Dear Freewill Chick,
The salvation of all is guaranteed by the death and resurrection of Christ.
But you don’t acknowledge that there are eons of time in “God’s eonian purpose” (See Eph 3:11)… and during the eons some like those who did not enter Noah’s ark… do not see life. But what happens during the eons is not the same things as what happens when the eons are complete.
Eonian life is for a few.
Eonian life is not the only thing Christ accomplished at the cross on our behalf.
Eonian life is for believers among the nations.
Eonian life is for those of Israel who keep the law.
God is especially the savior of believers.
But God IS the savior of all.
Not all believe… but all for whom Christ died will see life, and he died for all.
During the eons, many things have to happen. Sin, death, evil, trouble of all sorts, but the eons will end. And God will be all in all.
You keep equating eonian life with all there is. But no… eonian life is important. There is work to do during the eons. Both on the Earth and among the celestials.
Colossians 1:15-20 promises reconciliation for all… all in the heavens, all on Earth, all under the Earth.
All, baby, all.
Eonian destruction is the lot of the wicked and unbelieving… But there is nothing “eternal” in the word “destruction”… in fact the word “destroy” and “LOST” are the same word in the Greek New Testament… as in “the lost sheep”… The lost/destroyed sheep can be found.
Those who find themselves in “eonian destruction” — it’s just what happens during the eons of time.
Every warning, threat, doom verse you come up with is concerning eonian life.
The word “eternal” is just not in the Bible, it was an invented word, made up by John Wycliffe, who made the first English Bible.
God is the savior of all mankind, especially — but not exclusively — of believers.
You keep jumping to this “freewill” mythology in order to limit God’s work in Christ’s cross.
Eternal destruction needs a “freewill” mythology to get God off the hook for sending folks to “hell”.
I’m here to tell ya… God is not on the hook for eternal hell… there is no such thing.
God locks up all together in stubbornness so that He might be merciful to all (ROM 11:32)
God made sure Adam sinned.
God gave the law that sin might increase.
Sin is a pre-requirement for salvation.
Without Joseph’s brothers doing that horrible sin against Joseph, they would not have been saved from the famine.
Without the horrible sin of Judas we would not have a risen savior.
Even YOUR sins sent Christ to the cross, not just Judas’ sin.
Sin is not a problem to God. See the cross.
Death is no longer a problem, Christ rose.
Evil is not a problem, God created evil (ISA 45:7)
The issue before us is this: God shows us grace and saves us NOW… but for what purpose? Well, in the future, we, the church which is His body, will be put on DISPLAY says Paul in Ephesians. And when the celestials see the GRACE shown to us, they too will come home to the Father.
All this has nothing to do with what God has planned for Israel on the Earth during the coming eons.
Israel’s place is with Christ’s rule on Earth, our place is with Christ’s effort to “reconcile all” even those in the heavens.
That is why we have a special salvation.
After all, God is the savior of all, especially of believers. (I TIM 4:10)
The Ace Theological Company 