John 3:16 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.
Luke 13:3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Acts 22:16 And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
James 2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Luke 3:9 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Psalms 62:12 Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy: for thou renderest to every man according to his work.
Revelation 20:12 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.
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Romans 8:29-30 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Few question that we do possess some definition of free will; but the question is do we make it to Heaven based on our own words and actions, which is called free will; or was our eternal destiny pre-determined by God, which is called predestination? The Bible seems to claim that both are true.
Romans 11:6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.
Unraveling the riddle of free will and predestination is a simple matter.
What is really amazing is that this is the same riddle as the one in the Old
Testament which the Christians have already solved.
The Old Testament stated the Messiah would come humbly as a lamb.
Isaiah 53:4-7 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
The Old Testament also stated the Messiah would come in great glory and power.
Isaiah 66:15-16 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
At the time of Christ many people were expecting a powerful Messiah who
would destroy the Romans and establish the kingdom of God in the Earth. The
crucifixion of Christ fulfilled what the Christians realize was His first
coming. Because Christians realize that by describing the coming of the
Messiah as if it is two different comings, the Bible is stating clearly,
even if not literally, that the Messiah will come twice. The Bible also
appears to contradict itself as for as salvation is concerned by indicating
heaven is achieved by certain choices on our part and also indicating God
predetermined who would go to Heaven.
For two thousand years, all the millions of Christians, geniuses among them,
only a handful have been able to solve this very simple riddle even though
it is the same riddle as the one used for the coming of the Messiah which
the Christians have already solved. If a description of something sounds
contradictory as if it is a description of two or more different things,
perhaps it is a description of two or more different things. If someone says
they drive a white van and they also say they drive a red sedan we should be
able to easily reason they own two vehicles.
Luke 10:21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.
If the entire Bible is considers, if nothing is discarded or redefined we
notice in the Bible what appears to be a contradiction. If we acknowledge
God is consistent and He does not lie nor contradict Himself then what
appears to be a contradiction, what appear to give conflicting testimony,
must be testifying of two or more different things.
There must be two or more heavens, and two or more hells.
2 Corinthians 12:2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.
Heaven and Hell have traditionally been thought of as eternal destinations
determined on the Day of Judgment. This is true, but this is only part of
the story. On the Day of Judgment the eternal Hell, which is called the lake
of fire, will destroy all evil. This fire at the end of creation destroys
all who are less than perfect and are not worthy of eternal life. The Day of
Judgment will eliminate all evil and all suffering. The Day of Judgment will
result in a Heaven were all love each other without hostility or prejudice
of any kind. Because of Christ only our
flesh fails on the Day of Judgment, at least for those who have the spirit
in their hearts and are the children of God. Once separated from the flesh
the spirit in the child of God is perfect and it fairly enters eternal
Heaven.
We enter eternal Heaven on the Day of Judgment, but there is another heaven
and another hell and both take place before the Day of Judgment. Under the
Law of God all are punished for their sins and rewarded for their
righteousness. The punishment to be rendered is an eye for eye and a tooth
for tooth. This implies limited punishment for limited sin and limited
reward for limited righteousness. Without the Grace of Christ we can not be
given eternal reward because we do not deserve it, yet we do deserve limited punishment and limited reward. There must be a
limited heaven and a limited hell for this to be accomplished. This other
heaven and hell are here in the Earth. Here in this world we are rewarded
with joy for the love we give, and we are punished for our hostility and
selfishness.
Psalms 86:13 For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.
Proverbs 15:24 The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath.
Proverbs 23:14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
Jonah 2:2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
The righteous are said to be rescued from hell including Jonah who described time in the fish's belly as being in hell. Obviously there is a hell in this world.
Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Matthew 10:7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Luke 17:20-21 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
There is a heaven or reward here in this world for love and acts of love.
"Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand". In other words the
kingdom of heaven is right here, right now. The heaven or joy we receive in
this lifetime is determined by the decisions we make of our own free will.
The eternal Heaven, on the other hand, is provided by the Grace of Christ to
all those who have the spirit of love in their hearts. God predetermined to whom He
would give that love which means God predestinated those who would enter the
eternal Heaven.
We are saved from eternal death by Christ; and nothing we have done, nothing
we can do. We can save ourselves here in this life by good works including
charity, repentance, and baptism. We can also save ourselves in this life by
forgiveness to others. The Bible clearly uses the word “saved” to
describe being saved from things here in this world.
Exodus 14:30 Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore.
Jeremiah 30:7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.
Acts 27:18-20 And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship; And the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship. And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.
John 10:9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
Christ said if we enter by Him we shall be saved, but a person can not
"go in and out" of the eternal Heaven. The heaven Christ is
talking about is a heaven, or a state of the mind, here in this world.
The apostle Paul uses the word saved many times. His writings are often
quoted by those who believe they have saved themselves unto eternal Heaven
by the decisions of their own free will. In the book of Romans the apostle
Paul prayed for Israel to be saved.
Romans 10:1 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
According to the apostle Paul, also in the book of Romans, those who confess the Lord Jesus will be saved; and those who believe in Lord Jesus will be saved; and those who call on the Lord will be saved.
Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
These ways to be saved are found in the book of Romans. The apostle Paul had written this particular letter to people who lived in Rome. It was not written to everyone in Rome, but only to the church in Rome. At the beginning of the book of Romans Paul declared to whom he was addressing this particular letter.
Romans 1:7 To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The entire book of Romans was a letter written to all the saints in Rome,
those "beloved of God, called to be saints". The book of Romans
was written to those whom Christ died for, to those who were already saved
as far as eternal salvation. Paul cannot possibly be talking about eternal
salvation. When Paul told the early Christians that they could be saved by
calling on the name of the Lord this must be a different kind of
“saved”. He was talking about being saved from suffering here in this
world (Saved from the Romans).
