The World and the Word

                   The Difference between Sin and Evil

Jesus always taught that He came to destroy evil and the Devil, not living humans. John the Baptist described the ministry of Jesus in Luke 3:16-17. Those whom John said that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit would become saved by grace. Those whom John said that Jesus would baptize with fire would become saved by God's fiery wrath against evil because His fiery wrath would burn up their evil and save their souls and spirits alive. I Corinthians 3:11-15. John illustrated what he meant when he said Jesus would separate the wheat from the chaff. The word "wheat" symbolizes all the living souls and spirits of every human that God creates and loves. The word "chaff" symbolizes all of the useless evil that God will separate from all living humans for Him to burn forever in the lake of fire. Revelation 20:5; Revelation 20:11-15.

When John the Baptist said, "Behold, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world" in John 1:29, he meant exactly that which he said. Jesus came to remove the sin and evil from all living humans, some by His grace and all others by the use of His fiery wrath against evil. Jesus cleanses those whom He saves by His grace with His blood and water that flowed from His cross. Matthew 26:28; Ephesians 5:25-27. Hell happens to be God's fiery wrath against evil that Jesus used to cleanse all of the rest of humanity when He left all their sins and evil behind there when He rose immaculate from the dead. Deuteronomy 32:22; Psalm 16:10; Acts 2:27. God activates salvation by grace the moment a person repents and believes in Christ while still alive in the flesh. John 5:24. God activates salvation by the use of His fiery wrath against evil when Christ appears to all living humans confined within the regions of death and causes all of them to choose of their own free will to trust in Him as the Lamb of God to save them from the horrors of the regions of death. Revelation 20:13; Revelation 5:11-14; I Corinthians 3:11-15. All of the Old Testament sin offerings symbolize salvation by grace, and all of the Old Testament burnt offerings symbolize God salvation by the use of His fiery wrath against evil.

In Mark 9:49, Jesus used symbolism when He used the words "salt" and "fire." Just as the "chaff" will be burned in Matthew 3:12 and the "wood, hay, stubble" will be burned in I Corinthians 3:12, so God will "salt;" that is, preserve, every living human; that is, "every one" who ever lived confined to the regions of death by the use of His fiery wrath against evil. Jesus meant by His phrase "every sacrifice" His burden of the sins and evil of every human on His cross. Jesus meant that His sacrifice for every human would preserve the lives of every human. Psalm 36:6.

Jesus meant by His teaching in Mark 9:50 that if salt is not used, it cannot preserve. Humans who fail to receive the "salt" of God's higher form of salvation by His grace while still alive in the flesh will not be preserved from God's judgment in that He must consign them to one of the three regions of death after their physical deaths. Hebrews 9:27. But since Jesus had already promised that "every one" will be "salted;" that is, saved either by His grace or by His fiery wrath against evil, then God will save the good lives of every human confined to the regions of death upon their repentance and faith in the Lamb of God. Revelation 5:11-14. Jesus then urged His listeners to "have salt in yourselves" by which He meant that they should receive by faith His Holy Spirit and salvation by His grace so that their souls and spirits will go directly to Heaven following their physical deaths. II Corinthians 5:8.

Jesus consistently taught throughout the gospels that He came to purge sin and evil from the world, meaning all of mankind. John 12:47; John 12:31-32; John 16:33; Luke 19:10. Can Jesus fail to save all the lost? Jesus never said that He will cast living humans, whom He created in His image and loves, into an eternal lake of fire. He said only their "worms," meaning their tiny consciousnesses attached to their dead natures, would be cast into the lake of fire. Mark 9:44; Revelation 20:11-15. In Matthew 18:11 and Luke 19:10, Jesus said that He came "to seek and to save that which was lost." Since every human is lost and God must make His Word good as Numbers 23:19 relates, then Christ must save every human who is lost.

Nowhere in the Bible (KJB) does God grant the right of every living human to permanently reject His higher or lower forms of salvation. God created every living human to be good which means He put faith into them. Sooner or later, God will save every living human when He activates their faith. Genesis 1:31; Genesis 3:20; Luke 20:38; Romans 12:3; II Peter 3:9; John 5:24; Revelation 5:11-14.