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WHAT DOES ACTS 3:21 TRULY MEAN?
Let us begin this study in God’s word by reading Acts 3:21 and Mark
Acts 3:21.
“Whom the heaven must receive until the times of RESTITUTION of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.”
Matthew 17:11.
“And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and RESTORE all things.
12. But I say unto you, That Elias has come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.”
Now, some Christians who teach that EVERYONE will eventually be saved use Acts 3:21 to try and support their teaching that every human being will eventually be saved. They INTERPRET the phrase “RESTITUTION of all things” to mean that God will RESTORE ALL sinners to RIGHTEOUSNESS. And they ALSO INTERPRET the words of Jesus on the cross saying “IT IS FINISHED” to mean that Jesus has ALREADY SAVED every person.
So between the two verses, using them in harmony with each other, then the RESTORING of sinners BACK into a right relationship with God BEGAN at the cross and will be completed when Jesus RETURNS to rule for 1000 years. So by the END of the Millennium, all who will be saved, will be saved. In other words, after the final Day of Judgment, there will be no more people saved.
But do these verses truly mean that every single human being who ever lived, is alive today, and will live in the future, will, without fail, be saved?
Let us take a closer look at Acts 3:21.
Acts 3:21.
“Whom the heaven must receive UNTIL the TIMES of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.”
The first thing that I want you to notice is that the word “TIMES” is PLURAL. So that means that there will be a time of restitution BEFORE the 1000 year reign of Jesus and another time of restitution at the END of the 1000 year reign of Jesus. So we can rule out the INTERPRETATION of some Christians that the restitution of all things means God creating the new heavens and the new earth AFTER the world to come has ended.
To say this another way, the English word “THINGS” is NOT in the original text. And, therefore, the restitution of ALL is referring to the restitution of the ALL of whosever BELIEVES in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. The WHOLE message of the New Covenant written in the New Testament is about saving the ALL of whosoever BELIEVES in Jesus as their Savior.
Let us read the CONTEXT of Acts 3:21 to see if the context is speaking about the salvation of BELIEVERS IN Jesus, the RESTORING of everything by God creating the New heavens and the new earth, or the RESTORING the KINGDOM to Isreal in the world to come.
Please read Acts 3:12-23.
“And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, You men of Israel, why marvel you at this? or why look you so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk? (So Peter is preaching the TRUE Gospel of Jesus Christ to the children of Israel, the Jews)
13. The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom you delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.
14. But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;
15. And killed the Prince of life, whom God has raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.
16. And his name through faith in his name has made this man strong, whom you see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
17. And now, brethren, (Or now my fellow Jews) I wot that through ignorance you did it, as did also your rulers.
18. But those things, which God before has shown by the mouth of all his PROPHETS, that Christ should suffer, he has so FULFILLED.
19. REPENT you, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out WHEN the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
20. And he shall SEND Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: (So the CONTEXT so far is the PREACHING of the TRUE Gospel of Jesu Christ to the Jews for them to be SAVED. Now almost all Christians agreed that we must ENDURE unto the END to be saved. And the END means remaining faithful IN Jesus Christ unto the end of our physical life or unto the COMING of Jesus whichever comes first. Most Christians know that we do not actually RECEIVE eternal life UNTIL the RETURN of Jesus. So in truth, it is at the judgment seat of Jesus Christ AT his coming as to WHEN we will be judged worthy or unworthy to receive eternal life. That is the jest of what Pester is saying. Then Peter goes on to say that Jesus MUST REMAIN up in heaven UNTIL something happens. Let us continue)
21. Whom the heaven must receive UNTIL the TIMES of RESTITUTION of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. (Well, we know that Jesus is NOT going to REMAIN in heaven all the way to the time of God creating the New heaven and the new earth. So we can completely rule out the “restitution of all things” as being God creating the new heaven and the new earth because that will take place AFTER the 1000 year reign of Jesus. And Jesus will NOT be resigning from heaven DURING his 1000 year reign. So let us continue to see if the restitution of all things truly means that EVERYONE will eventually be saved)
22. For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall you hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.
23. And it shall come to pass, that EVERY SOUL, which will NOT hear that prophet, shall be DESTROYED from among the people.”
So then, according to the CONTEXT, the phrase “the restitution of all things can NOT mean that EVERYONE will eventually be saved. For you see, those who do NOT believe the words of Jesus will be DESTROYED. And the meaning of the word “DESTROYED” does NOT mean SAVED.
Here is what E-Sword says about the word destroyed.
G1842
ἐξολοθρεύω
exolothreuō
ex-ol-oth-ryoo'-o
From G1537 and G3645; to extirpate: - destroy.
Total KJV occurrences: 1
And here is what the English word “extirpate” means.
To root out and destroy completely.
“The use of every legal measure to extirpate this horrible evil from the land”
To weed out, destroy, eradicate, stamp out, root out, eliminate, suppress, crush, put down, put an end to, put a stop to, do away with, get rid of, wipe out, abolish, extinguish, quash, squash.
Now let us look at the meaning of the Greek word that is translated as “RESTITUTION” in the King James Bible.
