by George Sidney Hurd

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The following is an excerpt from the book, The Triumph of Mercy.

“There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day.  20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, 21 desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented.  26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’ 27 Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, 28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.'  29 Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.” (Luke 16:19-31)

This parable of Jesus is consistent with biblical Universalism, which affirms that the unjust will pass through purifying fires upon dying. What Jesus doesn’t say here is what Traditionalists affirm – that the fire is eternal. Some cite verse 26 where Abraham says that there was a great gulf separating them which did not permit passage from where he was to where they were, and they couldn’t pass over to him. But the parable does not say that he would never be able to pass over. While one is serving a prison sentence, it is very similar to what the rich man was experiencing. A prisoner can receive visits and converse with those on the outside, but as long as he is a prisoner, there is a great wall between them so that they cannot pass to where he is, and he cannot pass to where they are. They can only communicate through a bullet-proof window using a telephone. But once the prisoner has served his sentence, he is free to pass to where they are. When speaking of Gehenna, for example, Jesus said: “Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny” (Matt 5:26; Luke 12:59). There is a great difference between saying, “you will by no means ever get out of there” and “you will by no means get out of there until...” It is necessary to combine all the teachings of Jesus concerning punishment to fully understand the subject. We must see this parable in light of other occasions in which Jesus spoke of duration: “you will by no means get out of there until”, “they will have their part”, and “beaten with many stripes” as opposed to “few stripes” (Luke 12:47).

Also, it is probable that the descriptions of the flame, the tip of Lazarus’ finger, and the rich man’s tongue are all figurative and not literal. Lazarus wasn’t literally in Abraham’s bosom. They are figurative descriptions of two distinct spiritual realms in Hades (the invisible world of the dead). The Pharisees used the expression “Abraham’s bosom” in reference to paradise. Also, the parable presents those in paradise as if they were seeing and talking with those tormented in Hades. This interaction is likely symbolic rather than literal; a literal view would mean paradise lacks true peace.

This parable is the fifth in a series of five parables, with the prior ones being The Lost Sheep (Luke 15:3-7), The Lost Coin (15:8-10), The Prodigal Son (15:11-31), and The Unfaithful Steward (16:1-14). Some would argue that The Rich Man and Lazarus is not a parable because it begins like a real story: “There was a certain rich man.” However, the parable of the Unjust Steward begins exactly the same way: “There was a certain rich man.” Also, the parable of The Prodigal Son begins as though it were a real story saying: “A certain man had two sons.” The Parable of the Sower also begins as though it were a real story: “A sower went out to sow.” However, we know it was a parable because Jesus said so (Matt 13:3). If we were to take The Rich Man and Lazarus as a real story and not as a parable, what kind of paradise would it be? Could we be comforted in “Abraham’s bosom” while at the same time watching those we love burning in Gehenna and hearing their endless cries for mercy? To me such a paradise would be unthinkable. It would be a torment for those in paradise as much as for those in the flames, unless God were to remove all sense of love and compassion from their hearts.

This series of parables was a response to the criticism of the scribes and Pharisees against Jesus for receiving sinners:   

“Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. 2 And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, ‘This Man receives sinners and eats with them.” (Luke 15:1-2)

All five of these parables are directed, not at the publicans and sinners who drew near to hear Him, but rather against the scribes and Pharisees who criticized Him for receiving them, since they considered themselves to be holy and despised the rest. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus echoed a principle He stated on another occasion: “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you” (Matt 21:31). In this parable, He does not mean they will never enter. Instead, He emphasizes that the people they despised – like the beggar Lazarus, the tax collectors, and the harlots – will enter the kingdom before them.

In this parable, Jesus adapted a well-known Greek tale, altering its characters to suit his message. In the original narrative, a wealthy tax collector named Bar Ma´jan and a poor scribe both died. While the scribe ascended to paradise, Bar Ma´jan endured torment beside a river, desperately desiring to drink its waters but remaining unable to reach them. [i] Historically, at least seven other similar folkloric accounts actively circulated among the Jewish populace during the era of Jesus. [ii]

The scribes and Pharisees must have especially liked this story because it presented them in a good light while presenting the tax collectors, whom they despised, as the ones in torment. Instead, Jesus changed the story. He described the ruling elite – dressed in purple and fine linen – as the evil ones in this parable, and he welcomed sinners and beggars into paradise. This parable was directed specifically at the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus did not intend for us to draw from this parable the conclusion that all beggars go to heaven and all rich people are tormented in flames. Neither did He intend for it to be taken as a description of paradise or hell. Its sole purpose was to expose the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees, utilizing one of their own tales.

[i] George W. Sarris article The Rich Man and Lazarus. http://www.georgewsarris.com  

[ii] Edward William Fudge The Fire that Consumes, i Universe.com inc. 2001 p. 203

• Each time we see “all things” in the translations we must keep in mind that “things” does not have an equivalent in Greek and has been added by the translators.

• The same all that was created by Christ was also reconciled by Him.

• The sin abounded by one – Adam, but the grace much more abounded by One – Christ. The work Christ accomplished much more than restoring what Adam lost. Could that be true if 90% of mankind were to be eternally lost?

• Are we to understand that all who will end up in God are 10% whereas in Adam it is 100%? How can we call that “much more”?

• The Church is only the firstfruits. In the dispensation of the fullness of times all in the heaven and in the earth will put their trust in Christ. We are just the first.

• To whom will we be showing the exceeding riches of His grace, and why will it be displayed? Just to show it to the angels who don’t need it?

• We are the firstfruits. Firstfruits imply that the rest will follow.

• All, but in due time.

• Each one “in his own order” will have his “day of visitation.”

• Could it possibly be that in the end God doesn’t get what He desires?

• His love towards the whole world. (1John 2:2)

• How will God overcome evil? With eternal vengeance? Would that overcome evil or perpetuate it?

• Since God is love and He is eternal, love never ends.

• The law prescribed a “just reward.” Should we believe that a “just reward” will be followed by eternal torments?

• Does all and everyone mean 100% or only 10%?

• His priestly intercession does not end at death, but continues as long as necessary for all who wish to draw near to God by Him.

• As the last Adam He destroyed the Works of the devil. The devil’s Works will not continue going on forever in hell.

• The gates of the New Jerusalem will always be open. No one who has not washed his robes and is not found written in the book of life can enter, but the Bride invites all who desire to enter and drink of the water of life within the city. 

• Christ receives the nations as an inheritance.

• He desires that all be saved and He has all the time necessary to bring it to pass. cf. 2 Peter 3:8,9

• Wouldn’t their sickness be unimportant in in the light of an eternal hell, if that was in fact what awaited them?

• How many are lost? Will He achieve His objective to save all who are lost?

• Isn’t God the Father of all humanity?

• Though the Athens were fallen and in need of the new birth in order to enter the Kingdom of God, all are His sons because they were created by Him

• All the people means all flesh – both Jews and Gentiles. (cf. 30-32, 3:6)

• Will the Good Shepherd keep searching until He finds the last lost sheep or will He conform Himself with the 10% already in the fold?

• Do you think God answered this prayer? What about the rest?

• Will His mission that all be saved through Him be fulfilled? Will all ultimately believe, or will His mission end in failure with only 10% having heard and believed?

• Not just of a few chosen ones.

• Is He really the Savior of the whole world or of just a few?

• “Forcefully draw,” Gr. elkoúo. cf. John 18:10; 21:11; Acts 16:19; James 2:6.

• How would it be possible for Father God to say that everything He had made was good, knowing that the majority of mankind, created in His image and likeness would spend eternity in hell?

• Why didn’t He explain from the beginning that the consequences would be eternal punishment? God pronounced temporal curses on Adam and Eve and their descendants after the fall.  Why didn’t He ever mention eternal punishment? If eternal punishment is what awaits the majority, why isn’t it emphasized from the very beginning of the Old Testament? Why are there only warnings of temporal judgments?

• This would have been a good moment to tell Cain that an eternal hell awaited him, but instead God put a seal of protection upon him.

