In his paper, “Will Satan Ever Be Reconciled to God?” Derek Prince attempted to refute the truth that God will reconcile all things, including Satan, unto Himself. (To set the stage of our answer to Prince’s objections specifically, you could read in our section The Restitution of All Things and our writing The Origin and Identity of Satan.)
Though we could be categorized by some as Universalists for believing in God’s plan of universal salvation, we don’t ascribe to the generic form of Universalism, which errs in a most fundamental way. To see how, read The Deadly Error of the Universalists.
While Mr. Prince may have legitimately refuted some error found or perceived in Universalism, he also deeply erred in throwing out the truth from God because of his false doctrine. If we would have been those targeted by his unrighteous fire, it would only have been because he was in the wrong, not because he had a legitimate (God-given) complaint against what we teach.
Derek Prince was an intelligent, knowledgeable, and well-educated man, with many skills and talents, and respected by many. Still, he was without understanding in several points of true Biblical Christian doctrine, the reconciliation of all things being one of them.
“For it is written, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will set aside the understanding of the perceiving ones.’ Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the lawyer of this world? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?” (1 Corinthians 1:19-20 MKJV)
For those who know and have the Spirit of Truth, the following Scripture passage says it all concerning universal reconciliation, expressing wonderfully the complete balance of the plan of God for His Image and the Ages:
1 Corinthians 15:21-28 MKJV
(21) For since death is through man, the resurrection of the dead also is through a Man.
(22) For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all will be made alive.
(23) But each in his own order: Christ the first-fruit, and afterward they who are Christ’s at His coming;
(24) then is the end, when He delivers the Kingdom to God, even the Father; when He makes to cease all rule and all authority and power.
(25) for it is right for Him to reign until He has put all the enemies under His feet.
(26) The last enemy made to cease is death.
(27) For He put all things under His feet. But when He says that all things have been put under His feet, it is plain that it excepts Him Who has put all things under Him.
(28) But when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subject to Him Who has subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all things in all.
Before we go to Mr. Prince’s writing, let’s discuss some notable points of this passage (click here to skip right to our answer of the paper). Let’s look at the balance of God’s plan as portrayed by our brother, the apostle Paul, to whom we are mightily indebted in Christ, even as he saw himself a debtor to all men.
(21) For since death is through man, the resurrection of the dead also is through a Man.
It is generally believed, and Scripture teaches, that when the first man, Adam, fell, all generations from his loins fell with him. There was no individual choice made by any person since Adam to be born in sin. We understand that, in Adam, we were corporately, essentially with him in his decision; therefore we all fell at once. Death came upon all mankind by Adam’s decision:
“Therefore, even as through one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed on all men inasmuch as all sinned…” (Romans 5:12-13 MKJV).
When we were born into this world, we were born in sin, as the Scriptures declare. Every child soon ably proves this at an early age, when afforded the opportunity. Before, during, or shortly after physical birth, there is no indication that we made a conscious effort or decision to choose sin before manifesting it.
Paul asserts that, as we were born into sin and into this death realm by the first Adam, so were we born into righteousness and the resurrection by the Last Adam, Jesus Christ. It is commonly preached in Christendom that we must make a decision to be accepted back into harmony with God, which is very true (but which many Universalists deny); however, the Bible teaches that we can only make that decision when it is our appointed time, when God calls us and gives us the grace to do so. Adam’s “ungrace” took us out, and only God’s grace can bring us back in.
“Therefore as by one offense sentence came on all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of One the free gift came to all men to justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous” (Romans 5:18-19 MKJV).
“For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10 MKJV).
It is God’s desire, not ours; His plan, not ours; His will, not ours; His capability, not ours; His work, not ours; His grace, not ours; His power, not ours; His faith, not ours; His timing, not ours; and His glory, not ours. Is that not what that passage to the Ephesians says? All praise, honor, power, glory, thanksgiving, blessing, and worship to Him and Him alone!
“For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things; to Him be glory forever! Amen” (Romans 11:36 MKJV).
Concerning works as pertaining to salvation, think about Saul of Tarsus and his conversion to Christ. When it was his time, God appeared to him, and that was the end of life as he knew it. Up to that point, he had been rabidly persecuting Jesus Christ in His saints, even unto death. Now he was addressing Jesus Christ as “Lord” (Acts 9, 22, and 26).
Was Saul repenting, fasting, praying, and seeking God up to this moment? On the contrary – he was hunting down Christians. He was a rabid persecutor of the early congregation of saints, and he was suddenly stopped in his tracks while breathing slaughterings against believers.
He was immediately transformed into the most ardent worker for the Lord. Whereas he once took lives against Christ, now he gave his own for Christ. Before this, there was not a hint of seeking after the truth and doing the will of God. What happened to him was entirely God’s work. (If God can do that with a man, why can’t He do it for any of His creatures, Satan included?)
As the Scriptures testify, God set forth Paul as an example of God’s grace for all men from the moment of his conversion.
(22) For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all will be made alive.
“A just weight and balance are the LORD’S: all the weights of the bag are His work” (Proverbs 16:11 KJV).
The infamous Reformer John Calvin taught the heinous doctrine that God predestinated men to eternal torment. This error is due to his perception that the Scriptures teach predestined salvation, which is true. However, he concluded that only certain must be predestined to salvation because he was witnessing sinners perishing all about him. His conclusion was based on the false belief that men must be saved in this life or not at all. Thus he erred.
So if there were some who were predestined to salvation, the reasoning goes, then those who perish must also be predestined to that fate. But these notions are nowhere supported by Scripture. Indeed, we do see men perishing everywhere, but what we see is not the conclusion of the matter; far from it. God has spread His formation of mankind into His image over several ages (we are not speaking reincarnation).
“Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He has purposed in Himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in Heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him: In Whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him Who works all things after the counsel of His own will: That we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ” (Ephesians 1:9-12 KJV).
Oh, but aren’t those beautiful words? They are the words of a wise, loving, omnipotent, and faithful God, One Who would suffer cruel death for us, One Who does not fail, and Whose will cannot be thwarted, or He is not God Almighty!
“For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39 MKJV).
Many will understandably and reasonably argue that those words apply to believers only, but for now, my purpose is to simply confirm the principle that nothing can or will stop God from doing anything He desires to do. Christ died for all, contrary to what the carnal-hearted Calvin taught with devilish inspiration. If He died for all, then His desire is that all should be saved. Being unstoppable, He will prevail; He will succeed in His desire.
