BURNING QUESTION

Why is the right kind of faith around Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection so absolutely crucial?

Reality Back-up: And the ‘trump card’ verse here? Romans 4:5 “and to him who is not working, and is believing upon Him who is declaring righteous the impious, his faith is reckoned -- to righteousness:” - Young’s Literal Translation What does this verse mean? It means exactly what it says… namely… if one does NOT believe in the God who declared also the ungodly to be righteous through Jesus’ righteous act of redemption on the cross… irrespective of that ungodly person’s faith… then one’s faith is NOT reckoned by God to righteousness… hence one is then ALSO reckoned by God as an unbeliever ! Shocking discovery re ‘eternal-hell-believing’ Christians. And as we all know… there is faith… and there is faith… thousands of them. But there is only ONE Absolute faith around the salvation of man… the faith which believes in the “righteous-making” of the ungodly, while   still   an   unbeliever ( Romans 5:8 -9 ) . This is the faith which God declares to be the righteous faith. And please note an important part here, easy to overlook… God declares the impious person to be righteous… no mentioning of his/her faith is made here. Let’s stand still for a moment and think about Jesus’ death on the cross… the Jesus Christ around whom… and based upon whom the whole Word of God is written… How many of us have taken time, contemplating on the extreme depth of Jesus’ suffering for us at Golgotha? How many of us Christians have gone down on our knees and wept convulsively at His feet… for that what He went through on our behalf… for what He went through not only on behalf of the Christians… but also on behalf of the Hindu… the Buddhist… the Satanist… the Muslim… the New Ager? And for the other downtrodden? The murderers… the rapists… the drug addicts… the drunkards… the adulterers… the gays… the narcissists… the gamblers… and all other society’s so-called ‘less-thans’? And who is society in any case? What power does it have? It has as much power as we give it. So then… it’s not what society thinks at all that’s important… but what God thinks. And what does God say in His Word about the ungodly/impious/wicked (Strong’s#765) in Romans 4:5 ? That they are made righteous (Strong’s #1344) . Righteous means justifiable, acceptable, made right. Besides… can we talk of “they” here? No. What does the word “impious” mean? It means amongst others “unholy”, “sinful”, “immoral”, “blasphemous” and “disrespectful”. And if we are not immoral, but disrespectful… does that make us better than the one who is immoral? Of course not. So then… does that sound like “they” being the only ones tagged with “impiety”? No… we all fit in there… somewhere, Just go to 1 Corinthians 6:8-10 for a moment. What does Paul say here? It’s obvious… we all are guilty of doing wrong… at some point in time… in some way… not so? Paul himself struggled a lot with his own carnality… and in Romans 7:24 he makes no secret of it. So please… we must have no illusion of this… we all fall short of the glory of God. Just check the “ greedy ” in verse 10 . Greedy is greedy. See how Paul throws the whole caboodle under one umbrella. The greedy being no better off than the adulterer… the former having no right to point fingers to the latter. But then we come to 1 Corinthians 6:11 Paul gives the wonderful good news of Jesus’ sanctifying Blood. And let me add here something of great significance… sanctification is not all there is to it… no. Here the “born-again” subject comes into play… a subject SO misunderstood by virtually all Christians. That being the reason of me creating a new “burning question” around this very important issue of spiritual rebirth. And just to add about righteousness… what does Paul mean in Romans 3:10 , where he says that nobody is righteous? Is this contradicting Romans 4:5 ? No… not at all… but my view on this subject will take up too much space here. So I’ll share it later in my “Does the Bible Ever Contradict Itself?” question. Back to “righteousness”… Are the righteous people going to heaven? Sure they are. Please turn to Psalms 37:29 . And also Psalms 5:12 . And also Titus 3:7 . ALL people are made righteous through Jesus’ sacrifice. Please see 1 John 2:2 . But there is a problem… righteous faith… the second crucial component needed to secure entrance to heaven. Both components need to be in place… the righteous person with righteous faith. The former is in any case in place. And if the latter is not? Then there will be a detour to the destination of heavenly glory… a pit-stop