The doctrine that Christ will eventually bring all men to himself, as opposed to eternal damnation or annihilation
AKA Patristic Universalism, Universal Restoration, Ultimate Redemption/Reconciliation, Hopeful Inclusivism, Doctrine of Inclusion, The Larger Hope, The Greater Faith, Universal Salvation, apokatastasis, etc.
It is not pluralistic universalism or 'pop' universalism.
- Aion, aionios, aiōnion can mean an age/eon or indeterminate time
- Aïdios: Nearly always means eternal in the absolute sense. Aïdios is used only twice in the Bible: Romans 1:20, concerning God, and Jude 6, concerning the bonds on fallen angels
- Olam: Hebrew, derived from alam (to hide), and means the hidden time or age, like aion – indefinite (obscure, hidden), rather than never-ending time
- Kolasis: corrective discipline for the sake of the one who suffers it
- Timoreo: to avenge, punish. timoria [avenge, punish] is for the sake of the one who inflicts it. It is used twice in the Bible -- both uses are in Acts and they both describe Saul’s treatment of believers before his conversion to Paul.
- Psyche: ψυχή, anima, soul, life-principle proper to the realm of generation and decay, the “psychical” or “animal” substance that endows sublunary organisms with the power of self-movement and growth, though only for a short time - understood as strictly limited to the aerial and terrestrial sphere. It could exist nowhere else, and most certainly not in the heavenly places. It was too frail, too ephemeral, too much bound to mutability and transience.
- Pneuma: πνεῦμα, spiritus, spirit, a kind of life not bound to death or to the irrational faculties of brute nature, inherently indestructible and incorruptible, and not confined to any single cosmic sphere. It could survive anywhere, and could move with complete liberty among all the spiritual realms, as well as in the material world here below. Spirit was something subtler but also stronger, more vital, more glorious than the worldly elements of a coarse corruptible body compounded of earthly soul and material flesh. Thus too the word “spirits” was common parlance in late antiquity for all those rational personal agencies and entities who populated the cosmos but who were not bound to vegetal or animal bodies, and so were immune to death: lesser celestial gods, daemons, angels, nefilim, devils, or what have you (what one called the various classes of spirits was a matter of religious vocabulary, not necessarily the basic conceptual shape of their natures). These beings enjoyed a life not limited by the conditions of the lower elements (the στοιχεῖα) or of any of the intrinsically dissoluble combinations thereof. However, none of these beings was typically considered to be incorporeal in the full sense, at least in the way we would use that word today. The common belief of most educated persons of the time was that, if any reality was bodiless in the absolute sense, it could be only God or the highest divine principle. Everything else, even spirits, had some kind of body, because all of them were irreducibly local realities. The bodies of spirits may have been at once both more invincible and more mercurial than those with an animal constitution, but they were also, if in a peculiarly exalted sense, still physical. Many thought them to be composed from, say, the aether or the “quintessence” above, the “spiritual” substance that constitutes the celestial regions beyond the moon. Many also identified that substance with the πνεῦμα—the “wind” or “breath”—that stirs all things.
- Also note: sulfur [brimstone, theion] – considered divine incense, as burning brimstone was regarded as having power to purify
- Daniel 12:2 - Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting (olam) life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting (olam) contempt.
- Matthew 10:28 - And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him who is able to destroy (apolesai) both soul (psychen, breath) and body (soma) in Gehenna.
- Matthew 18:8 - If your hand or your foot causes your downfall, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the fire of the age [aionios].
- Matthew 25:40-46 - And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the fire of the age [aiōnion] prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into the chastening [kolasin] of the age [aiōnion], but the righteous into the life of that age [aiōnion].” [that is, unto the age of the millenial rule of Christ]
- Revelation 14:9-11 - And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God's vehemence, poured full strength into the cup of his ire, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up for ages of ages [aiōnas aiōnōn], and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”
- Revelation 20:10 - The Devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night unto the ages of the ages [aiōnas tōn aiōnōn].
- "His mercy endures forever" - 41 instances in the OT
- Matthew 5:44-45a - But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.
- Matthew 6:15 - but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
- Matthew 18:32-35 - “Then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ And his master got angry and handed him over to the inquisitors until he could repay everything that was owed. So My heavenly Father will also do to you if each of you does not forgive his brother from his heart.”
- Luke 6:32–33, 35 - “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same....But love your enemies, do what is good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is gracious to the ungrateful and evil.
- Luke 11:4 - And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us.
- 1 Corinthians 13:7-8 - Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
- Romans 2:4 - Or do you despise the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?
