Equity = Those principles which establish fair treatment for all free will beings (e.g., Exo 20:1-11; 1Co 6:3; Deu 4:5-8, 6:24)

1) One moral lawgiver and law for all (Isa 33:22; Jam 4:12; Deu 4:2 w/5-8; Num 15:16).

2) Free to choose (not free from consequences, Deu 30:19)

3) Everyone gets what their choices/deeds deserve (Psa 28:4, 62:2; Pro 24:12; Isa 3:10-11; Jer 17:10, 21:14, 32:19; Eze 7:27, 18:14-20 w/25-32, 24:14, 33:20; Mat 16:27; Joh 5:29; Rom 2:6; 2Co 5:10; Rev 2:23, 20:12; 22:12; Consider also Pro 18:26; Luk 16:25; Gal 6:7-10; 2Ti 2:11-13; “what goes around comes around”, “you get what you give”).

4) The punishment will fit the person and the crime (Deu 19:21; Luk 12:47-48).

5) No punishment w/o participation (Eze 18:20).

6) No culpability without ability (Luk 12:47-48; Deu 1:39 w/Jon 4:11; Isa 7:15-16, 8:4).

7) No responsibility without competency (Deu 17:8-9; Mat 18:6-7; Rom 12:3-4; Jam 3:1).

8) No punishment w/o evidence beyond a reasonable doubt (Deu 17:6, 19:15).

9) No permissions or prohibitions allowed that hurt the enforcement of covenants/contracts (Exo 20:1-7 [DMCs], 14 [HMCs], 16 [all HCs]) and the protection of private property (Deu 19:14; Exo 20:8-11 [DPP], 12-13, 15, 17 [HPP]).

10) Justice (equity in action) above all else (Deu 16:20).

Review items:

1. Because we are moral creatures, we tend to give the most trust and loyalty (obedience) to those people and things in our life which we perceive to be the most equitable (e.g., Deontological studies; “Inference and Trustworthiness form Intuitive Moral Judgments” [Journal of Experimental Psychology] = 5 different studies revealed that people whose judgments are based on moral convictions are not only perceived as more trustworthy but preferred as social partners).

2. The authors of the Bible[1] are characterized by zealous trust and obedience to God because they understand His judgments and laws to be perfectly equitable (i.e., they possessed ethical understanding).

1) Notice the zealous (or joyous) trust and/or call to obedience (worship, exaltation) by the Psalmists because of their understanding of God as equitable (Psa 7:1-17, 9:1-10, 11:1-7, 19:8-14, 25:1-3 w/8-10, 37:1-3 w/17w/27-28, 58:1-2 w/6 w/10-11, 62:7-12, 75:1-2, 89:14-5, 96:7-10, 97:1-2 w/8-18, 98:7-9, 99:1-5, 116:5 w/12-14, 119:62-63, 73-75, 105-106, 137-144, 157-160, 161-168). 2) Equity is what is prophesied will cause the Gentiles to trust and obey Jesus (Isa 11:1-5 w/10). Consider also (2Ti 3:16) = Hardly could Paul claim the Scriptures are “profitable for training in righteousness” unless he understood its teachings to be truly equitable.    

3. God testifies that He alone is righteous (equitable) and those who seek Him will not only find this to be true but will (as a result) swear their allegiance (of trust and obedience) to Him (Isa 45:18-24).

4. Realizing their importance to trust and obedience, Satan’s strategy has always been to call into question the equity of God (Gen 3:1 w/4-5; 2Co 2:11).

5. Getting people to zealously trust and obey God has therefore always meant getting people to understand that His judgments and laws are the only things that truly promote and protect equity for all free will beings. (Psa 119:7-8, 34; Ethical understanding [wisdom/knowledge] is the primary kind of understanding/wisdom/knowledge/discernment we are to pursue in relation to God – e.g., Pro 1:1-7 = The Proverbs are for the purpose of ethical understanding in relation to God [vv1-3]. And the first fruit of such a pursuit is “fear of the LORD” or trust in Him [v7 w/3:5 and 7]; Pro 2:1-9).

6. Discovering the equity of God requires we answer the right questions

Example: An unquenchable lake of fire as God’s eternal punishment for the wicked, those whose names are not found in the book of life (Mat 25:46 “eternal punishment”; Mar 9:43-48 “unquenchable fire”; Act 24:15 “resurrection of…the wicked”; Rev 20:15 “not found written in the book of life…lake of fire”).

1st QUESTION: Have we taken the time to sufficiently understand what the Bible teaches about the judgment or law being assessed?

1) The “lake of fire” in (Rev 20:15) is: 1.1.) hell (Mar 9:43, 45, 47). 1.2.) considered a place of eternal punishment given it is one and the same as the “unquenchable fire” or “the fire that is not quenched” mentioned by Jesus in (Mar 9:43-48) and the “eternal punishment” mentioned by Him in (Mat 25:46). 1.3.) a return to the original “earth” - or the dark, fiery, chaotic and lifeless world that God transformed into a stable, ordered and beautiful universe teeming with light and life (Gen 1:1-2) (v2) “the deep…waters” = Deep primordial lake (abyss/pit). God’s first material creation (or “earth”)- which was then used to create our world (vv3-31). “formless and void” (unstable and inept, without order or the ability to create and sustain life – See Fn) “darkness was over the surface of the deep” - or “the deep lake (abyss/pit) was enveloped in darkness” [destruction or desolation at times associated w/fire]. The description of the first earth (Gen 1:2) bears too close a resemblance to the fiery and dark pits [or deep lakes] of Hades and hell to be coincidence (2Pe 2:4 “hell…[fiery] pits [deep lakes] of darkness”).