(23) But each in his own order: Christ the first-fruit, and afterward they who are Christ’s at His coming;
All will be made alive…but each man in his order. For an age, God has been gathering the firstfruits only. I, Victor Hafichuk, was taken from my family as a firstfruit and sacrificial lamb on behalf of Christ for my family. Paul Cohen was taken as a sacrificial lamb and firstfruit for his family. A handful of Jews were taken, chosen, and granted faith in Yeshua as a corporate sacrificial lamb for Jews and Israel.
One day, here is what is going to transpire, according to the sure promise of the One called Faithful and True:
“And so all Israel shall be saved; as it is written, ‘There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is My covenant with them, when I have taken away their sins’” (Romans 11:26-27 MKJV).
Did it happen in the lifetime of that handful? No; the remainder of the Jews was scattered throughout the earth. Now, 1900 years later, we see Israel coming up from the ashes of the Holocaust.
It has not happened for my family or Paul’s, or for anyone else’s that I know, but it will happen. There are ages for God’s great plan to be executed, well beyond our understanding and limitations:
(24) then is the end, when He delivers the Kingdom to God, even the Father; when He makes to cease all rule and all authority and power.
It is predestined that, in the end, all rule, all authority and power will cease, because He has determined it. If that is so, who can possibly stop Him from reconciling all things to Himself?
And just what does “reconciliation” mean? Does it mean that He will force anyone or anything against their will, or will He bring people to willing agreement to see things as He sees them? Will He change their natures, as He has done with me and so many sinners? He is God! He turns a man’s heart whichever way He will. I have seen Him do it many times. He does His pleasure and His pleasure is reconciliation. Thus, He glorifies Himself.
The Scriptures declare that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, and there is no glory in death and destruction; but there is glory in restoration, restitution, reconciliation, reclamation, rejuvenation, resuscitation, redemption, and resurrection. That is what He is all about, and He has ordained hell, death, and destruction as platforms, as crucibles, as opportunities to demonstrate His glory to mankind, the redeemed.
(25) for it is right for Him to reign until He has put all the enemies under His feet.
(26) The last enemy made to cease is death.
Did I say there is no glory in death and destruction? Let me qualify: Men glory in those, but God glories in destroying death and destruction. How does He do it? By redemption, by the power of resurrection from death. Jesus Christ demonstrated the power of the One God by raising Himself from the dead – defeating death not just for Himself, but for every person and creature that ever lived.
He did it for us. What does the Scripture say? Does It say, “For God so loved Himself…”? Or does It say “For God so loved the world…”? There it is.
“The last enemy made to cease is death.” Derek Prince, as do vast multitudes of nominal Christians, advocates the pagan doctrine of eternal torment. While God says that death is the last enemy, they say that eternal torment is the last enemy. And while God says that He causes the last enemy to cease, they say the last enemy never ceases! Does that make any sense to the reasonable person?
If the destiny of a vast portion of humanity is never-ending torment, wouldn’t those in torment consider death, which offers blessed release, to be a friend and not an enemy? Have you not heard of those who are tormented with terrible diseases like Lou Gehrig’s and cancer, who wish to die? Have you not heard of those who fight for the right to die with dignity and to be relieved of their torment?
If men can see death as a friend, why does the Word of God call death an “enemy”? Is it His enemy? Or is it man’s? If man’s, is it not His enemy also, seeing He loves man so much that He would suffer death for him in order that man would not perish? Is not death an enemy for all living?
So how is it one can believe that God would subject people to horrible torment that they should regard death as a most precious, desirable friend rather than as a final, merciless enemy?
(27) For He put all things under His feet. But when He says that all things have been put under His feet, it is plain that it excepts Him Who has put all things under Him.
(28) But when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subject to Him Who has subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all things in all.
Mr. Prince makes some foolish and unlearned deductions, most of which have been answered, one way or another, by Paul in this passage. It is impossible to exclude anything, including Satan, from “all.”
In “Will Satan Ever Be Reconciled to God?” Derek Prince separates the lake of fire from heaven and earth, but he can’t separate God from God, which, in essence, is what he proposes. God is all in all, and all in all and beyond all. He is infinite, almighty, omnipresent, omniscient, self-contained, and self-sufficient. The lake of fire must therefore be “within” Him, as are all things.
Shall God have multitudes within Him in eternal torment, while He rejoices with a relatively scant handful? We think not. Besides, the Scriptures teach that there will be such a multitude of saints in white, worshipping God, that no one can number it.
“After these things I looked, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, out of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues, stood before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palms in their hands” (Revelation 7:9 MKJV).
Does that sound like a minority?
Now I answer Derek Prince’s writing, “Will Satan Ever Be Reconciled to God?” from October 2001.
Mr. Prince writes:
“Dear Friend,
In this letter, I feel God wants me to return to a topic which I originally addressed several years ago.”
Never trust “I feel.” Which of the prophets or anointed ministers in the Scriptures does anyone witness saying, “In my opinion,” or, “I think,” or, “I feel”? Derek Prince is off to a telling start. My experience has been that whenever I start off that way, I am invariably wrong. It is not about feelings. God is greater than that, and He leaves nothing to feelings. He makes a sure thing and gives His chosen vessel, His mouth, to say, “Thus says the Lord.”
He continues:
“As Christians in today’s world we are often unaware that we are being subjected to a continuous inaudible bombardment by a philosophy called humanism. This presents man as the ultimate arbiter of moral or spiritual truth…”
He starts off well enough. I marvel at the subtlety of humanism in education, medicine, government, entertainment, agriculture, commerce, and religion. But then Prince immediately stumbles with his line of reasoning and draws a presumptuous conclusion:
“…and promises a final and all-embracing reconciliation between God and all the forces of evil.”
How is it that believing in the reconciliation of all things is necessarily determined by humanism? I fail to see the logic. Because God is able to raise the dead and redeem sinners, and we say so, are we to be labeled “humanists”? Is it not the opposite? After all, we say it is God’s gracious doing and not man’s will, power, or wisdom. He goes on:
“This reconciliation, it is claimed, will include Satan himself and all the fallen angels and demons as well as any others who are presently at enmity with God.”
If God can bring back from the spiritually dead, as He did for wretched sinners like me and so many others, and if He can raise the physical dead, as He did for Lazarus and the ruler’s daughter, and as He performed on Himself, demonstrating He is God Almighty, then why can He not change anybody or anything how and when He pleases, including devils and Satan himself? Am I not asking a fair and reasonable question?
I’ll ask other questions for you to consider:
If God can’t save Satan, whom can He save?
If He’s willing and able to save Satan’s children, why wouldn’t He be willing and able to save Satan?
And if He won’t save Satan, why won’t He?
(Mind, I am not trusting in argument, logic, and reasoning. Relying strictly on reason and my own understanding, I would fail before God, finding myself standing on the enemy’s side. But God has given us reason, so that we might use it by a sound mind, in the power of His Spirit.)