- Romans 12:21 - Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.
- Ephesians 3:17b-19 - Then you, being rooted and grounded in love, will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth of His love, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
- James 2:13 - For judgment is without mercy to the one who hasn’t shown mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
- 1 John 4:8 - Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
- 1 John 4:16 - So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
- Deuteronomy 15:1-2 - At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. This is the manner of remission: Every creditor shall cancel what he has loaned his neighbor. He is not to collect anything from his neighbor or brother, because the LORD’s time of release has been proclaimed.
- Luke 23:34 - "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing."
- John 8:32 - "And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
- ✓John 8:34 - "I tell you that everyone committing sin is a slave to sin."
- Isaiah 1:17 - Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.
- Isaiah 30:18 - Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice.
- Jeremiah 21:12 - This is what the LORD says: “Administer justice every morning; rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed.”
- Zechariah 7:9 - This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Administer true justice: show mercy and compassion to one another.”
- Job 5:17-18 - Happy the man whom God rebukes! Therefore do not reject the discipline of the Almighty. For, though he wounds, he will bind up; the hands that smite will heal.
- Psalm 30:5 - For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.
- Psalm 99:8 - O Lord our God, you answered them; you were a forgiving God to them, but an avenger of their wrongdoings.
- Psalm 103:8-14 - The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.
- Psalm 119:75 - I know, O Lord, that thy decrees are just and even in punishing thou keepest faith with me.
- Isaiah 1:25 - I will thoroughly purge away your dross and remove all your impurities.
- Isaiah 26:9 - When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.
- Isaiah 48:10 - See, I have refined you ... I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
- Isaiah 54:7-8 - "For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back. In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you," says the Lord your Redeemer.
- Isaiah 57:16 - For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for the spirit would grow faint before me, and the breath of life that I made.
- Jeremiah 23:20 - The anger of the Lord will not turn back until he has executed and accomplished the intents of his heart. In the latter days you will understand it clearly.
- Jeremiah 30:24 - See what a scorching wind has gone out from the Lord, a sweeping whirlwind. It whirls round the heads of the wicked; the Lord's anger is not to be turned aside, till he has finished and achieved his heart's desire. In days to come you will understand.
- Hosea 11:9 - “For I am God, and not man—the Holy One among you. I will not come in wrath.”
- ✓Hosea 14:4 - I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them.
- Jonah 4:2 - You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm.
- Micah 7:18-19 - Who is a God like You, removing iniquity and passing over rebellion for the remnant of His inheritance? He does not hold on to His anger forever, because He delights in faithful love. He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
- Lamentations: 3:22 - Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end.
- ✓Lamentations 3:31-33 - For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though he may punish cruelly, yet he will have compassion in the fullness of his love; he does not willingly afflict or punish any mortal man.
- Habakkuk 1:12 Are you not from everlasting, O LORD my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O LORD, you have ordained them as a judgment, and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof.
- Habakkuk 3:2 - O Lord, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O Lord, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.
- Malachi 3:2-3 - Who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a laundress's soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver, he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness.
- Mark 9:47-49 - And if your eye causes your downfall, gouge it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into Gehenna, where "Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched." For everyone will be salted with fire.
- Romans 11:7-12 - What then? Israel did not find what it was looking for, but the elect did find it. The rest were hardened, as it is written: "God gave them a spirit of insensitivity, eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear, to this day." And David says: "Let their feasting become a snare and a trap, a pitfall and a retribution to them. Let their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent continually." I ask, then, have they stumbled in order to fall? Absolutely not! On the contrary, by their stumbling, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel jealous. Now if their stumbling brings riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full number bring!
- Hebrews 12:11 - No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the fruit of peace and righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
- Psalm 2:7-8 - The Lord said to me, "You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession."
- Ezekiel 18:4 - Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.
- ✓John 3:35 - The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hands.
- ✓Hebrews 1:2 - He [God] has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things.
- Malachi 2:10a - Don’t all of us have one Father? Didn’t one God create us?
- Matthew 23:9 - [To the crowds] "And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven."
- Acts 17:28-29 - [To unbelievers] "For in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ Being God’s offspring then, we shouldn’t think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image fashioned by human art and imagination."
- Ephesians 3:14-15 - For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name...
Jesus means "God is Salvation".
- ✓2 Samuel 14:14 - For we will surely die and become like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not take away a life; but He devises means, so that His banished ones are not expelled from Him.
- Ezekiel 18:23 - Have I any desire, says the Lord God, for the death of a wicked man? Will I not rather that he should mend his ways and live?
