Join Colin Cook as he returns with fresh insights after a brief hiatus. This episode delves into the deeply anticipated publication of Colin’s book, God’s Unbreakable Oath. He explores the profound themes of universal salvation, the heart of God, and the role of faith. Through thoughtful examination, Colin unpacks provocative questions concerning judgment, salvation, and ultimately God’s loving intention to save all humanity.
Well, hello everyone. This is Colin Cook back with you again after a pause. I really do apologize for the repeats, but I came down with a cold finally, that under-the-weather feeling finally turned into a cold. I was surprised because I haven’t had a cold for three or four years, but it caught me this time, or I caught it, whichever. Anyway, I’m almost at the back end of it, and you can hear my raspy voice. I’m sorry about that, but I’ll slowly get better. So, let me tell you the good news, and that is that my book, which I have promised you so many times and for so many years, has finally been published. So I’m so pleased to let you know about this. It was long promised, and it’s called God’s Unbreakable Oath. God’s Unbreakable Oath. I want to tell you a bit about it. Volumes 1 and 2, and it explores the biblical evidence for God’s intention to redeem all humanity through Christ. and then it examines how he goes about that, the ways he uses to bring that about. This is what a former editor, a professor, and friend has said about my book. I’m quoting him now. Your approach and organization are unique amongst books on this subject. Your exposition on God’s gift of faith is bold and brilliant. The most unique part of your book is the extended analysis of universal salvation in the prophecy of Ezekiel. You did a great job on this. Your book as a whole is a rich intertextual meditation on the character of God. I believe it will make a great impact when published. Your book will light a bonfire. Well, thank you very much for that review, and I do hope it lights a bonfire. So if you’re looking for some refreshing Bible study and a deeper understanding of the gospel, and if you want a message for the whole world, then this book is for you. It will keep you going, I assure you, in the rich discovery of what Christ’s sacrifice has done for us all for a long time to come. And it will make you want to share it. Now, the book covers many themes that may have bothered your mind for a long time. For instance, I’ll just list a few off.
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What is the heart of God towards the world? Is he loving some part of it and saving them and hating the other part and sending them to hell? Or is he determined through the gospel and leading people to the gospel through judgments to bring all people to the gift of faith in him? Two, is the world’s salvation up to people’s choice or God’s loving persuasion? There are many people, you see, who say, well, we all have to make a decision. We have to choose it, and some people choose heaven and some people choose hell. Is that the real truth about the gospel? Is the world’s salvation up to people’s choice or God’s powerful, loving persuasion? through bringing us to an end of ourselves, through judgments, through the gospel, until we have cried uncle and given up our own potential and called upon him. That’s part of the book. We’ll examine that. What does God’s wrath accomplish? People get afraid of God’s wrath, and people say, well, if God is wrathful, then he can’t be saving everybody because he loves some and is wrathful against others. Is that really so? Or is the truth more accurately that wrath leads to grace because God’s wrath is motivated by love?
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How far-reaching is Christ’s sacrifice for the world? When John says, Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, does he take only the sins of the world away from those people who believe it? Or does he take the sins of the world away from everyone and then bring them to belief? Number five, do God’s judgments destroy or redeem? There are many people who think that if you die in one of God’s judgments, then that’s it, you’re finished, you’re over, you’re lost. But the truth of the matter is that if you look at the book of Ezekiel, you will find that those who were killed by the sword during the judgment of the Babylonian invasion of Jerusalem… God promises that those very people will be raised from the dead and God will forgive the whole house of Israel. So God’s judgments lead not to death but to life, to the message that God is the Lord. And then six. How Israel is a witness to the salvation of all the world. Israel’s failures witness to the salvation of the world. Why? Because God saves Israel in spite of their failures, and that means that God saves the world in spite of its failures. I’ll explore that, you see, in the book as well. And then seven, is faith something God brings about, or we bring about? If faith, you see, is a choice that we make, then it’s hardly likely that the whole world is going to make a choice for Christ, is it? But according to the gospel, faith is a gift from God. It’s part of the gospel. And God brings people to an end of themselves in order to lead them to call out to him and
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for mercy.