One might say that Satan and devils do not deserve salvation, but what saved man is there who can say he deserved to be saved? What man is there who can say he had any hope or opportunity of salvation except by the sheer grace of God? I know I can’t say it. I was dead, and He raised me from the dead; it is that simple.
Let’s mention Saul of Tarsus again: He was slaughtering Christians and causing them to blaspheme! Does it get much worse than that? He was Satan’s man! Yet God saved him. Why? Because He chose to do so. He loved him who hated Him. It was a prime demonstration of God’s ways. As it is written:
Romans 5:20-21 MKJV
(20) But the Law entered so that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound,
(21) so that as sin has reigned to death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
Any man who says he was saved because he accepted Christ into his heart has never known salvation. That man is still sadly unaware that salvation has nothing whatsoever to do with any act, effort, strength, wisdom, knowledge, virtue, attitude, or quality of any kind on the part of the one being saved. (That is not to say that some who use that expression have not come to know the Lord; they may be using those words customarily and loosely, without knowledge.)
Otherwise, he would have somewhat to glory. But what does the Scripture say? Paul, knowing God’s grace personally, writes:
“For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Show me a man who thinks he had any part in acquiring, in his state of “ungrace,” the grace that saves, and I will show you a self-satisfied Pharisee who despises the tax collector who beats his breast in sorrowful prayer.
Mr. Prince goes on: “There is no place left for the absolute, unending punishment of any created being.”
Isn’t that awful?! No skin-peeling screams drifting across an uncrossable chasm from mothers, fathers, children, brothers, sisters, and neighbors who didn’t accept Christ – screams that will never end, not ever ever?
What a tragedy and shame! We can never allow anyone to believe in a God Who is victorious and Who doesn’t fry the majority of those made in His image forever and ever, can we? Isn’t Mr. Prince thankful he had the wisdom and presence of mind to believe? Can he ever truly imagine how thankful he ought to be, that he should be spared a horrific, unimaginable torture that will never end or put an end to him? Shouldn’t he be so thankful that he needn’t count death as a precious friend? (I wonder what he is thinking now that he has passed to the other side.)
Let us all thank God for torment for torment’s sake, shall we? Praise God! Billions bake while few bask! Now there we have cause for rejoicing, don’t we? Forgive me for the sarcasm, reader; I cannot help but mock such an absurd and heinous notion and character assassination of God, which is not suggested or supported by His Word, as carnal men insist.
It does not cease to amaze me that the intelligent, educated person can believe such lies as eternal torment, evolution, and so many others. But for the grace of God, all people are fully capable of believing the most outrageous lies.
We hardly imagine the Devil himself being so brutal and vindictive, but here we see that men read into the Scriptures such conduct about Him Who is love and Who gave His only begotten Son for us all. Speak of deception and contradiction! Speak of Satan savoring the things of men in all pride, bitterness, spite, and vengeance!
And these are the doctrines of men who identify themselves as teachers “in the Master’s service.” To which “master” do they refer? Do they know whom they serve with doctrines of devils?
Derek Prince continues:
“With its emphasis on reconciliation, this doctrine has a strong appeal for sincere and well-meaning Christians. Yet, it is based on a distortion of Scripture. For instance, one text commonly proposed is Colossians 1:19–20, which reads: ‘For it pleased the Father that in Him [Christ] all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.’ The emphasis is placed by this doctrine on the central phrase, ‘by Him to reconcile all things to Himself.‘ However, we notice that the phrase ‘all things’ is immediately qualified by the next phrase, ‘whether things on earth or things in heaven.’ Thus, the reconciliation here spoken of extends only to those things which are on earth or in heaven.”
He continues with a line of reasoning and supposition that is not reasonable, to say the least. How can one be so set on the eternal torment of others, making it, and not Jesus Christ, the Omega? In doing so, he perverts not only the Scriptures, but also all understanding and reason.
He goes on to say:
“The lake of fire is outside the boundary of reconciliation. This qualification becomes significant when we examine the description of the last great judgment of God given in Revelation 20:7–15. In verse 11 we are told that, from God’s presence, ‘the earth and the heaven fled away.’ Then, in verse 15 we are told: ‘And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.’ This indicates that, even after heaven and earth had fled away, the lake of fire continued to exist in its own place. That is to say, the lake of fire is not located in either earth or heaven, and is therefore not included in the scope of the reconciliation spoken of in Colossians 1:20. Thus, the statement in Colossians 1:20 gives no reason to claim that those who are consigned to the lake of fire will ever thereafter be reconciled to God.”
I answer a carnal notion with intellectual (though not invalid) reasoning to address Mr. Prince’s arguments: If all things are within God, Who created all, and He is above all, contains all, and sustains all, then how can the lake of fire, which is within God, be out of the boundary for reconciliation? And this, forever and ever?
Which heaven fled away? Paul spoke of a third heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2). Is that the one? If not, could the lake of fire be in that third heaven? God forbid, you say? Why?
What if the lake of fire is God’s very power and process of restoration?
We know that the fire of God is a purifying one. Jesus said that every person must be salted with fire. John the Immerser promised that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire, gathering the wheat and destroying the chaff.
The Scriptures declare that God is a consuming fire. Might He be that lake of fire, purifying souls? Might He have a good and benevolent, rather than an eternally tormenting, purpose for fire?
Does Mr. Prince understand what he is saying? Is he justified in being so categorically dismissive?
Who is to say that the removal of the old is not part of the process of the reconciliation of all things? Especially when that is precisely what God says will happen:
“Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look on the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall become old like a garment; and its inhabitants shall die in the same way. But My salvation shall be forever, and My righteousness shall not be broken” (Isaiah 51:6 MKJV).
To what end would God have eternal torment? What purpose would it serve? What a diabolical doctrine it is! How nonsensical, unreasonable, unconscionable, and unholy! How slanderous and defamatory of God’s Name!
Having nothing but glib answers, proponents of eternal torment (time without end) argue that nobody is capable of understanding the ways, wisdom, and judgment of God. “God is never wrong,” they argue, “no matter how His ways might seem unfair. Furthermore, He can do as He pleases; He owes no creature of His any explanation. We just know that He is a merciful God.”
They vainly confess this as pious defenders and sycophantic rationalists. In their ignorant, contradictory concept of a good, loving God, they conclude, “But He is also a God Whose nature necessarily demands justice.”
