1 John 4:7-18 … no Hell, ever (03/09/11)
“Beloved, let us love one another. Because Love is from God, everyone who loves is born of God and knows God … God is Love, and those who abide in Love abide in God, and God abides in them … because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in Love, but perfect Love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in Love.” ~ 1 John 4:7-18
One the most important passages in the entire Bible, this set of verses literally “prove” that God has absolutely nothing at all to do with damnation, Hell or post-mortem torments of any kind!
The algebra is pretty simple, and goes as follows:
*God’s Love is “perfect” (complete — see Matthew 5:48) …
*[God’s] Perfect Love knows no fear (see above) …
*All punishment is of fear (again, see above) …
*damnation & condemnation (& Hell, in its traditional sense) are punishments.
*Therefore, according to the Bible itself, God has nothing to do with them!
Of course, for followers of Jesus’ Way, this was already clear, especially when Jesus went out of his way to show us and to tell us that Heaven is always right here & right now (Luke 17:20-21), accessible in any moment we persist in actively caring for an enemy (Matthew 22:12-14).
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