first at a place where the real God and Christ will reveal Himself… a pit- stop of discipline towards sanctification. Does Paul not say in Hebrews 1 2:2 that Jesus is the “Perfecter of faith”, who will perfect all faith? This is a statement from God Self… a fact. See, Hades and Gehenna (lake of fire -aka second death) will, although places of great pain… be the pit-stops where second chances (and third… and fourth, etc. ones) will be given. Jesus went down to Sheol / Hades to preach the good news to the spirits there. See 1 Peter 3:18-20 . Were those spirits alive in Hades… and also compos mentis? Of course… otherwise why would Jesus then preach to them, if they were not? Besides… the Bible explicitly states here that Jesus preached to the unbelievers in Noah’s time… to their spirits after their death. And… what’s more… He preached His GOOD NEWS … to give them hope! Beautiful! What more proof do we want that unbelievers will get another chance after life on earth… God’s grace being at play? Is this not absolutely wonderful? But… alas… many believers in an ‘everlasting hell’ will not want this proof at all… especially Biblical academics… sadly. And why? Because there is too much at stake for them. And not only that… to face the possibility of having believed the lie all the time is downright too scary… with anxiety in most cases as a result. And… talking about anxiety… this should be just the more reason to find out why anxiety comes up. Ever thought of the possibility that the one who becomes anxious, is not supposed to know the Truth… according to the evil one? Good news around Christ is always a threat to the Adversary. If one stands firm in one’s belief… one is free to read anything without being rattled. This page gives ONLY good news. Why be scared of good news? Good news is what Jesus Christ is all about… not bad news. Good news is always coupled with love… and God is love. Ever thought of that? God is a patient God, not wanting any of His children to perish. 2 Peter 3:9 . Regarding Sheol, God puts people in there and He takes them out again… as He pleases and at His discretion. 1 Samuel 2:6 . Regarding the Lake of fire… the second death… it will be conquered. 1 Corinthians 15:26 . And then the final end will come… the great moment all were waiting for… God ALL in ALL. 1 Corinthians 15:28 . Did God make any mistakes ever? No… never. All of us are perfectly in place… perfectly fitting in His wonderful plan for each… making a wonderful tapestry of colour nuances and textures… every colour and texture in perfect place. See Jeremiah 29:11 . And whom does God address here? Only Israel? No, when we make that pertaining only to Israel, then we make the Bible a historical story book… which the Bible is not. God has a plan for EACH of His children. All the so-called ‘lost’ are His children too. If we reject this statement… then it is “exclusivity” speaking… the selfish ego, denying heavenly reservation for all. I’m rambling a lot… repeating myself to the point of irritation maybe. But… this is an issue of such magnitude, that I find it not easy to put so much in such a small space. I’m not taking part in an essay competition… but just jot down what comes to mind. Kindly bear with me… and let me carry on in any case . This is good news for ALL of us on earth… news not likely to flood the net! 1 John 5:4 explicitly says every begotten one conquers the world through FAITH. These are prophetic words of John… stating a FACT. A father begets a child, right? So then… does not our heavenly Father, who has begotten all earthly fathers, begets all His offspring… through them? Unbelievers do not have the righteous faith now… but they WILL have it later… as this verse clearly implies. This should be good news for the Christians, not so? Alas… I’m afraid not. The mere thought of this shatters the ‘exclusive right to be with God’ for many. To share heaven with those who have hurt us so much… a tall order to say the least. And I can identify with that… of course. But once this penny drops… the light bulb that none of us are in essence accountable for who we are, or what we do, or don’t do… then we are free to worship the God of the universe… the One calling the shots in all. Then we look upon others with compassion like never before. How can one ever deny Jesus’ suffering for the ‘lost’… vulnerable people, just like us… people He fearfully and wonderfully made too? How on earth can we sleep at night with complacent folded arms… thinking we are the sole chosen ones… the ‘lucky’ ones, who happen to ‘know’ and have ‘accepted’ Jesus… albeit to have been given to us through grace? The