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And so, God then gives faith. So you see, God is able to position people for faith. And number eight, how does God bring faith and salvation to those who resist him? In other words, to those hardened of heart. Is God interested, and can God actually? Is he interested in the hardened of heart, the hard-hearted, and can he actually turn them around and save them?
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We explore that in the book too. Number nine, what about election? Is it for a few, or is it for all?
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Has God elected some for salvation and elected some for hell? That’s what some people preach and teach. It’s a damnable truth. It’s a damnable doctrine. It’s not a truth at all. And the truth of the matter is that Romans 9 through 11 reveal that God has elected all humanity for salvation. So, what about the lake of fire? Number 10. The Lake of Fire. Is there a hell? Many people say that Jesus spoke more about hell than any prophet. It’s not true. Jesus never mentioned hell. He mentioned Gehenna, and that word is the word that Ezekiel used in regard to the judgments that came upon Israel by the Babylonian invasion of Jerusalem. And he, that is Ezekiel, revealed that Israel would be redeemed from that Gehenna. all Israel will be resurrected from the dead by virtue of a sacrifice of atonement that God will make for them, as it says in Ezekiel 16. So, if God is talking about redemption from Gehenna in the… judgment coming upon Israel by the Babylonian invasion. Don’t you think that that is the same in the gospel when Jesus is talking about the same Gehenna facing a similar invasion of Israel by Rome from which Israel was redeemed and therefore from which also the world will be redeemed and the Jewish people were redeemed. And then 11, what about the sheep and the goats, the wheat and the tares, and the narrow way? We mix up and confuse the second coming of Christ with the final judgment. At the second coming of Christ, the sheep and the goats are going to be separated, and the wheat and the tares, only those who believe. who follow the narrow way of faith, will be saved at the second coming of Christ. But do you think that’s the end of the story? No, it isn’t. Because why is God redeeming, separating the sheep from the goats at the coming of Christ, according to Paul in Romans 9-11, to make unbelievers jealous, to long for what the redeemed have in the city of God, in the final judgment. And so what happens at the second coming of Christ is God prepares a people for himself that he will then make use to make jealous those who have not yet found salvation or come to believe in the final judgment. And when they do have that jealousy and call upon God for mercy, according to Romans 11, verse 32, God will have mercy upon all. And so 12, here’s another one. How the second coming of Christ and the final judgment differ. The one separates and the other reconciles. Have you ever thought of the final judgment as reconciling all creation? That’s the promise in Colossians chapter 1, verse 20 and 21 in Ephesians chapter 1. God is going to reconcile all things to himself through the blood of the cross. That is his promise. As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow before me, and every tongue shall take an oath that in me alone is their righteousness and strength. Well, I tell you, this book, God’s Unbreakable Oath Volumes 1 and 2, will keep you going for a year or two, I think. If you explore it, not simply read it, but pull out all the texts and examine them for yourself, and your faith will be gloriously uplifted. So how do you go about getting a hold of it? It’s on Amazon. Order God’s Unbreakable Oath Volumes 1 and 2 on Amazon. You can order the volumes separately or both together. Or you can order through the publisher by calling their customer service department. at 1-541-344-1528. That is 1-541-344-1528. But, of course, it’s easier on Amazon. And, by the way, you could also go to your local bookstore and ask them to stock the book by providing them with the following information. God’s Unbreakable Oath, Volumes 1 and 2, Author Colin Cook, Publisher Wipf & Stock, that is W-I-P as in Peter, F as in Frank, and Stock, Eugene, Oregon. And, by the way, if after reading the book you’d like to write a review for Amazon, Amazon, I encourage you to do so. Your review may help an uncertain reader to take the plunge. The overall impact of this book, I believe, is to give hope to those who have almost despaired of life. because God has enchained or imprisoned us all under the power of sin, that he might have mercy on all. So, we’ll get back to our study in the book of Romans, starting tomorrow. Remember, we’re looking at the brokenness of humanity in chapter 1, the pagan world, and in chapter 2, the religious world. Both are under the guilt of idolatry. And that is where Jesus comes to the world to bring the new humanity through himself so that we can, by his humanity, be forgiven of our idolatry and be brought into his kingdom. I’ll see you next time. Cheerio and God bless.
