Romans 26: Paul's Progressive Thoughts on Universal Salvation

[Rebbe]

PAUL'S LETTER TO THE ROMAN CHRISTIANS (26)
Analytical Commentary on Romans

PAUL'S PROGRESSIVE THOUGHTS ON UNIVERSAL SALVATION

Copyright © BRI 2017 All Rights Reserved Worldwide by Les Aron Gosling,
Messianic Lecturer (BRI/IMCF)
 
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"Man is not valuable because he loves God, Man is valuable because God loves him"... "The glum, sour faces of many Christians... They rather give the impression that, instead of coming from the Father's joyful banquet, they have just come from the Sheriff who has auctioned off their sins and now are sorry they can't get them back again" -- Helmut Thielicke, rector of the University of Hamburg

"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints! - I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! - and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death"
-- Elizabeth Barrett Browning

INTRODUCTION
The German Protestant theologian Helmut Thielicke has well written, "Our deliverance [salvation] lies in Him who opens our deaf ears and blind eyes that we may see Him at the vanishing point of every biblical perspective. In this sense we are always setting out toward someone who has already overtaken us and from whom we came in the first place. For, as Augustine said, we would not be able to seek Him if He had not already found us... Therefore if there is to be such a thing as theological knowledge, an understanding of the Word and the mighty acts of God, then the analogy to God which men have given up must be restored in a new act of creation. The divine Word must create its own hearers. (For there are no longer any hearers who would understand it 'naturally.') The theological locus in which this creative function of the Word -- or if you will -- this 'creation of the hearer', is dealt with is the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. For this doctrine declares that we are called to share in God's self-knowledge and thus to be put into the proper analogy. The Holy Spirit, who enlightens us, is none other than God Himself. In Him and through Him we become partakers of that which God Himself knows about Himself. For the Spirit (not man's reason, but this Spirit, the Holy Spirit) 'searches everything, even the depths of God'" (Helmut Thielicke, Between Heaven and Earth, 1965, 38,42).

So also Dr Philip Hughes has admonished believers today concerning the faithful sacredness of all Scripture: "Scripture, indeed, belongs to the Holy Spirit. It is He, the Lord and Life-Giver, who makes real in the hearts of men the redemption procured by Christ, thereby and at the same time authenticating the genuineness of the testimony of the biblical authors; for, as the creed declares, He it is "who spake by the prophets." Should not the creed be a constant reminder to us that the mystery of Scripture belongs to the realm of faith and therefore is accessible only to faith? I question very much whether it is right for us to propound and defend notions concerning the mechanics of inspiration. To do so is to transpose, however unintentionally, the Bible from the area of faith to the area of reason, and in this respect to place it under man instead of under God. Just at this point... fundamentalists have developed a somewhat frenetic rationalism of their own and tend, all unwittingly, to conduct their warfare from the same ground as the  radicals whom they oppose. Not, however, that the radicals are models of consistency, for, though they are avowedly rationalistic in their approach, yet it is their custom to seek support by quoting Scriptures from the Bible, as though from the authoritative Word of God, when it suits them to do so" (Philip Edgcumbe Hughes, Creative Minds in Contemporary Theology, 1966, 1969, 16,17).

Of course, Hughes is "right on the money" (so to speak) even though he is circumspect in the way he expresses himself for the simple reason -- which he understands perfectly --  is that all men are liars, all of us, despite the many masks we wear behind which we seek to hide our true identity from others -- particularly those men and women who pride themselves on being known by the appellation "rationalists." Listen! Be aware! A rationalist is the son of the devil, the haSatan, the Prince of evil, the Dark Lord -- the liar who was found in the Garden of Eden allied to the "Tree" of the Knowledge of Good and Evil -- the "Tree" of Illusion -- and who spun the great falsehood, the deceptive awareness of the Realm of Duality "of good and evil." God planted that tree -- to be sure -- but haSatan as the Nachash [Shining one = Enchanter/Sha'man] exploited it. It is this "father of lies" and faithlessness who ever seeks to ration out lies. That is what a rationaliser is and what a rationaliser does. To rationalise.