question here is, however, of which Jesus are we talking about here… the true Jesus… or the false Jesus? Please read 2 Corinthians 11:4 . And the most significant part around the “other” Jesus, Paul talks about here… the Jesus worshipped- and being worshipped by billions of ‘everlasting-hell- of-damnation’ Christians over generations? Scary as it is… the ‘Father’ they often refer to in conversations around their faith… is then, logically, also the “other” heavenly father they proclaim to worship. The father of the “other” Jesus is logically then the “other” father (father in lower case). This is an extremely serious matter! Did Jesus not Himself say in John 14:6 that He is the ONLY way to God the Father? Please think about this very carefully… if you believe in an ‘everlasting hell of condemnation’… with the Holy Spirit. And to elaborate a little more on this… Who is the wrong Jesus Christ? It is the anti-Christ. ”Antichrist” also means the follower of the Antichrist. It also means “against Christ”. And “against Christ” at its core, means “against that what Christ did”. See what John says about the last hour in 1 John 2:18 . And what does Jesus say about the “many” on the Day of the Lord in Matthew 7:22 ? The Strong’s #4183 word in Greek is “ polloi ” (πολλοì). Earlier on Jesus talked about the “many” in Matthew 7:13 … the “many” that will enter through the wide gate towards destruction. The Jesus saying this, is the Jesus having died for all as is reflected in 2 Corinthians 5:15 . Strong’s #3956 for “all” “ pantōn ” (πάντων). The Jesus having made all righteous in Romans 4:5 . ‘Eternal-hell-believing’ Christians reject these two actions of Jesus… making their ‘freedom of choice’ ‘superior’ to the Sovereignty of God! So to recap the three “many”s… • Many (“polloi”) will go through the wide gate towards destruction ( Matthew 7:13 ) • Many (“polloi”) anti-Christs will be present in the end time ( 1 John 2:18 ) • Many (“polloi”) will come to Jesus and complain to Him on the Day of the Lord that they have “preached in His Name”, but He will reject them. ( Matthew 7:22-23 ). So what DID these “many” preach (and still preach today)? An “everlasting hell of condemnation”… which is a lie… a lie, believed by billions… making these billions of members liars as well. And what does the Bible say about liars? Please read Revelation 21:8 ? Believing a lie is having faith in the lie, right? And having faith in the lie, is having a faith that is unrighteous, not so? And having unrighteous faith… is not being able to enter the Kingdom of God, as we all know. But… and thank God… the lying ‘buck’ stops at the Lake of Fire… the second death… where Jesus will perfect the faith of all unbelieving inhabitants there ( Hebrews 12:2 ). The fiery second death will be conquered… once and for all! 1 Corinthians 15:26 . So much so for the the so-called ‘everlasting hell of condemnation! Just the opposite… joy, instead of pain! Serious food for thought! But… back to Jesus’ suffering… If we only take into consideration the intense spiritual suffering we endure through our own singular trespasses… how much more severe must it have been for Jesus to go through HIS spiritual suffering, on behalf of the composite sins of each and everyone of us all together… over thousands of years? Ever thought of that? It’s impossible even to try to imagine. Debilitating would be a better word to describe the mere thought of this. Would He have gone through all this suffering for only a ‘few elect’… who were given so-called exclusive grace of salvation? Is this the God the Christian church is worshipping? Sure looks like that. But this is arrogant to think that the Almighty God has to wait for us miserable man to make up our little minds… before the Holy Blood of Christ becomes effective. Please read Isaiah 53:5 … and weep! And let us stand still for one moment at this crucially important issue around faith in Jesus Christ. Yes, of course we believe the Bible when it says that only through faith in Jesus Christ we can enter the Kingdom of God… thus the only way to come to the Father. But there is more to it… much more. Billions of Christian proclaim to love Jesus… to believe in Him as their Redeemer. It all sounds good and well… but the question should rather be “ what ” about Jesus’ sacrifice do they believe in. It’s all about the “what” faith…and not about faith per se… repeating myself yet again. To accept Jesus’ sacrificial death as a means to escape an everlasting hell of damnation… is to accept Him out of selfish reasons… out of fear… and not out of love. This is a WHOLE other ball game… and Christians who are