Just as when Paul prayed that Israel might be saved he prayed for the nation
of Israel to be saved from the Romans here in this world. As far as eternal
Heaven is concerned the children of God in Israel are already saved not in
spite of the death of Christ, but because of it. Saved eternally, yet there
is a heaven and a hell in this world and we have our “free will” to
choose between the two.
Luke 13:1-5 There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
When Christ said "except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish",
He was talking about Galilaeans who had been killed, who were victims of a
tragedy here in this world. He was also talking about eighteen people killed
by a collapsed tower, another tragedy here in this world. These events had
nothing to do with eternal judgment; they were deaths in this world that had
occurred. Repentance saves a person from "likewise" perishing.
Does this mean all suffering in this world is a result of sin? Does this
mean when anything bad happens it must have happened because somebody
sinned? No, as Christ said, the Galilaeans were not sinners above all the
Galilaeans. The universe is governed by natural laws that scientists have
been studying for centuries. Disasters and accidents normally have nothing
to do with sin; they are the result of natural forces. Sometimes a tower
will collapse; and those who are standing in the wrong place at the wrong
time will be crushed. If a person follows the commandments of Christ, God
may intervene to save them when they are in the wrong place at the wrong
time; but punishment for sin normally has nothing to do with bad things that
happen in the natural world.
Reward and punishment do not necessarily have anything to do with the world
view of success and failure. The reward for righteousness is joy, not fame
or fortune or even longevity. The punishment for sin is guilt for the child
of God, not poverty or disaster. Sometimes a person who appears to be very
successful has great sadness; yet among the hobos that people look down on,
we may find the greatest among us. We cannot know how much pain or joy
another person has experienced.
Sometimes the wealthy and powerful will commit suicide. What good are all
the luxuries and status in the world if a person has so much misery and
torture on the inside they want to kill themselves? Talk to someone who
lived a material life, and then at some point they started to become very
active in charity. They will relate how much happier they are, how much
better their lives are. The heaven and hell of this life are in the heart.
Heaven is love and happiness; hell is guilt and emptiness.
The victims of the holocaust experienced suffering greater than their sins,
but we cannot know how much pain they actually endured. God was with them as
God was with the early Christians persecuted by Rome. God gives His children
the strength to endure what seems unendurable. He has been with the
survivors of the holocaust ever since it occurred.
It is not necessary for us to know and understand the “mathematical
formula” of judgment, but we can have faith that God is Just and God is
Loving and God is all knowing. God knows the heart, and the pain, of the
other guy which is something we cannot see. We can have faith that with God
there is justice. There has always been justice, and there always will be.
It may sound hard to believe that there is justice, and there always has
been justice. It has long been wondered why evil people prosper at the
expense of the righteous. Imagine a greedy man who accumulates great wealth,
who is able to take the meager possessions of the poor and continually add
to his wealth. Does God execute justice, or do evil people really prosper?
The problem is that our definition of success comes from a very worldly or
material view, a view not unlike Satan's view of success or greatness. We
think of success as having a good job; or achieving wealth or fame. Real
success can be nothing more than how much happiness, joy and love a person
experiences in whatever amount of time they live. Not physical pleasure
which is fleeting and generally balanced with pain, but joy and happiness
that only comes from the heart.
The greedy rich man has a great thirst for wealth, and that thirst will
never be quenched with gold. His emptiness will never be filled with money.
This is why he continually wants more. Unless and until he can overcome the
greed, he will always have emptiness and he will always be miserable. One
can imagine the countenance of such a man to be sour and reflect
unhappiness. A saint, on the other hand, can feel more joy almost every day
than many people will experience from cradle to grave. This is what true
success is all about; this is the kingdom of heaven.
It is recorded in the Bible that there is nothing a person can do to get to
Heaven, and this is the eternal Heaven provided to us by free Grace. It is
also recorded in the Bible that a person must do good works; and there is a
heaven, there is a joy in doing good works as in the joy that comes with
charity. It is recorded in the Bible that a person must repent, and there is
a heaven in this life for repentance and prayer.
Luke 9:60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.
This heaven is for
those who are alive, not the dead. In this world there is a heaven that can
be achieved by repentance, by good works, by following the Law. In this
world there is the hell that can be avoided, by repentance, by forgiveness
to others. The eternal Heaven can not be achieved by works, by repentance,
by anything within our power to do, unless we can live a life of complete
perfection and thereby deserve eternal reward through our own righteousness.
In reading the Bible one must understand these two Heavens. The reader is
"rightly dividing the word of truth" by correctly identifying
which Heaven or which Hell a particular verse is describing.
2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
This is a meaningful quotation from the Bible since division or separation
is the key to understanding many of the mysteries of the Bible. Creation
will separate Satan from Heaven. This will be accomplished without the
destruction of humanity by the separation of flesh from spirit. Having to
separate the two comings of the Messiah foretold in the Old Testament is
followed by having to separate the different Heavens described in the New
Testament.
From the beginning of creation God separated waters from waters; He
separated darkness from light; He separated day from night. Creation is all
about separation and separation is how God created the world. The key to
understanding the Bible is found in the first few verses of the Bible.
While reading the Bible one may become total confused when reading
prophecies, but the parables of Heaven and judgment are easy to understand.
One finds no contradiction or confusion at all. The Bible makes perfect
sense; you simple have to determine to which Heaven or to which Hell a
particular verse is referring.
There is no contradiction between “free will” (heaven in this world) and
predestination (Heaven in the world to come). Words do not have to be
redefined to get everything to fit. The Bible is consistent; the Bible is
clear; the Bible is easy to understand once a few simple riddles are solved.
The underlying truth of the Bible is that God is Love, and all those who
have perfect love in their hearts will live again.