- Ezekiel 33:11-12 - Say to them, “As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel? And you, son of man, say to your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness, and the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness when he sins."
- ✓Matthew 18:12-14 - What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
- ✓Luke 19:10, Matthew 18:11 - For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.
- John 1:7-9 - This man came …to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe …the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.
- John 3:17 - For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
- 1 Timothy 1:15 - This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners"—and I am the worst of them.
- ✓1 Timothy 2:3-6 - This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, who wants [desires, wills, means, wishes (thelei)] everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and humanity, Christ Jesus, Himself human, who gave Himself—a ransom for all, a testimony at the proper time.
- ✓2 Peter 3:9 - The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing [purposing (boulomenos)] that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
- Job 23:13 - But He is unchangeable, and who can oppose Him? He does what He desires.
- Numbers 23:19 - God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
- Proverbs 19:21 - Many plans are in a man's heart, but the purpose of the LORD will prevail.
- Isaiah 14:24 - The LORD of Hosts has sworn: As I have purposed, so it will be; as I have planned it, so it will happen.
- Isaiah 46:9-10, 11b - Remember what happened long ago, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and no one is like Me. I declare the end from the beginning, and from long ago what is not yet done, saying: "My plan will take place, and I will do all My will." ...Yes, I have spoken; so I will also bring it about. I have planned it; I will also do it.
- ✓Isaiah 55:1, 3, 5, 8-11 - "Come, all you who are thirsty ...I will make an everlasting covenant with you ... Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations that do not know you will hasten to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel ... For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourishes is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
- Ezekiel 12:25 - because I, the LORD, will speak whatever word I speak, and it will be fulfilled without delay. For in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak a message and bring it to pass, declares the Lord GOD.'"
- Daniel 4:35 - He does according to His will… No one can restrain His hand.
- ✓John 17:2-4 - "for You gave Him authority over all flesh; so He may give eternal life to all You have given Him. This is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and the One You have sent—Jesus Christ. I have glorified You on the earth by completing the work You gave Me to do."
- Isaiah 53:6 - We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished Him for the iniquity of us all.
- ✓Luke 2:10 - But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people"
- John 1:29 - The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
- John 3:16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
- John 4:42 - And they told the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you said, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this really is the Savior of the world.”
- John 6:33 - For the bread of God is the One who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.
- John 6:51 - "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is My flesh."
- John 12:47 - "I did not come to judge the world but to save the world."
- Romans 5:6 - For while we were still helpless, at the appointed moment, Christ died for the ungodly.
- ✓1 John 2:2 - and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.
- ✓1 John 3:8 - The one who commits sin is of the Devil, for the Devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy [lyse: annul, undo] the Devil’s works.
- ✓1 John 4:14 - And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
- 2 Corinthians 5:14 - For Christ’s love compels us, since we have reached this conclusion: If One died for all, then all died.
- Hebrews 2:9 - But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
- ✓Joel 2:28, 3:21 - And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people ... Their bloodguilt which I have not pardoned, I will pardon.
- ✓Zephaniah 3:8-9, 15, 17, 19-20 - I have decided to assemble the nations, to gather the kingdoms and to pour out my wrath on them—all my fierce anger. The whole world will be consumed by the fire of my jealous anger. Then will I purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve him shoulder to shoulder .... The Lord has taken away your punishment... he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love ... I will ... gather those who have been scattered ... At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home.
- ✓John 12:32 - "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
- ✓Romans 5:15b,18-21 - For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! ...Therefore, as one trespass [of Adam] led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. The law came along to multiply the trespass. But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. [How could salvation of some be "more" than the damnation of all?]
- ✓Romans 11:32 - For God has imprisoned all in disobedience, so that He may have mercy on all.
- ✓1 Corinthians 15:22-23 - For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at His coming, those who belong to Christ.
- ✓1 Timothy 4:9-11 - This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance. In fact, we labor and strive for this, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of everyone, especially of those who believe. Command and teach these things.
- Titus 2:11 - For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people.
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Romans 11:26 - And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
The Liberator will come from Zion; He will turn away godlessness from Jacob.
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Ephesians 3:6 - The Gentiles are co-heirs, members of the same body, and partners of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
- Hosea 13:14 - I will ransom them from the power of Sheol …O death, I will be your plagues! O Sheol, I will be your destruction!