believing in Jesus for this selfish reason, are playing the player and not the ball… all the time… condemning all, left right and centre. Is that love? No. Fact is… it is SO normal for kids to mimic their fathers and mothers. There is ample proof of this in every day life. Why would Christians then NOT mimic their heavenly ‘killer father’ for condemning non-believers to an everlasting hell fire? No reason not to… and they surely do that too… condemning people with harsh words. Does that look like love? Of course not. Does that reflect the Spirit of Jesus Christ? No again. Please read Ephesians 5:1 . And talking about love… and in particular the love of Christians… let me just throw in a personal experience around this subject here… especially when it comes to Christian family members and -friends on local turf in South Africa. Positive response upon my verbal sharing of my belief around Christ’s universal redemptive act at Golgotha is non-existent… let alone any response at all. A sad state of affairs. Even those few who have been given the link here, shy away… in fear. This message is so profound… so liberating. And what’s more… it’s only about Christ. But in spite of that… people, calling themselves Christians, do not want to hear about it. Sticking my neck out in a global fashion for HIS cause is a privilege to me… while fully aware of the Truth being unpopular… and its bearer being no exception. Harmony does not come into play where Truth is on the agenda… especially around a subject like this. The disinterest shown by fellow ‘Christians’ speaks book volumes. Universal reconciliation of God with mankind… a Godly love in its highest expression… and backed up by a plethora of Scriptural text… is not up for discussion in this country of mine on the southern tip of the African continent. What comes to mind here is the scenario with Noah… the scenario with David… the scenario with Lot… just to name but three. What did they have in common? The singular, faced with the plural. The single, faced with the masses. And who were the conquerors in all three cases? The single ones. So who then resorts under the masses in this modern time… with regard to Christianity? Me? No… of course not. The mere fact that my own ‘Christian’ family and -friends run away from this awesome message… speaks for itself. Are they part of the masses? Sure they are by their typical reaction of avoidance. If one takes into consideration the numbers of like-minded ‘Christians’ worldwide… one can ascribe that number to “the masses”. Don’t people as a rule feel safer in the masses… than being alone? Of course. But this safety is a pseudo safety… where deception runs wild. From there the mega churches today. “Masses” plays a pivotal role in the Bible… in the negative sense, that is. What does God say about the masses in Matthew 7:13-14 ? And please check the Strong’s #4183 , reflecting masses/multitudes. And also Matthew 7:22-23 . Yet again… Strong’s #4183 . To be alone with God is not appealing… by the looks of Christians today, constantly on facebook, twitter and whatsapp… to name but three. Modern technology’s downside wrt its ‘attention-away-from-God’ success. Nobody likes to be alone. That is why organizations and societies are called for… where a [pseudo] feeling of acceptance is experienced. If one has Jesus Christ to the core… one doesn’t need to belong to any society or organization. One truly becomes jealous with regard to time spent with Him. Thinking about John now… his statement in 1 John 4:6 . And what else does John say? Please turn to 1 John 5:4 . Here John explicitly states that ALL will conquer the world. Is this not what I’m saying all along on my website? Of course it is. Do people share in my joy with this message of universal reconciliation of God with mankind? No. They don’t want to listen… too dicey for them… too ‘unsafe’. They rather resort to the masses… where they have ample company… and where they feel ‘safe’. Does John talk about those not wanting to listen to them? Yes. And in my case… talking John’s language? The conclusion here is a logic one. So… I identify with John. The typical reaction of a small group in my immediate surrounding, is (IMHO) a benchmark of the law of probability… where the multitude is reacting in the same way as the small. What is the most powerful tool to use to control people? Fear of course. To start naming one example… the medical society. A society using this very tool for centuries to control the “ill”… directly and indirectly alike, forcing them to stay close… by means of laboratory ‘findings’ and diagnostically-projected fates… playing God. Patients