• Would it be right for a judge to give infinite punishment for a finite offense? What would you think of a judge who gives a death sentence for a traffic violation? Even God’s law limits punishment saying “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” because anything beyond that wouldn’t be a just punishment.

• We see that David chose the judgment of God over falling into the hands of man, because the mercies of God are very great. Nevertheless, the consequences were great.

• Repeated 41 times in the Old Testament.

• Judgment is in order that we may learn. It is not simply for vengeance.

• Here we see that only those who walk righteously and with integrity will be able to dwell in God´s presence which is a consuming fire and eonian flames. Here both the fire and the chaff and straw of the unjust (11,12) are symbolic – The fire is God and the chaff and straw are the dead works of the wicked. Why should we think that the eonian fire of Matthew 25:41 is distinct from this consuming fire and eonian burning?

• Is God limited by man in His ability to save?

• We see that it is His mercy which is eternal and not His wrath.

• Traditionalists often cite this passage when one says that it is incomprehensible that a God of love would torment His creatures forever; “His thoughts are higher than our thoughts” they respond. But in the context Isaiah is speaking of the incomprehensibility of God’s mercy – not the incomprehensibility of His severity.

• Where do we find eternal wrath in the Bible?

• “To finish” and “to make an end of” do not harmonize with an eternal hell where sin would be perpetuated.

• Could it be that His love which “never ceases” ends with a heartbeat at one’s death but His wrath endures forever?

• The punishment continues “until.” If God would never forgive us even after we have forgiven, than He would be requiring of us something He wouldn’t do Himself.

• Would He tell us to do something He himself would not do? No. Loving our enemies makes us like our Father in Heaven.

• Is God’s justice measured, according to the offense, or is it infinite?

• They will be excluded but not eternally. The tax collectors and harlots enter before them – they will be last to enter but nevertheless will finally enter.

• The self-righteous religious leaders did not believe and therefore do not enter with those who were quick to believe. Nevertheless, they too will ultimately be saved because He is the Savior of all.

• Throughout Scripture we see that punishment is meted out with a just measure and not infinite. “Portion” is from the Greek word meros which means “that which is merited.” “Few” and “many” lashes indicate measured time of duration and not just severity. (Compare with the following texts)

• Even the lake of fire is not infinite in duration, but rather measured to each one according one’s Works or merits.

• As Adam received his biological life directly from God, so Christ received His biological life through divine conception.
• Adam disobeyed in a garden, bringing condemnation and death to all – Christ submitted to God’s will in a garden, bringing justification and life to all.
• Adam forfeited his dominion to Satan the serpent by partaking of the tree – Christ was victorious over Satan by being nailed to a tree, restoring man’s dominion.

by George Sidney Hurd

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The following is an excerpt from the book The Universal Solution which presents Universal Reconciliation as the solution to the debate between Calvinists and Arminians.

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Total depravity is a term used to refer to the spiritually fallen and corrupted state into which every descendent of Adam is born. Due to Adam’s original sin, man comes into the world spiritually stillborn in relation to God and therefore unable to contribute in any way towards his own salvation. Even the faith by which we appropriate salvation must be received as a gift from God through regeneration due to man’s spiritual blindness.

Depravity: Three Views

Calvinism - Total Depravity

The doctrine of Total Depravity was first formally presented and expounded upon by Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430 AD). It was also the belief of Martin Luther, John Calvin and other prominent reformers, and continues to be the belief of the Reformed Calvinist tradition to this day. The term “Total Depravity” can be easily misunderstood. It is not intended to mean that man is as evil as he can possibly be. Clearly some commit more evil than others, and one can become more evil if they follow their carnal instincts or become less evil in an ideal environment.

Total Depravity means that mankind, since Adam, is spiritually dead towards God, his Maker. Man was created for communion with God, but when he died spiritually he ceased to be God-centered and turned in upon himself, becoming self-centered. In this fallen state, even his religious activities are independent of God. He acts out of self-interest rather than a loving, dependent relationship with his Creator. The Greek word for sin is hamartia, which means “to miss the mark.” Utter dependence upon God, in union with Him, is the mark. All that we do, whether it comes from the “good” branches or the “evil” branches of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, constitutes a missing of the mark and therefore is sin.

One may religiously keep the law and yet be depraved, since his works are done in the flesh and not in God. Based upon 1John 3:4, many think that sin is defined as transgression of the law. However, the phrase “transgression of the law” is the single compound Greek word anomia, composed of “a-” meaning “no” and “nomos” which means “law.” A better translation would be “lawlessness” or doing one’s own will, rather than submitting to God. Some may be able to live a relatively moral life independently from their Creator. One can keep the law with great zeal and not be walking in submission to God, as we see exemplified in the Pharisees. Sin is simply doing what is right in one’s own eyes – partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the power of our fallen flesh, rather than walking in submission to God.

Pelagianism – Denial of Depravity

Pelagius, a contemporary of Augustine, strongly opposed Augustine’s doctrine of predestination and denied that man inherited Adam’s original sin. According to Pelagius, people are born neutral and free from sin with a total free will. He believed God gave us the law expecting us to keep it perfectly, rather than to reveal our sin. He taught it was possible to live without sin.

Arminianism – Partial Depravity

The Arminians, for the most part, do not believe in self-salvation as taught by Pelagius. Most of them believe, as do the Calvinists, that we are entirely incapable of saving ourselves and that the entire work of Salvation was accomplished for us by Jesus Christ in His death and resurrection on our behalf. The only participation required of man in his own salvation, according to them, is appropriating it by a personal decision of faith and continuing in that faith to the end. Paul makes it clear that true saving faith is not a work in which one can boast: “Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith” (Rom 3:27-29). Therefore, in all fairness, one cannot accuse Arminians of Pelagianism simply because they insist that our decision of faith appropriates our salvation.

The three different views of man’s condition before God can be illustrated by a man in a river. According to Pelagius, man does not need saving; he can easily swim upstream against the current on his own. This imaginary man does not even need a Savior and therefore could not be said to be “saved.” Jesus did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. The truth is that all mankind is born a sinner and in need of salvation. “There is none righteous, no not one” (Rom 3:10).

According to the Arminians, the second man cannot swim, is drowning, and is swept helplessly downstream. In His mercy and grace, God throws him the lifeline. If the drowning man has the faith and presence of mind to take hold of the lifeline, God will pull him to safety. Otherwise, out of respect for his free will, He will not intervene, leaving him to drown as he is swept downstream to certain destruction.

The third man, according to the Calvinist interpretation, is not only drowning and in need of being rescued – he has already drowned. He is dead and at the bottom of the river, being swiftly swept downstream towards an eternal hell which God has prepared to receive all except for the few elect whom He has predetermined to rescue. All the elect, who were chosen to salvation, are drawn out of the river and brought back to life. However, the great majority (the non-elect) were either predestined by God to eternal doom before even entering in the river or, according to some moderate Calvinists, simply left to their fate without the divine intervention which He provides exclusively for the elect.

It should be obvious to any believer that Pelagianism is an outright denial of our need of the Savior who redeemed us with His own precious blood upon the cross, and is therefore a denial of the faith. Although Calvinists often accuse Arminians of Pelagianism or Semi-Pelagianism, it must be recognized that most Arminians equally believe in salvation by grace through faith alone, apart from works.

Rightly understood, true saving faith is not a work, and therefore does not invalidate salvation by grace alone (Rom 3:27). I personally believe, with the Calvinists, that the Scriptures indicate that even our saving faith is a gift of God, as I hope to demonstrate. However, God’s power to save has in no way been limited by this minor distinction. Jonathan Edwards, a Reformed Calvinist, was mightily used by God, as was the former Arminian, George Whitefield, who became a Calvinist under Jonathan Edwards’ influence. But we must not forget other great revivalists, such as John Wesley, Charles Finney, and William Seymour – just to name a few – who, as Arminians, were greatly used by God.