To those I say, be stubborn and stupid while pretending to defend God Who abhors your hypocrisy and ignorance, especially when you malign Him as you do. Go ahead, remain deceived, and deceive others if you will. But I say to you that, contrary to the ignorance of men, we can know Him and His ways; we can understand, and it is His good pleasure to reveal Himself and His secrets to those who are willing to seek after Him with all their hearts. He never intended for you to believe lies about Him, especially the kind of lie refuted in this discussion. He never intended you to live in darkness and ignorance, while at the same time pretending illumination and piety. Hypocrites!
Consider the absolute absurdity and astonishing unbelief of the declaration that we cannot know God’s ways and judgment, while He pointedly declared otherwise, having taken on human form and lived amongst us to make these very things known to those who believe.
“Jesus…said, Father, the time has now come; give glory to Your Son, so that the Son may give glory to You: Even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all those whom You have given to Him. And this is eternal life: to have knowledge of You, the only true God, and of Him Whom You have sent…” (John 17:3 BBE).
I know that Derek Prince, in this life, was not one of those whom the Father gave to Christ. He never experienced the baptism in the Holy Spirit and fire, or he would not have said what he says here. Without the Spirit of Truth, how could he speak truth? (Of course, men can mouth true doctrine intellectually, without spiritual understanding.)
The lake of fire is punishing, yes, but more importantly, it is redemptive, and it will accomplish its purpose, which is not to make pain and eternal torment the Omega. Remember, the lake of fire is there to destroy enmity, the last enemy being death. How is it possible that other enemies might remain if the last and most formidable of all enemies is destroyed?
If death is destroyed, as God says, that means there is no more sin, because death is the result of sin. If there is no more sin, that means there are no more sinners producing the sin that produces death. What then is there left for the fire to burn? I tell you, it is none but damned fools that teach this doctrine of eternal torment, especially when they attribute to God the predestination of people to such a fate!
For such a heinous disposition and crime, God Himself would need to be sent to the lake of fire!
The Scriptures teach that the lake of fire contains brimstone, which is sulphur. Sulphur is well known as an agent for nutrition, cleansing, preservation, and purification. So we have the lake of fire for cleansing and purification. What is so bad about that?
We all know that cleansing and purification can be painful; sometimes the greater the need, the greater the pain. The end, however, is cleanliness, and not destruction for destruction’s sake.
I still remember over a half century ago when, as a child growing up on a farm, I got so awfully dirty, my mother scrubbed me until it hurt (especially when my skin was chapped). But when she was done, I was clean; I was not trashed for being dirty. If parents, who are evil, will cleanse and not trash their children for being dirty, how much more will the Heavenly Father take the trouble to cleanse those in His image from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit!
Some bitter diseases may require bitter medicine, and some injuries, needle, scalpel, and even saw. In the Scriptures, some vessels were cleansed by water and others by fire. What is so strange about cleansing fires?
If the lake of fire were so removed from everything else, would that be an evil thing? Did not God command quarantine for dangerous contagious diseases like leprosy? Were lepers destroyed or damned forever, or were they quarantined for their good and for the good of the community, with the hope of cleansing and healing? Jesus healed lepers.
Mr. Prince goes on:
“How Long Is ‘Eternal’? – Another line of argument designed to disprove any form of final, unending punishment is based on an interpretation of the Greek adjective aionios, which is normally translated ‘eternal’ or ‘everlasting.’ It is claimed that this Greek adjective is derived from the Greek noun aion, meaning an ‘age’ (eon), and that the adjective therefore has the meaning ‘belonging to, or extending throughout, an age.’ In other words, that which is called aionios does not extend through all ages, but only through one age.
For example, this interpretation is applied to the words of Jesus, which reads: ‘And they [the wicked] will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’ It is claimed that the phrase ‘eternal punishment’ does not mean absolute, unending punishment, but merely punishment which lasts for an age (and, by implication, is terminated after that). However, intellectual honesty demands that ‘eternal life’ would need to be interpreted in the same way. Does anyone sincerely believe that this is what Jesus meant?
On the contrary, this verse surely supplies proof that the adjective aionios does not mean merely ‘that which endures for an age,’ but rather ‘from age to age,’ or ‘to all ages.’ This meaning is the same whether the adjective is applied to life or to punishment.
This is confirmed by the use of another phrase that occurs in the Greek New Testament, namely: eis [tous] aionas ton aionon—that is, ‘unto [the] ages of ages.’ This phrase occurs approximately 20 times in the Greek New Testament, and is normally translated ‘forever and ever.’ The Greek language cannot produce any phrase that more strongly expresses that which endures for all ages, absolutely without end.
The same phrase is also used in Revelation 20:10, where it is says of the devil, the beast and the false prophet ‘they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.’ There is no way to express more emphatically that their punishment will be totally and absolutely unending.”
To his credit, Mr. Prince’s logic is correct and his criticism of those to whom he refers justified. There must be even scales, or the judgments are not just. We can’t have it both ways. However, here comes the dagger to the heart of Mr. Prince’s argument on this point: His definition of the word “forever” is faulty, not according to the definition of men, but according to the definition of the Scriptures.
There has been much debate about how to define the Greek aion and Hebrew olam, words translated into English in many Bible versions as “forever” or “for ever and ever” or “everlasting.” The very best way to put that problem to rest “forever” is to see how the Bible Itself defines those words by usage. It does not take a linguistic scholar to find that those words do not mean in Scripture what so many of us have mistakenly understood them to mean.
Here are samples from The True Scriptural Meanings of “Forever,” “Everlasting,” and “Hell” – a paper for which Gary Amirault is largely responsible:
“Sodom’s fiery judgment is ‘eternal’ (Jude 7)–until–God ‘will restore the fortunes of Sodom’ (Eze. 16:53-55).
An Ammonite or Moabite is forbidden to enter the Lord’s congregation ‘forever’-until–the tenth generation (Deut. 23:3).
The Aaronic Priesthood was to be an ‘everlasting’ priesthood (Ex. 40:15), that is-until-it was superceded by the Melchizedek Priesthood (Hebrews 7:14-18).
The King James Bible, as well as many others, tells us that a bondslave was to serve his master ‘forever’ (Exodus 21:6), that is,–until–his death.”
This PRESENT age will come to an END (Mat. 24:3, ‘The END [or conclusion] of the eon’). Therefore, NOT eternal.
There is coming another aion AFTER this present aion (Luke 18:30, ‘the eon TO COME’). Therefore, NOT eternal.
There are, in fact, coming multiples or FUTURE AIONS (Eph. 2:7, ‘the ONCOMING AIONS’). Therefore, NOT eternal.”
Here is a way to understand the true meaning of these words in Scripture that are falsely defined as “time without end.” I take a glass of water and drink it to the last drop or “forever,” that is, I drink all of it, completely. Or I take a trip and go not partly, but all, the way. Or I start a project and see it to its completion. It is the sense of quality more than quantity, but in terms of quantity, it is the sense of completion.