But this is precisely what our Christian scholars have been accomplishing for almost 1800 years of ecclesiastical history. They have rationed out lies. Satan never feeds his followers; Satan merely ekes out rations. And yet the "deaf, dumb and blind" think they are indulging in a banquet! That is what happens to those who allow themselves to be programmed. That is why we tell people who come through our doors not to hang their brain up on the hatstand as they enter. God gave us all brains by which to THINK. This is the main reason I resort to underlining, bolding words, CAPITALISING, and italicising them using old advertising techniques that were utilised widely even in my early career in selling to (quite frankly) JAR OPEN THE HUMAN MIND -- to literally shake people mentally into a form of awakened satori. For, people generally are in a comfortable "sleep-zone" STATE and they are blissfully unaware of the extreme density of their own unique ignorance. They remain ignorant -- ASLEEP -- concerning their authentic Selfhood and even in their belief, if they indeed possess one, of MATERIAL power, of MENTAL power, not aware of the reality of their spiritual BE-ING. Indeed, the very word "being" is a contraction of to "BE IN GOD." The phrase has been lost, in proportion to the lostness of our actual IDENTITY. (I would encourage all my students in the IMCF to restudy the series of lectures on The Biography Of God and when doing so to take time out to meditate, to reflect deeply, on what is written -- admittedly, some of which may (at first or second thought) provoke a personal inner emotional tension.)

In 1981 this Work began and it started with the awesome (dare I say) "deputised bidding" to announce not only the coming Kingdom of God -- and its immediate especial Presence here NOW -- but also the realisation that the Time had come finally for an Elect to enter the orbit of GOD'S CONSCIOUSNESS and thus to prepare to take an awakened, enlightened cognisance of the love of God, the Grace of God, and the Government of God into their discipled lives: To GROW into THAT which we already are. As the children of Abraham by Keturah would have stated it... "THAT Thou Art!"

Like the apostle Paul, it is my desire to AWAKEN as many folk as I am able through the witnessing power of the Ruach HaKodesh to their Messiah Yeshua, the Son of the Living God and Nazarene King of Israel. Paul sincerely thought he was living in the times just prior to the return of Christ. But Paul was wrong. Christ is coming back in OUR very lifetimes NOW. The world was not facing cosmocide in Paul's day and age. But it is today. In fact we have already entered a time of planetary calamity never seen since the days of Noah. Yeshua spoke of our day as one breeding and experiencing -- a condition of "perplexity -- a time totally lacking in any answers to our problems." We face the possibility for the first time in history of the total erasure of ALL life on our planet, not just human life! As the Lord Yeshua said:

"At that time people will suffer from anxiety, and panic attacks and even heart attacks because of what is threatening the planet, and when they see critical events in space with planets driven from their courses" (Luke 21.26 Tentative BRI/IMCF Version).

A WORD OF CAUTION FROM GEORGE ELDON LADD
The apostle Paul wrote his Letter to the Roman Christians from Corinth, according to scholarly research, in 57/58 CE. This was just after he penned 1 Corinthians (55/57 CE) from Ephesus. He had earlier sent messages to Thessalonica (51-53 CE) and to the ekklesias in Galatia (somewhere in between 53 and 57 CE). We would expect therefore to locate a progressive understanding of the Salvific afterlife, not in any way limited to the true believer of Christ but as relating to all humankind, starting in his Corinthian messages and sharpening into a more constructive theological focus in his epistle to the Roman believers. Paul's earlier epistles are devoid of any mention about the conciliation of God toward the world.

Again, we ought to be reminded that Paul launches his Letter to the Roman Christians by underscoring his content matter with an authoritative conviction that it all accords with the Gospel. Recall Paul's deliberate enunciation in his opening introductions that his Gospel is "of God," "of Christ," "of Grace," and that it is dogmatically "my Gospel."

Before we consider what he actually wrote in Corinthians and Romans let us take into consideration that which Professor Ladd has shared in his always thoughtful and critical notes relating to Paul.