God doesn’t seem to be limited in His power to save by whether or not one understands saving faith itself as being a gift rather than an independent personal response. His purpose in creating us was primarily relational, and therefore, His eternal decree must also include our personal volitional participation. I believe that God imparts faith, but in such a way that it includes the personal willful response of the individual. Rather than it being a matter of “either or,” I see it as “both and.” Faith is both a gift received and personally activated by the one receiving it – much as Jesus’s command to the paralytic, “rise, take up your bed and walk” required the participation of the paralytic, even though the work of healing was performed by Jesus. Thanks be to God that we don’t have to become theologians in order to be saved! Most of us would die while still in the process of trying to split our theological hairs.

Depravity: Scriptural Testimony

I believe, and hope to demonstrate, that the overall testimony of the Scriptures confirms that man is totally destitute of any ability to contribute in any way to his own salvation. It will be demonstrated that even our saving faith must be imparted to us by God in order for us to be able to believe. True saving faith is a gift from God. Our only part is the spontaneous voluntary exercise of that faith, receiving the irresistibly glorious good news of the gospel.

Spiritually Stillborn

“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.” (Eph 2:1-3)

The Scriptures declare that we were dead prior to having been made alive by God through the new birth. In what sense were we dead, and when did this death take place? Obviously, it is not referring to physical death. Neither could it be said that man is dead in a moral sense before the new birth. Not all unregenerate sons of Adam are incapable of living relatively moral lifestyles. Indeed, God holds all mankind responsible for their moral acts, and the day will come when they will be judged for the deeds done in the body (Rom 2:12-16).

What Paul is saying is that we all came into the world dead towards God. Apart from Jesus Christ, who was God himself clothed in human flesh, the only two individuals who were initially alive in relationship to God were Adam and Eve. They were commanded to abstain from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and warned that if they were to eat of it, they would die that very same day. God literally said, “for in the day that you eat of it, dying you shall die.” (Gen 2:17 LITV). This verse implies that death, in a certain sense, would occur the moment Adam and Eve ate of the tree. Even those who partake of the “good” branches of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil are dead to God. Their righteous deeds, as such, are done in the flesh, alienated from God, and therefore they are unacceptable to Him (Isa 64:6).

It is worthy of note that Paul, of all men the most “morally” religious – the Pharisee of all Pharisees – includes himself in this indictment: “we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others” (Eph 2:3). The “wickedly righteous” are just as much partakers of the forbidden tree as the “wickedly unrighteous” and inadvertently are in rebellion against God, just as the rest.

In the Scriptures, death is not the cessation of one’s existence, but separation. In their act of independence, Adam and Eve separated themselves from God and therefore died spiritually. Although they continued to live for many more years before finally dying physically, they became independent entities – relationally separated from the life of God – from that day forward. This condition of spiritual death passed on to all the descendants of Adam:

“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” (Rom 5:12)

The phrase “all sinned” is in the aorist tense, expressing a singular act in the past. It is referring back to Adam’s original sin as being that which caused all of his descendants to be born under Adam’s curse of death. Due to Adam’s original sin, we were all still-born in relation to God, and also destined to die physically – not simply because of our own sins, but because of the curse of death transmitted through our first father, Adam. This is what is referred to as Original Sin. All sinned in Adam. By Adam’s one act of disobedience death has reigned over all his descendants (Rom 5:17).

So, as descendants of Adam, we were all born dead in relation to God – cut off from His life from birth (Ps 51:5). One does not expect a response from a dead person. A physician may be able to tell a person who is sick to entrust himself into his care, and he may be able to assist in his own recovery, but once that individual is physically dead, there is no possible way to get a response from him. Only the miracle of resurrection can get a response from one who is already physically dead.

The same applies to our spiritual condition. One who is born dead towards God cannot possibly know or respond to God who is spirit. Before one can relate to God in any manner, they must first experience the miracle of the new birth – having been born from above, of the Spirit. We must be made alive before we can respond to God in any way, and that is precisely what Paul says God did for us: “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins.” In God’s timing, He makes us alive through the rebirth of our spirit, enabling us to understand and respond in faith to the gospel.

The Universalist, however, does not limit God by saying that only the elect of this age will be made alive and saved. Paul says that eventually all who die in Adam will be made alive in Christ, and that the time will finally come when the last enemy – death will have been destroyed forever:

“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. 23 But each one in his own order…The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.” (1Cor 15:22-23a, 26)

The traditional concept of “eternal death” is foreign to the Scriptures, which declare the final restoration and reconciliation of all – the gathering together of all in Christ Jesus in the dispensation of the fullness of the times (Acts 3:21; Col 1:16,20; Jn 12:32; Eph 1:10, etc.).

Spiritually in Bondage

“in which (trespasses and sins) you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in (energéo) the sons of disobedience.” (Eph 2:2)

In Ephesians 2, after sayng that we were dead in our trespasses and sins, Paul explains further that we were under the power and influence of Satan, the prince of the power of the air. The Greek word translated here “works” is energéo from which we derive our word “energize.” In essence, Paul is saying that we were under Satan’s power. This is further substantiated in other passages as well:

“in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, 26 and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.” (2Tim 2:25-26)

“We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” (1Jn 5:19 NIV)

At what point in time did Satan gain control over the collective will of humanity? In the Garden of Eden when Adam relinquished his God-given authority to the tempter. Since then, mankind outside of Christ has been held captive to Satan and is under his oppressive, blinding control.

When a nation like North Korea falls under a communist dictatorship, all media is restricted. Citizens are brainwashed by propaganda, leading them to believe they are the free and prosperous ones while the outside world is evil and oppressive. In the same way, the god of this age keeps his subjects blind to the glorious gospel which can set them free:

“But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” (2Cor 4:3,4)

Why do those in the world not believe the gospel? Partly because the god of this age has blinded them, keeping them from seeing the light. Therefore, Adam’s race is not only cut off from God’s life, but also blinded under Satan’s oppressive dominion. Apart from the miracle of the new birth, one cannot even see the kingdom of God – let alone believe unto salvation:

“Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (Jn 3:3)

Spiritually Deaf

Jesus repeatedly said: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Obviously, since every descendent of Adam comes into the world spiritually dead in relation to God, we must be made alive in order to hear God. While even the regenerate may become carnal and dull of hearing (Heb 5:11), the unregenerate do not even have the capacity to hear God. They are not simply unwilling to hear, but are literally unable to hear God’s voice:

“Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word.” (Jn 8:43)

Note that Jesus did not simply say that they were unwilling to hear Him but that they were unable to hear His words. The civilized world has harnessed radio waves, and we are now able to listen to music and messages in a way unimaginable in past generations. However, there are still some remote tribes who know nothing of radio waves transmitting music all around them. Why? Because radio waves can only be heard if one has a receiver. Many of them have been amazed as they listen for the first time by means of a radio what was around them all the time.

In a similar way, we were born without the ability to even hear the good news of Jesus Christ. We may have even been raised in the church with the gospel being proclaimed from the pulpit in every message but without really hearing it until God gives us ears to hear. In the Father’s time He draws us, permitting us to truly hear Him for the first time. All who hear Him are irresistibly drawn to Jesus, as He himself tells us in John chapter six:

“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.  45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.” (Jn 6:44,45)

Jesus here says that none of us are able to come to Him until the Father draws us. However He also says that everyone who is given ears to really hear the Father will come to Him without fail. "In the same manner, during the Father’s time, all who died in Adam will be made alive in Christ – not just the elect of this age. All will eventually be irresistibly drawn to Christ (1Cor 15:22). Jesus states that we cannot come to Him unless the Father draws him. In the present age only a chosen few are being drawn by the Father to be of the Church of the firstfruits, the Bride of Christ. However, in the times of the restoration of all, Jesus will have drawn all men unto Himself, and not only the elect of this age:

“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” (Jn 12:32 KJV)

The Word “draw,” in both John 6:44 and here, is the Greek word helkô, which expresses something much stronger than a simple attraction. Strong’s Dictionary defines it: “drag (literally or figuratively).” It appears eight times in the New Testament and in each case it expresses the idea of being drawn by a force greater than the resistance of the one being drawn:         

“Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to land, full of large fish, one hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not broken.” (Jn 21:11)

“… they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.” (Acts 16:19)

“…. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts?” (James 2:6)

“Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear.” (Jn 18:10)

Man, separated from God, is so lost that he must be drawn or dragged to Christ. Otherwise, he would not come to Him. Our “free-will” is of no avail if we can’t even see or comprehend the glorious gospel, and that is the situation in which God finds every individual. They are incapable of going to Him until He, in their day of visitation, draws them to Himself, which He will do for every man in due time (1Peter 2:12; 1Ti 2:6 KJV). In His time, He will remove the veil from the eyes of all people (Isa 25:7-8). Until then, they remain blinded and incapable of finding Him.