- 2 Timothy 1:10 - Our Savior Christ Jesus ... abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
- ✓1 Corinthians 15:24-28 - Then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when He abolishes all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He puts all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be abolished is death. For God has put everything under His feet. But when it says “everything” is put under Him, it is obvious that He who puts everything under Him is the exception. And when everything is subject to Christ, then the Son Himself will also be subject to the One who subjected everything to Him, so that God may be all in all.
- 1 Corinthians 15:54b-55 - Death has been swallowed up in victory. Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?
- ✓Hebrews 2:14-15 - Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might render powerless [katargēsē] the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
- ✓Revelation 1:17-18 - When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.
- Psalm 22:27, 29 - All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord. All the families of the nations will bow down before You... All who prosper on earth will eat and bow down; all those who go down to the dust will kneel before Him—even the one who cannot preserve his life.
- Psalm 66:3-4 - Say to God, “How awe-inspiring are Your works! Your enemies will cringe before You because of Your great strength. All the earth will worship You and sing praise to You. They will sing praise to Your name.”
- Psalm 86:9 - All the nations You have made will come and bow down before You, Lord, and will honor Your name.
- Isaiah 45:22-24 - "Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth. By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear. They will say of me, 'In the Lord alone are righteousness and strength.'" All who have raged against him will come to him and be ashamed.
- Jeremiah 31:34 - No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, "Know the Lord," because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.
- ✓Ezekiel 16:53 - “I will restore their fortunes, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters and those of Samaria and her daughters. I will also restore your [Jerusalem's] fortunes among them."
- Acts 3:21 - ...whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.
- Romans 5:10 - For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by His life!
- ✓Romans 8:20-23 - For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. [See also James 1:18 below]
- ✓Romans 14:11 - For it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will give praise to God."
- ✓2 Corinthians 5:18-19 - All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
- ✓Ephesians 1:7-10 - In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
- ✓Philippians 2:10–11 - ...so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess [praisingly] that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. [see the same 'confess' below]
- Matthew 10:32 - Therefore, everyone who will acknowledge [confess] Me before men, I will also acknowledge him before My Father in heaven.
- Romans 10:9-10 - If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.
- 1 Corinthians 12:3 - Therefore I am informing you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
- 1 John 4:15 - Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God -- God remains in him and he in God.
- ✓Colossians 1:16–20 - For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
- ✓Hebrews 2:5-8 - Now it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere, "What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him? You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet." Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.
- ✓James 1:18 - Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. [Heralding the redemption of the rest to come?]
- Revelation 5:13 - And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
- Revelation 15:4 - "Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”
- Psalm 88:10-12 - Do you show your wonders to the dead? Do those who are dead rise up and praise you? Is your love declared in the grave, your faithfulness in Destruction? Are your wonders known in the place of darkness, or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?
- Ephesians 2:6-7 - Together with Christ Jesus He also raised us up and seated us in the heavens, so that in the coming ages He might display the immeasurable riches of His grace through His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. [Show to whom? To what end?]
- Hebrews 7:24-25 - But because He remains forever, He holds His priesthood permanently. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
- 1 Peter 2:12 - Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
- 1 Peter 3:19, 4:6 - [Christ] went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison... The gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.
- Revelation 22:1-3,14-15,17 - Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.... Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.... The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.
- Matthew 10:22-32 - ...and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
- Matthew 10:32-33 - So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.
- John 15:1-2 - “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vineyard keeper. Every branch in Me that does not produce fruit He removes, and He prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit."
- Romans 11:18-22 - ...do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.
- 1 Corinthians 3:12-15 - If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, his workmanship will be evident, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as if through the flames.
- 1 Corinthians 9:27 - But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
- 1 Corinthians 15:1–2 - Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
- Galatians 5:1-5 - For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.
- Ephesians 5:3–5 - But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
- Colossians 1:22-23 - ...he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
- 1 Timothy 5:8 - But if anyone does not provide for his own, that is his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
- 2 Peter 2:20-22 - For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”
- Hebrews 3:6 - ...but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.
- Hebrews 3:14 - For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.
- Hebrews 10:26-31 - For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “The exacting of justice is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
- James 1:12 - Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
- Revelation 2:10 - Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
- Revelation 2:25-26 - Only hold fast what you have until I come. The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations...
- Revelation 3:2-5 - Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.
- Revelation 22:19 - ...and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
- Matthew 5:26 - I assure you: You will never get out of there until you have paid the last penny!
- Matthew 12:47-48 - And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not [himself], neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many [stripes]. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few [stripes]. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
- Matthew 18:34-35 - "And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart."
- Matthew 16:27 - For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.
- Revelation 20:12 - And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.
- James 3:1 - Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
- Matthew 11:21-24 - “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes long ago! But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until today. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”