That is how God meant it. When God was done with the Aaronic priesthood, it had served its purpose “forever,” as He said, that is, to its full term. Having served all of its term, or “forever,” it was then replaced. When a bondslave died, his “forever” was completed. He did not resign a day before his death; he was not released an hour before his death; he was a bondslave all the while he existed; he served forever, to “everlasting,” while ever he lasted, as long as he lasted in this realm.
Therefore, when the Scriptures say, “And they [the wicked] will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life,” the same definition applies in both instances, even as Mr. Prince asserts. The wicked are perfectly punished, completely, all the way, “until they have paid the last cent.” Their judgment is perfectly just. At the same time, the righteous receive complete and perfect life of God; their reward is complete and perfect, with nothing lacking whatsoever. Again, it is not about time without end so much as about completion, which, of course, completes a time as well as the work purposed by God.
This raises a question about the duration of the salvation of the believer. Just how long is his “eternal” life? For now I will simply say that it will last as long as God wants it to last. From all that I understand, he who believes on Him shall never die (John 11:26). How long is that “never”? It may take some time to find out, but we shall know and see!
Is this reasoning only, or do I give forth the Bible’s, that is, God’s, definitions? Read The True Scriptural Meanings of “Forever,” “Everlasting,” and “Hell” and decide for yourself. By God’s grace and only by His grace, you will be given to understand that which only children can understand. The educated and wise (in themselves) will never get it:
“At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank You, O Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the sophisticated and cunning, and revealed them to babes” (Matthew 11:25 MKJV).
Derek Prince continues:
“The Only Basis of Reconciliation – Those who speak of Satan being reconciled to God do not understand the scriptural basis of reconciliation. In 2 Peter 3:9 Peter tells us: ‘The Lord . . . is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.’ Notice that God’s longsuffering is towards ‘us,’ the human race. Notice also the great, unvarying condition upon which alone God’s mercy and reconciliation are offered: repentance. Repentance signifies a humble acknowledgment of wrongdoing, a total turning away from wrongdoing, and a sincere and unreserved submission to God. Where there is no repentance, there can be no reconciliation.”
Prince reasons, but not with equity. Is reconciliation dependent on man taking action, or is it dependent on God doing something? God is able to change His mind (repent), and the Scriptures declare that He can and does so, even as when Moses interceded for Israel when God was about to destroy them:
Exodus 32:9-14 MKJV
(9) And the LORD said to Moses, I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people.
(10) And now leave Me alone, so that My wrath may become hot against them and so that I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation.
(11) And Moses prayed to the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why does Your wrath become hot against Your people whom You have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
(12) Why should the Egyptians speak and say, He brought them out for harm, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and be moved to pity as to this evil against Your people.
(13) Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give to your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.
(14) And the LORD repented as to the evil which He spoke of doing to His people.
The people had not repented of their evil, but God repented of the evil He spoke of doing to them. He is the One Who hardens a heart or shows mercy as He wills.
He can make a donkey reason and talk, changing its nature instantly, unexpectedly, and without merit:
Numbers 22:28-30 MKJV
(28) And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said to Balaam, What have I done to you, that you have beaten me these three times?
(29) And Balaam said to the ass, Because you have mocked me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you.
(30) And the ass said to Balaam, Am I not your ass, upon which you have ridden ever since I was yours, to this day? Was I ever known to do so to you? And he said, No.
He can also give a donkey spiritual discernment:
Numbers 22:31-33 MKJV
(31) Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the Angel of the LORD standing in the way, and His sword drawn in His hand. And he bowed down his head, and fell on his face.
(32) And the Angel of the LORD said to him, Why have you beaten your ass these three times? Behold! I went out to be an enemy to you, because your way is perverse before Me.
(33) And the ass saw Me and turned from Me these three times. Unless she had turned from Me, surely now I also would have killed you and saved her alive.
If God creates a creature whose mind can be changed, as with ass or man, then who is to say that God’s grace is not capable of giving Satan and the devils the ability to repent (change their minds)? Have we not seen where God granted Satan his desire?
Job 1:9-12 MKJV
(9) And Satan answered the LORD and said, Does Job fear God for nothing?
(10) Have You not made a hedge around him, and around his house, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his livestock have increased in the land.
(11) But put forth Your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse You to Your face.
(12) And the LORD said to Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your power. Only do not lay your hand upon him. And Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
Have we not seen where Jesus granted devils their request?
Luke 8:32-33 MKJV
(32) And there was there a herd of many pigs feeding on the mountain. And they [the demons] begged Him that He would allow them to enter into them. And He allowed them.
(33) And coming out of the man, the demons entered into the pigs. And the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake and were choked.
What does Isaiah say about changes in nature from carnivore to herbivore, from predator to peacekeeper, from guilty to innocent?
“The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the food of the snake. They will not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, says the LORD” (Isaiah 65:25 MKJV).
Consider that the enemy of the brethren of Christ and of all that is good serves to further God’s purposes. Is it not at all possible that when the Devil has finished his job, God will transform him, even as He will transform man, wolf, and serpent from evil to good?
As an aside, and something to ponder: Have you ever wondered why a serpent on a pole represented the Lord Jesus Christ lifted up?
“But even as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:14-15 MKJV).
Prince further reasons:
“It is possible for the will of a created being to be so set in rebellion, that there is thereafter no possibility of its being changed. In such a case, repentance is no longer possible. In Hebrews 12:17 we are told of Esau that ‘afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance.’ More literally, ‘he found no way to change his mind.’ So far as the birthright was concerned, Esau had made an irrevocable decision. Therefore there was no way back into the blessing that he had forfeited.”
Was Mr. Prince not aware that it was predetermined Jacob should have the birthright and the blessing long before Esau lost or gave them up, even before he and Esau were ever born?
Romans 9:10-12 MKJV
(10) And not only this, but when Rebekah also had conceived by one, by our father Isaac
(11) (for the children had not yet been born, neither had done any good or evil; but that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him Who called,)
(12) it was said to her, “The elder shall serve the younger.”
The apostle Paul speaks of the sovereignty of God in this matter, demonstrating the prominence of His grace in all His doings:
Romans 9:13-16 MKJV
(13) As it is written, “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.”
(14) What shall we say then? Is there not unrighteousness with God? Let it not be!
(15) For He said to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”
(16) So then it is not of the one willing, nor of the one running, but of God, the One showing mercy.
If the reader reads the link that has been offered twice, he or she will realize that God will bring to a definite end the “irrevocable” judgments of many people and nations.