Totally Depraved by Nature

In the passage we have been considering in Ephesians 2:1-3, after saying that we were dead in sin and under the power of Satan, Paul says that we “were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.” Adam was a spirit in a body of flesh before separating himself from God. When Adam sinned, his spirit died to God and he became “flesh” by nature, instead of a “spirit” in a body of flesh (Gen 6:3). Sinful flesh is by nature incorrigibly hostile towards God, and no matter how much one partakes of the “good” branches of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he cannot change that which he is by nature – independent “flesh.” We cannot change our nature by self-effort or will-worship any more than an Ethiopian can change the color of his skin or a leopard can remove his spots (Jer 13:23). And our fleshly nature is irreparably hostile towards God:

“because the carnal mind (mind of the flesh) is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” (Rom 8:7-9)

Not only is our essential fallen nature as sons of Adam inherently hostile to God, making us by nature sons of wrath, but the natural unregenerate mind of the flesh is also unable to perceive, much less receive the things of the Spirit:

“But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1Cor 2:14)

“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever —   17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” (Jn 14:16,17)

Once again, we see that the problem with fallen humanity is not simply that mankind will not believe, come, yield, understand, or know the things of God. The Scriptures repeatedly declare that man, by nature, cannot believe, come, yield, or understand, so as to be saved. The preaching of the cross is foolishness to the natural mind because the unregenerate are incapable of comprehending it (1Cor 1:18).

Before introducing the free grace of God in Romans 3:21, Paul establishes incontrovertibly that all of mankind, Jews included, is totally depraved and in need of divine grace in order to be able to respond to God or contribute in any way whatsoever towards their own salvation:

“What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. 10 As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one; 11 There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. 12 They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one." 13 "Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have practiced deceit"; "The poison of asps is under their lips"; 14 "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness." 15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 Destruction and misery are in their ways; 17 and the way of peace they have not known." 18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Rom 3:9-18)

Numerous arguments have been presented by the Arminians in an attempt to limit the universality of “all” in this indictment, or diminish the extent of man’s depravity, as argued here by Paul. However, they unwittingly end up contending against the obvious intent of Paul’s own argument, which is that all are hopelessly under sin, totally depraved, and entirely dependent upon God’s free gracious gift of righteousness provided in Christ Jesus in order to be saved.

Paul’s presentation of humanity as totally depraved and in need of divine gracious intervention is not a new revelation unique to Paul. Jesus also presented mankind as being in the same hopeless, fallen condition apart from God:

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” (Jn 6:63)

“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day… 64

But there are some of you who do not believe.’ For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. 65 And He said, ‘Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.’” (Jn 6:44, 64,65)

Once again, we do not simply see an unwillingness to come to Him, but an inability: No one can come apart from being graciously drawn by God.

Total Depravity Revealed by the Law

Arminians often argue that God would not call upon man to do anything, nor would He have given us His laws, if we were incapable of positively responding. However, the revealed purpose of the Law of Moses was to expose our inability and depravity in order to shut us up unto grace. It was given to show our depravity, not our ability. The law’s purpose was to arouse sinful passions innate to our Adamic nature, causing us to despair of our own efforts to achieve godlikeness. Rather than bridling evil, it produced in us all manner of evil desire:

“For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. 6 But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. 7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet.’ 8 But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire.” (Rom 7:5-8)

Therefore, rather than God’s giving of the Law being an argument against man’s total depravity, as some Arminians affirm, we see that the law was given for the express purpose of revealing to us our depravity. It was given to bring us to an end of all confidence in the flesh. Through the Law we are slain, as we are utterly unable to attain godlikeness through independent self-efforts by partaking of the 'good' branches of the forbidden tree. In this manner, we are prepared to receive the revelation of the free grace of God that is in Christ Jesus our Savior: 

“Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. 22 But the Scripture has confined all under sin that the promise by the faith of Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23 But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. 24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.” (Gal 3:21-25)

So, the law served as a tutor to reveal our depravity and bring us to faith in Christ. Now that we are in a relationship of faith and dependence upon Christ, we are no longer under the law. It wasn’t given for us to live by but rather to die by.

Inability to Believe the Gospel

We have seen so far that man is dead to God. In his fallen condition under Satan’s rule, he is blind and deaf in relation to God’s kingdom. We have seen that man’s problem goes beyond unwillingness to inability. Unregenerate man is by nature “flesh” and therefore cannot perceive, come, submit, know, believe, nor receive the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. Jesus said: “unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (Jn 3:3).

In spite of all Scriptural testimony to the contrary, the Arminians insist that regeneration is the result of our own independent free-will decision of faith. Jesus said that we cannot even see the kingdom apart from the new birth or regeneration. How is it possible for fallen flesh to respond to truth that one is totally oblivious to? Faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God, but flesh cannot hear, perceive, or submit to divine truth. That which is born of flesh is flesh. Until one is born of the Spirit man is flesh, period. In him, that is in his flesh, dwells no good thing (Rom 7:18). Jesus said:

“’It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.  64 But there are some of you who do not believe.’ For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. 65 And He said, ‘Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.” (Jn 6:63-65)

Fallen man is referred to in Scripture as “flesh” (Gen 6:3). Flesh only perceives “flesh-words.” The words of Jesus were “spirit-words.” For that reason, people of the flesh could not believe or come to Him. They needed the Father to give life by His Spirit to whomever He wills. Jesus knew from the beginning to whom the Father had granted life by His Spirit to hear and respond in faith to His “spirit-words,” which the natural man is incapable of hearing, much less believing.

Arminians appeal to the many passages calling upon men to repent and believe as evidence that the unregenerate man has within himself the potential to freely respond in faith. However, they once again fail to realize that, as with the commands of the Law of Moses, God’s commands are not given to show our ability but rather our inability. Even our faith is seen to be of necessity a gift of God, to the praise of the glory of His grace:

“Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.” (Acts 13:48)

The word “appointed” in this passage is from the Greek word tasso which speaks of arranging in order. The idea expressed is that the Father has an appointed time for the salvation of each individual. Only when one’s appointed time comes will he believe, receiving eternal life. For example, even though Paul knew about Jesus and His teachings during His ministry, he did not believe on Him at that time because it wasn’t his appointed time. He was also present when Stephen gave his defense by the power of the Holy Spirit, but he wasn’t given ears to hear and even participated in his stoning. He was doubtlessly familiar with the gospel being proclaimed by the Church he persecuted, but he could not believe because it had not yet been granted to Him by the Father to come to Christ. It wasn’t until he was on the road to Damascus that the Father’s appointed time came, granting him saving faith.

Some Arminians would argue that Paul was the exception to the rule, but I believe that all who have had a true saving encounter with Christ would say that they were brought to faith in a similar manner, even though the details may have been less dramatic. Saving faith is a gift from God. There is no other way to explain how it happens that all who are appointed to eternal life believe without fail. It is the only way to explain how it is that all whom the Father gives to the Son will come to Him. The Lord opens our hearts to believe. Left to our fallen, depraved flesh, we would have never been open to receive Him.

It is said of the religiously pious Lydia that “the Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul” (Acts 16:14). If the Lord had not opened her heart, she would have continued to be just another religiously pious unbeliever like many of us were before we came to saving faith in Christ. Saving faith is a gift of God:

“For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ… to believe in Him…” (Phil 1:29)

Paul, in the context of suffering on behalf of Christ, reminds us as believers that our faith was given to us as a grace-gift. The word translated “granted” is charitzomai which is a derivative of the Greek word for “grace” (charis), indicating that it was graciously given to us to believe in Him. We cannot even boast in our faith, since it was given unto us to believe by God Himself.

