By Amir Tsarfati
This is a special broadcast on Universalism. You called it Christian Universalism, but we are going to address it as Universalism. But what we are concerned about is that Christianity is afflicted by it, of course. I'm gonna try and play the devil's advocate on this broadcast and ask you the questions that are raised by those who are holding the Christian Universalism as their doctrine.
But first of all, can you tell us, Barry, in one sentence, what is Universalism? I mean, I know that the word "universe," but what do we mean when we say, "Universalism?" --: Universalism is the salvation of every person, a person who has ever lived no matter their position or belief in Jesus Christ. It's because Christ died for the sins of the whole world. Everyone is going to wind up in Heaven.
There's no Hell. There are components of Universalists that believe that there is a Hell. But it is a place where there's an afterlife punishment that purifies the saint, that then allows him to arrive in Heaven. But for the most part, the general belief for the Universalist is it's inconsistent for there to be a God of love and a place like Hell, and therefore, since Christ died for the sins of the whole world, everybody winds up in Heaven no matter their position.
Let me say something about what you said initially. As you know, we love all the fascinating things that are going on, and I think all of us appreciate Amir's updates on what's happening in the Middle East. But let me say this: as far as pertaining to Bible prophecy, this is the primary thing that Jesus said indicates that we are nearing the time of the tribulation.
Because when two pairs of brother disciples asked the fishermen, brothers Peter and Andrew, James and John came to Jesus and said... Jesus, having just said, you know, the walls of Jerusalem are going to come down, not one stone will be left upon another. They said, "When are these things gonna be, and what's going to be the signs of your coming?" And the very first thing Jesus said is, "False Christs." "Many will come in my name." And remember that the word "Christ" means "anointed" or "anointing." So Jesus said the first thing to look for is people who claim an anointing in my name, that have a false message.
This indeed is a false message. -: It's a false message. So basically, folks, you can call it "Prophecy Update" if you want, because we're definitely speaking of a sign, a prophetic sign of the end times that actually was the top of the list of what Jesus gave to the disciples in order to understand that His coming is very near. Now I'm gonna play the devil's advocate right now. And I will tell you... look, I'm sorry, Pastor Barry, I read in Romans, Chapter... The Book of Romans is the Magna Carta of our faith. It has all the essentials of our faith.
Chapter 5, verse 12 and on says the following thing: "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because all sinned... for until the law, sin was in the world. But sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense.
But if by one man's offense, many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if... now comes the portion that they use.
For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.
For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience, many will be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounds, grace abounds much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
And basically, what they say... Look, Adam sinned and sin spread. And David was right; in sin, my mother has conceived me. But then Jesus came, and with Him came the forgiveness, the grace, and the cleansing from all sins. So they're saying, look, the Bible says through one man, sin; through other men, you know, free gift, and all men are justified. What do you have to say about that?
--: Well, the first rule of biblical interpretation is that you interpret the unclear by the clear. And there are those who use this to go in a different direction than what is actually meant. So we have to look to the whole Council of God to interpret what's in front of us. And we have the Word "many" that is used, and obviously that implies a great number.
Some would say that it's a replacement for the word "all." And thus, if "all" were made sinners by Adam, "all" were made "saved" by Christ. But again, we have to let the clear statements of the Bible interpret this which has been misused and abused.
But I think the other thing we need to recognize is that this is an illustration of positional truth. It is not the establishment of doctrine, because the doctrine has already been established, the Apostolic doctrines. It is letting us know that a single act of a single human being impacted the whole of the world.
And, in contrast, as the Bible often uses contrast to declare or highlight a point. In contrast to the single act of Adam, so too the single act of Jesus, by His death on the Cross, has the soul-saving capacity of the whole world.
