We do not believe any of our ministry supporters (let alone God!) would ever want us to compromise on what our Lord teaches regarding faithfulness to the truth of the Scriptures.

Some would say that we are not practicing "love," but rather intolerance, when we do not permit a speaker with these types of beliefs to participate in our ministry. But scripture equates real love-- the gift of the Holy Spirit-- with truth! It is not the patronizing, politically correct "feel-good" love that Jesus-- Who is the Truth (John 14:6)-- exemplified. The Bible equates love with-- not an issue of tolerance or intolerance-- but with "truth," for "...we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine...but speaking the truth in love...we are to grow up in all aspects into Him..." (Ephesians 4:14-15)

You see from this passage (and so many others like it) that it is not an issue of what we believe. Nor is the issue what another teacher believes. Neither is it how either of us "interpret" the Bible. The issue is simply what the Bible says in its own words without either of us reading into it our "interpretation." When Ephesians talks about "every wind of doctrine," it is talking about false teaching. The speaker we had to decline is not simply a believer, but a teacher, with an extensive outreach through a ministry web site and various publications. This teacher teaches that people have an opportunity to be saved from their sin after they die, something called "second-chance salvation." The teacher also places God's righteous judgment (of those who reject Christ in this life) at odds with the commandment "Thou shalt not kill," which would make God a violator of His own commandment if He were to Judge sinners with finality. These are unbiblical teachings.

When people taught such unbiblical doctrines in the days of the Apostles, Paul (led by the Holy Spirit) said to "avoid" them, and that their talk would "spread like gangrene." (2 Timothy 2:15) The Apostle John said that "If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching [teaching true to the Bible], do not receive him...for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds." (2 John 10) When the Bible says to "hold fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching," (Titus 1:9) and when it also says that those who are teachers, as we here at Thy Kingdom Come are, "will incur a stricter judgment," (James 2:26) then we trust those who believe it is a "display of intolerance" to refuse a speaker a place in our ministry "just because we don't agree with them," would reread the Bible and reconsider, and understand why we must be faithful to our Lord in doing so.

Remember, it was Jesus who commanded us to "love one another, just as I have loved you." (John 15:12) How did He love us? He not only gave Himself for us, but He prayed that the Father would "Sanctify [set apart] them [us] in the truth." Then He said "Thy word [the Bible] is truth." (John 17:17)

We could write so much more about what the Bible teaches on this subject. However, this hopefully will suffice to show that in order to love others as Jesus loves us, we must love them in the truth of the Word of our Lord as spelled out in the Bible, not in the untruth. It is not "the untruth" that Jesus promised would "make you free!" (John 8:32) It is, according to the Bible, God's expressed will that all people come to repentance-- not any old repentance, but to "repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will." (2 Timothy 2:25-26) The dangerous teaching that one doesn't have to receive Christ in this life in order to ultimately be saved from Gods' final judgment is an untruth. No matter what we may personally think, the Bible never refers to these matters as "petty differences" that can be resolved by "tolerance."

(My response to an email of 9 pages of Bible verses attempting to sustain the unbiblical doctrine of Universalism.)

Dear Friend:

Nine pages of scripture passages, lifted out of context, does nothing to shore up the false gospel of universalism— it simply serves as a bulk of words lifted from the Word of God, which is a misrepresentation of what the Holy Bible says. It doesn’t take nine pages to get the message that the Bible says that some will go to their eternal destiny without Christ, though it may take nine pages to try and explain that fact away:

"These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." Matthew 25:46

“These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power…” 2 Thessalonians 1:9

Let’s take just one passage from the nine pages of verses you have isolated from their context, and reinsert it into its context. Here’s the passage, supposedly affirming that all men will be saved:
“So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.”

Romans 5:18
The Holy Spirit didn’t inspire Paul to write Romans 5:18 as an isolated text. Paul was inspired to write the whole book of Romans. You don’t allow people to pick apart your correspondence, taking a sentence here and there and isolating them from the rest of your letter, do you? It’s true that “through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men…” since the rest of Romans says that “all [men] have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,” (3:23) and that “the wages of sin is death” (6:23). It is also true that “...through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men… … … BUT, ONLY IF THEY… … ... “confess with [their] mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in [their] heart that God raised Him from the dead.” (10:9) That’s what the rest of the Holy Letter says!