Paul says that boasting is excluded with saving faith (Rom 3:27). Is Paul saying that all faith excludes boasting? Absolutely not. For years I attended a church which included a time of “testimonies” in each service. Many “testimonies” were simply sanctified boasting. Some of the most repellent testimonies were those in which they boasted of their faith as though God moved or did such and such because of their great faith. Only recognizing that one believes by grace is boasting excluded.

Arminians insist that faith is the one thing required of our independent self before receiving His benefits, but even our faith is by grace and grace alone. In Acts 18:27, it says of Apollos that he “greatly helped those who had believed through grace.” Those of us who have believed the gospel must humbly admit that we would have never believed were it not for the grace of God enabling us to see and believe unto salvation.

The apostle Paul exults in “our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace” (2Thess 2:16). In what do you place your hope of eternal life, in your own personal faith, or do you rejoice with the recognition that, apart from the grace of God, you would still be an unbeliever in your sins and without hope? Are you believing Satan’s lie that God has done His part, but it is now up to you to do your part if you want to have any consolation or hope in eternal salvation?

Arminians argue that faith must precede regeneration, while Calvinists insist that faith must of necessity follow regeneration, since fallen flesh is totally depraved and unable to respond to the gospel. Jesus said that we cannot even see the kingdom apart from regeneration (Jn 3:3). How then are we to believe the gospel apart from the new birth which opens our eyes to see it in its glory for the first time? Arminians point out that in the New Testament the invitation is often extended to sinners, telling them to believe, without any reference to the need for a prior regeneration. However, it is not to be anticipated that each invitation would be accompanied with a theological discourse, explaining that if the hearers do not believe, it is because it was not given to them to believe at that time.

Considering all that we have already seen concerning man’s total depravity, I cannot agree with the Arminians when they say that we independently believe as a personal free-will decision, and then God follows up on our faith by regenerating us. We exercise the faith that is granted to us when the Lord opens our heart for the first time, thereby enabling us to perceive and receive the gospel. Perceiving, which is necessary in order to believe and receive Christ, requires regeneration (Jn 3:3). Many have confused the order as set forth in John 1:12,13:

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (Jn 1:12-13)

Since “receiving” and “believing” are mentioned in the sentence before regeneration, some think that faith chronologically precedes regeneration. However, upon closer examination, we see that regeneration takes place because of God’s will – not because of our faith and receiving. God brings about regeneration as an act of His sovereign will – not by a decision of our own will. This is further confirmed by James who says:

“Of his own will he gave birth to us by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.” (James 1:18 WEBA)

If it were our own free-will act of faith that brought about regeneration, then it would be regeneration by the will of the flesh. We were born of God or regenerated because God first willed it. Those who were chosen in Christ from the foundation of the world, in the time preordained by God, exercise their God-given faith, believing and receiving Christ.

We see the same sequence in 1John 5:1, where John says: “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.” Although the New King James Version conceals it, this verse clearly indicates that regeneration precedes faith. “Is born” is not in present tense, as the translators rendered it. It is in the perfect tense and passive voice. The verb translated “believes” is in the present, active. Therefore, it should read “Whoever is believing that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.” In other words, if one is believing that Jesus is the Christ, it is because he had previously been born again prior to believing.

However, I don’t see a discernible separation in time between regeneration and our willing response of faith. To argue about which came first is comparable to asking what came first in creation, the chicken or the egg. The obvious answer is neither. The chicken was created together with the eggs in one creative act, just as the plants were created already bearing seeds. The same can be said concerning the new creation. We were re-created, with faith being as much a part of the miracle of the new creation as regeneration itself. Faith is just as integral and spontaneous in the new birth process as is the first breath of a newborn coming out of the birth canal. 

In Adam all die – we are born separated from God and dead in sin. However, the good news—proclaimed in the Early Church, suppressed during the Dark Ages, and overlooked today by Calvinists and Arminians—is that all who die in Adam will be made alive in Christ through faith, at the time ordained by the Father before the foundation of the world.

“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order…. Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him that God may be all in all.” (1Cor 15:22,23a, 28)

In conclusion, we have seen that the overall testimony of Scripture is that man, in his fallen condition, is totally depraved, dead towards God, under the power of the god of this world, spiritually blind, without ears to hear God, and by his very nature a child of wrath. His nature, which is flesh, is at enmity with God. God’s purpose in giving us the Law was to confine us all under disobedience in order to finally have mercy upon all (Rom 11:32). In this present age, the Father is drawing a few elect people to make up the Bride of Christ. However, before Christ delivers up all things to the Father and God becomes all in all, Christ will have drawn all men unto Himself.

“For of (ek) Him and through (dia) Him and to (eis) Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.” (Rom 11:36)

Depravity: The Universal Solution

Obviously, one can be a Universalist and a Pelagianist at the same time. Many liberal Universalists downplay or deny man’s lost condition and the absolute necessity of salvation through faith in Christ’s redemptive work on the cross. Nevertheless, the Scriptures are clear in that we are all under sin, and one must repent and believe the gospel, having been born again of the Spirit, in order to even see the kingdom of God – let alone enter it. Since Pelagianism is self-salvation, a Pelagianist cannot be said to be saved, because biblical salvation requires a Savior outside of oneself.

A religious Pelagian Universalist would be like the Pharisees in the sense that they trust in their own righteousness. Jesus said of them: “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you” (Matt 21:31). It is not that they will never enter but that they will have to enter in the same way as the tax collectors and harlots – through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Those who early recognize their depravity are the first to come to repentance and faith, being born again into the kingdom of God. No one will enter the kingdom of heaven as a Pelagianist. He must enter in by the straight and narrow way – by grace through faith, having been born again of the Spirit.

Biblical Universalists, however, agree with Calvinists that all people are not only born into sin through Adam, but are also born spiritually dead and entirely dependent on the life-giving grace of God in Jesus Christ. The only difference is that the Universalist believes with Paul that “as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive” (1Cor 15:22). The Universalist can say without apology, to the praise of the glory of God’s grace, that the same all who die in Adam will in due time be made alive in Christ. All – having originated in Christ by creation – will be finally restored to Christ before He delivers the kingdom back to the Father and God becomes all in all. As Paul declares:

“For of (ek) Him and through (dia) Him and to (eis) Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.” (Rom 11:36)

All of creation came out of (ek) of God, exists through (dia) Him and will be finally reconciled to (eis, ‘into’) Him. The Universalist does not see the elect as having been chosen to the exclusion of the rest of mankind but rather for their benefit. We are chosen to be a royal priesthood, a light to the nations, the Church of the firstfruits of the rest of God’s new creation:

“Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.” (James 1:18)

Or as the J.B. Phillips Version renders it:

“By his own wish he made us his own sons through the Word of truth that we might be, so to speak, the first specimens of his new creation.”

We, the elect of this age, are only the first to hope in Christ (Eph 1:12). We are only the firstfruits of His new creation The firstfruits of a harvest are the first chosen, but only a very small part of the total harvest. Jesus said: “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (Jn 6:44). But He promised that He will eventually draw all men unto Himself (Jn 12:32). All of God’s creation will finally be restored and set free into the glorious liberty of the manifest sons of God – the firstfruits of God’s new creation, in the time of their manifestation, when He makes all things new (Rom 8:18-23; Rev 21:4-5). In the coming ages, the Church of Jesus Christ – we who have first believed – will be put on display, manifested to the rest of creation, for the praise of the glory of His grace, bringing about the final restoration of all (Eph 1:10-12; 2:7; Acts 3:21; Rom 8:18-23).

The Arminians struggle to explain why a loving Father—after throwing a lifeline to man, who is drowning in a river he never chose—simply leaves those who fail to take hold of the rope to drown without further intervention. It is even more irreconcilable with the love of God, considering that the vast majority of mankind never even saw the lifeline – they never heard the good news of salvation – or else they were too spiritually blind and disoriented to avail themselves of it.

