Saturday, October 19, 2019

Response to Universal Reconciliation Opposition - Part 2

This is the second in a mini-series of posts responding to the arguments offered by Dr Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum (Dr Arnold) against God's plan to eventually reconcile and save all His creation.

His arguments against Universal Reconciliation (UR) are offered under five headings, the first of which is a. The Scriptures Used. (see a previous post "Opposition to Universal Reconciliation" here)
Under the a. The Scriptures Used heading Dr Arnold quotes five (carefully chosen) texts that he claims teachers use to prove the truth of a second probation, as Dr Arnold calls it.

He says, Basically they point to five passages of Scripture ...  The second passage is 1 Corinthians 15 : 27 - 28,  which states that all things, will be subjected to the Son.

For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.
[1 Corinthians 15 : 27 - 28  NIV]

Dr Arnold's objection is that the "all things being subject to the Son" does not mean the salvation of all, but only that the unsaved will be in subjection to Him.

I agree that, as King, Jesus will have all things in subjection to him by the end of the kingdom age.
But that's not all!

What also happens when the kingdom age is completed?
Previous verses, which provide the context for the two verses Dr Arnold quotes, indicate that this subjection to Christ is in a setting of all (people) being made alive in Christ
Adam brought death to all of us, and Christ will bring life to all of us.
[1 Cor 15 : 22 CEV]

and Jesus having destroyed death as the final enemy.
Christ will rule until he puts all his enemies under his power, and the last enemy he destroys will be death.
[1 Cor 15 : 25 - 26  CEV]

It seems obvious to me, that if all are alive because of what Christ has done (just as all die because of what Adam has done), and death itself is now destroyed, then life is the only condition possible from then on.
And since these events happen at the end when Christ hands over His kingdom to God the Father,

Then after Christ has destroyed all powers and forces, the end will come, and he will give the kingdom to God the Father.[1 Cor 15 : 24  CEV]
and God becomes everything to everyone,
After everything is under the power of God’s Son, he will put himself under the power of God, who put everything under his Son’s power. Then God will mean everything to everyone.
[1 Cor 15 : 28  CEV]

then the life we will all experience together must be eternal life.

So all are indeed saved, given eternal life, even though the verses quoted by Dr Arnold, isolated from their context, only tell part of the story.

Because eventually ...
Everything comes from the Lord. All things were made because of him and will return to him. Praise the Lord forever! Amen.
[Romans 11 : 36  CEV]

Blessings, Barry

No comments:

Post a Comment

All relevant comments are most welcome. However, please express any disagreement you might have without being disagreeable and with grace towards those who might not hold your point of view.