Why not read the Scripture in context? Jesus did. So did the Apostles. Romans goes on to say that “Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” (10:13) What about “Whoever” doesn’t? Romans (and the whole Bible) always gives two destinies and two options:
“Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of [1] sin resulting in death, or [2] of obedience resulting in righteousness?” (6:16)

Romans says that this “obedience” is “obedience of faith” (1:5) to “the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation… TO ALL MEN REGARDLESS?—NO WAY! BUT RATHER… “to everyone WHO BELIEVES…(1:16)...through faith in Jesus Christ for all those WHO BELIEVE (1.22). Do ALL MEN opt for the second option and submit to this “obedience resulting in righteousness? Not according to the same Letter to the Romans from which you misappropriate your universalists “proof texts.”

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness...But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS...” Romans 1:18, 2:3-6

Finally, you say that my statement is not true when I said “the dangerous teaching that one doesn’t have to receive Christ in this life in order to ultimately be saved from God’s final judgment is an untruth.” Why is this a false statement? Because, as you put it, “Jesus is the savior of the world, not by our confessing Him or anything that we may do, but by Jesus and whatever He did in our behalf.” Friend, you know you are not quoting Scripture here, don't you?

Yes, Jesus is the Savior of the world, whether I confess Him or not— but, though universalists may not require it, God requires a response from man to realize and receive that salvation:
“Therefore they said to Him, "What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?" Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent." John 6:28-29
How do we demonstrate that “work” of faith about which Jesus spoke? We go back to Romans, where it instructs us that,

“...if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” Romans 10:9-10

Friend, I hope that you will depart from the universalist teacher under whose feet you apparently sit, and come back to the Word of God found in the Bible— in context. You seem sincere. It is my prayer that you will seek to enter the Kingdom of God on God’s terms. Universalism may be promising that everyone will be in heaven, but they will run squarely into these words when they themselves seek to enter if they persist in this false gospel:

"Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'

(My response to email claiming the Bible does not teach the finality of judgment. The Biblical teaching of a final and eternal judgment denies Universalism.)

Sir,

You say, “Friend, I have one teacher only. His name is Jesus through the Holy Spirit. I sit at the feet of Jesus.” But then you send me seven pages from someone named Gary Amirault! Maybe that’s why your only response to the words of Jesus that I quoted to you from Matthew 25:46 is something about the “KJV having 1,000 errors.” My reference to you was not from the KJV, but rather the NASV. But what does that have to do with the words of Jesus, since all of the major translations say the same thing? (NASV, ESV, RSV, NKJV, NL, NIV, Amplified, NJ, etc)

Here are the words of Jesus again,

"And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
—Punishment/Greek=Kolasis, from Kolazo, meaning punishment or torment when combined with the Greek word “aionios” (eternal)
—Eternal/Greek=Aionios, from Aion, meaning perpetual, eternal, everlasting.

In this passage, Aionos is used for both “punishment” and “life.” The same Aionos is used in John 3:16 for “everlasting life.” As much as universalists have tried, you cannot scale down Aionos to mean something less than endless eternity for those being punished without reducing the “eternal life” of those who will be in heaven to mean, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish temporarily, but have ‘a very, very long temporal’ life.”

Try doing that with this passage,

And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne… and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:11-15)

These are people. They are thrown into something called “the lake of fire. Temporarily? According to some erroneous teaching, yes. According to the Bible, no. The “lake of fire” is forever and ever,...

And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. (Revelation 20:10)
—Forever And Ever/Greek= Eis Tous Aionas Ton Aionon

And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as a dead man. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore… (Revelation 1:17-18)
—Forevermore/Greek= Eis Tous Aionas Ton Aionon (same exactly as above)

Which Eis Tous Aionas Ton Aionon shall we change? The one in Revelation 20:10 or the one in Revelation 1:17-18? If I was some “teacher” trying to sound Biblical, I couldn't possibly drop the Eis Tous Aionas Ton Aionon of Revelation 1:17-18. But if my goal was to shore up the sandy edifice of universalism, I would be forced to drop the Eis Tous Aionas Ton Aionon of Revelation 20:10. This is called “distortion.”
So, call it Hell, call it The Lake of Fire, the "chastening' place, or call it The Other Place— whatever you want to call it— people will be there eternally, and it is not heaven. This makes universalist-Theory impossible. Universalism has added to and taken away from the Bible. Where it fits a preconceived supposition that is not in the Bible, passages are lifted from their context to try and prove what the Bible doesn’t say. Where passages are so clear as to be indisputable, such as those above, universalism retreats to pseudo-scholarship which no competent original language scholar agrees with, or simply retreats to side-tracking issues such as “the KJV has 1,000 errors,” or simply rehashes an out of context verse such as “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” without setting the verse into the context of the whole letter of Romans which was amply supplied and explained earlier.

