Credo: On Heaven, Hell, and the Afterlife

I've been slowly working on some "credos" for myself, brief statements of belief about particular topics. None of them are set in concrete and I continue to be open to growth and evolution about my beliefs. But here is my current work-in-progress on what I believe about the heaven, hell, universalism, and the afterlife. You can find other Credos here.

I believe that the soul endures after death.

I believe that every human has already been justified and saved by God in the person of Jesus.^[1]

I believe that there is nothing and no one that can separate us from the love of God. ^[2] God's character remains the same yesterday, today, and forever. ^[3] God is love.^[4] There will never be a day when the descriptions of the God of love in 1 Corinthians 13 and Galatians 5 (the Fruit of the Spirit) will cease to be accurate. When Jesus asks his followers to love their enemies so that they may be like their Father in heaven, this means that God loves His enemies as well.^[5] God's character does not change upon our death.

I believe that all creation will be reconciled to God. ^[6]

I believe that God will be "all in all",^[7] that he will gather all things up in him. ^[8]

I believe that death and corruption are forces of anti-creation of God and therefore will cease to exist.^[9]

I believe that death and Hades will be emptied and destroyed. ^[10]

Everyone is morally responsible to respond to the revelation of God as best as they can, given their circumstances. ^{[11] [12]}

I believe that God's kindness—not his punishment—is what leads us to repentance.^[13]

I believe that upon death, everyone will enter into God's presence. Each person will be offered the healing transformation of their soul. This healing transformation is both restorative and just, offering healing for the evils done on earth. For those who enter into this transformation willingly, they will experience it as paradise, even if there is a cleansing or purgative element.^[14]

For those who resist, they will experience this as hell and judgment. ^[15]

I believe that for those who resist, they may resist as long as they desire; and may stop resisting whenever they want. Their resistance may at first be experienced as "freedom from God." But ultimately, this resistance will be exhausted against the unrelenting love of God. Every knee will bow and every tongue joyfully (not by coercion) confess that Jesus is Lord.^[16]

I believe that the gates of the New Jerusalem will never be shut. ^[17] I believe that all who have willingly excluded themselves and then change their minds and wish to enter need only ask. ^[18]

I believe that every person will experience bodily resurrection^[19] and there will be a renewed and restored creation where there will be no tears, or crying, or pain. ^[20]

1. Romans 5:15-19, "But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. ↩︎
2. Romans 5:35-39 ↩︎
3. Hebrews 13:8. James 1:17 ↩︎
4. 1 John 4:16 ↩︎
5. Matthew 5:43-48 ↩︎
6. Colossians 1:20, "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross." 2 Corinthians 5:14-21, "For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. ↩︎
7. 1 Corinthians 15:28 and Ephesians 1:23 ↩︎
8. Ephesians 1:10 ↩︎
9. 1 Corinthians 15:24-26, "Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death." ↩︎
10. Revelation 20:14 ↩︎
11. Romans 5:13, "To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law." ↩︎
12. Romans 2:14-15, "When Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them." ↩︎
13. Romans 2:4 ↩︎
14. 1 Corinthians 3:12-15, "12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 the work of each builder will become visible, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done. 14 If what has been built on the foundation survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If the work is burned up, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire." ↩︎
15. Hebrew 12:29 ↩︎
16. Philippians 2:11 ↩︎
17. Revelation 21:25 ↩︎
18. Revelation 22:14 ↩︎
19. 1 Corinthians 15:21-22, "For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive." ↩︎
20. Revelation 21:1 ↩︎