"We are fortunate to have a substantial collection of primary sources from Paul's own pen. Nine of the thirteen traditional Pauline letters are usually accepted as authentic today. Many scholars think Ephesians is not from Paul's hand but written by a later disciple of Paul in imitation of Colossians. Arguments against its authenticity are not overwhelming. The problem of the three pastoral epistles is more acute" -- he means 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus -- "for the literary style varies widely from the acknowledged Pauline corpus, and the doctrinal emphasis is distinctly different from that in the accepted letters, especially in ecclesiology. However, those who reject direct Pauline authorship usually admit that the letters contain genuine Pauline material. Since there is a difference in theological emphasis, even though we accept the basic Pauline authorship, our procedure [ought to be] to use the materials in the pastorals critically... The student of Paul encounters distinct difficulties when he attempts to re-create his theological thought, for Paul's letters are not theological treatises nor formal literary productions but "unliterary," living, personal correspondence, written with deep feeling to Christian congregations that for the most part Paul himself had brought into being...

"While it is obviously true that Paul has not left the church a systematic theology, and he cannot be called a systematic theologian in the sense that he deliberately tried to work out a consistent, balanced, coherent system like a modern theologian, it is equally true that Paul was a theologian from his Jewish origins, and clearly tries to think through the implications of God's redemptive work in Christ so far as the needs of his churches demanded it" (George Eldon Ladd, A Theology of the New Testament, 1974, 376, 377).

I usually enjoy reading almost anything from Ladd's pen, but I do not always concur with his views which occasionally fail to reflect what I deem to be creative Jewish thoughtform of the Second Temple Period. But in many respects he is biblically far and away ahead of most of his contemporary colleagues.

It is equally true, and I am in agreement with Ladd on this issue, that Paul has not left us with a systematic theology. On the positive side of things Paul has left us with an "outline" -- sometimes admittedly rugged -- and with a flair for a form of mathematical genius. I'll get to this in a moment. But we can catch more than a glimpse of Paul's view of the ultimate salvation of humankind in 1 Corinthians 15, and he expands on this in Romans. I have already noted that Paul's first Letter to the Corinthian Greeks anticipated his Letter to the Roman Christians by a number of months. What Paul perceived at that time -- and which evolved powerfully in his later, more mature letters to the Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians and finally in Timothy as he thought the entire Word through to its logical conclusion about the intent, place and purpose of God for a lost humankind in 1 Corinthians -- was broadened marginally in Romans 5 when the rabbi used a math formula to express his certainty as to the truth concerning the future destiny of the uncultured barbaric masses of the known Roman world.

This assessment was not at all alien to the rabbinic thought of the later Second Temple period in which Paul found himself. Nor was his world restricted to Romans and Jews. After all the Great Silk Road was the trade route for peoples of China, India, Kashmir, Afghanistan and other exotic places. It is becoming common knowledge that the Essenes and other sectarians of Judaea and Samaria were quite aware of the "goings on" -- with respect to the rich exchange of philosophical and religious ideas infused from the "east" --  in the rose-rock city of Petra, the supposed habitation of the ancient Nabataeans. It was directly situated for economic advantage right on the Silk Road itself. With trade came religious philosophies and ideologies from afar, and no doubt the original teachings of Abraham through the sons of Keturah were finding joy in their being boomeranged and planted anew in their once-exiled, fertile Abrahamic soil. Whatever the case in respect of Abraham's children, the Judaisms (sic) of that period (and the Talmudic Judaism of today) espouse a view that can only be properly described as a form of "universalism."

JEWS NEVER BELIEVED IN AN ETERNAL HELL
You see, the Jewish religious authorities of Paul's day believed in a "hell" without any doubt, and they taught about it. And, their "hell" and the Gehenna about which Yeshua taught men to be respectfully apprehensive, was a great deal hotter than the "hell" of medieval and modern churchianity.

BUT, and this is where I must disagree with Christian scholars who insist that a purposeless hell has a place in the MIND of a HOLY God. For, God is PURPOSE in Himself. That a God of purpose could entertain for a minute the purposelessness of something -- anything -- is illogical in the extreme. But even this fact aside, we are thankful that documents exist in the form of Talmudic literature (and the mystical teachings of the Kabbalah) with their inclusions of Second Temple traditions which inform us of what the rabbinic authorities espoused about hell in Paul's day and age. AND Paul, being a rabbinic authority himself, who never ever mentioned "hell" in his writings (and which motive of Paul's no serious scholar has ever misunderstood), would have been very much aware of these same teachings. In a word, when one is seriously preoccupied in learning and comprehending the content matter of the myriad of rich comment of Jewish mystical thought of the past 3000 years there cannot be any doubt that the rabbis taught that even Gehenna would terminate! They taught it based on the writings of Jeremiah and Isaiah primarily, but there are other statements in the Tanack (the Hebrew Bible) from which the rabbis would also have entertained their universalist concepts. The fact remains that no true Jew believes the notion and the nonsense of a never-ending hell for sinners. The evidence stares us all in the face, yet there are Jewish Messianic leaders of pro-Yeshua organisations and who are "over" entire congregations who insist on being led by the nose by Gentiles who espouse fables originating in debased Gentile religious idolatrous concepts and opinions.

THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTITUDE IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
Gentile Christians are generally very presumptuous individuals. Far too many Christians seek to tell God what God believes or should believe, or to remind God of what God already knows, or who insist what God ought to do, and why and how God should perform. Too many believers are control freaks who would reduce God to their mere Servant jumping enthusiastically to their every whim and fancy and demand.

Listen! As an aside, let me reiterate something of value at this juncture. God DOES slave for us. But, without God even being asked, God does so because of His LOVE for each and every one of us, not because we need to inform God of our difficult plight in this life. GOD ALREADY KNOWS! Students, it is one thing to realise that an urgent condition needs to change in our lives as we face dire circumstances and to share that information with others for their prayerful war before the Throne of Grace on one's behalf, thus showing an outflowing and outgoing and other-enriching concern for fellow believers, and quite another to TELL or DEMAND of God WHAT He SHOULD be doing. There is a HUGE difference and it all devolves and constellates around attitude. Have we checked our attitude lately?

BUT TO RETURN TO OUR SUBJECT
There is every reason to believe that Paul arrived slowly, but deliberately, at his perceptive argument of an ultimate universal salvation -- and in his realisation that God's GRACE without a universal salvation through the shed life-blood of the Messiah would be a damnable heresy. Today the vast overwhelming majority of foolish Gentiles and Jews who reject God's UNCONDITIONAL LOVE have replaced God's SALVIFIC will for the utterly absurd bi-polar conceptualisations of a cosmic Cheshire cat claiming to be God. Make no mistake! That cosmic Cheshire cat takes on many guises and disguises. Satan rules the entire planet (and has DECEIVED EVERY ONE OF US AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER: Revelation 12.9) and it is Satan who has claimed to be the one true living God. He wants so much to be worshiped, and worshiped he is!

That Paul strongly articulates in his theological "outline" the SALVIFIC GOAL of God for the universe can not be avoided. It stares us all in the face, though numerous representatives of the Dark Lord either ignore its implications or attempt weakly to reinterpret the patently obvious. For in 1 Cor 15.20-28 Paul argues powerfully that God is to one day to become (come to BE) "ALL IN ALL" -- the entirety of the universe (indeed, ALL creation, including parallel universes) will revert back into Deity from which "the all" issued forth (see Romans 11.36 Greek). Incidentally, that's "all in all" and not "all in some."

Notice it now:

"In fact the Messiah has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive IN Christ. But each in his own order: Messiah the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to the Messiah. Then comes the rest [N.B., all those never having heard of the one name under heaven by which we can be saved, and/or have been enemies of God and His Christ] when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For "God has put all things in subjection under his feet." But when it says, "All things are put in subjection", it is plain that this does not include the one who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things in subjection under him, so that God may be all in all"  (1 Corinthians 15.20-28).

Does it not occur to the usually logical mind of man that if the last enemy that has been destroyed (or better, annulled) happens to be death, then all that will exist will be necessarily ALIVE -- and Paul hastens to add (in a traditional authentic rabbinic manner) that all will be made alive "IN Messiah" and not apart from Him.

Paul is quite aware that the rabbinic view in the Second Temple period was (and still is) that even Sheol and Gehenna will be emptied of its captives. The rabbis taught with absolute conviction that the God of LOVE would rescue even those who defiled the sacred thoughts of God, and who had rejected His unconditional love. In the meantime these folk would have undergone the most horrible of experiences but when they see the likeness of His GLORY (again, according to the rabbinic authorities of that time) they would repent and enter God's Realm of everlasting Salvific Rest. The documents exist. They can be read by all.