Now there we let the Bible continue to interpret what is meant by that, because we know that, "As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become sons and daughters of God," according to John 12. So we have to let the Bible speak for itself in this case and recognize that a positional truth is being established, much like we say from 2 Corinthians 5:17. "If anyone... there's the scope... is in Christ... There's the position... they are a new creation. Old things are passed away; all things have become new."
So what Paul is saying is that if you die in the position of being in Adam, that you're going to perish forever. But there is a remedy for that eternal perishing, and that is being in Christ. And He has the ability. And, you know, I don't want to move off into another area where we disagree with our dear brothers and sisters.
But I don't think you can limit the atoning power of the blood of Jesus Christ. When the Bible says, "He died for the sins of the whole world," that's exactly what He did. And therefore, His blood has the capacity to save anyone and everyone. But that does not eliminate the role of human responsibility.
-: So I have a question for you. Obviously, you claim that only in Christ, those who are in Him, those who received Him, those who believe in Him, for them, He gave eternal life. Now I have a question for you. The Universalists say all men are saved, which means those who supposedly know Christ, know that they're saved. And those who do not know Christ don't know that they're saved, but they are saved.
That's what they say. They say that anyone in the street... I mean, I met a Universalist who told me, "Amir, even ISIS, the most terrible terrorists who killed hundreds or thousands of people, they're all saved, they're all going to Heaven. In fact, they told me there is no Hell; there's only Heaven, and they're all saved. And so my question is: Can you be saved without knowing that you're saved?
--: No, you can't. One, because we have a guarantee of our future inheritance told us in Ephesians 1:13 that we have the Spirit as a down payment. And Jesus mentioned in John 14:26 that when you have the Holy Spirit, He's gonna teach you all things. Well, you're certainly going to be learning that you need to repent from your sin, and that you need to follow the Lord, and that you need to live according to His Word.
If you have the presence of the Holy Spirit who, by the way, it is the author of the whole Bible. And even though humans held the pen, some 40 different authors over 1500 years, it was the Spirit who inspired every word that was written on every page.
So again, it is not possible for you to be unaware of your salvation because you have to be aware of the Savior in order to be saved. So you know, again, this argument flies in the face of so many other scriptures in light of "As many has received Him," as we said a moment ago.
And Acts 4:12, "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under Heaven." There's a point of identity; that name being the character in nature which has a capacity to save us.
-: Let's go to then flagship verse of all Christians regarding Jesus. And that's John 3:16 and let's look at it. "For God so loved the world that He gave...
--: There's the scope. -: Yes. "That He gave His only begotten son. --: There's the act. -: But now He says, "Whosoever believes in Him will not perish but will have everlasting life." --: Yeah, there's the positional truth. You believe in Christ. You become in Christ and become a new creation. Old things passed away. I mean, if you look at the digression of Romans Chapter 1, I think it's a fascinating thing to examine. You know, if we look at what happens there, it starts with the denial of God as creator and the worshiping of objects that He created, and therefore, it leads to being given over to deluded thinking, practicing things that are displeasing to Him.
And it even goes as far as to say in Romans Chapter 1, "Although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God." So there you have the pairing of divine sovereignty and human responsibility. They're aware of His existence. The Heavens declare His handiwork. It is clear through the creation narrative that God is capable of speaking all things into existence.
They're aware of that fully and completely. But even though they knew Him, they did not glorify Him as God. But rather they worship the things of the creation rather than the creator. So again, you know that shows them in the final state in verse 31 of Romans Chapter 1 where God gives them over to their own personal decisions of rejection of Him.
-: And we can even read it in 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2, "That because they rejected the love of the truth that might save them, then God..." Now one of the people, a dear friend of mine, who unfortunately was affected by this Universalism. He started following a certain person, online teacher ministry, and that person's ministry was about what they called "finished work eschatology."
And their main thing is that in the year 70 AD, basically everything has been fulfilled eschatologically, and therefore, the Book of Revelation is not any more future, but it's actually past. We're no longer waiting for anything. Everything has been done; everything has been fulfilled. Everything has been finished, and everything has been accomplished, and thus, all people are now saved.