We all know that no loving father would allow his own child to drown simply because the child resists his efforts to save him. He may wait until the child stops struggling before intervening to save him, but to let the child drown simply because he, in his confusion, resists his father’s efforts to rescue him, would be unthinkable. Are we as fathers, made in the image and likeness of God, more compassionate than our Heavenly Father?

Traditionalists would say that we should not question God’s ways. However, it is not a matter of questioning God. What we are commanded to do is to question man’s interpretations of God’s ways when they go against God’s revealed nature as seen in Scripture, or when they fly in the face of all reason. Did not Jesus rebuke the multitude saying: “Why don't you judge for yourselves what is right?” (Luke 12:57). Are we not told to be like our loving heavenly Father who loves all, including His enemies? (Matt 5:44-45). How can we be like Him by loving our enemies and doing good to them, while at the same time believing that God will actually be torturing them throughout all eternity, accordingly as it has pleased him, for the praise of the glory of His infinite justice? [i]

The Calvinists have an even greater dilemma than that of the Arminians because, according to the illustration of the river, the God of the Arminians at least throws out the lifeline for all those who are drowning. Although most drown anyway, since they do not take hold of the lifeline in time, either for lack of knowledge or lack of will, at least Arminians can come closer to saying that there is no partiality with God.

The Calvinists, on the other hand, say that God in eternity predestined only the few chosen elect unto salvation. [ii] The rest were (at least by default) predestined to eternal wrath. They insist that His election is not based upon any merit or demerit of the individual, but solely upon God’s good pleasure, in order to receive glory unto Himself. In the case of the elect, it is for the praise of the glory of His grace. But for the vast majority who were not chosen to salvation, He is pleased to consign, from all eternity, to an everlasting fiery hell, to the praise of His glorious justice.

More will be said about this later. For the moment, it should be obvious that Calvinism presents God in a manner resembling vindictive pagan deities who find glory in the misery of their subjects to demonstrate their might. This stands in stark contrast to the God of Scripture, who declares that He is love and therefore loves all, and has reconciled all creation to Himself through the blood of His cross (2Cor 5:19; Rom 5:8; Col 1:16,20).

Traditionalists, both Calvinists and even many Arminians, generally acknowledge with the Biblical Universalist that God is sovereign, having foreknown and predetermined all things from eternity and is working all things according to His own will. While some Calvinists emphasize a predetermined will based upon a particular love for the elect only, the Arminians would base His election upon Him having foreseen their freewill choice. They both recognize that the fall and redemption were foreknown and included within His plan for the ages, as do the Universalists. However, according to them, ultimate salvation only benefits a select few. The rest, according to them, are predestined by God Himself to an eternal fiery hell which has no redemptive purpose.

According to them, God's plan for the majority is endless torment by a “loving” creator whose wrath is never placated. This unending wrath is against their sins, which – even by their own admission – stem from the misfortune of being born enslaved to sin and Satan through Adam's disobedience.

Lorraine Boettner, a prominent Calvinist, explains the sinner’s plight saying: “Human beings are born with a corrupt nature but are nevertheless fully responsible for the sins they cannot avoid because of this condition.” [iii]  This traditional model of eternal torment for helpless victims is perhaps more compatible with the ancient pagan demigods of Greek mythology who were humanlike and capricious; but this barbaric doctrine is in no way worthy of the all-knowing, all-wise God of the Scriptures whose essential nature is declared to be love.

The Arminians attempt to resolve this contradiction of the divine nature by saying that God voluntarily limits His sovereignty by the freewill decisions of His fallen children. He loves all equally, and in love took away the sins of the whole world once and for all in the person of Jesus Christ upon the cross. Now He can be just and at the same time justify the ungodly who receive Him by faith.

Nevertheless, according to them, those who, for one reason or the other, fail to make the free-will decision for Christ during the brief window of opportunity between the “age of accountability” and death, will forever lose their free-will to choose Christ – even if they didn’t choose Him for the simple reason that they never heard the gospel. And the “sovereign” God who loved them so much that He reconciled the whole world unto Himself, having taken away their sins, will later find himself bound by His own holiness to torment them forever in His wrath, even though He loves them and gave His Son to be the propitiation for their sins, thus enabling Him to maintain His holiness while at the same time being propitious to them in spite of their sins.

Arminians not only unwittingly limit God’s sovereignty in order to protect the free will of man to choose or reject Him; they also deny His sovereignty to save the lost after death. God’s sovereign will for every individual, which is their salvation, is limited, according to them, to one’s lifetime, because He chose to limit Himself to the limited “free-will” of fallen, confused, and lost mortals.

However, after death when they can finally see clearly what Christ accomplished for them upon the cross, somehow they lose forever their free-will to repent and believe the gospel. In turn, God – who loves all without exception and desires that everyone be saved – must  now somehow eternally limit His own “sovereign” free will, condemning those He loves to eternal torment. His love and mercy which never come to an end, must now somehow end forever for the only ones still in need of mercy – the lost multitudes. Our loving Father, who does not reject forever (Lam 3:31-33), would have to violate His own word to subject the objects of His love to eternal wrath. Such a punishment suggests unending vengeance for sins that Christ already bore on the cross.

The Calvinists, on the other hand, get around this problem by denying that love is God’s essential nature. To them, love is not His essence but only an attribute. It is not even God’s governing attribute.  According to them, His holiness is His essential attribute, as though God’s nature could somehow be divided.

However, our God, who is love, found a way to be holy and just while at the same time justifying the ungodly through His greatest demonstration of love ever on the cross. In the cross, mercy and truth met together, and righteousness and peace kissed each other (Ps 85:10). In the cross, God demonstrated that His nature is not divided. He is love, and at the same time He is holy and just in forgiving unworthy sinners. He shows wrath, but in corrective love. He rejects, but not forever, because He is love. He is a consuming fire, but His fire only consumes the dross and refines the gold, because God is love.

Calvinists, in order to justify the traditional doctrine of an eternal hell for the majority, must deny that love was God’s motive in creation. To them, God’s purpose in creation was to magnify His glory, period. God, from eternity, created hell and predetermined that the majority of humanity would suffer eternal torment for the sole purpose of magnifying His infinite justice. God receives glory by creating an eternal fiery hell and predestining the vast majority of mankind to suffer at His hands in order to bring praise to His name, magnifying the glory of His infinite justice in the form of implacable wrath.

In contrast, the Universalist sees the glory of both God’s infinite justice and His infinite love demonstrated on the cross, where Jesus Christ took upon Himself the sins of the whole world. This view avoids presenting God as one who torments most of humanity in hell just to receive admiration.

If God indeed wished to receive praise by showing not only His love but also His holiness in the form of unending wrath and eternal torture, we would at least expect Him to choose the majority for salvation and only predestine a few to eternal torment, since He could adequately show all creation how holy He is by torturing just a few, without needing to torment the majority. To torment the vast majority while only showing mercy on a few would actually mitigate His glory rather than magnifying it.

Clearly in the Scriptures, God’s glory is best displayed in the Cross. God is ultimately glorified in the praise of the glory of His grace. His infinite wisdom is best revealed in converting His enemies into His most devout subjects. The God of infinite love and mercy would never seek to receive glory by setting in motion a plan for the ages which would end in eternal ruin and misery for the vast majority. The glory of agape love is in giving – not receiving. While God is seen at times to be glorified when the enemies of His people are defeated, His glory should not be seen in the act of avenging, but rather in the act of graciously delivering his people from their enemies. Ultimately, His glory is magnified by conquering His enemies by the power of His love:

“Say to God, ‘how awesome are Your works! Through the greatness of Your power your enemies shall submit themselves to You. 4 All the earth shall worship You and sing praises to You; they shall sing praises to Your name’.” (Ps 66:3-4)

The psalmist declares that all the earth will worship and sing praises to Him when, through the greatness of His power, even His worst enemies submit themselves to Him. His glory is displayed in the greatness of His love, not His wrath. I personally feel troubled and indignant when I contemplate how much God’s glorious loving character has been villainized by the traditional doctrine of eternal torment. Even John Piper – who has put forth his best effort to present the traditional Calvinistic doctrine of Total Depravity in a manner worthy of God – refers to it as a “terrible truth” when set alongside the doctrine of Limited Atonement. [iv] And this in spite of the fact that he modifies the traditional model in order to make it more palatable. Any way you approach this terrible traditional doctrine, you cannot help but feel a sense of blasphemy just contemplating the logical conclusions implicit in both Arminian and Calvinist dogma.