With such teaching in his background the apostle Paul can take the matter further and start to delineate how such a far-reaching salvation would come about in God's always perfect planning and timing. This is why we translate telos in 1 Corinthians 15.24 as "the rest" or "the remainder" [i.e., of humankind apart from those who believe in Yeshua] instead of the abrupt "the end." As I commented in Romans Lecture 13 Part 3:

"Dr Hugh Schonfield rightly translates telos not as "end" but as "remainder" in this context. As he stresses in his notes "Gk., telos, here used not in the sense of 'the End' but the 'tail end' who are the vast majority. The order is processional, the general, his staff, and then the main body of men bringing up the rear" (Hugh J. Schonfield, The Original New Testament, Edited & Translated from the Greek by the Jewish Historian of Christian Beginnings, 1985, 321).

Paul also uses the term "firstfruits" for Christians, because while we constitute the "firstfruit harvest" we are also the "firstfruits" of the coming general harvest in the agricultural festival calendar of the Jewish people. The "firstfruits" indicate that God will save others apart from us in their own time. So in the Corinthian epistle Paul has spoken of three important resurrections to SPIRIT. Firstly, Christ's resurrection to Spirit followed by the resurrection to Spirit of those who possess His Name and then finally the spiritual resurrection (or, the resurrection to Spirit) of those called "the remainder" whom John speaks of as going through the final age to continue on from the Millennial reign of Yeshua and which he calls "The Great White Throne Judgment" period or aeon. Paul is firm in his announcement that everybody who has ever existed will be finally found to be "IN Christ" -- and not in any way or manner divorced from Him. After all is said and done, if ONE PERSON remains in a STATE OF DEATH (after which death itself is abolished) it would mean not merely that God's invincible Word had utterly failed but that, even more importantly, death itself would remain "an enemy" of God. This is an absolute, utterly conclusive, and unambiguous IMPOSSIBILITY.

AND ROMANS 5
By the time Paul has settled again in Corinth from Ephesus in 57/58 CE he has had some time -- albeit apparently only a matter of weeks -- to expand on his view of an ultimate display of the GRACE of God toward humankind. In Romans 5 Paul turns to a mathematical equation to prove his point.

In the first six verses of Romans 5 Paul launches into his primary intellectual Article of Faith -- that concerning JUSTIFICATION. He clearly and unequivocally teaches that the entire world was justified at the death of Christ but firstly deals with those who accept Yeshua as their Lord and Saviour. Notice it now:

"Since WE [N.B. Here the apostle has Christians in view] are justified by faith, let US continue to have shalom with God through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, through whom as an entree WE have obtained permanent access to this Grace in which WE permanently stand; and WE boast in OUR hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but WE also boast in OUR turbulent troubles, knowing that turbulent troubles produce endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into OUR hearts flooding them through the agency of the Ruach HaKodesh that has been given to US. For while WE were still helpless, at the right strategic time the Messiah died for the ungodly" (Romans 5.1-6).  

He speaks of our justification and the blessings that come to us as a consequence of our activating OUR faith in the matter. Then he reminds the reader that Messiah actually died for the ungodly. This approach rivets the attention of the Christian off him or herself and onto the rest of humanity. Indeed, this is a very real loving purposive intention of Paul's.

Basing his approach on the equation previously given to the Corinthian Greeks of "AS IN Adam all die: EVEN SO in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Cor 15.22) Paul notes in this equation, "Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned; sin was indeed in the world before the [codified] law [at Sinai], but sin is not reckoned when there is no law. Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come. But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man's trespass, much more surely have the Grace of God and the free gift in the Grace of the one man, Yeshua the Messiah, abounded for the many. And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man's sin. For the judgement following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification. If, because of the one man's trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of Grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Yeshua the Messiah. Therefore just as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man's act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. For just as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. But law came in, with the result that the trespass multiplied; but where sin increased, Grace abounded all the more, so that, just as sin exercised dominion in death, so Grace might also exercise dominion through justification leading to eternal life through Yeshua the Messiah our Lord" (Romans 5.12-21).

HEAVEN AND EARTH ARE BALANCED IN PERFECT MATHEMATICAL AND SCIENTIFIC PRECISION
The equation is plain to any who can read. It is an equation that is largely understood through the rabbinic lore which speaks of the perfect balance that exists in the Creation from and through the mathematical genius of God the Creator of All. As it is written,

"Come and see: the world above and the world below are perfectly balanced" (Zohar 1.176). "Both heaven and earth are balanced by each other" (Midrash: Bereshit Rabbah 1.15).  

