Eternally Grateful]

No, it means there's no need to. Not about us, it never was.

So God said we must chose.

But you say we do not need to chose?

Who should I believe you or God?

 

[Eternally Grateful]

All things are NOT restored if ANY of humankind are left out.

Well thanks for your opinion.

Jesus taught us that it is godly behavior to love our enemies.
What will God do with his "enemies"? Something LESS than he expects from us?

This aligns with the New Age philoshophy/religion that worships the earth. (more important than the inhabitants)

He loved his enemy,

He died for them

He also loves them, He will not force them to receive him.

He will not save people who willingly reject him

 

[Eternally Grateful]

If it's a sin for us, isn't it a sin for God? (topic worthy?)

Vengence is mine sayeth the lord

We are guilty, to us it is a sin.

God is perfect. His wrath is just.

 

[St. SteVen]

You have a point where the elect are concerned...even the righteous. But God also hardens the hearts of some..giving them over to do evil...more and more.

Reminds me of this scripture. (thanks)

Romans 11:32
For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

Not every story has a happy ending. The world is a big place. And God's judgments are manifold.

I think God loves a happy ending. Would he blemish his OWN story of humankind?

The Israelites escaped from certain doom by God opening a highway in the Red Sea.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego stood unharmed in a fiery furnace.
Daniel was not eaten by lions. Queen Esther was used to save the people.
The people of Nineveh repented.

 

[St. SteVen]

Well thanks for your opinion.

And yours as well. Much appreciated.

 

[St. SteVen]

For those who are meant to be saved...yes. God will do His utmost to save as many as possible.

Who isn't MEANT to be saved?
Did God predestine the majority to destruction? (or to be pushed aside)

Pretty sure that when God does his "utmost", he does NOT fail.
Anything short of that is NOT his utmost, IMHO

 

[St. SteVen]

Pretty sure that when God does his "utmost", he does NOT fail.

Did the Israelites swim to safety, or cross the Red Sea on dry land?

@Episkopos

 

[Eternally Grateful]

Who isn't MEANT to be saved?
Did God predestine the majority to destruction? (or to be pushed aside)

Pretty sure that when God does his "utmost", he does NOT fail.
Anything short of that is NOT his utmost, IMHO

No, God does not do that

Anymore than he will make you chose against your will

 

[Eternally Grateful]

Who isn't MEANT to be saved?
Did God predestine the majority to destruction? (or to be pushed aside)

Pretty sure that when God does his "utmost", he does NOT fail.
Anything short of that is NOT his utmost, IMHO

18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 2

 

[St. SteVen]

St. SteVen said:

C. S. Lewis testifies that is how he came to the Lord. "... kicking and screaming."

did he chose to say yes. or did he continue in unbelief?

I was going to suggest spell-check, but I see your errors are grammatical. (did he choose to say yes)
He said he had no choice. (choose, chose, choice) See how that works?

 

[Episkopos]

Did the Israelites swim to safety, or cross the Red Sea on dry land?

@Episkopos

How about those pesky Egyptians? Where was the Universalist bent in God then?

 

[Episkopos]

Who isn't MEANT to be saved?
Did God predestine the majority to destruction? (or to be pushed aside)

I opened that up! He predestined only the elect. Most people have a choice that is theirs to do what is right and to fear God. Most will only reap as they themselves have sown...and that actually also includes the elect...but on a higher level.

So I am NOT a fundamentalist judgmental type. Those are as common as pebbles on a beach. Rather, I leave room for God and His ways.

God is merciful. He will save the victims in this world...those who have been abused by others, the widows, the fatherless, the meek...etc. But He will go hard on the stubborn unbelieving ones that use others for their own gain.

Pretty sure that when God does his "utmost", he does NOT fail.
Anything short of that is NOT his utmost, IMHO

God will not override our free will. He wants to see what WE will do with what we have been given. We are on trial here.

Remember the rich man who wanted to go back to warn his brothers. They would be as receptive to his message as many board members are to mine.

God allows us to choose our destiny. We demonstrate what we will be. God judges us by pointing us to the truth. If we resist then we will be destroyed. Too many bible references here.

 

[Episkopos]

Reminds me of this scripture. (thanks)

Romans 11:32
For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

I think God loves a happy ending. Would he blemish his OWN story of humankind?

The Israelites escaped from certain doom by God opening a highway in the Red Sea.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego stood unharmed in a fiery furnace.
Daniel was not eaten by lions. Queen Esther was used to save the people.
The people of Nineveh repented.

They did. And they will rise up to condemn those who didn't on that day...as Jesus said.

Most people never repent. The exception proves the point. Those who repent will be saved. Repentance from wickedness into righteousness...AND repentance from our power to God's (for the elect)

 

[Episkopos]

If it's a sin for us, isn't it a sin for God? (topic worthy?)

Not at all. God is free to adorn His creation or destroy it. He is God...the Creator. We have no such right.

God is not a man.

 

[St. SteVen]

How about those pesky Egyptians? Where was the Universalist bent in God then?

I knew my post would raise questions. - LOL

Each one will be judged on their thoughts and deeds, I suppose.
Could a good man by God's standards be a member of Pharaoh's army?
And even been involved in the chase and ultimate disaster?

What about the judgment against the nation of Egypt?

The restoration of Egypt

Ezekiel 29:13-14
“‘Yet this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the nations where they were scattered.
14 I will bring them back from captivity and return them to Upper Egypt,
the land of their ancestry. There they will be a lowly kingdom.

 

[Eternally Grateful]

St. SteVen said:

C. S. Lewis testifies that is how he came to the Lord. "... kicking and screaming."

I was going to suggest spell-check, but I see your errors are grammatical. (did he choose to say yes)
He said he had no choice. (choose, chose, choice) See how that works?

Do you believe him?

I don't.

Do you believe in fatalism?