And what do you have to say about the fact that... and then they come up with look, the Gospel of John, for example, is different than the rest of the Gospels. He was written later, after the events of 70 AD. That's why he's not mentioning futuristic events that other Gospels did.
And they're basically trying to imply that there is no more future events for the believer to wait for that are going to affect anybody's salvation. Now what do you have to say about that? --: Baloney. You want me to add to that? -: Yeah, please add mayo and mustard, but let's add to that.
I mean, how do you answer these types of argument? --: Well, one, the argument has a problem right away because all four Gospels are different. You have a different perspective and a different approach to allow us to see the whole picture of the ministry of Jesus here on Earth. And John just covers basically the last six months of Jesus' ministry. Mark's gospel; I like to call it the highlight reel of Jesus' ministry. Mark's gospel doesn't even record The sermon on the Mount, doesn't record the Olivet Discourse. He is focusing on the things that Jesus did; where you've got Matthew and Luke that are recording major teachings of Jesus, foundational truth.
So they all four have a different approach to the life and ministry of Jesus while He walked on the earth. So that invalidates that argument all by itself, to say that John is distinct.
One of the things I like to consider when you look at the writings of John especially. We know that John was banished to the Isle of Patmos for the testimony of Jesus, and He received a revelation from God about what the last days would be like. And I think if we look at the chronology of John's writings, we would understand he wrote the Gospel first.
He wrote Revelation Second, and then he wrote 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John after that. Because if you look at the tone of 1 John in particular, that is the tone of someone who has seen the end of all things. That is the tone of someone who saw who went to Heaven, who went to Hell, and why, and he doesn't mince any words.
In 1 John he talks about sin and that we have an advocate and all these other things that he is discussing. And it's really a book that portrays the passion of someone who came to a deep and full understanding. -: So to take the Gospel only and to establish entire eschatology on the gospel of John without taking into consideration both the Book of Revelation and 1, 2 and 3 John, it's a big mistake.
--: It is, and because John's gospel is not an eschatological gospel, much like you see the Olivet Discourse in Matthew and Luke. -: I also personally think that even for the body of the matter; I mean, the Book of Revelation speaks of events that never happened in the history of planet Earth. All the catastrophic events that are being recorded there have never happened.
And then where do you see the lake of fire? Where do you see that Death is no longer there? People still die. Where do you see the New Jerusalem? Where do you see all the aspects of the Antichrist? The mark of the beast? The Tribulation, the saints of the Tribulation, the two witnesses? The 144,000 witnesses?
I mean, all of those things that the Book of Revelation is speaking of, obviously never happened. And yet they claim that it happened in 70 AD. So do you think there is an event that they can rely on to even establish that? --: No. -: Besides ... I think they talked about Nero and they talked about other things. So there's not much to hold on to.
--: No, there isn't, and as you made the point, we can even incorporate especially the opening statements of Jesus in the Olivet Discourse where He said, there's gonna be a series of things happening, and He gave this; I've always find it interesting; they ask about when He said, "Not one stone will be left upon the other." They asked about that, but He never answered that. He answered strictly about the signs of His coming because that's really what was important for the rest of us to understand and read.
And if we look at all these things that are taking place, as you pointed out, the wars and rumors of wars, the ethnic tensions, the national strife, the earthquakes increasing in a birthpang-like sequence, as well as pestilence. You can't find all that happening in 70 AD. So even outside the Book of Revelation, which, ... The Bible has allegory in it and illustrations; there's no question about that.
But you can't allegorize the literal. And if you look at the other things; just take the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. You know when did a quarter of the Earth's population die? -: Exactly. --: Didn't happen in 70 AD. When a quart of bread or a loaf of bread cost a day's pay? -: Yeah. -: When did that happen and when was the beast of the earth killing humans for food?
