December 28, 2007
“THIS IS THE ONLY DAY OF SALVATION!!” thunders the evangelist to his trembling parishioners! “If you’re not saved TODAY, YOU WILL BE LOST FOREVER!” he roars, as all the audience shouts a loud “AMEN!”
Friends, is this preacher, right? Did you ever stop to even ask the question? Where does he get this idea? Does he realize how many scriptures it contradicts and how many questions it leaves unanswered and how foolish, inept, and downright cruel it makes God out to be?
Practically every church in the world believes that TODAY is the ONLY DAY of SALVATION, from the Baptists to the Seventh Day Adventists. But are they correct? Can they explain the dozens of scriptures that I am about to point out? Do they base their beliefs on the inspired word of God, or on traditions? On facts, or on feelings?
Consider this; if they are correct then there is no hope for the unsaved dead, who have nothing to look forward do but eternity pushing a rock uphill in hell; but if I’m right, they have a FUTURE, and they are not yet lost forever! If there is even a tiny chance of seeing your departed loved ones again in a happier time, wouldn’t you want to know it? Isn’t it worth your time to get the FACTS, and find for yourself what the BIBLE says?
So let’s honestly, fairly, look at this doctrine and see if that really is what the Bible says, and if so, change and embrace the TRUTH of God using the BIBLE ALONE as our guide, and not the traditions of men!
THE KEY SCRIPTURE
The key scripture they quote does seem, at first, like a powerful one. Let’s look at it up front.
2 Corinthians 6:2 (KJV) For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)
And there you go. At a glance, that certainly looks like this is the ONLY time when you can be saved. And based on this the preacher screams “So get SAVED today, or BURN forever!” … But this doctrine, if true, condemns most of the world, perhaps 98% of all mankind since the creation of Adam to hellfire with no hope of salvation! And that includes many if not most of our family and friends, if they’re not saved in this time. So let’s make SURE that we are right, and look deeper than the surface, and make CERTAIN we have the truth.
When Paul was inspired to write 2 Corinthians 6:2, he did so in the Greek language. And the Greek language has a peculiarity which is a bit hard for us to understand today – it had no such thing as a definite or indefinite article in the language. That means that there was no such word as “the”, or “a”, in the Greek language.
For example, if I said to you “I want the salad”, meaning THE salad, the ONLY one, in Greek it would convey the same meaning as “I want A salad”, meaning ANY salad, any one of many. In Greek, both “I want a salad” and “I want the salad” are written as “I want salad”. Incidentally, the same is true of the Hebrew language.
This concept is a bit hard to understand for someone who has always spoken a language as articulate as English, but it is a fact. And so when they translated “now is THE day of salvation”, the word “the” was supplied by the translators, because they thought Paul would have said “THE day of salvation”, had he been speaking English. But PAUL didn’t tell us! The language DID NOT PRESERVE whether Paul meant THE day, or A day, of salvation!
The Young’s Literal Translation, which is the most faithful to the original meaning of the words, although sometimes at the expense of clarity, renders the verse
2 Corinthians 6:2 (YLT) for He saith, ‘In an acceptable time I did hear thee, and in A day of salvation I did help thee, lo, now is A well-accepted time; lo, now, A day of salvation,’ –
Please remember that I am not making this up; I’m just showing what the Bible actually does say, and we’re going to let it speak for itself. If that was the only verse in the Bible on the subject, it would be different, but fortunately this is far from the only one on this subject.
WHAT DOES GOD WANT?
So let’s start by asking a question. Does God want men to be saved, or lost? God is a God of love, right? He wants men SAVED, if it’s at all possible, right? Of course, He does. The following verses ALL testify of God’s desire that ALL men should be saved.
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, NOT WILLING THAT ANY should perish, but that ALL should come to repentance.
John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that THE WORLD through him might be SAVED.
1 Timothy 2:4 (KJV) Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
1 Timothy 2:4 (RSV) who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
I’m quoting all these scriptures, so there can be NO MISTAKE about what God wants. God is a God of love – a God who would feel terrible anguish at having to destroy ANY of His children! God LOVES the world so much that He sent HIS ONLY SON to DIE for its sins! God loves the WHOLE WORLD THAT MUCH!