And why should there be repentance required, if God does not require it in advance? Did Saul of Tarsus repent before he was turned by God? Tell me, dear reader, if you see any sign of Adam and Eve having repented. I see none. I see fear, denial, deceit, and blame in other directions, even blaming God Himself (“The woman whom YOU gave to be with me…”) but I see no repentance or acknowledgment of sin (read Genesis 3).
Yet, besides ushering them to their death with its many aspects, God covered their nakedness with skins, promised that from Eve’s womb would come the Savior and that the enemy would eventually be overcome, and gave them children, some of whom called upon His Name. Indeed, by them came that Savior.
This is not to say that God calls none to repentance – all must repent one way or another, sooner or later. It is to say that God will do as He pleases and will deal with each creature on an individual basis, with no respect of persons. His pleasure is to redeem and to reconcile all things to Himself.
Mr. Prince continues:
“The same stands eternally true of Satan and his angels. In their initial rebellion against God, in the full light and knowledge of eternity, they made an irrevocable, irreversible commitment. Their wills are set forever in eternal, irreconcilable enmity and opposition to Almighty God. Satan is incapable of repentance; therefore there is for him no possibility of reconciliation.”
Here we go back to the Bible’s definitions of “forever,” “no turning back,” “irrevocable,” and “irreversible.”
Let me ask Mr. Prince, “Is anything impossible for God?” You say that Satan and his angels’ wills are set forever in opposition to God. You say Satan is incapable of repentance. I ask you, “Were you capable of repentance? Is any man capable of repentance?” The Bible clearly says otherwise:
Romans 3:10-18 MKJV
(10) As it is written: There is none righteous, no not one;
(11) there is none that understands, there is none that seeks after God.
(12) They are all gone out of the way, they have together become unprofitable, there is none that does good, no, not one.
(13) Their throat is an open grave, with their tongues they have used deceit, the poison of asps is under their lips;
(14) whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness;
(15) their feet are swift to shed blood;
(16) destruction and misery are in their way,
(17) and the way of peace they did not know.
(18) There is no fear of God before their eyes.
“Were you not forever an irreconcilable enemy of God, but by His grace? Judging by your doctrine, I ask, ‘Are you not still?’”
But let me also ask: “Where do you get the notion that Satan and his angels rebelled against God?” Many believe, without Scriptural evidence, that Lucifer is Satan. Believing this, they think he rebelled according to those things written in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28. However, those passages speak not of Satan, but of men. Read them for yourself.
So did Satan rebel? Did he make an “irrevocable decision,” as Mr. Prince put it, or was he always the evil one? Let’s see what Jesus had to say:
“You are of the Devil as father, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and did not abide in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44 MKJV).
According to the Lord, Satan (the Devil) was as he is from the very beginning, a liar and murderer without truth. What beginning? There are many beginnings. There was the beginning of chaos, light, the heavens, earth, man, Adam, the Garden of Eden, the beasts; so what or whose beginning? Reason would tell us it was Satan’s beginning, not anyone or anything else’s. In other words, God created Satan as he is from his start.
Let us identify the origin of Satan (the serpent):
“Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, Is it so that God has said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (Genesis 3:1 MKJV)
Satan did not begin before the earth was; neither was he cast out of heaven before the earth was (one need only to read the Book of Job, Chapters 1 and 2). Satan was created as one of the beasts of the field in the Garden of Eden.
Many believe Satan entered the serpent and expressed himself through that subtle, though susceptible, creature, but that is reasoning that contradicts the Word of God. The serpent himself was cunning, the Word says, more so than any beast of the field, and God purposely made him so. It was the serpent that tempted Eve, and not something or someone possessing the serpent; it was the serpent who was judged for his actions.
So then you say, “Snakes don’t talk and reason.” You are right, but the serpent was not a snake, as we understand snakes. This serpent was made to reason, speak, and be subtle, as the KJV puts it. The serpent was an intelligent person, a beast, yes, but one that very much functions as a human being.
If Satan did come by the serpent, how did that happen? Was the serpent not able to resist possession by Satan? If not, why would God condemn him? Or is it that he chose not to resist being possessed by Satan and was therefore condemned?
And if Satan was separate from the serpent, and the real culprit, how is it that punishment was pronounced upon Adam, Eve, and the serpent, but not upon Satan? One who theorizes that the serpent was merely a vessel used by Satan has several unanswered, and unanswerable, questions.
Prince says, “Satan is incapable of repentance; therefore there is for him no possibility of reconciliation.”
What he says is true, but the same is said for all sinners. When we were yet His enemies and without hope, Christ died for us:
“And that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12 MKJV).
What else does it mean to say that God became our Savior?
“And He said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God” (Luke 18:27 MKJV).
The Scriptures are clear that no man is capable of repentance, but does that mean that there is no possibility of reconciliation for man? Did Mr. Prince not know that with men, these things are impossible, that no man seeks after God, and that is why man needs a Savior?
If we were capable of repentance, we would not need a Savior, unless it is that we only need a bit of help. But how does anyone raise himself up from the dead to any degree? It doesn’t happen. Our repentance is a sheer gift of grace, period. So if for us there is no hope without His work of grace in us, yet He saves us, can it be that He could do the same for Satan and his angels? Why not?
Mr. Prince writes:
“Christ became the substitute for men, not for angels – The Scripture makes it clear that the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ was made solely on behalf of the human race. Jesus is ‘the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’ He is ‘the propitiation for the sins . . . [of] the whole world.’ In each case the English word ‘world’ translates the Greek word kosmos. A thorough examination will show that this Greek word kosmos, throughout the New Testament, is used solely and exclusively of this earth and of the human race upon it.”
We have just established that Satan was the serpent created as a beast in this world. Mr. Prince himself allows the truth that the boundary of reconciliation includes all that is in heaven and on earth:
“For it pleased the Father that in Him [Christ] all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven.”
Not only does he provide Scripture for our case, he provides no Scriptural evidence for his opinions, so his argument on this point is not valid.
And since he acknowledges that God does reconcile all things in heaven and earth, as the Scriptures declare, then it does not much matter if Satan is in heaven or on earth to qualify him for salvation on that point, does it?
Mr. Prince continues:
“Three passages from the New Testament may be cited in confirmation of this. In Romans 5:12 Paul says that ‘through one man sin entered the world [kosmos].’ That one man was, of course, Adam. Sin had already been committed in heaven by Satan and his angels, but that was outside the world. Sin in the world began with the human race upon earth.”
As I said, there is no evidence in Scripture that sin was already committed by Satan in heaven. Even the Ezekiel passage, to which Mr. Prince perhaps refers, speaks of the sin as in Eden, which was after creation:
Ezekiel 28:12-13 MKJV
(12) Son of man, lift up a lament over the king of Tyre, and say to him, So says the Lord God: You seal the measure, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
(13) You have been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, the ruby, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the turquoise, and the emerald, and gold. The workmanship of your tambourines and of your flutes was prepared in you in the day that you were created.