Like it says in the writings of the Four Horseman... -: And that deadly wound and all of that came. --: Yeah, when did that happen and was the greatest earthquake in the history of humankind, as Revelations 16 says? How do you... what do you allegorize that to mean? Or the sun being given the power to scorch bodies? When was there a 200-million horde of demon-like creatures coming up out of the abyss invading the earth? -: I agree. --: I mean, it just doesn't work. -: I totally agree.
One more question; so you named your message on Sunday, "Christian Universalism, good news or bad doctrine?" Well, because it does sound like good news. You know, all men are saved. --: Everybody's going to Heaven. -: So give me the points that you tackled on your message that differentiate that doctrine from the scriptures basically. You know, as quick as you can, in the most summarized way you can.
--: Well, I think what we did on Sunday first was establish what the Universalist believe, and that is the universal salvation of all people. And I quoted some of the things that they use as their tenants, their six basic tenants.
And the first is that God is a loving parent of all people. And that's one of the most popular statements today, and we often hear that coming out of Hollywood or anybody who makes a declaration about sexual immorality or yeah, we're all children of God. The Bible doesn't teach that at all. And we made the point that even though we are byproducts of the initial procreative process established for Adam and Eve, we also recognize that there was a departure from what God initially created. When Eve was deceived and Adam decided to follow along... and consciously sin...
-: You're saying we're not all children of God. --: We're not all children of God, because we're told that when Seth was born, that he was born in the likeness of fallen Adam and Eve, -: Not in the likeness of God. --: Not in the likeness of God. -: Adam was in the likeness of God. --: Adam was in the likeness of God. -: But he fell. --: He abandoned that wonderful glorious beginning as he chose sin over continuing and fellowship with God. And then from that point on, from the birth of Seth on, then we see that humans are born in the same state as Seth.
-: All the way to Genesis 6... --: Fallen sinners who need a Savior. So you know, that's the first argument of Christian Universalism. -: We were created an image of God, while Adam was. --: God is a loving parent of all people; that's what they believe. And I think one of the strongest arguments against that is then why does the Bible teach the principle of adoption? -: If you're in any way, His son, why would you need to be adopted? --: Yeah, why do you need to be adopted?
-: What are the Scriptures for the adoption; can you just give it to us, I think it is super important. --: Well, we were talking from the negative point of view. First of all, that Jesus says, "Not everybody who says to me, Lord, Lord, is gonna enter the kingdom." -: He says, "I never knew you." --: Right. John 1:12 talks about, "As many has received Him, to them He gave the right to become...
And "become" indicates a change in positions. -: Exactly. --: You're no longer in Adam; you're now in Christ. -: Just like I'm saying you cannot be born "born again." --: Right. -: You cannot be born a child of God. --: No one is saved by the first birth. -: Exactly. Why do you need to be "born again" if you have been born "born again?"
But the thing is; so you're saying, Pastor Barry, to make it simple, you cannot be born in the flesh. You cannot be born already automatically a child of God. --: Flesh and blood cannot inherit eternal life. -: Flesh and blood cannot inherit eternal life.
So nobody was born automatically a child of God, in the image of God; things, unfortunately, went wrong, right there in the Garden of Eden. That took from us the right to be called sons of God or being created in the image of God. And we became in the image of our parents, in a sense.
Now let's continue. So that's the first argument; they said all men are saved because all men are in the image of God. We're all children of God; God is a loving parent, all of that. Now we understand that only those, "Who received Him, to them, He gave that gift of eternal life." And of course, the adoption is important because you will not be adopted if you're already... --: If you're already a child... -: Exactly.
--: You know, as I mentioned on Sunday, I think that's one of the beautiful things that's missed about the prodigal son. Is that what happened when the son came home and He put a robe on him and a ring on him and killed the fatted calf, that was the Roman adoption ceremony.