And finally, God’s desire is for ALL MEN TO BE SAVED! And He wants ALL MEN to come to the knowledge of the truth – ALL MEN! He cares more about them than any one of you could POSSIBLY care about them, and He wants them ALL to be SAVED! I’m sure you agree with me on this, don’t you? Of course, you do, everyone would. Now keep your eye on me. Make sure I’m not making any of this up.
Ephesians 2:11-12 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands-remember that you were at that time SEPARATED FROM CHRIST, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and STRANGERS TO THE COVENANTS of promise, HAVING NO HOPE and WITHOUT GOD IN THE WORLD.
For 4000 years of Earth’s history, until the time of Christ, over 98% of its population was not Israelite, and had NO HOPE, they were a STRANGER to the covenant, and ALIENATED from Israel, SEPARATED FROM CHRIST, and WITHOUT GOD IN THE WORLD!
That means that 98% of the world’s population NEVER HAD THE FIRST CHANCE AT SALVATION! Most of them never even HEARD OF GOD! Many millions today, HAVE NEVER EVEN HEARD THE NAME OF JESUS, THE ONLY NAME UNDER HEAVEN WHEREBY MEN MUST BE SAVED!!
Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is NONE OTHER NAME under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
WITHOUT THE NAME OF CHRIST, YOU CAN’T BE SAVED! Those other nations are today, and have been throughout history, ALIENATED from CHRIST! They have had NO HOPE of salvation!
Again, is that what the Bible is saying, or is that what I’m saying? I want it clear that I AM NOT SAYING THIS! God IS!
And so here is the question I want to present. Would a God of LOVE, a God who CARES about ALL of His children, a God who fervently desires that ALL MEN could be saved, make 50 BILLION PEOPLE BURN IN HELL FOR THE TERRIBLE CRIME OF NEVER HAVING HEARD HIS NAME???
Think about it! These men NEVER HAD A CHANCE – God said so! Most NEVER HEARD HIS NAME! They COULDN’T have been saved! And the all-powerful God who rules the universe, DIDN’T CARE ENOUGH ABOUT THOSE POOR PEOPLE to send them enough prophets to TELL them HIS ONLY SAVING TRUTH???
And STILL hasn’t found time EVEN TODAY, as we near the end of this world, and the “closing of the door of salvation”, and God STILL hasn’t cared enough about them to make sure people in China and Africa KNOW HIS WORDS OF LIFE??
IS THAT THE GOD YOU SERVE???
I most certainly HOPE NOT! Because that is NOT a God of love! That is a selfish, PETTY MONSTER!
ON THE OTHER HAND
But I’ll calm down a bit now. I always get on my high horse on that subject because it is SO WRONG! And SO DAMAGING to people who believe it! And the truth is SO WONDERFUL, and SO AMAZING, and SO OBVIOUS, to anyone who looks at the Bible with wide eyes and a willing heart! And it reveals that God IS a God of love, who DOES want all the world to be saved, and who is most certainly going to give each and every one of His children that chance!
Now let’s look at the Bible verses that prove – unequivocally – that there IS another day of salvation, and that this is most positively NOT the only day of salvation! The first one takes place in the gentile city of Corinth. There was a man who was having… inappropriate relations, shall we say, with His father’s wife. This violates several different commandments, and so clearly this man is sinning. And Paul yells at the Corinthians quite soundly for putting up with this for so long and not doing anything about it. Now look at what he instructs them to do…
1 Corinthians 5:4-5 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, THAT THE SPIRIT MAY BE SAVED in the day of the Lord Jesus.
Did you catch what that said? Again, not what I said, but what the Bible said? It said that they should send this man OUT of the church, BACK into Satan’s world, to live out his life and die in his sins… that is, to die unsaved… and did you see why he said that? Did you notice the incredible reason that Paul gave? He said SO THAT THE SPIRIT COULD BE SAVED!
And when did He say it would be saved? In the DAY of the LORD JESUS! Friends, that means a time AFTER Christ’s second coming! A time after his second coming when this backsliding, unrepentant, and therefore unsaved sinner would have a NEW CHANCE AT SALVATION!
Now hold on – I know what you’re going to say. “Awww, Natnee, you’re just preaching a doctrine of a second chance!”
