PARABLE OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD
http://sonderbooks.com/sonderjourneys/?p=11914
These parables don’t leave any room for failure. The Lord is not willing that any should perish, and He will keep searching until He finds His lost sheep.
Jesus Christ's Gospel is Merciful Truth
Here are more excerpts from http://www.mercifultruth.com.
God: The Rock Of Ages
* 2 Timothy 1:13 - Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.
* 2 Timothy 2:15 - Study to (show) thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
* 2 Peter 3:8 - Do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
* 1 Titus 1:17 - Now unto the King [of ages] (aion), immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory aion eis aion. Amen.
* Aion means age or ages - and aion eis aion means age unto age.... [God] is God of the aion/[ages].... AND, unto Him be honor and glory from "age unto age." Amen.
Aionios Means Godly; Aionios Life Is Godly Life
* Titus. 1:2 - In hope of aionios life (life of the ages), which God, that cannot lie, promised before the time of the ages (pro chronos aionios).
* [T]his verse means that God made a promise regarding aionios-life (the [Godly] life 'of the ages' [or “eternal” life]), before he created those aions/ages. This will make perfect sense when we discuss what aionios-life really is. Just as Jesus Christ was slain from the foundation of the world and his death was purposed by God before it happened (Acts 4:27-28), even so, aionios-life was [purposed] before the time of the ages (pro chronos aionios).
* 2 Timothy 1:11 - our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought LIFE and IMMORTALITY to light through the gospel.
* John 17:3 - And this is life aionios [Godly life 'of the ages']: that they might know you, the one true God, and Him whom You did send, Jesus Christ.
* This is exactly why Apostle John said, "anyone who hates his brother has not yet passed from death to life," though he lives and breathes right now. Remember, John says that no murderer has "aionios-life within him." In contrast, anyone who loves his brother has indeed "passed from death into life," because the love of God is within him.
Godly Life Starts Now
* Didn't Jesus Christ call himself "the way, the truth, and the life?" (John 14:6)
* Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is aionios-life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
* Aionios-life is freedom from subjection to sin today, not [just] after death.
* Mark 10:29-30 - And Jesus answered and said, "Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, But he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions, and, in the [age] (aion) to come, aionios-life."
* Jesus Christ sits on the throne of His temple, which is within his followers. Paul said "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (1 Cor 3:16) According to the Bible, that's life.
* It is astounding that when some people hear that God, through Jesus, will bring the world into repentance and salvation, they say "why bother preaching the Gospel if everyone will be saved?" Do they have something against spreading good news? [And, more important, spreading the good news is part of the means to bring salvation.]
God Is Not Bound to Punish by Eternal Torture
* We see in John 8, that the Pharisees brought an adulteress before Jesus. They appealed to Deuteronomy 22:22, where it says adulteresses are to be killed. They demanded justice. In fact, Jesus was making company very often with people who deserved the death sentence according to the Law of Moses. You can see the trap the Pharisees were laying can't you: Why wasn't Jesus seeking "justice" with these people according to the Law of Moses? Wasn't Jesus bound to obey the Law? But, they knew if He did stone her, the people would turn against Him.
* Here is the genius of the Lord: "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." None could condemn her, and neither did Jesus. He did not put the adulteress to death, even though Moses demanded it.
* John 5:45 - Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.
* Christian theologians want us to believe that God is BOUND by his immortal nature to torture people forever. ... Jesus was not controlled, but was in command.... Jesus says, "I AM LORD OF THE LAW." (Mark 2:28).
* Jesus is Lord over justice, and therefore free to determine the duration of punishment as he sees fit. He is not forced to punish people forever just because He is immortal.
* When Christ hung on the cross and cried out to God regarding his murderers: "Father forgive them for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34) where was the eternal "justice" that orthodoxy [demands]?
God Rescues Those Who Are “Lost”
* Christians often say: "God must torture people forever, because he is just and holy, and cannot stand in the presence of sin." Does the presence of sin destroy God, or does the presence of God destroy sin?
* Certainly, God has shown his love for the world in such a way that that would be unthinkable to man.
* John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish (apollumi) but have aionios-life.
* Now, this scripture is used the Christian world over to prove [eternal damnation, but] Look closely. The verse does not say that unbelievers will be tortured for [eternity], nor does it say that those who do not now believe never will in the future.
* The word "perish" in this verse comes from the Greek word apollumi, meaning "to [be] destroy[ed]" ... or "to be lost."
