Apocatastasis (also apokatastasis) is the belief that everyone and everything will be saved in the end. It’s a Greek word that means “restoration to the original condition.” Another way to define apocatastasis is “universal salvation.” Proponents begin their defense of this position by pointing to 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.” Acts 3:21 A handful of other passages seem to indicate that Jesus’ death and resurrection reversed the curse and secured restoration for all beings, so does the Bible truly teach apocatastasis?

1. Did adherents of apocatastasis in the
early church believe that the devil and
his demons would be restored?
Apocatastasis (also apokatastasis) is the belief that everyone and
everything will be saved in the end. It’s a Greek word that means
“restoration to the original condition.” Another way to define
apocatastasis is “universal salvation.” Proponents begin their defense
of this position by pointing to 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.” Acts 3:21
A handful of other passages seem to indicate that Jesus’ death and
resurrection reversed the curse and secured restoration for all beings,
so does the Bible truly teach apocatastasis?
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2. In Acts 3:21 the key words for the proponents of apocatastasis are all
things. They base their understanding of salvation on the idea that
whenever Scripture says, “All things,” it means every pebble of
creation since time began. Therefore, when Jesus said, “Elijah is
coming and will restore all things” (Matthew 17:11), He must mean
that the entire world will be restored to its original, pre-Fall condition
(Genesis 1:31; 3:17–19).
However, the idea of restoring can also mean “re-establishing a thing
as it was before destruction.” For example, if a city is burned to the
ground, the survivors may elect to “restore all things” to the way they
were before the fire. But not everything that burned will be restored.
The people who died will still be dead. The keepsakes, the
photographs, and the original wood used in the buildings will not be
reconstituted.
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3. The city itself, though, may be restored to look very much like the
original. That seems to be a more accurate description of the Bible’s
use of apocatastasis in reference to final restoration.
The doctrine of apocatastasis also asserts that hell is not eternal; the lake
of fire is not meant to punish but to correct the wicked. Once they have
been corrected, they are allowed to partake of eternal blessedness on
some level, and all will be peace and unity. Some who hold to the
doctrine of apocatastasis teach that even the devil and the demons will
be restored to their original created positions. They point to passages
such as Matthew 25:41 and Revelation 19:20, which speak of people and
the devil being cast into a lake of fire, and interpret them to mean a
temporary fire of purification.
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4. This belief is based on the understanding that God is good and also
all-powerful; therefore, if He desires His creation to be returned to its
original state, then He can do that. A good God would want all human
beings created in His image to spend eternity with Him in heaven (1
Timothy 2:4). A powerful God could make that happen (Isaiah 46:10).
Thus, apocatastasis must mean that everything God created will be
reconciled to Him and spend eternity in its original perfect condition.
It is difficult to escape the meaning of Revelation 21:8, however: “But as
for cowards, the unfaithful, the depraved, murderers, the unchaste, sorcerers,
idol-worshipers, and deceivers of every sort, their lot is in the burning pool of
fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” Revelation 21:8
The first death was physical, when they died on earth. But “second
death” is clear that this is not a preview before a restoration. Nothing
like that is implied.
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5. Proponents of apocatastasis try to define “lake of fire” as a pond of water
covered with flames that is intended to punish and purify until some
lesson is learned. The theory incorporates some sort of purgatory, a
concept found nowhere in Scripture. The mention of “second death”
makes universal restoration, and therefore apocatastasis, impossible.
Apocatastasis was taught by Gregory of Nyssa, Clement of Alexandria,
and Origen, but it is not a doctrine derived from a pure study of
Scripture. Holding such a position requires mental gymnastics and
blatant disregard for the plethora of passages that teach otherwise.
John 3:16–18, Matthew 25:41, 46, and 1 John 5:12 explicitly define the
difference between those who “have life” and those who are
condemned. John 3:36, in particular, makes it clear that “He that
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son
shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
Universalists contend that the word remains means “remains until
some future date when it is lifted.” But that is human conjecture and
not a faithful interpretation of the text. Remains means what it says.
God’s wrath remains where disobedience remains (Romans 1:18; 2:5;
Colossians 3:6; Ephesians 5:6). There are no second chances after death,
according to Hebrews 9:27.
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6. The biggest problem with apocatastasis is the assumption that God’s
righteous punishment for unrepentant sin is too harsh. When we twist
God’s Word to suit our sensitivities, we have set ourselves up as His
judge.
We have essentially declared ourselves to be more compassionate than
God is. We may find the doctrine of eternal punishment disturbing,
but Scripture is clear that the decision to follow Christ must be made
before death and that decision determines one’s eternity (Matthew 16:27;
Revelation 22:12).
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7. If the doctrine of apocatastasis were true, it would not have been
necessary for Jesus to spend so much time demonstrating His deity as
the Messiah. After all, why did it matter what people believed about
Him if they would all figure it out later? Faith today would be
unnecessary. The apostles did not need to give up everything to
preach the gospel, missionaries are wasting their lives, and the
martyrs died in vain. Jesus’ continuous call to “follow me” (Luke 9:23;
Matthew 8:22) is silly if everyone ends up in the same place anyway.
Why give up our lives now (Mark 8:34–36) if we can have all this and
heaven too? If hell is temporary, many people would willingly choose
it in order to indulge themselves now. Their hearts have no use for
God or His commands.
They have no desire to worship or bow to Him as Lord, yet
apocatastasis teaches that the wicked will come around after being
punished for a while. That idea discounts Jesus’ words in the story of
the rich man and Lazarus, that between paradise and hell “a great
chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to
you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us” (Luke 16:26).
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8. Jesus’ last instructions were “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the
world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” Mark
16:15–16
These words do not sound like those of a God who knows that
everyone will be saved in the end. Apocatastasis, as defined by
universalists, is not an accurate biblical interpretation and should be
rejected as heresy.
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