become slaves… enslaved in a system where iatrogenesis wreaks havoc. And the church? Is that any different? No. Congregation members are enslaved as well… also indoctrinated into believing that if they do not accept Jesus now before they die, they will burn in hell forever… separated from God. All Christians believing this lie are constantly haunted by this lie… albeit subconsciously. They are constantly in fear, but will not admit this. It, however, becomes eminent when confronted with anything outside their paradigm… the basis of their belief system on wobbly ground. If one’s belief is steadfast, then NO situation is ever a threat. Just read about the “cowards” mentioned in Revelation 21:8 . Very important issue this. To belief in the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, is to have total peace… no matter what the circumstances… no matter what the confrontation. One’s boat cannot be rocked at all. Okay then… enough rambling (for now ) To get back to Romans 4:5 … It’s ALL about faith… NEVER about works. Paul’s message to the Philippians in Philippians 3:9 clearly backs this up. And flowing out of this statement, it is only logic to ask oneself the important question “Is the interim destination going to be a destination such as the one of Lazarus in Luke 16:22 ? Or Is it going to be a destination such as the one of the rich man in Luke 16:23-24 ? And make no mistake… both locations are reality. Be it a parable in the Bible or not… God does not put any message in there if it does not deal with reality. A critical point to understand. I cannot emphasize it enough! No use excluding some passages in the Word which do not fit our paradigms… they remain there for acknowledgement… if not now… then later. Jesus will surely enlighten ALL mankind. John 1:9 .   But the good news amidst chastisement are (and will be) always there… for all… no matter in which camp we are. Did not Jesus Himself go down to Hades / Sheol to bring the good news to those held captive from the days of Noah, as is reflected in 1 Peter 3:19-20 ?   What does Romans 5:9 say with regard to being saved from God’s wrath? The Strong’s number here is 4982. It stands for “ sózó ”. And it means to save, to make whole, to heal, to restore and to rescue. Who then will be ”sózó”-ed? All of us! Did God only write through Paul to the Romans here? No. Were they the only ones to receive the good news? No again…of course not! God wrote His messages in His Word for each and every reader… at any time. This is not a history book… remember? The Bible is a Guiding Manual… for ALL mankind. And for those who never read the Bible… never knew Jesus, but who were guilty of trespassing… their stripes will be few the Bible says. Luke 12:48 . And those who DID read the Bible and heard the Gospel? Well… an utmost serious issue to ponder about for those calling themselves Christians, but believing in an everlasting hell… a dogma accepted that fits the ego. See the parsing of Strong’s #4982 in Romans 5:9 : Future tense, indicative mood, passive voice and in plural form. The passive voice denotes an action of salvation made upon the receiver (as a done deal without any interference from the receiver)… God being in that very active role Himself. And God being a God of love, He will “sózó” all of us! Where? Well… either here on earth, while still alive… or in Hades (Sheol)… or in Gehenna (the “lake of fire”). All up to God… never up to man! Difficult concept to understand, but once one gets the gist of God’s Grace… then everything in the Bible starts to fall into place, making sense. And just to get back to the rich man in Hades for a moment… How many times do pastors preach about Hades (Sheol)? Ever thought of this? Well… in the 50 years of my church life… not once did they devote a sermon on this subject… let alone Romans 4:5 . Why? It’s obvious… too much at stake. Rather let sleeping dogs lie… otherwise they might disrupt the ‘peaceful and complacent’ congregational environment. Do pastors address Romans 4:5 on pulpits? Of course not. It’s too dangerous. Because then they run the risk of having to face a cascade of questions from their congregation members… questions that will put them on the hot seat of controversy. No… this verse is not up for discussion in the church. This is one of the verses in the Bible pastors just jump over and ignore… simply because it is SO out of sync with the message of the church… the message of everlasting doom… the message of “The Canons of Dort”… the message of “The Belgic Confession of Faith”… and the message of “The Heidelberg Catechism”. And the “wrath of God” mentioned in this