* This word apollumi is used in this parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son. After that son humbly returns to his father, observe his father's words when speaking to his son's jealous brother.
* Luke 15:6 - And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost (apollumi).
* Luke 15:32 - 'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours (the prodigal son) was dead and is alive again; he was lost (apollumi) and is found.'
* Remember how the Prodigal Son was perished (lost) in sin, and what horrible experiences he had? Yet, his experience caused him to remember his Father who waited with loving patience for his son to return to him.
* 2 Thessalonians 1:6 - God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well.
* First, we see a great revelation in this epistle: "God is just." God's justice is perfect balance through perfect wisdom. He judges until the debt is paid. Unlike vengeful human beings, God demands what is owed and not beyond: (Matt 18:21-35), as justice has obviously nothing to do with roasting human beings alive forever. The Biblical principle of "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth" should reveal that. The wicked will be shut out from the presence of the Lord because He, in His awesome wisdom, has appointed an aion for aionios judgment.
Rejoice, God’s Judgment Is to Teach Righteousness
* Have you ever heard about the "unforgivable sin?" This is what the orthodox church names it, though the actual term "unforgivable sin" is not scriptural.
* Mark 3:28-29 - Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost has not forgiveness in the age (aion), but is in danger of aionios judgment.
* [Aionios judgment is not eternal punishment.]
* The Scripture informs us: Isaiah 26:9 - When Your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world will learn righteousness. [If we] Let favor be showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.
* [This means that, since favor does not lead the wicked to righteousness, judgment is used to teach them righteousness.]
* Has a Christian ever told you that when God judges the earth, "the people of the world will learn righteousness?" Probably not. You probably heard that when God judges the earth, nobody will learn righteousness, but they will suffer torture forever instead. Liars.
* Psalm 96:11-13 - Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.
* Have you ever heard a Christian rejoicing at the prospect of God coming to judge the world with righteousness, and the people with His truth? Of course not. They have no reason to say "let the earth be glad" at such a prospect. Make no mistake, God does NOT show favor to the wicked. HE JUDGES THEM, but not the way the despicable eternal torment doctrine proposes. Through those judgments, the people of the world learn righteousness.
* With their insidious, watered-down doctrines, it is amazing the undue credit that the Christian church has given Satan, insinuating that he wields the power to refute God's plan. God's purpose is good. He is Love, and He does nothing dislocated from love. How can Divine wrath be detached from Divine love? He does nothing outside his nature. He is not fractured and polarized against Himself.
Aion Is Age, Not Eternity
* "The length of the aion [age] depends on the subject to which it is attached. It does not mean a period of a fixed length for all cases. There is one aion of a human life, another of the life of a nation, another of a crow's life, another of an oak's life."
* There is also an aion [age] of judgment. During aionios punishment perfect justice is done by a perfect God who alone determines the time needed to achieve his own purpose - that the ones being judged learn righteousness. His wrath achieves his heart's desire. It has always been so.
* As we rightly perceive according to God, aionios-life is Jesus Christ within us right now, what happens, then, at the end of the aions [ages], when aionios-life and aionios judgment has done a great purpose for God in the ages He created? Does aionios-life end when the aions to come have been consummated? Of course not. It just gets better! Watch what happens next.
* The Bible describes a few things that occur regarding death:
1) The last enemy to be destroyed is death. (1 Cor 15:25-26)
2) Death will be swallowed up to victory (1 Cor 15:54)
3) God made Christ the king of the entire world so that in the "dispensation of the fullness of time" he will "bring everything together in Christ, both in heaven and on the earth". (Eph 1:9-10)
Christians Lack Faith in God’s Promise
* Reading the above article will demonstrate that the aionios covenant of Christ (being life for those who believe) will be completely fulfilled by Christ, resulting in all knees bowing and all tongues confessing that he is Lord, in the dispensation of the fullness of time (Phil 2:10-11).
* Isaiah 45:22-24 - Let all the world look to me for salvation! For I am God; there is no other. I have sworn by my own name, and I will never go back on my word: Every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will confess allegiance to my name.
* God says "let all the world look to me for salvation." Then, to leave no doubt about his ability to achieve what he purposes, to be absolutely clear, he swears by his own name that indeed "every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Christ is Lord." And, he will not go back on his word. (Sorry Satan. You lose.)
* The Christian community needs to start having some faith in God. Even Satan believes Jesus Christ exists. But, do Christians have any faith that God will fulfill his oath to mankind?