I used to believe in Eternal Torment (Gospel, Messiah, priest)
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The actual moral of the story is that regardless of whether a witness had been sent to his brothers it wouldnt have made any difference. Look at when Jesus' friend Lazarus (different Lazarus) was raised to life, the religious leaders only planned to kill him to protect their own interests.
Jesus also warned time and time again against the power of Money and not focusing on God. The man in Hell would only be there as his result of unbelief.
Just as long as you realize the man was not in a literal "hell" but a "moral of the story" kind of "hell" or actually, literally, hades and literally grave.
Or do you still go against the historical fact that hades is the grave?
1 John 2:15 - Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
John 17:18 - "As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.
John 9:39 - And Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind."
Again - same word in the Greek.
By the way - the last verse - Jesus also came into the world for judgment - not just salvation.
The references you are using here are not the same in reference to the world in the scriptures i quoted .
For example the first scripture you quoted where it says do not love the world , does not mean not to love mankind but not to love the system of the world and what belongs to that system.
By the way it's not the world being judged but the prince of this world (the system we are called not to love)
Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out John 12 :31
The bit of the story I was pointing out were the bits that said "you may not cross over" & ‘I ask you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house; for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, so they won’t also come into this place of torment.’
He was clearly anxious that his brothers should hear about the Word, why? Because he didnt want them in TORMENT like himself.
The rich man all of sudden took on a missionary spirit in hell, as he wanted his brothers to be spared from hell's torment. There's no telling how many people are in hell right now who would not accept the truth; but, it's reality now -- and forever more.
I try to focus solely on the Man and not on his Plan.
Most important thing Jesus said was "Go and make disciples of all the nations"
I know as I confess with my tongue and believe with my heart that I am saved.
I do think though that if everyone was going to be saved we wouldnt have any reason to tell people about Jesus. I mean what would be the point?
I am never trying to be smart and all the questions I have are asked genuinely.
Thanks in advance for your reply regarding the great commission.
GOD BLESS
The great commission was given by Jesus to His Jewish Circumcision disciples. It was never given to Paul to give to the nations. After all, how can the nations make disciples of all nations since we are all nations?
Once Jesus comes back that great commission will begin and they will shephard all the nations with an iron club. That commission has been put on hold even before Jerusalem was destroyed. The disciples were first to go to every city in Israel and not go into the road of the nations. Jesus said so. And Jesus said they would not finish their mission inside Israel before He returns. So they can't make disciples of all nations until they first do Israel.
kind of cool, huh? once you know these things.
But now comes the question: why should we evangelize if God is going to save everyone? God is not going to save everyone in this age or in the age to come (the 1000 year age) nor during the new earth age. So we are to evangelize so that those who are pre-chosen to be in the body of Christ for the next two ages will hear and believe and know of their salvation. The rest come later when the ages end.
The rich man all of sudden took on a missionary spirit in hell, as he wanted his brothers to be spared from hell's torment. There's no telling how many people are in hell right now who would not accept the truth; but, it's reality now -- and forever more.
The Lazarus of the story never did believe Christ died for him. he got in just because he was poor as snot.
For 30 years I believed that dreadful doctrine. God is love, but... most of His creation will be tortured forever.
What a nightmare. It affected me so, most of the time I would not think about it - the doctrine of eternal torment actually drove me away from God. And then when I would return to God I would pray "why do people have to burn forever? Can't you just save some of them Lord? Please?"
Well finally my prayer was answered when He revealed to me the truth of universal salvation in the scriptures.
For other people here who now believe in universal salvation through Christ, I wonder how long it took you to learn the truth?
It took me about 5 years of going through pure hell over that doctrine of demons!
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