You keep bringing up new points without addressing the first ones, so I’ll answer one more. You say ”Paul never once said the word Hell. Never. Why is it that when ever you turn or burn Christians read a verse you put eternal value to something that was never there?”
That’s like saying that since Paul never used the term “Antichrist,” we can scrub that reality. We’ve already said to call it whatever you want if you are repulsed by the word “Hell.” But it is certainly not heaven, nor is it earth, and people will be there eternally. Here’s what Paul did say,

And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power… (2 Thessalonians 1:9)
Eternal/Greek= Aionios , from Aion, meaning perpetual, eternal, everlasting.

Instead of "hell," Paul used the word “destruction,” if that is more tasteful. You preferred the word to be (for Matthew 25:46) “chastening.” The Lord preferred to use the term “fire” (Matthew 25:41) for that same passage, and used terms such as “damnation” (Mark 3:39) in others. But in each of those usages, including yours, the place is eternal (Aionios… again), it is neither heaven or earth, and people are there.
So what’s the point with “Paul never once said the word Hell.” Terms such as “gehenna” and others are the source concepts for the word Hell, as universalist like to point out, as though that changes anything. That’s like saying the Bible never once uses the term “Heaven” (which it doesn’t). Instead it used Hebrew/Greek derivatives which communicated the idea of “Heaven,” such as “heaved up things,” or “sky,” or “air,” but when it is said in context that the “heaved up thing” is the abode of God, then out comes the word “Heaven” in our language. So you have an “Aionios Sky” and you have an “Aionios Lake of Fire,” and you have an “Aionios God” (Romans 16:26). Where you have an Eternal (Aionios) Heaven and an Eternal (Aionios) Hell, both of which will last as long as an Eternal (Aionios) God— then people will be in both places “Aionios—ly,” and the idea of universalism is exposed as a man-made idea, having been perpetuated far too long to qualify as erroneous teaching, but rather as false teaching at best, and a false gospel at worst.

You say that you spent 40 years in my “camp of belief” and that you “have only one teacher, His name is Jesus.” But what I have received from you are not the words of Jesus. I have received seven pages from some “source-teacher,” and man-made reasonings about a wimpy God, boastings, and some Biblically-alien notion that the God-given free will ability of man to repent and receive by decision Christ as Savior somehow is equivalent to “works.” You have received from me and “my camp” clear and contextually-specific Scripture. “ As Paul, "who never mentioned Hell," said,

[1] "WHOEVER WILL CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED…” [or they]…[2] ”will pay the penalty of ETERNAL destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power…” (Romans 10:13 & 2 Thessalonians 1:9)

Do you perform a work to boast about when you receive a Christmas gift from your wife? Do you love your wife of your own free will? I am sure you do. In the same way, God has sovereignty given us the gift of free will in order that we can choose to love Him. Through this sovereign gift of free choice we can receive His gift of eternal salvation in Christ without performing a boastful "work." It is all and all of God in Christ. This is the heart of the gospel. I truly hope this will help in your understanding of the Bible. This will be my last communication on this subject.


Phillip Goodman
Prophecy Watch Television

(My response to an email claiming that Universalism is a legitimate Christian belief with a long history of reputable adherents, totally based on Scripture.)


Dear Mr.------ Thank you for your message. I'm sorry to be so long in responding. We are deluged with television mail. You say universalism is not a "heresy", nor necessarily "pagan," nor even "dangerous," as I characterized it in the Web article. I don't believe I referred to it as the "pagan" variety, nor did I call it a heresy. But I probably should have. It is certainly dangerous. Here's why. Universalism could be considered even worse according to the Bible.

It is a teaching which can be said to "distort the gospel of Christ." (Galatians 1:7) The Holy Spirit says of such a "gospel," in Galatians 1:8

"But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed. (NASB)

Let's take a look at the Gospel according to the Bible. Using Romans 6:23 as a Gospel "outline," the Gospel (meaning "Good News,") has first some Bad News which is necessary to prepare hearts to see the need for the Good News. The Bad News is that "the wages of sin is death." "But"... it goes on to say in introducing the Good News, "the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23/NASB)

The "gospel" of universalism is not that contained in the Bible. It is a "distortion" (Galatians 1:7) in at least three ways.

1. Universalism denies the Finality (you fall short in using the term "duration" here) of the term "death." But the Bible affirms that when "the wages of sin is death," if one physically dies in that state of spiritual death, it is Final. Matthew 25:10 tells us "the door was shut" to those who were unprepared when they met the Lord. Matthew 25:41 uses the same Greek term "aionas," translated "eternal," for both "punishment" and "life" in the very same verse! That is, if life is to be considered to be "eternal" in that passage, so too must the punishment be eternal. Anything else amounts to a simple case of predetermined Scripture twisting. No competent Greek scholar would allow a variant reading of such a clear passage.