And, you know, He was saying, "My son who was dead is now alive." And that's exactly what has happened to us when we get saved. We were out in the world; we were dead in our sin, and we came home, and the Lord put on us a new a robe, a robe of righteousness and put us on a ring of family identification, and all the angels of Heaven rejoice. So it's a beautiful picture of the salvation of being lost to the world and rescued from it.
And the second tenant of Universalism, Christian Universalism, as it's called, is that Jesus reveals the nature and character of God, which is absolutely true. And the second half of that is absolutely not true, which is that He is the Spiritual leader of all mankind. Now, I think the simplest answers are often the best answer.
And if we look at how Jesus called the original 12, even though He knew from the beginning one was a devil. He just gave them a two-word mandate, "Follow me." Now if He says, "Follow me," that implies that they weren't. That's a change of direction; follow me, come with me. And that's what He's still saying to people today; follow me, become my followers.
-: So He will be your leader if you follow Him. --: Exactly.
-: So you're not automatically; because you're a human being, you're not automatically having Jesus as your leader unless you follow Him unless you acknowledge Him as your leader. And so because they're always trying to say, Look, Jesus is the leader. Whether you believe in Him or not, He is the leader. And they're trying to make you look like you diminish from Jesus.
Well, how can you say He's not the leader of all mankind? Well, He came to all mankind, but only those who will follow Him and believe in Him, to them, He will be the leader, and He will give eternal life. And He will give salvation and they will be adopted.
One more thing that you talked about. --: Yeah, I think that I'll skip over to the fourth tenet, and it says sin has negative consequences for the sinner, either in this life or the afterlife, and all of God's punishments for sin are corrective and remedial. And what that implies isn't an after-death opportunity for salvation.
-: That's purgatory. --: Purgatory; you know, and many Universalists believe there's a subgroup if you will, that believe that if you rejected Christ if you did not turn to Him, that there is a place of punishment to where you will go to pay the penalty, to a degree, for your sins, and when you've been purified through the experience in the place known as Hell, that you will then exit there...
-: They're based on the book of second opinions. --: That's in second opinions, of "fleshalonians", and all those. But it's curious, because the Bible associates eternality with one's destiny, and it indicates over and over and over that our condition is going to be a permanent condition.
That's why Revelation 21 talks about, "Let him who is unjust, be unjust still; let him who is filthy, be filthy still; let him who is righteous, be righteous still. And it implies a permanent condition. So the Bible doesn't teach anything about an afterlife purification process. And I think the main danger of that is it diminishes the finished work of Christ on the Cross.
-: And so in the name of "finished work," they actually diminished the finished work. --: Yes.
-: In the name of hey, finished work eschatology, all men are saved, they are actually diminishing that because obviously, it's the opposite.
I have a question for you. So we're tackling many of what they say with Bible verses that are actually the opposite. But I have a question for you. Where do we find Universalism in the Bible? In other words, in what place in the New Testament or in the Old Testament do you find such teachings as Universalism talked about and either by Jesus or by one of the apostles?
--: Oh, that's easy; everybody knows that. -: Okay. --: The first word is "no," the second word is "where;" nowhere do you find such teaching in scripture. -: So nowhere; nowhere you find teaching that supports it... --: the universal salvation of all people. You know, one of the things that I think we need to recognize, too is you mentioned at the outset of the program or broadcast, about the last days and the exciting events that take place.
You know, this again is something that Paul spoke of in 2 Timothy 4. That there would "Come a time when men would not endure sound doctrine." But they would rather "Heap up teachers who will say the things they want to hear." That's what the tickling ear thing is all about because they don't want to hear that there is a Heaven and there is a Hell. And Christ is the only bridge that allows you to cross from one eternal destiny to the other. They don't want to hear that, and they make the argument...
-: He who believes in Me is not condemned, and he who does not believe in Me is condemned already. --: That's right. And let me add to that real quick before we move on because that I think we need to make sure that we're quoting scriptures in context. And as Amir read earlier so wonderfully, the whole argument is established, and we can see that there's a positional application there to what is said in Romans, Chapter 5, if we read the whole thing.