Prince continues:
“Again in 2 Peter we are told, concerning the judgment of God upon the human race in the days of Noah, that God ‘did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah’; and that ‘the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.’ In both these cases, it is clear that the world refers to the human race upon earth. Satan and his fallen angels are not included.”
Answered.
Mr. Prince continues:
“It follows that, when Jesus atoned by His death on the cross for the sins of ‘the world,’ He atoned for the human race upon the earth, but not for Satan and his angels. This is in line with the revelation of Hebrews 2:14, 16 (RSV): ‘Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself [Jesus] likewise partook of the same nature, that through death he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil. . . . For surely it is not with angels that he is concerned but with the descendants of Abraham.’ Jesus became, by His fleshly nature, a descendant of Abraham—and thus also of Adam. He was ‘the last Adam.’ He became on the cross the atoning substitute for the whole Adamic race. But He did not take on angelic nature, and He did not become a substitute for angels. Therefore there is no basis in divine justice for the offer of pardon to angels.”
These are specious arguments. First, the Scriptures that Mr. Prince himself quoted clearly teach God would reconcile all things, not men only, and all things both in heaven and on earth, be they men or angels or butterflies or cockroaches:
“For it pleased the Father that in Him [Christ] all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.”
Even the once feared and hated wolves will have a place beside lambs as will the once feared and hated serpents beside infants:
Isaiah 11:6-8 MKJV
(6) Also the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the cub lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
(7) And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
(8) And the suckling child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
While it can justifiably be argued that these are allegories Isaiah speaks, the Scriptures still do declare unallegorically that God will reconcile all things both in heaven and on earth.
Mr. Prince continues:
“In fact, the very purpose of the death of Jesus on the cross was not to save the devil but, on the contrary, to ‘destroy . . . the devil.’ What could be clearer than that?”
Now it appears that Mr. Prince resorts to sleight of hand here, omitting some key words between “destroy” and “the devil.” Do the Scriptures teach that the Devil was to be destroyed, or that the works of the Devil were to be destroyed? While it is also written that the Devil would be destroyed, and he will be, does it mean the Devil entirely, or as he is?
“He that commits sin is of the Devil; for the Devil sins from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the Devil” (1 John 3:8 KJV).
Forests are destroyed in fires, but are they turned to nothingness, or are they recycled, changed into other forms, even new forests?
Victor Hafichuk died and is gone, “nevertheless I live, and the life that I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). I know I was destroyed. I was crucified, the old man died, old things passed away, and now I am a new creature.
Reader, ask yourself, “Why would God not say His purpose was to destroy the Devil, instead of saying He would destroy his works? Could it be that God has a redemptive purpose for him?”
God also destroyed Jericho, which returned. He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, which shall find it “more tolerable in judgment” than those cities that rejected the Lord’s disciples (Luke 10:12). So are Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed as Mr. Prince seems to use the term? Apparently not.
Is a forest destroyed when it burns, or are those elements reused to form something else somewhere else? Is the water that evaporates from our oceans, lakes, and streams forever lost, or does it go elsewhere, even returning to where it comes from? Do not streams empty forever when flowing to the sea? We are told:
“All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; to the place from where the rivers come, there they return again” (Ecclesiastes 1:7 MKJV).
Reconciliation involves dramatic change of, but it does not involve annihilation of, the creatures God created. Death and hell are conditions which shall be done away.
God destroyed Israel, and here it is back again, up from the ashes. The apostles were killed, and yet Jesus promised them that not a hair on their heads would perish. Did their hairs not go down to the grave? Did He lie to them, or did they fail in their service to Him and thus lose not only their hairs but also their entire bodies? Is there not a resurrection?
And what is this about tolerance for such as Sodom and Gomorrah, if there is only eternal torment awaiting the “destroyed” wicked?
And what is this about eternal torment, if destruction means annihilation? Mr. Prince cannot have it both ways.
May I ask why angels are not included in Mr. Prince’s plan of salvation if the saints are to be judging (correcting) them? And is it only the holy angels of God that are to be judged (corrected), or those “not so holy,” or both?
In reproof, Paul asks the Corinthians, “Do you not know that we shall judge angels, not to mention the things of this life?” (1 Corinthians 6:3 MKJV)
Was not Paul’s judgment remedial?
“To deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (1 Corinthians 5:5 MKJV).
Mr. Prince goes on:
“For this reason, Christ—returned in glory at the close of this age—is revealed as saying to the ‘goats’ on his left hand: ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’ This everlasting fire—also called Gehenna, or the lake of fire—was ‘prepared for the devil and his angels.’ This is their sure, inevitable, eternal destination. However, this place of punishment was not prepared for the human race. Human beings do not need to go there. If they will repent and submit to God, God will spare them. For them there is an alternative—if they will accept it. But for Satan and his angels there is no alternative.”
We have answered these arguments without difficulty, with good reason and Scripture. Added to our answer, we can also say that punishment was never divinely intended as an end in itself. The judgment of God is redemptive, more so than punitive. The infernal doctrine of eternal punishment (everlasting, time without end) never came into God’s Mind. It is from beneath and not from above.
Now Mr. Prince throws down the glove:
“Satan’s Advocates Are God’s Enemies – In this spiritual realm there is no neutrality. Jesus said: ‘He who is not with Me is against Me.’ There are only two possible attitudes: submission to God, or opposition to God. Human beings, who, through repentance, submit themselves to God, are spared from the lake of fire. All others, who do not thus submit, are in opposition to God. They necessarily associate themselves with the devil and his angels. Because of this association, they are condemned to the same destination—the lake of fire. For all who once enter this lake of fire—whether angels or men— there is no way back. It is ‘forever and ever.’”
If in declaring Satan will be reconciled, we stood with him as he is, then we could well be numbered with devils, as enemies of God and of His saints; but we preach repentance, faith, the Law and grace of God. We preach redemption, and not the status quo of evil and its practitioners. We preach righteousness and godliness.
Most of all, we preach that all of creation groans, awaiting and needing a Savior, Who is none other than its Creator, the Lord Jesus Christ, our only hope, man’s only hope, the sinner’s only hope, Mr. Prince’s only hope, a devil’s only hope, and Satan’s only hope, whether we hope or not.
Mr. Prince continues:
“Herein lies the subtle danger of this doctrine of ‘reconciliation’ for those who profess to be Christians. In the Scriptures, God clearly states two things. First, God is absolutely just and impartial. Second, God has condemned the devil and his angels to the punishment of everlasting fire. Any person who questions the second of these two statements automatically questions the first also.