2. Universalism proposes a Second Chance at Salvation. But the Bible says there is no Second Chance. That's why the Scripture declares that "now is the day of salvation." (2 Cor. 6:2) Jesus said to the Pharisees, "I go away, and you shall seek Me, and shall die in your sin; WHERE I AM GOING (Heaven, according to John 7:33) YOU CANNOT COME." (John 8:21 ) These unrepentant unbelievers will first "die in your sin," and then will find Heaven's door indeed shut. According to Universalism, they can get in later. But not so with this passage. Also, according to Matthew 12:32, there is a sin (associated with the denial of the Holy Spirit's testimony of salvation in Jesus in Luke 12:9-10) that is an UNFORGIVABLE SIN. It will not be forgiven "in this age, or in the age to come"... and the perpetrator "never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin." (Mat. 12:32/ Mark 3:29) Where is the second chance? There is none.

3. Universalism also denies the Good News side of the Gospel, which says "the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom. 6:23) How? THE REST of the Book of Romans says that to be saved one must receive the "gift" by faith. It says nothing about being coerced into salvation through some type of universalists-after death-purgatory-like purging-process." For we maintain that a man is JUSTIFIED BY FAITH apart from works of the Law." (Rom.3:28) Here we have two classes of people. [1] Those justified by faith, [2] and everyone else--those who are held accountable by the Law. There is no "third" category of people. Is everyone who has not been justified by faith actually held accountable by the Law? Absolutely. Read Romans 2:11-16.

If Salvation were simply Redemption, Forgiveness, or Reconciliation, then the whole world would be saved, and universalism would be true. But Salvation is Life, and it must be received by faith. The Bible teaches universal redemption, but it does not teach universal salvation. Salvation is universally available, but it is not universal. It is a free gift, but that free gift, like any other gift, must not be rejected if it is to belong to the person to whom it is offered (everyone universally). It was the Holy Spirit who said that any "gospel" other than the Biblical Gospel is a "different gospel." (Gal. 1:6) Galatians goes on to say of the true Gospel that "a man is justified... THROUGH FAITH," and that "it is those who are OF FAITH... that God would justify the Gentiles BY FAITH... The righteous man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH", etc., etc. (Gal. 2:16/ 3:6-14)

Salvation, then, is not universal, because many will go to the grave without faith-- some, sadly, because they are holding to the false gospel of universalism. And "the door will be shut."

Two new articles on the false gospel of universalism have been added to prophecywatch.com

Universalism amounts to a western version of Hinduism in some respects, in that it proposes a period of purging culminating in purification and eternal bliss for all. The only difference between the two is that universalists see the purging taking place in Hell. Hindus see it taking place on the earth through repetitive reincarnations. But both have sold out to the original four-point-lying sermon of Satan in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:1-5) that

[1] the Bible doesn't really say in all its parts what it appears to say, "Indeed, has God said?"

[2] there is no final death or judgment, "You surely shall not die!" That is, salvation is universal.

[3] there is some sort of a "God-like goodness" inherent in everyone that predestines all to merge with God in eternal bliss, "you will be like God." Again, we'll all get there.

[4] Being "like God" of course gives us all the inherent ability to return to point number 1 above, sit in the seat of God and render absolute judgments of right and wrong, with the Bible as the first casualty, by having the God-like power of "knowing good and evil."

To simply slide "Jesus" into the universalists' version of Hinduism doesn't make it scriptural.

Friend, you say that you have not yet accepted universalism, but yet you commend it by Scripture. If it is scriptural, why have you not accepted it? If salvation is "universal" then it doesn't make any difference whether it is scriptural or not. But if universalism is not scriptural, then a decision to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior in the here and now is an eternal life or death matter of paramount urgency! I believe that it is possible that you have not accepted universalism because of the loving providential hand of God. I have shown you where it is not only unscriptural, but, according to Galatians 1:6-9 borders on heresy because of it s distortion of the Gospel. It is my prayer that some Scriptural light has been shed on the subject and that you will emerge assured of your salvation having rejected this-- yes, -- "dangerous doctrine."

God bless you. Phillip Goodman, Prophecy Watch Television

Write Comment
Please keep the topic of messages relevant to the subject of the article. Personal promotion and verbal attacks will be deleted.
Name:	Guest
Title:
BBCode:
Comment:
	Enter what you see: * tips: hit Reload page before writing a text if you have difficulty reading characters in image