Traditionalists designate these “truths” as doctrines too “terrible” and mysterious for mortal man to contemplate. They discourage any sincere criticism, calling it “divine mystery.” According to them, to bring into question the Scriptural validity of these terrible, dark mysteries is to exalt one’s own reason to the point of becoming judges of God’s ways and borders on blasphemy. However, with all due respect, we are not questioning God, but rather man’s interpretations of God in the light of the Scriptures. We are commanded in Scripture to test all things, to hold fast what is good, and abstain from every form of evil (1Thess 5:21-22). I do not believe that anyone can sincerely and critically carry these traditional doctrines to their inevitable, logical conclusions without recognizing that they are monstrously evil, unscriptural and unworthy of our God, and that we should therefore reject them without reserve.

I recognize that there are many dear men and women of God who hold to these doctrines whose love and devotion towards God are unquestionable. However, I believe that the majority of them have not dared to critically examine these “terrible dark truths” in the light of God’s nature as revealed in the Scriptures. Sadly, for many, the approval of man is more important than the approval of God, and for that reason, they are not willing to think outside of the traditional box.

[i] The Westminster Confession of Faith of Calvinism states: “The rest of mankind God was pleased, according to the unsearchable counsel of His own will, whereby He extendeth or withholdeth mercy, as He pleaseth, for the glory of His Sovereign power over His creatures, to pass by; and to ordain them to dishonour and wrath for their sin, to the praise of His glorious justice.”

[ii] They would argue that the elect are not just a few but a great multitude. Nevertheless, throughout history not even ten percent of all humanity could be said to have been Christians.

[iii] Lorraine Boettner, The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination, p. 63

[iv] Piper, John (2013-11-10). Five Points (Kindle Locations 223-229). Christian Focus Publications. Kindle Edition.

by George Sidney Hurd

The following is an extract from The Triumph of Mercy

Near-death experiences refer to visions told by people whose souls left their bodies while close to death. Although records of these experiences go back to before the time of Christ across many religions, they have become much more frequent in recent decades. A 1981 survey in the United States revealed that 15% of Americans reported having a near-death experience. With improved urgent care and life support systems, those figures have increased even more in recent years. In a survey conducted in hospitals by Kenneth Ring, he discovered that a third of those who were close to death or pronounced clinically dead and came back reported having had a transcendental experience. Although the majority of these experiences are positive, some people had negative experiences where they found themselves in hell or purgatory.

I have read extensively on the subject during the last 20 years. In October of 2013, I was hospitalized for 17 days and for three days I was between life and death. Due to the immune suppressants I take to prevent the rejection of my transplanted liver, an insect bite developed into an abscess and quickly became life threatening. After flying out of the jungle in a small plane, I was met by an ambulance in Villavicencio. After four hours on the winding highway, I arrived at the hospital in Bogota, where they drained the abscess and removed over a liter of infected material. My blood was poisoned with a bacterium called Staphylococcus aureus, which often causes death.

During those three days, I left my body three times. Each time I would fall abruptly back into my body and would feel its limitations in my weakened state. While out of body, I floated over beautiful terrains and saw colors I had never seen since my days on LSD and other hallucinogenic drugs during the 1960s, and I saw geometric images that defied the imagination. In one instance I found myself talking to someone dressed in white just before reentering my body. I knew that we had been conversing for some time, but I don’t remember the conversation, except for the last part when I was about to pass through a veil, beyond which I could see the hospital with sleeping patients in different beds. I knew it was time to reenter my body, and I remember asking the person in white how I would know if I had entered the right body. He said that I would know when I repeated the number “361.”  

The next moment, I felt myself fall abruptly into a body. Startled, I lifted my head and looked around the room and at my body to determine where I was. I couldn’t even recognize my own physical form and felt quite agitated. It was 2:00 a.m., and a nurse stood beside me taking my vital signs. She told me to be still. I looked around the room again, but I still couldn’t tell where I was. When I saw the monitor, I saw several numbers and looked for “361” but they were all different numbers. I looked around the room and at my body once again and then looked back at the monitor just as it registered my temperature. It read 36.1 Centigrade. As soon as I repeated “361” out loud I suddenly recognized my own body.

I confess this was a very strange experience. I don’t even remember most of the conversation. I just remember that I was in a place where there was much light, and I had a great sense of peace and well-being. The person I was with emanated love and wisdom. I would have concluded that I was just hallucinating if it were not for the fact that I was given the sign “361” before returning to my body and seeing it appear later on the monitor.

While I do not discount the authenticity of some of these out of body experiences as encounters with the spiritual realm, I do not believe that we should let these subjective experiences have any influence upon the formation of our doctrines concerning the afterlife – especially when these experiences are not in agreement with the Scriptures. The fact is that much of what individuals report having seen and heard in near-death experiences directly contradicts the Bible.

Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).  Though many testimonies from Christians and non-Christians confirm these words, a different pattern emerges globally. The vast majority of people who experience near-death states – including atheists and those of other faiths – testify of moving toward a light and having ecstatic experiences. Notably, many of these accounts make no mention whatsoever of Jesus Christ. Because of this, many people – giving more weight to these subjective experiences than to the words of Jesus Himself – have ceased to believe that it is necessary to come to God through Christ. For them, it is no longer essential to put one’s faith in Jesus Christ, since Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Indigenous animists, and even Atheists have found themselves in heaven in these experiences without the need for repentance and faith in Christ.

The Scriptures are very clear in emphasizing the need of holiness to be in the presence of the Lord:

“Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.” (Heb 12:14)

“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Gal 5:19-21)

“For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.” (Eph 5:5-6)

“Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there)…. 27 But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.” (Rev 21:25,27)

In spite of these clear declarations of the scriptures, even some pastors say, based upon the testimonies of persons who have had near-death experiences, that holiness of life is not necessary in order to inherit the kingdom of God at death. I just finished reading a book written by a pastor concerning near-death experiences called: “Revealing Heaven – The Christian Case for Near-Death Experiences” by John W. Price. [i] Based on accounts of positive near-death experiences shared by homosexuals, he dismisses the biblical prohibition of these and other acts as “cultural taboos” turned into “religious dogmas.”

We must decide whether we are going to base our convictions upon subjective near-death experiences or upon what the word of God says. The Bible is very clear concerning these sins:

“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1Cor 6:9-11)

“as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” (Jude 7)

“But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Rev 21:8)

The present day increase in the frequency of these near-death experiences and visions is in part due to improved urgent care and life support systems, making it possible to revive more individuals from the brink of death. However, another factor that we should take into account is the source of the revelations. They return with revelations from the spirit realm, but are they always true revelations of spiritual realities beyond this life? Paul warns us that “Satan himself disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14). I am convinced that at least some of the experiences in these last days – especially revelations that contradict the word of God – are from the deceiving spirits warned of in Scripture:

“for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” (2Tim 4:3,4)

Paul says here that they will not endure sound teaching but rather, according to their own desires, they will seek out teachers for themselves who will tell them myths instead of the truth. And where do these fables originate? From the imagination of the teachers, or is there something more sinister hidden behind their fables? In another passage Paul reveals the true source of many of these teachings:

“Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.” (1Tim 4:1)

Without discounting the reality that many of the near-death experiences are genuine encounters with God and revelations of heaven and hell, as with any revelation, vision, prophecy or miracle, we need discernment so as not to believe every spirit but rather to test the spirits to see if they are of God (1John 4:1). In 1John 4:3 John says that every spirit that doesn’t confess Jesus is not of God, but rather is antichrist. Many revelations of near-death experiences are antichrist because they exclude the need of Christ for salvation. They are very similar to the increasingly frequent revelations from communications given by “extra-terrestrials” and supposed messages received from the dead – phenomena which are also on the rise in these last days.

