Note: an updated version of this argument can be found in my article, “Two irrefutable arguments for universal salvation.”
As a Christian universalist, I have repeatedly been called a heretic by my traditionalist brethren (hence the name of this blog), and had verses like Matthew 7:13-14; 25:46; 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10; and especially Revelation 14:11 thrown in my face. However, in this post I’d like to take a different approach to the debate over universalism. Usually, arguments over whether universalism is true focus on either exchanging prooftexts, which is rarely effective, or appeals to emotion, which is likewise unconvincing to many. Instead, this post will focus on one aspect of the debate: whether the very nature of God Himself would allow the possibility of eternal torment (or for that matter annihilation).
According to an oft-quoted verse, “God is love” (1 Jn. 4:8). And although this verse sounds good and comforting, few take the time to actually think about what it might mean. Jesus elaborates on this statement by saying that
“Ye heard that it was said: Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and shalt hate thine enemy; but I — I say to you, Love your enemies, bless those cursing you, do good to those hating you, and pray for those accusing you falsely, and persecuting you, that ye may be sons of your Father in the heavens, because His sun He doth cause to rise on evil and good, and He doth send rain on righteous and unrighteous... ye shall therefore be perfect, as your Father who is in the heavens is perfect.” (Matt. 5:43-45; 48)
According to Him, because God is love, we are to love our enemies and those who hate us just as God loves His enemies and those who hate Him. The significance of this cannot be missed: if God truly loves those who hate Him, and not only those who believe in and love Him, then by His very nature He should want all people to have salvation. And indeed, He does, as several passages demonstrate:
I exhort, then, first of all, there be made supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings, for all men: for kings, and all who are in authority, that a quiet and peaceable life we may lead in all piety and gravity, for this is right and acceptable before God our Saviour, who doth will all men to be saved, and to come to the full knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:1-4)
the Lord is not slow in regard to the promise, as certain count slowness, but is long-suffering to us, not counselling any to be lost but all to pass on to reformation (2 Pet. 3:9)
Clearly, the God who is love is unwilling to allow any to remain unsaved. This fact is made even more obvious when it is realized that the ‘kings’ of whom Paul was speaking in 1 Tim. 2:2 included the Roman emperor Nero, a notorious persecutor and murderer of Christians who would later go on to kill Paul himself. If it is God’s will that this evil emperor, a clear enemy of God, would be saved, then how could He possibly wish eternal torment on any person?
However, just because God does not will any person to remain unsaved does not mean that some will not choose to remain unsaved. This is the ‘free will’ argument for infernalism that traditionalists often rely on when backed into the corner of having to face that God loves and wants all to be saved. Unfortunately for them, another important aspect of God’s nature is that He is sovereign over all things, including salvation. Many, many passages of scripture demonstrate this, of which the following is only a fraction:
Thou hast known that for all things Thou art able, And not withheld from Thee is any device (Job 42:2)
And our God is in the heavens, All that He hath pleased He hath done. (Ps. 115:3)
no one is able to come unto me, if the Father who sent me may not draw him (John 6:44)
“Ye did not choose out me, but I chose out you, and did appoint you, that ye might go away, and might bear fruit” (John 15:16)
in whom also we did obtain an inheritance, being foreordained according to the purpose of Him who the all things is working according to the counsel of His will (Eph. 1:11)
If these many passages are true, and every purpose of God is fulfilled even in salvation, then it is inconceivable that any could be left unsaved. If God is truly Love to all people, and He is also truly Sovereign in all things, then it is impossible that He could condemn any to either eternal torment or eternal annihilation - anything short of full universalism goes against the very nature of God. Eventually, all people will be reconciled to God and receive salvation, in accordance with the purpose of His will.
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