Now wait a minute. First of all, *I* am not preaching anything here. *I* didn’t SAY that this man should be left to die in his sins so that his spirit might be saved later! The Apostle PAUL DID! You read it there, and you’ve got a Bible – look it up for yourself, don’t even trust me to quote it right! And if you have a problem with what Paul says, well, take it up with him, not me!
And secondly, neither I nor Paul is preaching a second chance here. It’s time you understood what this life was for, and WHY God is calling you to be saved. Then this will all make sense. Revelation 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
This is the job of the saved. If you make it, you will be a KING, and a PRIEST, reigning ON THE EARTH. Think about this for a minute – what does a KING do? He rules, right? He’s in charge, right? Right! And so if you’re in heaven or on earth, in the Kingdom of God, and everyone who was saved is a KING… that means everyone is in charge, right? That’s a good, fair system isn’t it?
Actually, no! That would be anarchy. Or communism. Or chaos. Or too many chiefs and, um, NO Indians! Clearly, something is wrong with this picture. If you are a KING, it means there has to be SOMEONE (a LOT of someone’s) that you rule OVER!
That was point one. The second part of the job is to be a PRIEST. What does a priest do?
Malachi 2:7 For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.
Quite clearly the Bible says the job of the priest is to keep knowledge, and to tell people about the law, and generally be a messenger for God. Tell me, be honest now – after Christ returns and resurrects the saved, WHO will need to be taught the law, WHO will need to be told knowledge, and WHO will need a message from God?
The angels? They *ARE* messengers for God, they don’t need YOU to take messages to them! They KNOW the law, they don’t need taught. They ARE wise, and they don’t need wisdom! No, if you are to be a king and a priest – and the Bible is most clear that that is the job of the saved – then YOU MUST HAVE PEOPLE WHO NEED TO BE TAUGHT THE LAW!
Right? Did I make that up? Does it not make sense? Does it disagree with scripture? No, of course it doesn’t. But still, I bet you’re worried about that doctrine of a second chance. Well, here is the thing. THERE IS NO SECOND CHANCE!
NOT A SECOND CHANCE
There, I said it. Happy? Good. Now let me prove it. God is saving, in this time, the FIRSTBORN. The saved from this time are ALWAYS, and ONLY, referred to as the FIRSTFRUITS.
James 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
Revelations 14:4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the FIRSTFRUITS unto God and to the Lamb.
These scriptures picture the saved from this time, those who follow God wherever He goes, the REDEEMED FROM AMONG MEN! But wait a minute. The Bible says firstfruits there, doesn’t it? And it says Firstborn in other places. Now let me ask you a question.
If we were chatting, and you asked me how old my CHILD (singular) was, and I was to answer you “Well, my FIRST child is 17”, what would you think? That I had only one child? Of course not. The very fact that there IS a firstborn, a FIRST fruits, means that logically, you must at the very least be EXPECTING there to be a SECOND born, a SECOND fruits! Otherwise, you’d just say “fruits”, not “firstfruits”. Right? Right.
See we, you and I, those of us whom God is calling in this time, are just the first crop. The first harvest. But the VAST majority of those who ever lived will NOT be a part of that harvest! Remember the scriptures that say “NARROW is the way that leads to life and…” what did it say next? MANY there be that find it? NO! It said that “FEW FIND IT!” (Matthew 7:14)
So why don’t they “find it”? Some are too busy with the cares of this world. Some are not able to resist deception. Some can’t make the choice between God and their family. Some just don’t care about truth at all. But they are the few. The vast majority of the “unsaved” simply were never called by God.
You see, in order for you to come to Christ, in order for you to understand His words, God must first open your eyes to see the truth, and He must PERSONALLY lead you to Christ! No man can do it! Christ said that…
John 6:44 NO MAN CAN come to me, EXCEPT the Father which hath sent me DRAW HIM: …
This means that if God the Father does not DRAW a man to Christ in this life, and CALL him, HE CANNOT BE SAVED! And again I ask, if God wants ALL men to be saved, and yet they can’t be saved if HE DOESN’T DRAW THEM TO CHRIST, then WHY HASN’T HE DRAWN THEM TO CHRIST??