In the same way that we need to exercise discernment concerning revelations of heaven, we also need discernment concerning supposed revelations of hell. We must examine them in the light of the Scriptures. Many of these revelations deceive by taking from the Word, but others deceive by adding details which are not found in Scripture. I have read or heard many testimonies of visions of hell, and the most outstanding characteristic to me is their many conflicting details. They often contain details which are not in Scripture, contradict the Word, or defy all logic.

Jesus said of the eonian fire that it was prepared for the devil and his angels. The obvious idea expressed here is that it is a place of punishment prepared for them, where they will be tormented along with the unjust among mankind. Nevertheless, the typical testimony of hell describes it as if hell belonged to Satan and as though the demons and fallen angels were the tormentors rather than the tormented.

Many give descriptions of worms eating the bodies of the tormented. In the case of the seven Colombian youth who describe what they saw in hell, the worms were giants. Yet, the rest who mention worms describe them as normal in size. [ii] These testimonies which describe worms in hell seem to have been influenced by misapplications of texts which simply speak of dead bodies being consumed by maggots:

“And they shall go forth and look upon the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh." (Isa 66:24)

This passage is a judgment declared against those who come against Jerusalem. It is not a description of the torments of hell. It simply says that those near Jerusalem will see the corpses of their enemies being eaten by worms and consumed by fire, and their stench will be an abhorrence to all who pass by. The worms do not die off, and the fire doesn’t go out until the corpses are fully consumed. We see a similar description of the corpse of the king of Babylon being eaten by worms in Isaiah 14:10-11 where it says:

“They will all respond, they will say to you, ‘You also have become weak, as we are; you have become like us.’ 11 All your pomp has been brought down to the grave, along with the noise of your harps; maggots are spread out beneath you and worms cover you.” (Isa 14:10-11)

Here, as in Isaiah 66, he is speaking of the decomposition of corpses. Here it refers to the corpse of the king of Babylon. It is saying that all who were awed by his splendor will be amazed to see his despicable death. In verse 18 through 20 it gives more detail saying:

“All the kings of the nations lie in state, each in his own tomb. 19 But you are cast out of your tomb like a rejected branch; you are covered with the slain, with those pierced by the sword, those who descend to the stones of the pit. Like a corpse trampled underfoot, 20 you will not join them in burial.” (Isa 14:18-20 NIV)

It should be obvious that what is being described here is not the king’s soul being tormented in hell, but rather his dead corpse lying in a heap with others slain in battle, being consumed by maggots. It speaks of him as being deprived of his own royal tomb, which was an important legacy for great kings. Such a despicable death for the mighty king of Babylon would have caused great wonder to all who observed his end. If it caused worldwide astonishment to see the end of dictators like Hitler, Saddam Hussein and Gadhafi, one can just imagine how it would be for a world ruler like the king of one of the greatest empires of the ancient world.

Therefore, the testimonies of hell which describe disembodied souls being eaten by worms are not based upon what the Scriptures actually teach. They were most likely influenced by hellfire sermons which misinterpreted the verses speaking of maggots consuming the corpses of the dead. These descriptions can also be produced by deceiving spirits who are known for misapplying Scriptures to their own advantage in order to malign the character of God.

There is a website where one can read about visions of hell from several different world religions. [iii] On their page that is dedicated to the Christian hell, there are some 30 visions of hell within Christianity from 100 years before Christ, up to the fifteenth century. The belief in purgatory was promoted and formally adopted by the Catholic Church in the eleventh century. It is interesting to observe that later visions usually described both hell and purgatory, although today—at least among Protestants—purgatory is no longer mentioned in these accounts. During the Dark Ages, most near-death experiences were negative, telling of torments, fire, and darkness. Nowadays, in a time when hellfire and condemnation are rarely preached from pulpits, most accounts share pleasant experiences of light, peace, and love.

One testimony I listened to was from a young girl who attended a legalistic church. She said she was shown a place in hell reserved for women who had short hair, wore pants, and died without repenting. Knowing that many women with long hair and long dresses were also gossips and slanderers, I wondered how it would be decided which compartment in hell was most appropriate for each person.

Others, who attended churches where tithing was imposed, testified to seeing people swimming in a lake of molten lava with signs on their chests which said: "I didn't tithe." It is common to hear testimonies in which sin groups are compartmentalized in hell – one place for those who didn't tithe, another place for fornicators, another for liars, etc. This would not be logical, since most would fall into several different categories. The fornicator most likely didn't tithe either, and probably lied, slandered, and wore pants and makeup as well. Judgment will be according to all our works, and not just one predominant category.

This concept of categories does not come from Scripture but from other religions such as the Hindus and Buddhists, and from writers with a morbid imagination like Dante. A woman who sold many copies of her book on her supposed visions of hell, described hell as a lake of fire about the size of a football field. I couldn’t help wondering how all would be able to fit in a lake the size of a football field if 90% of humanity plus Satan and his angels and the demons are in it. One best-seller said that in hell nobody had any memory of God. On the other hand, many others say that which most torments those in hell is not being able to stop thinking about God, while knowing that there no longer exists the possibility of being reconciled to Him.

Some testimonies giving details of hell have been exposed as intentional fraud to mock Christians for their gullibility. Others were invented by “evangelists” looking for more converts, while some people have gained a fortune by selling books and videos of their supposed visions.

I think it is worth noting that nearly all who have had negative near-death experiences of hell were delivered and allowed to come back into their bodies when they cried out to God for mercy. This would be in agreement with Christian Universalism and the Scriptures we have seen thus far:

“The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy. 9 The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works.” (Ps 145:8-9)

“For the Lord will not cast off forever. 32 Though He causes grief, yet He will show compassion according to the multitude of His mercies. 33 For He does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.” (Lam 3:31-33)

“Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But God does not take away life; instead, he devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him.” (2Sam 14:14 NIV)

In my teens, under the effects of hallucinogenic drugs, I had several hellish experiences. Nevertheless, looking back on those experiences now with a clearer perspective and with a personal knowledge of God, I do not attribute them to God, but rather to the enemy. We should not derive our beliefs concerning hell from visions and near-death experiences. Paul wrote: "Even if an angel from heaven were to preach another gospel different from the pure good news of Jesus Christ, let him be accursed" (Gal 1:8). Neither should our convictions be based upon the imagination of writers like Dante, but solely upon the Word of God. Even then, we need to learn to distinguish between that which is literal and that which is metaphorical.

Most of all, we need to have our eyes opened to “be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height – to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that we may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph 3:18-19). Many of God’s people do not comprehend the immensity of His love. Instead of opening up to receive the fullness of God, they open themselves up to fear-motivated religion and end up being instead “filled with all the fullness of fear” – fear of a sadistic and angry god. The enemy is not only our accuser, accusing us before God, but he is also God’s accuser, accusing God before us. He does everything within his power to blind our eyes so that we cannot see the good news of the gospel in all its glory. Many of the descriptions of hell discount the salvific work of the cross of Christ and limit the love and mercy of God which, endure forever.

I have concluded that most testimonies of hell do not agree with Scripture or produce good fruit in people’s lives. Scripture contains no examples of “evangelizing” lost souls with threats of hell or traumatizing people with graphic details of endless torment to motivate them to accept Christ. The threat of hell was used in the Dark Ages by institutionalized religion in order to keep the masses in line and the coffers full, but that is not what we find in the early Church. Jesus said: “But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself” (John 12:32 NIV). [i] Think about it: what was it that drew you to Christ – the threat of hell or the love of God in Christ Jesus?

As Christians, what is it that transforms us into the image of Christ? The fear of hell? Many ministers enslave the people of God, using the fear of hell as a whip to drive them to work harder and give more. But does that really make us more like Christ? We can only become like Him through a personal relationship with Him – a relationship based upon love and trust. Fear-based religion often produces dead works. However, only a relationship of love can produce the fruits of a life transformed by His presence.

[i] The word “men” is not in the Greek text but was added by the translators.

[i] John W. Price, Revealing Heaven – A Christian Case for Near-Death Experiences, Kindle format

[ii] www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3CwknAC8RI‎

[iii] http://www.hell-on-line.org