With these rabbinic traditions at his fingertips Paul encourages believers in his day and age (and by extension we today) to grasp once and or all the balanced mathematical symmetry that exists according to the higher mathematical principles and laws of God's certainty, superintendence and CONTROL. This is why he writes to the Christians in Ephesus:  

"I implore you not to faint through my trials for you, which is your glory. For this reason I bow my knees to the Father, concerning whom EVERY FAMILY IN THE HEAVENS and on earth is named, in order that he may give you according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power by his Spirit in the inner man; that the Messiah may dwell, through faith, in your hearts [or minds: the Messiah -- the Archetypal Heavenly Man, or Ad'am Kad'mon -- embraces the entirety of the universe/multiverse for it all indwells HIM as the Logos/Memra of God], being rooted and founded in love, IN ORDER THAT [there is a purpose in this fact] you [you Ephesian Christians] may be fully able to apprehend with all the saints [so this privilege is not limited to those in Ephesus but is universal in scope] what is the breadth and length and depth and height; and to know the love of the Messiah which surpasses knowledge; that you may be filled even to all the fullness of God. But to him that is able to do far exceedingly above all which we ask or think, according to the power [the power of the holy SPIRIT] which works in us, to him be glory in the assembly in Messiah Yeshua unto all generations of the age of ages. Amen" (Ephesians 3.13-21).  

Paul encourages the believers in the Second Temple Period to go ahead, with obvious restraints and caution, and THINK ABOUT or meditate on Yeshua and ALL that is in Him as the LOGOS of God: "the breadth and length and depth and height" -- the rabbinic FORBIDDEN mystical elements of the Image of our REALITY. We can (in a responsible way) safely examine and THINK about the ancient past and the distant future and the things above and the things below without a shred of condemnation from Heaven (Romans 8.1 Greek).

My students, there is a FAMILY IN THE HEAVENS as well as a family here below on earth. Paul again makes this truth abundantly clear in Romans 1.20:  

"For the INVISIBLE THINGS of him are clearly seen, being apprehended [or, understood] by the mind that sees the things that are made [that is, those things that exist here below on earth. A prime example is the family unit]."

This Pauline teaching of "As Above, So Below" fully accords with that of the Jewish rabbinic mystics. Again, be reminded that the Zohar tells us: "Come and see: the world above and the world below are perfectly balanced" (Zohar 1.176). "The Holy of Holies below is aligned opposite the Holy of Holies above" (M. Ta'an 4.8]. The Midrash: "Both heaven and earth are balanced by each other" (Midrash, Bereshit Rabba 1.15).

We are indebted to the unknown author of the Letter to the Hebrews who noted, speaking of the priests of Israel: "who serve [on this Earth] unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, 'See,' says he, 'that you make all things according to the PATTERN showed to you in the mount.'" (Heb 8.5 cf Ex 25.9,40).

The priests of Israel were acting in the outworking of their professions ACCORDING TO THAT WHICH WAS OCCURRING SIMULTANEOUSLY IN HEAVEN. They worked to a PATTERN or blueprint that was made available by revelation from God to Moses at Sinai. In other words, the working, active priesthood on Earth was a mirrored reflection of a working, active priesthood in heaven. Nothing could be plainer than the revelation from God that Earth is a microcosm of heaven. Again, its a case of "As Above, So Below."

"It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Messiah is not entered into the holy places made with hands, WHICH ARE THE FIGURES OF THE TRUE; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us" (Hebrews 9.23,24).

PROGRESSIVE REVELATION OF UNIVERSAL SALVATION WITNESSED IN PAUL'S LATER LETTERS
The ultimate conclusion arrived at by Paul 2000 years ahead of modern scientific investigation reveals that the universe is not an accident and that God has a purpose for all that He has brought into an existence. The universe, in Paul's mind in hisLetter to the Ephesian Christians, was/is structured in such a manner that it provides a meaningful place for thinking humankind. In this correspondence he speaks of such a structure.

Speaking of Christians he notes that "we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his Grace; Wherein he has abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things IN Christ, both which are in heavens, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predetermined ACCORDING TO THE PURPOSE OF HIM WHO WORKS ALL THINGS AFTER THE COUNSEL OF HIS OWN WILL; That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

"In whom you also trusted, after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that you believed, you were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the down-payment of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Yeshua, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in the Messiah, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And has put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the Messianic Community, which is his body, the fullness of him that fills ALL IN ALL" (Ephesians 1.7-23).

