Random Thoughts on the Really Good News

“…Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst…” (1 Timothy 1:15) How did Jesus get the worst sinner to believe in him? “About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul!” (Acts 1:6) OK, that would do it - and Paul believed. Sooo, how is God going to get the rest of the really bad sinners to believe? “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened…” (Revelation 20:11-12) That should do it! It is at the great white throne when all the worst sinners "confess" that Jesus is Lord and "believe" that God did indeed raise him from the dead - and are "saved" . "If you confess ...

“...in Adam all die…it is appointed unto men once to die” (1 Corinthians 15:22; Hebrews 9:27) All people are to die once, not twice. “...and I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God… and they were judged, each one according to their works…if anyone was not found written in the scroll of the life, he was cast to the lake of the fire - this is the second death…” (Revelation 20:7-15) Everyone will die and be resurrected where they will be "standing before God" .  The "lake of fire" is the "second death" , not some eternal torture chamber conceived in the mind of religions. In death, people "know nothing" . “For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing … For there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going” (Ecclesiastes 5-10). "if anyone was not found written in the scroll of life, he was cast into the lake of fire."   It does not say there are any who are not written the...

“And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever… And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire…And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death...” (Revelation 20:10, 14,15) The phrase “the lake of fire” is an obvious metaphor. But what is it to consume? It will consume our enemies which are the the adversary (devil), the governments of men (beast) and the religions of men (false prophet), death and the grave (hell -grave).  They will all experience "the lake of fire" . What about those not found in the book of life?  Two things to remember, first,  both the "righteous and the wicked" are to be resurrected, and second, death, including "the second death" , is to be "destroyed" . "...there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and t...

"...Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven...removing those things that are shaken...that those things which cannot be shaken may remain...for our God is a consuming fire". (Hebrews 12:27-29) Is FIRE good or bad?  Well, it depends on whether your perspective is short term or long term. In the short term fire can be an awfully destructive power, but in the process it purifies its object or victim.  God is a "consuming fire" that will purify his creation. The "lake of fire" is part of that process. "...And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire...where the beast and the false prophet are... And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire...And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." (Revelation 20:6-15) The "lake of fire" consumes the "devil" (slanderer), and the "beast and false prophet" ( adversaries of God). It will als...

”For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him. However not all men have this knowledge…” (1 Corinthians 8:5-7) I suppose that there are as many gods and lords as there have been cultures and religious men over the years. And of course Paul is talking about those men or idols made up by men that people worship. He does not condemn such people to hell, but simply says that all men do not have the knowledge of the “one God, the Father, from whom are all things…and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things” . But they will one day, if not predestined to do so in this life, then after the resurrection of both the just and the wicked. Jesus told his listeners... “Verily, verily, I say to you — He who is hearing my word, and is believing Him who sent...