John 6:44-45 …and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be ALL taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, AND HATH LEARNED OF THE FATHER, cometh unto me.
God says that HE has to PERSONALLY call you, and draw you to Christ. And He also says that
1 Corinthians 1:26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that NOT MANY men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, ARE CALLED:
God hasn’t called most of the world down through time. Most of ancient Israel just was not led to God. But they are not lost! God has beautiful prophecies for their future! They are yet to have THEIR CHANCE AT ENTERING THE FAMILY OF GOD! The people who in this life never were called, or perhaps never even heard the NAME of Christ, will be offered the RIVERS of living water, the holy spirit of God (John 7:37), and given their FIRST CHANCE to accept it!
Ezekiel 37:4-11 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: … So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and OUR HOPE IS LOST: we are cut off for our parts.
Remember, this was the WHOLE house of Israel, most of whom God had NEVER called, who had DIED unsaved in THIS AGE! (Romans 10-12) And God promises to RESURRECT those people, who said that their bones were dried, and their HOPE WAS LOST! At the risk of repeating myself, these people WERE NOT SAVED during this life, or their hope WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN LOST!
These bones said THEIR HOPE WAS LOST! And ALL of Christendom believes EXACTLY the same thing today! But what does God tell these “lost” bones? What does He promise these unsaved dead?
Ezekiel 37:12-14 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.
God says that they shall HEAR his word, and KNOW that HE is the Lord, and God promises that HE WILL PUT HIS SPIRIT IN THEM! THIS IS SALVATION we are talking about here! He is offering them the LIVING RIVERS of waters, and promising that THEY SHALL KNOW HIM!
God uses the house of Israel as an example of what He will do for ALL men in that great day when “…the earth shall be FULL of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” (Isaiah 11:9)
Isaiah 65:18-20 But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall DIE an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.
God said that He will create Jerusalem REJOICING! He said that He will take ALL of the voice of weeping and crying OUT of it! Is there weeping and crying in Jerusalem tonight? Will there be every night until after the return of Christ! Most definitely yes! Then this prophecy HAS NOT YET BEEN FULFILLED! And yet the same prophecy promises that in THOSE DAYS – after this has happened – no child will die an infant, nor will there be people who die young – but that ALL will live out a full life span and DIE!
God promises that after He returns He will restore Jerusalem and that there will be PHYSICAL PEOPLE, who LIVE AND DIE! This dovetails perfectly with the resurrected dead of Ezekiel 37! There are literally HUNDREDS of these prophecies in the Bible, and only a FOOL could read them and conclude that THIS IS THE ONLY DAY OF SALVATION!
Hebrews 8:10-11 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for ALL SHALL KNOW ME, from the least to the greatest.
This covenant wasn’t even begun until the time of Christ, and yet God promised that He would RESURRECT unsaved Israel, and indeed, the ENTIRE unsaved WORLD and MAKE THIS COVENANT WITH THEM!
Oh what an incredible, what an awesome, stupendous piece of understanding, to know that God is a loving God, who wants ALL men to be saved (2 Peter 3:9, John 3:16-17, 1 Timothy 2:2), and is not going to stop this plan until EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM HAS BEEN ABLE TO KNOW HIM, and then CHOOSE for himself either death, or everlasting life!
This means that your family, your friends, your dearest loved ones who never accepted Christ, who never loved God the way that you did, are not lost forever. You will one day see them again, in a time when Satan isn’t deceiving the whole world. In a world where God rules the earth, and the first fruits, the elder brothers and sisters who were saved in this life, will lead the younger brothers and sisters into the ways of God and give them their chance at salvation, and their opportunity to inherit life.
And if they still refuse to obey God, and reject His rule once they fully know the plan of God, and the glory of His Kingdom, then God will have no choice but to destroy them so that they will be unable to hurt others. But you, and God, and everyone in the universe will know that God loved them, and did all that He could to offer them life.
Friends, is that not a God of love? Is that not a God YOU would be proud to serve? A God who wants ALL men to come to repentance? Doesn’t this glorious truth lift a great burden off your shoulders to know that the Bible says that you will one day be able to help your family get to know God, and that one day they will WANT to know Him, even if today they hate you for mentioning His name?