2) The “book of life” (Rev 20:12, 15) is the registry of not only those who are on their way to the Reboot (Rev 21-22), but gained and maintained a marriage covenant relationship with Jesus during their earthly life (Deu 29:1,9 w/18-20) = Refusing to faithfully obey (v9 w/28:1 = Faithfulness not perfection; v19 “I walk in the stubbornness of my heart” w/Deu 30:10-14 = Disobedience is refusal [rebellion] not failure) the words of God’s marriage covenant (Isa 45:5) would mean the removal of that covenant person’s name (v20 “blot out”; proving the covenant to be conditional – Exo 19:5-6) from the book of the Law (v20 “this book” w/v21) which is one and the same as “the book of the covenant” and the “book of life”(Exo 24:7 w/Neh 8:1; Deu 29:20 w/Rev 3:5 [book of life is the book of the new covenant]) = Given its transcovenantal use, we can safely assume that “book of life” is a registry of all those who were faithful to gain and maintain their respective covenants with God (Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, OC, NC) (the OC g&m parallel in the NC: Mat 28:16-20w/Exo 24:1-8 = Like Moses, Jesus ascends the mountain to God [to receive the “authority” of the covenant from “heaven” – or that gets you to heaven] to be gained and maintained by those on “earth” w/the help of His priests [Exo 24:1 w/Mat 28:20]).

3) This understanding in relation to the “book of life” informs us as to its relationship w/the book recording our “deeds” (Rev 20:12): it serves as the evidence of whether or not we possessed covenant fidelity to God during our life (since as discussed this is the only way to reach the Reboot: gain and maintain covenant relationship w/Jesus during your life).

4) As such anyone whose deeds demonstrate they: 4.1.) refused to seek God and enter into a covenant relationship w/Jesus (Rom 1:18-23) or 4.2.) refused to maintain the covenant relationship they did possess w/Jesus are those designated as the resurrected “wicked” (Act 24:15; See also Joh 5:28-29 w/Dan 12:2), one and the same (then) as those whose names are “not found written in the book of life”, those whose reward is eternal punishment in the “the lake of fire” (Rev 20:15).

5) The degree of punishment suffered by those in the “lake of fire” (“hell” – Mar 9:43) will vary based on the degree of wickedness practiced by that person during their earthly life (Mat 11:22, 24; Luk 12:47-48; Heb 10:29; 2Pe 2:20-21).

2nd QUESTION: How does God’s judgment or law meet the definition of equity?

1) Everyone wb judged according to the same lawgiver, law and standard. [#1]

2) Nobody is being charged for something they didn’t freely choose to do (follow or not follow God). [#2]

3) A person who ends up in the lake of fire is getting exactly what they chose as their post-death home when they chose to not seek or follow the God – i.e. to possess a reservation in the book of life. The lake of fire (or hell/original earth) is all that is left once God’s sustaining and life-giving order and power are transported to the Reboot (His private property). [#3, 5]

4) The severity of punishment of those in hell will fit their deeds (crimes) (i.e., everyone will not suffer the same). [#4] 

5) Those unable to make conscious moral choices/commit moral deeds during their life (e.g., babies who die, severely brain damaged – vegetable state people who die) yet not in covenant with God either: 1) go directly to the Reboot because they are viewed as “innocent” (Jon 4:11) or 2) because of the possible stain of original sin (Psa 51:5; Rom 5:19) do not go to the Reboot but also do not suffer in the lake of fire. Rather their spirits perish in death and “Death” will be destroyed (annihilated) in the lake of fire (Job 3:11-13 [Deu 1:39 w/Jon 4:11; Isa 7:15-16, 8:4] w/ Rev 20: 14 “Death and Hades” = “Death” may refer to the place of the those still possessing original sin yet w/no deeds to place them in Hades). Either way, they are not punished for what they did not participate in (Eze 18:32). [#5-7]

6) No one will end up in the lake of fire without a fair trial where their deeds will provide evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that they chose this as their post-death home (i.e., they chose not to follow God). [#8]   

7) Since the Reboot will be eternal and eternally without the corruption of sin, those choosing hell as their future home will also be stuck there eternally since: 1) allowing them to go to the Reboot wb unfair to those who deserved it (Luk 20:35), 2) their presence in the Reboot would corrupt it/destroy equity (i.e., create a repeat of what happened on Earth 1.0.). [#9, 10]

CLOSING CONTEMPLATION: 1) where do pagan babies go who die? 2) how is mercy equitable? 3) how is paying a penalty equitable (Exo 22:1)?

[1] By Bible and Scripture I mean the 66 books recognized by the 4th Century and the Protestant Reformers to be the only precept-infallible writings from God.