Here is what E-Sword says.
G605
ἀποκατάστασις
apokatastasis
ap-ok-at-as'-tas-is
From G600; reconstitution: - restitution.
Total KJV occurrences: 1
Here is the meaning of the English word “retitution”
The restoration of something lost or stolen to its proper owner. AND recompense for injury or loss.
And here is the meaning of the English word “reconstitution”.
The action of building something up again; reconstruction.
Now, when you take the TRUE meanings of the Greek word “apskatastasis”, then the true INTENDED meaning of Acts 3:21 can mean the restitution of the KINGDOM to Israel. Or in can mean the restitution, as in, RECOMPENSING the righteous IN Jesus Christ for the suffering of persecution, the suffering of being tempted, and the suffering of the oppression of Satan. But in NO WAY do ANY of these meaning OR the CONTEXT even hint at restitution meaning that everyone will be saved. In fact, BOTH the true meanings of the word restitution AND the CONTEXT absolutely and blatantly exposing the ERROR of INTERPRETATION that Acts 3:21 is teaching that everyone will eventually be saved.
There is one more point that I would like to make and that is Acts 3:21 says that the restitution of all things was PROPHESIED in the Scriptures.
Now, the restoring of the kingdom to Israel is prophesied because the disciples asked Jesus at his ascension if he was going to restore the kingdom to Israel at this time.
Acts 1:6.
“When they, therefore, were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, will you at this time RESTORE AGAIN the kingdom to Israel?
7. And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has put in his own power. ”
Now, the Greek word “chronos” is in the SINGULAR here in Acts 1:6. But in Acts 3:21 the Greek word “chronos” is in the PLURAL. So that tells ME, that the true intended meaning of Acts 3:21 is speaking of the RECOMPENSE of the VENGEANCE of God upon the wicked both BEFORE the 1000 year reign of Jesus and AFTER the 1000 year reign of Jesus. For you see, the WRATH of God will be poured out both before and after the 1000 year reign of Jesus.
And it is ALSO true that the KINGDOM will be RESTORED to Israel. Those left alive of the nation will REBUILD the cities that they destroy during the war of Armageddon. But again, there is NO POSSIBLE way that Acts 3:21 is teaching us that EVERYONE will eventually be saved.
Going back to the word “ALL” as meaning the restitution of the “ALL of WHOSEVER BELIEVES” could possibly mean the restoring ONLY whosoever BELIEVES to a RIGHT RELATIONSHIP with God for all eternity. But even that would be a stretch because the ALL of whoever believes would ALREADY BE SAVED and in a right relationship with God.
So to ME, the best-intended meaning would be the meaning or RECOMPENSING the RIGHTEOUS IN Jesus Christ by way of God’s WRATH being poured out on the wicked and destroying Satan for all the suffering that he caused God’s people. For further study on WHY the teaching that everyone will eventually be saved is in ERROR please read all the studies linked under the heading >>>WILL EVERYONE BE SAVED?<<<
Thanks for reading, and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God.
And to me, the truth concerning who Jesus TRULY is, according to the Bible ITSELF, is the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus.
Once Christians, Jews, Muslims, and even atheists understand the REASON that Yahweh CREATED the Son of MAN, Jesus, was to have DOMINION over the work of Yahweh’s hands.
And after you understand that the REASON that Yahweh did that is to STILL His ENEMIES, Satan and the fallen angels.
Then you can understand that God made His human Son to become “a” Lord, “a” King, and “a” God, under and subject to his God and Father in order to JUDGE Satan and the fallen angels.
For a deeper understanding of this WAR that Lucifer and one third of the angels waged against the throne of Almighty God, please read the studies under the subject category called ** Q-0 Why Are We Here? Is God at WAR? **.
More studies are coming in this SHORTER Biblical Unitarian view of who Jesus is according to the WHOLE word of God.
If you have a PARTICULAR verse of Scripture that you would like to know the sound Biblical Unitarian meaning, then please email me at MarkatAMatterOfTruth@Gmail.com and let me know.
For further and more in-depth studies on this subject of Jesus being created to STILL the enemies of Yahweh, please read the studies called D-25. A NEW LOOK at JOHN 1:1, In the BEGINNING!
And also read the study called D-28. The PRE-ADAMIC LUCIFERIAN FLOOD!
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Thanks again for reading, and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God.
And to me, the truth concerning who Jesus TRULY is, according to the Bible ITSELF, is the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus.
And again, for ALL of the studies on the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus, please click on the subject heading ** D-0 The BIBLICAL UNITARIAN VIEW of Jesus! **
And for the SUBJECT on the true foundation of the church, please click on the subject heading ** C-0 The TRUE FOUNDATION of the Church! **
This way you can just send ONE link to those who you want to share the TRUE sound Biblical FOUNDATIONAL teachings of the church that Jesus and his Apostles taught in the first century church.
Your brother in our Lord Jesus Christ,
Brother Mark.
My heartfelt prayer is that all Christians RETURN to the TRUE FOUNDATION of the church that is taught by the very Apostles of Jesus in the first century.
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