And what a relief to know that just because a loved one wasn’t called in this life, and never was saved, they haven’t purchased a one-way ticket to a lake burning with fire! To know that God’s plan isn’t so short-sighted that it ends with the first resurrection, but that one day there will be a SECOND resurrection, AFTER the first resurrection when the FIRSTFRUITS are saved!
JUDGEMENT “DAY”
Revelation 20:11-13 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, ACCORDING TO THEIR WORKS. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Everyone reads this and says “Well, if you’re not saved in THIS time, you’re resurrected and stand before the throne of God, some sort of an angelic bailiff intones all of your crimes, and God raps his gavel and says “Guilty”, in a deep, gravelly voice, and you are forced to walk the plank into the lake of fire.”
But if that is true, I have to ask a few questions. First of all, this is talking about a judgment period, correct? Of course it is, it says so right there. And what is God judging? Their works. Again, it says so right there. But…see, here is my problem. All of the saved will be resurrected at the return of Christ, right? Of course they will. So… doesn’t that mean that these people were ALREADY JUDGED as Unsaved??
If God passed over them at the first resurrection, then He would have had to ALREADY judge them as not worthy of eternal life, so they don’t NEED to be judged according to their works, GOD ALREADY DID THAT!! Isn’t that right? Am I making this up? No, you know I’m not.
But that’s only one question. I have another good one, too. The wages of sin is… what? You know this one, right? Of course you do. The wages of sin is DEATH. But here is the question. How MANY deaths? Is the wages of sin… 10 deaths? Three deaths? Two deaths? Only one death, you say? Alright…
Then… no matter HOW evil you are… when you DIE, you pay the WAGES of sin, so you have clean slate with God, right? Does He need to resurrect you just so He can kill you again? Doesn’t that make the wages of sin TWO deaths? It would, wouldn’t it? Of course, you and I can apply the sacrifice of Christ, and use HIS death to pay for OUR sins. But if we don’t do that, if we don’t have the death of Christ covering us, we will pay for our OWN sins when we die, won’t we? You probably hadn’t thought of it before, but I think you’ll agree that’s how it works.
What all of this means is that when the “wicked dead” are resurrected by God – an act of grace, by the way – they have no debt to pay! They paid for their sins with their own death. And they have nothing to be judged for, since God already passed over them at the resurrection. So there is NO need to throw them in the lake of fire.
Revelation 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
And yet CLEARLY, some will be thrown in that lake of fire. So what can all this mean? Are you having fun yet? I know I am! But I have ONE more question before I explain the TRUE, SIMPLE, BIBLE ANSWER. And that is that if the “wicked dead” were passed over for the FIRST resurrection, they weren’t written in the book of life when they died, right? Since all who are written in that book would have been resurrected. Right? Ok. So then WHY does God resurrect these people who had PAID for their sins, who had been JUDGED unworthy of the first resurrection, and who were NOT in the book of life, and then OPEN UP THE BOOK OF LIFE AND LOOK FOR THEIR NAMES IN IT!!
Is God SENILE? Did He FORGET why He didn’t resurrect them?? Did He not KNOW that none of these people could POSSIBLY be written in the book of life?? I have a hard time accepting that, and I know you do as well. So now I’ll explain the simple answer.
Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but AFTER this the judgment:
Clear scripture. Can’t argue that. But… did you know that it isn’t appointed to ALL men once to die, and then to be judged AFTER that? You and I, as Christians called today, are EXEMPT from that rule! Do you know why? (This is so great!) Because WE ARE BEING JUDGED TODAY!!
1 Peter 4:17 for the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
1 Corinthians 11:31-32 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we ARE judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
Is that incredible or what? Now – TODAY – is A day of salvation! And it is during THIS TIME that we, the HOUSE OF GOD, are being JUDGED! You are at this very moment STANDING before the very THRONE OF GOD, and your works, and your thoughts as you read this article and as God reveals truth to you, ARE BEING JUDGED! And God is deciding RIGHT NOW whether He wants YOU in His kingdom or NOT!
But the world is NOT BEING judged today – they’re not being CALLED today – they will instead be judged in the SECOND resurrection! They, like us, will have a life to live, a chance at salvation, and they too will be standing before the throne of God while they are being judged, just as we do today! And they will be judged, as we are today, ACCORDING TO THEIR WORKS!