If you just take one verse, verse 12, and isolate that and build your doctrine from there, you're basically abandoning the practice of establishing doctrine by using the whole Council of God. But you know, when we start to look at these things and examine these things and understand that there'll be a deceptive element to the last days, then we're being responsible in looking at the scripture within the context. You should always read the verses before and the verses after in order to understand anything. -: And I agree with you. Does the Bible say that... let's say we talk about salvation and eternity. And of course, our eternal destination is the New Jerusalem. Does the Bible say that everybody gets to enter into the New Jerusalem? --: No. -: What is the Bible saying; who is left outside? Are there any? -: There are some very descriptive terms of dogs and sexually immoral and all liars. -: Sorcerers. --: Yeah, Revelation 21:8 says...
And I find this to be one of the most fascinating elements of the last day scenario and the eternal aspect of it. The first person named who is not allowed into the New Jerusalem is the coward. -: Coward. --: The "cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, idolaters, sorcerers, sexually immoral." Then it says "And all liars."
Now I think we also need to throwback to 1 Corinthians 6 and recognize these were attributes of all of us before we got saved. And that's why Paul would say, "And such were some of you." So there's an implied unrepentance there in that statement of Revelation 21:8.
But Daniel also says in 12:2 and 3, he talks about "Many who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake." And then he makes the distinction: "Some to everlasting life, some to shame," and then he uses the same word, "Everlasting contempt", total separation from God. And then he also goes on to establish those who rise to everlasting life as, "The wise who will shine like a brightness of the firmament. "And those who turned many to righteousness like the stars forever.
-: And then, by the way, we referred to Revelation 21 verse 14. "Blessed are those who do His commandments that they might have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral, and murderers and idolaters and whoever loves and practices a lie." So there's definitely a group of people that is not going to be allowed into the New Jerusalem.
--: Yeah, what's the purpose of the Great White Throne Judgment? -: Exactly. So I hope that you all understand that in the last 30 minutes, we have established beyond any shadow of a doubt that the doctrine of Universalism whereas all men are saved and all of us are children of God, and Jesus is the leader of all mankind, is not biblical.
It sounds great, by the way. I mean, I must say it sounds wonderful. Good news and all men are saved; I mean, you are all children of God. We're all created in the image of God; He's the leader. This is not biblical.
We've just established three things. We've established: A) that Jesus said, "Not all that say, Lord, Lord are going to enter into my kingdom." I mean, He says, basically, go away. I never knew you. And then Jesus said... and the gospel says and the apostles, later on, wrote, "To those who received Him, He will, of course, give them eternal life.
And beyond that, we also know that God created Adam in His image. But Seth was already in the image of Adam, not in the image of God. So we're already in the image of fallen man, not all of us are in the image of God.
And also, we all know that the term "children of God" belongs to those who have been adopted. They were once dead, and they now came back to life. They chose to follow Jesus, and only if you choose to follow Him, He becomes your leader. That's what He said to the disciples; "Follow me."
So we've established all of those things. And I want you to follow Barry's YouTube channel, "The Truth About God", and it's the YouTube channel The Truth About God. Also BarryStagner.com, BarryStagner on Instagram, and on Facebook. Wonderful teachings on the Truth About God.
Look, guys, almost everything we talk about is in the realm of biblical prophecy, because the Bible predicted these types of horrific doctrines that will come at the very end. And that we're establishing at the very beginning.
This is the first in the list of the signs that... --: to watch out for... -: Yeah, that we need to watch out for. So yes, Iran and Israel and Russia and Syria and Turkey, all that is great. But this is the number one sign; is those false doctrines, false messiahs, false teachings. And I'm so excited about being able to bring that to light. And I beg you to share this type of teaching with as many people as you know because I'm telling you, so many people are sure they're going to Heaven.