If you deny that the devil is condemned to everlasting fire, you automatically repudiate both the truth and the justice of God. By this subtle deception, Satan has tricked you into taking sides with him against God. You cannot at the same time be the advocate of Satan and the friend of God. Without realizing it, you are now ranged alongside the enemies of God. If you persist in this attitude, God’s justice demands that He deal with you as with the devil. You will one day hear those fearsome words: ‘Depart from Me . . . into the everlasting fire.’”
By the spirit of the one he condemns to eternal torment, Mr. Prince now accuses those of us who preach God’s love and successful work of being advocates of that condemned one. Why would Mr. Prince do this? I would think it is because he does not understand that we are not advocates of Satan and his devils, as we have known them. On the contrary, it should be apparent that we deal with Satan as an enemy for the present, as we speak, for we are claiming back to God what he has usurped, which God will cleanse, heal, and restore.
We are also not advocates of Adam and his sin, or of King David and his sin, or of Solomon and his sin. Neither have we been advocates of Saul of Tarsus while, by the spirit of Satan, he persecuted the Church of God to the death. Neither are we advocates of our own selves, who once walked in sin and darkness, as have all men. We know that, before God, we have no righteousness; we know that, at this present time, in our flesh dwells no good thing. How, then, can we advocate anybody but the Righteous One?
No, Mr. Prince, you are wrong, terribly wrong, and the deeper you venture, the wronger you get, so much so that you condemn those who believe, the brethren of Christ, to your eternal flames, forever and ever, as you understand and been taught that to mean. (Your fire is also likely understood to be literal – which is another carnal and foolish notion.)
Pay attention now, all you who have been persuaded by Mr. Prince to sin with your minds and lips. Know that while he accuses us of being advocates of Satan and his evil, Mr. Prince ironically stands with the accuser of the brethren, the one he thinks to have relegated to eternal torment.
Mr. Prince goes on:
“Recall, before it is too late, that this was never prepared for you. You do not need to go there. Change your mind. Renounce your association with the devil. Lay down your opposition to God. Humble yourself. Submit yourself to the truth and the justice of God. In so doing, you open the way for God to restore to you His grace, mercy and peace. Consider the words of David:
Do not I hate them, O LORD, who hate You? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:21–24
Make this confession of David your confession concerning Satan and his angels. Ask the Lord to search your heart. Renounce every wicked way. Return to the way everlasting.”
Mr. Prince, heed your own words. David was speaking of men, yet Jesus said to hate nobody. How do you reconcile the two? There is more here than meets your eye, is there not? You don’t understand that we do battle with the enemy, though we know that it could be one such as Saul of Tarsus, a blasphemer and murderer who was eventually saved.
Was that not the purpose Paul saw in the battle he entered as an apostle of God?
“If, in the manner of men, I fought with beasts at Ephesus, what is the benefit to me? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” (1 Corinthians 15:32 EMTV)
With your understanding, or lack of it, how would you have reacted when Satan was found among the sons of God as they presented themselves before the Lord? And what was Satan doing in heaven at Job’s time if he rebelled before creation? Can anyone answer on Mr. Prince’s behalf, seeing he is no longer in this world?
We are washed in the blood of the Lamb. We know Him, stand with Him, and follow Him wherever He goes, not loving our lives to the death, opposing Satan and all his vessels who preach lies in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, ministers ignorant of the truth because they do not worship the Father in spirit and in truth. We know whereof we speak because “salvation is of the Jews,” which we are, not by circumcision of the flesh, but of the heart.
You need to have the foreskin of your heart removed, Mr. Prince. I know you are now removed from this earth. Perhaps you may already have discovered that what we speak is true, and that we speak from the throne of heaven, being the mouth of the One sitting upon it, being commissioned to do so in His Spirit and resurrection power.
While you preach that we stand a chance of eternal torment if we do not see things the Devil’s and man’s way, we preach that you will not suffer eternal torment, because we see and know things God’s way. Something to think about.
Do we defend or stand with Satan? God forbid! He is our enemy and we despise all his works. However, we also know that we have been our own worst enemies, and we, by God’s grace only, now abhor our past ways, in which we walked as children of darkness and in which we took pleasure.
Mr. Prince concludes, with further false assumptions:
“The two sides of God’s coin: ‘goodness’ and ‘severity’ – The picture presented in Scripture of God’s nature and dealings with man is like a coin. It has two opposite sides, which together make up the complete coin. These two sides are clearly presented by Paul: ‘Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God.’ Here are the two sides: goodness and severity. On the one hand, mercy and grace; on the other hand, wrath and judgment.
To efface one side of a coin renders it incomplete and valueless. So it is with the picture of God presented in the Bible. To speak always of goodness, but never of severity—to speak always of mercy and grace, but never of wrath and judgment—this is to efface one side of the coin, and to render the Bible’s picture of God incomplete and valueless. Those who speak like this are unfaithful to God, and unfair to men. In so doing, they misrepresent God and mislead men.”
Mr. Prince speaks of some mistaken souls that do teach such nonsense; however, he ought not to think that all those who preach the reconciliation of all things preach the same. Seeing we do not teach such heresy and error, he is wrong. The problem is not with his mistaken notion that we are wrong, so much as that he preaches error, the nastiest and most blasphemous lie ever told about God, by which the simple stumble, are snared and confounded, are made cynical, and are kept in darkness and torment. Those who do not have the truth are not free, and Mr. Prince only serves to prolong their misery and bondage.
To prove that he is in gross error about us and what we teach, see The Restitution of All Things and Universalism. Perhaps to agree with Mr. Prince that under certain conditions, his assumptions could be right, though in this case, dead wrong, read The Deadly Error of the Universalists.
As to his charge about all those who teach universal reconciliation being guilty of effacing one side of the coin, the above links and sections of writings address that false assumption. For additional sustenance for the sincere seeker of truth, here are other writings that will fortify the veracity of our position: Law and Grace, The Purpose of Evil, and The Wrath of God.
He signs off:
“Yours in the Master’s service,
Derek Prince”
There are so many men, highly regarded by the world, who are considered respectable and honorable, as men of God. Gamaliel, the renowned Pharisee authority, whose fruit was to lead Saul of Tarsus to persecute Christians as heretics, was also highly respected as a man of God.
Here is what Jesus says of such:
“And He said to them, You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15 MKJV).
Thus the need for judgment and cleansing, which God is not slack to perform:
“Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment against all, and to convict all the ungodly among them about all their ungodly deeds which they have committed impiously, and about all the harsh words which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him’” (Jude 1:14-15 EMTV).
Victor Hafichuk