NEVER ANOTHER CHANCE
Make no mistake – we have been offered a chance at a BETTER resurrection (Hebrews 11:35)! We have been offered a position on the GROUND FLOOR, as the elder sons of the family of God to help lead the entire universe into righteousness, for all of time! And if we blow this opportunity, we will NEVER get a second chance! This a NOT a doctrine of second chance! If we don’t get saved today we will NEVER be able to be the elder sons again! We will LOSE our promised reward of being a part of the FIRSTFRUITS in the family of God!
We will lose it because we will have proved to God that we are not capable of overcoming the world, and so we really are not qualified to lead OTHERS into overcoming sin. And so we will have to be LED out of sin by those who HAVE done it, those who HAVE overcome the world, and those who HAVE been called, chosen, AND REMAINED FAITHFUL in SPITE of the temptations of this world!! (Revelation 17:14)
Once the FIRSTFRUITS have overcome sin and have been resurrected to immortal life… in THAT day, when it is easier, when Satan is no longer present to disturb them, and life is simpler and God’s Spirit fills the earth and they don’t have a constant barrage of temptations to sin on every side, the rest of mankind will receive their chance for salvation. They will still become sons of God. They will still be loved by God, as His children. They will still inherit life. But they will always be subject to the elder children, the first fruits, the righteous firstborn and that is as it should be.
Nevertheless, today you and I are trying to get into that “BETTER” resurrection. And if you sell your birthright like Esau, it will be lost forever. You will NOT get a second chance. As a person called to be an elder child of God, if you sell your birthright for a morsel of meat, or a nicer house, or the worship of men…
Hebrews 12:16-17 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found NO PLACE OF REPENTANCE, though he sought it carefully with tears.
There will be NO place of repentance found for you either! You will NOT be able to recover that birthright no matter HOW HARD YOU TRY! No amount of begging can REEARN that birthright you possess right now!
… but Esau still inherited a blessing. He still was loved by his father. In the Old Testament, God laid down a principle that applies here. He said that the firstborn children were to receive a double portion of the inheritance. This is only right, because the elder child has it the roughest. The parents are still new at raising kids so they make more mistakes, he has to change the diapers for his younger siblings and he always does the lion’s share of the work around the place so it is only RIGHT that he get a double portion! And even if you liked the younger son more, God says the firstborn children MUST get the double portion! (Deuteronomy 21:15-17). So also in the Kingdom of God, when we receive OUR inheritance from God…
1 Peter 1:4 …an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
… the FIRSTBORN of God will receive the DOUBLE PORTION FROM GOD! A double portion of love, a double portion of His spirit, and a double portion of authority… but the SECOND born will still receive their rightful PORTION of the inheritance! They will still receive the LOVE of their Father, and the love of their older brothers and sisters!
And so God will resurrect all of the dead, small and great, and resurrect them in a second resurrection, and give them a chance to live out their life anew, and to do better this time, under easier conditions, in a better time. And then their works will be judged! And if after this second life they are not found written in the book of life, they WILL be cast into the lake of fire, and they WILL receive the second death, never to be resurrected again! That is THE TRUE PLAN of God!
THAT is the resurrection to JUDGMENT (poorly translated as “damnation”) inJohn 5:28 and elsewhere in the Bible. A resurrection to a new life, a life where there are no lies, no deception to battle, a life where the spirits of JUST MEN MADE PERFECT (Hebrews 12:23) lead the world in righteousness, when the judgment of the kingdom is given to the SAINTS of the MOST HIGH, and we POSSESS THE KINGDOM FOR EVER AND EVER! (Daniel 7:18, 22)
And in THOSE DAYS, God promises a glorious world, when the deserts will blossom as a rose (Isaiah 35:1), when “the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.”(Isaiah 11:6) it is into this wonderful world tomorrow that God will resurrect your loved ones and give them an honest chance at salvation, and for the first time they will come to know and love the God of the universe that you and I have been called to know and love today!!
Thank GOD that the TRUTH is always more beautiful, more powerful, and more awe-inspiring than the lies we’ve been taught all our lives, and thank God for showing you that TRUTH, and let that truth SET YOU FREE!
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