And they just don't know that there are certain guidelines that are required by God Himself in order to be saved, to be called the son of God or daughter of God, and to eventually enter into the New Jerusalem. --: And Amir, nobody's gonna be condemned for their interpretation of nations and Ezekiel 38 and 39. -: Exactly. --: There are various opinions but those aren't salvation issues; this is a salvation issue.
-: Exactly. --: And to one "The Word and the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing." And when you take the Cross and equate it to another religion or just making Christ equal to another belief system or you make Christ equal to afterlife, suffering in order to obtain salvation, then you've taken something that is glorious, wonderful, and exclusive, and you have made the blood of Christ common like other things. And that's not a healthy thing.
-: So I pray and hope that this teaching will be shared by as many, and will be watched by as many. And will be considered by as many unto salvation, unto a careful approach of accepting Christ as the only Way, Truth, and Life, understanding your position as a sinner who needs to be saved and, of course, following Him to be able to say, "He's my leader."
And of course, once you have been adopted, then now you can call Him, "Abba Father;" now you are sons and daughters. Now you are priestly... it's a priestly kingdom, basically. And, of course, that's when you will be able to enter eventually into the New Jerusalem, which is our destination.
--: Amir, there's something that popped up on the screen, and I would like to answer it if that's okay with you. -: Please, yes. --: Somebody asked, So what does this... how do we arrive at sinless perfection, or what is sinless perfection? We're not teaching the doctrine of perfection. The Bible doesn't teach that.
We are being perfected, and when God... Philippians 1:6, "Began a good work in you, He'll be faithful to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." And it is when we receive, according to Philippians 3:20-21 our glorified state and bodies, (it is then that we're going to have: 1) the capacity for immortality, and as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15, "Then we're going to receive also incorruptibility." And we're going to be uncorrupted human beings, so to speak, with a body that's able to live forever.
So we're not teaching that you have to live in sinless perfection in this life because that's not possible. -: As long as we are in these bodies. --: In these bodies. But when we arrive in the glorified state, then that's one of the most wonderful passages. When we see Him, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. That's not what we're teaching at all at this point; we're not saying you have to be sinless in this life. You should sin less, but not sinless.
-: Well, thank you for watching it again. Please, do me a favor; share this teaching, and let's pray together that many, many will come to the saving knowledge of Jesus through this. And this is all that we want.
Honestly, there is nothing that we want more than to see people's lives changed, and souls saved and transformed. And, of course, to see all of us, to see each other in Heaven, and spend eternity together.
So Father, I thank you so much for Your Word and for Your promises, for the clarity of the Gospel. The clarity of the doctrine that we have in front of us.
Father, we thank You that we have the warning not to add anything to your Word, less we will be accursed. Not to take away, and not to add. And Father, we definitely see that in the very end, people will come with different doctrines.
They will add things, they will subtract things, they will change things, and they will definitely adjust themselves to what people want to hear rather than be vessels through which the Holy Spirit can clearly communicate the true and the only Word of God that only can save and change and transform.
So, Father, we thank You that we have Your Word. You have raised Your Word above Your name, and we know that this is the most important thing. And so we ask, Father, that may You take this teaching this morning here from Manila and via this unbelievable way of technology that we have today, spread it to the four corners of the world to as many people as possible, so people will understand their need for following Jesus and believing in Him, and not fall into that terrible doctrine that all men are saved and there is nothing left for us to do.
Paul himself said, "I fought the good fight; I finished the race; I kept the faith." This is a fight that we need to fight, this is a race we need to run, and there is a faith that we need to keep. And we ask, Father, that all of us will be able to say these words that Paul wrote to Timothy just prior to his departure.
So we thank You, Father, and we bless You, and we again commit this broadcast into Your hands, in Jesus' matchless name, we pray, Amen. Thank you. God bless you, and share, share, share this message. God bless you.