verse… will this be ad infinitum? No. this is not what the Bible says ( Psalm103:9 ). First of all, God’s wrath is a given… reflected throughout the Holy Word. And… His wrath will have its highest expression in the “lake of fire” (the Gehenna)… the second death… where the ultimate sanctification for non-believers will take place. But death will be conquered in 1 Corinthians 15:26 . Death is death… first- and second death alike. Whom did Paul address in Romans 5:9 ? His Roman followers. And what Gospel did Paul preach? His own. Please see Romans 16:25-26 . Paul talks about his good news in verse 25. He got his Gospel straight from Jesus Christ Himself… as is reflected in Galatians 1:12 . And what does Paul’s Gospel say? That God will reconcile ALL to Himself through Christ. See Colossians 1:19-20 . And what else did Paul say? That he and those believing in his Gospel will not be judged with the rest of the world… meaning that they will not face the second death… they will escape God’s wrath in both Hades / Sheol and the Lake of Fire. 1 Corinthians 11:32 and Romans 8:18 . And the person reflected in the beginning of Romans 4:5 … who is that one? It’s the one not relying upon law-abiding… hence the one believing in Jesus’ redemptive sacrifice… and not the [yet still] heathen or non-believer. Paul is addressing the believer in this passage. This verse explicitly reflects the conditional aspect of the faith of the believer here. When the one believing in the restorative act of Christ for the UNGODLY as well… then… and only THEN his/her faith is made righteous by God. This component is absolutely imperative for faith being righteous…the component of including the ungodly/impious/wicket into God’s Grace. Does God not say to Cyrus in Isaiah 45:7 that He is the One creating good, as well as evil? Did He reserve the “evil” for only some of His children? No… we all have good and evil within us… within our carnality. Idolatry spans across all border… and so does gossip… and so does envy… and the list goes on and on. And are we responsible for who we are… and what we look like? Did we make ourselves? No on both questions. Please read Romans 9:20-21 . Let me pause a little at God’s refining fire. We all will be tested by way of fire… a Spiritual and Godly Fire… as is reflected in in 1 Peter 1:6-7 . Please also turn to Revelation 21:8 . Strong’s #2303 reflects the Greek word for “ theiō ” for “ brimstone ”. And check Strong’s # 2316 , reflecting “ Theos ” for “ God ”. Notice the resemblance between the two words. Also check Strong’s #4442 , reflecting the Greek word “ pyri ” for “ fire ”. Both fire and brimstone are used as symbols for divine purification. And mentioning “ pyri ” here… did you know that pyrogens are the proteins that stimulate our hypothalamus to generate higher temperature in the body… called fever… as a purification measure to clear the body of invader microbes, such as bacteria and viruses? How many people know this? Few. This is God’s built-in intelligence He equipped the human body with, purifying itself from toxic invaders. Fever is our friend… not our enemy. And then parents think that giving their kids medication to kill their fevers is the right thing to do. The fever kills bacteria and viruses… and by killing the fever they spare the ‘evil-doers’ to proliferate… stopping the body’s healing process. And then they give them antibiotics to kill the medicinally-sustained bacteria… antibiotics (anti-life) that kill indiscriminately… the body’s friendly and life-sustaining bacteria as well. Instead of using God’s resources in the form of plants that kill viruses as well … apart from all the other invaders. I huge other subject I will cover at a later stage. This, however, pivotal information already! So then… if this does not help us making the ‘click’ that spiritual fire is ALSO our friend, what will? Especially when that Spiritual Fire comes from our loving God Himself… purifying His children unto holiness. Needless to say… God being the Lake of Fire! What a fantastic discovery! What better liberating discovery can there be? I will discuss this later in more detail under the “Lake of Fire” burning question. Turning back to 1 Corinthians 11:32 … It says “we will be saved from the wrath…”. Check the definition of the word resorting under Strong’s number 2919 (krinó) , reflected in this verse. It means “ to separate ”, “ to distinguish ”. And also… check the definition of the word resorting under Strong’s number 2632 (katakrinó) , reflected here. The word is not “condemn”, but “ judge ”. BIG difference between the two! Paul and his followers were separated in their