Now, admittedly Paul is writing to Christians in the city of Ephesus (and as a circular epistle this was also sent to other congregations in scattered Asia Minor outposts) and has necessarily tailored the contents to be appreciated by those to whom it was sent. So, because Ephesians deals with the ekklesia and was penned much later in the career of Paul, has Paul now "written off" the ungodly for whom Christ died? After all, in this letter he seems to avoid the question of the "Afterlife" of those who have not accepted Yeshua as their personal Lord and Saviour. It appears he has dismissed the ungodly. Are they "written off" -- NEGATED -- as so many preachers believe? That is the question which has the standard approval of most theologians. But just because the vast overwhelming majority of theological vagrants despise the very idea of a universal salvation doesn't make them correct in their darkened hesitation to accept the outworking of the Gospel of Grace! Look at Ephesians 2.4-9 please, with special attention given to verse 7, and keep an open mind.

"But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ -- by Grace you have been saved -- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Messiah Yeshua, SO THAT IN THE AGES TO COME HE MIGHT SHOW THE IMMEASURABLE RICHES OF HIS GRACE IN KINDNESS TOWARDS US in Messiah Yeshua. For by Grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not of yourselves; it is the gift of God -- not the result of works, so that no one may boast" (Ephesians 2.4-9).

We have been saved as "firstfruits" so that in the aeons or ages to yet materialise and manifest God might show -- REVEAL -- His Grace which was exercised IN US! But show WHO?

Consider the entire second chapter of Ephesians. Examine the contents and context carefully. Paul is contrasting the life once led by the Christian believer, and he intends to contrast that life with the one we now lead in Christ. And in that very context Paul is stating that those who are not now believers will one day -- in strategic ages yet ahead of us -- be SHOWN what God was able to DO in the lives of those who were called by Him -- which in another place he speaks of as "not noble, not mighty, unworthy, hapless and lost" (1 Corinthians 1.26-29).

No, Paul has decidedly not "written off" the unbeliever, because THAT is what we were until we were saved by God's Grace, and God is not a respecter of persons" so Paul is saying they will be saved just as we were!

In his Epistle to the Colossians Paul enlarges on his view of a universal salvation by speaking of the entirety of the universe as being eventually "IN Christ." Again, he is primarily constellating his view around the ekklesia as it will then be manifest as SPIRIT but there can be no "getting around" the joyous fact that it is the creation which God has intended through the blood of the cross of Christ to save. Paul states it candidly and with crystal clarity.

"Giving thanks unto the Father, who has made us suitable to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature, For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, AND FOR HIM: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the Messianic Community: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should ALL fullness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, BY HIM TO RECONCILE THE UNIVERSE UNTO HIMSELF; BY HIM, I SAY, WHETHER THEY BE THINGS IN EARTH, OR THINGS IN THE HEAVENS. And you, that were at one time or another alienated and enemies in your comprehension by wicked works, yet NOW has he reconciled" (Colossians 1.12-21).

We are reconciled RIGHT NOW, and the rest of the universe will receive reconciliation at a later date and timing of God's own will and purpose (intention). THAT dear students is what is involved as far as the implications of the Gospel of God's GRACE are concerned.

Paul received an understanding of the extent of God the Father and Christ's Salvific will progressively. It began in the synagogue and moved to a startling articulation in his letter to the Corinthians, then was enlarged in Romans, and then expanded in his later letters revolutionising our view of Scripture and the world, and the universe.

We praise God that Paul's writings challenge our views about ourselves, and about our God and His loving unconditional acceptance of all humankind. We are grateful to have our thinking reshaped as far as our Mindscape concerning the nature of the Cosmos itself is concerned. As we venture further into Paul's Letter to the Roman Christians we will face the demand of coping with a massive paradigm shift as we travel into the divine Consciousness of Almighty God who revealed so much of Himself in Christ and as explicated by Rav Shaul.

We are in the process of developing a new radical world-view.

God asks nothing less of us than to have "the Mind of Christ."

THIS CONCLUDES LECTURE 26

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