judgement by God. Oh my goodness… what ONE word can do to mankind… sigh. All that judgement means, is “correction”… ”discipline”. Why would they call the authority under which prisons fall “Department of Correction”? Ever thought of this? Prisoners are supposed to be disciplined, right? Let’s just page to at another key verse in the Bible… Revelation 21:8 … and pause at two of the qualifying instances where God explicitly made reservation for in the Lake of Fire. One being the unbelievers (Strong’s # 571) and the other being all liars (Strong’s # 5571). This is of such significance, albeit a scary one for many. Even though this place of purification with fire will be temporary… it will nevertheless be a place of great pain… but I will discuss this in depth in the burning question dealing with that ‘refinery’. And quickly turning back to Romans 4:5 , we are reminded that Paul wrote the letter to the Romans… having received the Truth directly from Jesus Christ ( Galatians 1:12 ). In spite of Paul’s extreme sufferings here on earth ( 2 Corinthians 11:23-27 ), he anticipated a glorious outcome that will far outweigh his ‘misfortune’ ( Romans 8:18 ). And not only that… he was also convinced that he and his like-minded followers will not be judged with the rest of the world ( 1 Corinthians 11:32 ). And the main reason for this was his righteous faith… that all are made righteous… including the ungodly. This ungodly (or unbeliever), however, will NOT stay an ungodly or unbeliever, but will be lifted up to Jesus’ breast as a new being… even on the last minute. John 6:44 “No man can come to me, unless the Father who has sent me will draw him, and I shall raise him in the last day.” -Aramaic Bible in Plain English. All will in the end be conquerors of the world… as is reflected in… 1 John 5:4 Take note of the “everyone” and the “begotten of God”. The Strong’s number reflected here in Greek is # 1080 (gennaó). Beget also means “conceive”. Every one ever conceived or born, is of God… the God of the Bible… the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And, what’s more… everyone thus overcomes the world (cosmos). And the bottom line? Yes there is a “hell” (to use the mainstream term here)… but it is not a “hell” of condemnation… but rather a “hell” of sanctification… of correction… a hell where all non-believers will get to know the real God of the universe… the real Jesus Christ. And being a place of great pain… the outcome for all those there, will be one of great glory and joy! If this is not good news… then what is? To conclude… Why would we… in our right mind… not want to be in the Presence of the true Jesus Christ now on earth already… instead of leaving it up to Hades or the Lake of Fire… as the painful preceding locations for that to happen? Is this not the perfect time now to go on our knees to ask the Holy Spirit whether our faith is REALLY righteous… or not? Whether we are worshipping the real Jesus Christ… and not the one Paul was referring to in 2 Corinthians 11:4 ? If we earnestly and diligently keep on asking for the Truth… the Absolute Truth… He is faithful… and WILL give it… if not now… then in His own time. Please read Proverbs 2:1-6 . Fact remains… this is THE most important question to keep on asking the Lord… until we find this wonderful Truth… and the peace that goes with it. I have found that peace… after non-stop asking for three plus decades. Please read 1 Peter 1:8-9 . Have you found this peace… in all honesty? And please… have no illusions about having found the this wonderful Truth. It will be a very very difficult road… its obstacles becoming heavier and heavier. It’s not a rose-petal-strewn road awaiting the enlightened one… but rather a thorn-strewn road. Please read 1   Peter 1:6-7 . And yet… this road is a picnic, compared to what the one in the Lake of Fire will be… the road awaiting those whose faith is not righteous. This is urgent and complacency a dangerous place to be. Proverbs 1:32 . So… what’s it going to be… rather the chastisement here, while still alive… or the heavier one later? I can only say to you dear reader what Paul had said to King Agrippa in Acts 26:28-29 . Kindly read the whole of Acts 26. Acts 26:28-29 “ 28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to become a Christian?” 29 Paul replied, “Short time or long--I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”” -New International Version May the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob bless you NOW with insight and wisdom… and most importantly… with His TRUTH… and Paul’s FAITH. Jesus cares about you… whoever you are… wherever you are. AMEN