The large majority of Christians believe that not all people, in fact very few people, will be saved. It’s simple, they say, the Bible just tells us that not all people will be saved, so God must just not want all people to be saved! Or - wait - maybe He does want all people to be saved, but He just isn’t powerful enough to save all people. Either way, it’s definitely what the Bible teaches, isn’t it? And the word of God must always be our guideline for figuring out the truth.
So let’s take a look at everything that would need to happen for universal reconciliation to be false, and for less than all people to be saved, according to the word of God.
The purpose of the cross would fail
According to Paul in his letter to the Colossians, the very purpose of the cross is to reconcile all things to Christ:
who is the image of the invisible God, first-born of all creation, because in him were the all things created, those in the heavens, and those upon the earth, those visible, and those invisible, whether thrones, whether lordships, whether principalities, whether authorities; all things through him, and for him, have been created, and himself is before all, and the all things in him have consisted. And himself is the head of the body — the assembly — who is a beginning, a first-born out of the dead, that he might become in all [things] — himself — first, because in him it did please all the fulness to tabernacle, and through him to reconcile the all things to himself — having made peace through the blood of his cross — through him, whether the things upon the earth, whether the things in the heavens. (Colossians 1:15-20)
According to this passage, the purpose of Christ’s “making peace through the blood of His cross” is to reconcile all things, whether in the heavens or on the earth, back to Himself. The “all things” that will be reconciled is the same “all things” that were created in, through, and for Christ, and which He is preeminent over.
For anything less than every being (angelic or human) to be reconciled would mean that either Christ is not preeminent over all things, or else that the very purpose of the cross failed. Either way, this is a massive problem for the position that not all beings will be reconciled and saved.
Jesus’ wasn’t powerful enough...
Another fact that we are told of in scripture is that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was ultimately effective for every single person, regardless of belief or unbelief:
But, not as the offence so also [is] the free gift; for if by the offence of the one the many did die, much more did the grace of God, and the free gift in grace of the one man Jesus Christ, abound to the many; and not as through one who did sin [is] the free gift, for the judgment indeed [is] of one to condemnation, but the gift [is] of many offences to a declaration of “Righteous,” for if by the offence of the one the death did reign through the one, much more those, who the abundance of the grace and of the free gift of the righteousness are receiving, in life shall reign through the one — Jesus Christ. So, then, as through one offence to all men [it is] to condemnation, so also through one declaration of “Righteous” [it is] to all men to justification of life; for as through the disobedience of the one man, the many were constituted sinners: so also through the obedience of the one, shall the many be constituted righteous. (Rom. 5:15-19)
for the love of the Christ doth constrain us, having judged thus: that if one for all died, then the whole died, and for all he died, that those living, no more to themselves may live, but to him who died for them, and was raised again. So that we henceforth have known no one according to the flesh, and even if we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him no more; so that if any one [is] in Christ — [he is] a new creature; the old things did pass away, lo, become new have the all things. And the all things [are] of God, who reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and did give to us the ministration of the reconciliation, how that God was in Christ — a world reconciling to Himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses; and having put in us the word of the reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:14-19)
for one [is] God, one also [is] mediator of God and of men, the man Christ Jesus, who did give himself a ransom for all — the testimony in its own times (1 Tim. 2:5-6)
If Paul’s words in these passages are to be believed, then Jesus truly died as a ransom for all, for every single person who is affected by Adam’s sin (that is, all of humanity without exception). So, if not every person is saved, then His sacrifice was incomplete and did not affect everyone that He intended it to.
After all, God did place all flesh under Jesus’ care (John 17:2), and since Jesus loves even His enemies (Matt. 5:43-48), if anything less than all flesh is saved, it must be because Jesus wasn’t powerful enough to reach every person that He intended to through His righteous work on the cross.
...or Jesus wasn’t loving enough
There is another option, though, since after all the Bible tells us that not all people will be saved (doesn’t it?). Jesus’ sacrifice might not have been incomplete, it might just have been ineffective for the vast majority of humanity. Perhaps He gave us the ability to choose whether we are saved, or tormented eternally, based on insufficient knowledge (1 Cor. 13:12); atheists and non-Christians just aren’t smart enough, or good enough, to choose the right thing.
After all, that’s what the Bible tells us, isn’t it? Let’s check.
At that time Jesus answering said, “I do confess to Thee, Father, Lord of the heavens and of the earth, that thou didst hide these things from wise and understanding ones, and didst reveal them to babes. Yes, Father, because so it was good pleasure before Thee.” (Matt. 11:25)
And the disciples having come near, said to [Jesus], “Wherefore in similes dost thou speak to them?” And he answering said to them that — “To you it hath been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of the heavens, and to these it hath not been given” (Matt. 13:10-11)
Jesus answered, therefore, and said to them, “Murmur not one with another; no one is able to come unto me, if the Father who sent me may not draw him, and I will raise him up in the last day” (John 6:43-44)
And the nations hearing were glad, and were glorifying the word of the Lord, and did believe — as many as were appointed to life age-during (Acts 13:48)
for God did shut up together the whole to unbelief, that to the whole He might do kindness. (Rom. 11:32)
For I say, through the grace that was given to me, to every one who is among you, not to think above what it behoveth to think; but to think so as to think wisely, as to each God did deal a measure of faith (Rom. 12:3)
for by grace ye are having been saved, through faith, and this [faith] not of you — of God the gift, not of works, that no one may boast (Eph. 1:11)
Need I go on? Scripture is quite clear that even our belief is simply granted to us by God. This means that, if Jesus’ sacrifice did not save all people, and it’s not because it was incomplete, then He must have simply wanted the vast majority of people to be tormented eternally.
What kind of sadistic and bipolar god would say that he does not delight in the death of the wicked (Ezek. 18:23; 33:11), that he loves even his enemies (Matt. 5:43-48), and that he wants all people to know the truth and be saved (1 Tim. 2:4), and then turn around and send the vast majority of humanity to eternal torment with no hope of escape, for the sole purpose of his pleasure? But isn’t that what the Bible says?
God would be made a liar
The Bible tells us that God has sworn by Himself that all people will bow to Him in praise:
“Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by Myself; The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, And shall not return, That to Me every knee shall bow, Every tongue shall take an oath. He shall say, ‘Surely in YHWH I have righteousness and strength.’” (Isaiah 45:22-24 NKJV)
As Paul later intentionally misquotes this passage to prove a point (Php. 2:9-11), He reapplies it to Christ, saying that every person will confess that Jesus is Lord. And yet, we are told in 1 Corinthians 12:3 that no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.
This means that God has sworn by His very self-existence that every person will be reconciled to Him, and confess the Lord Jesus by the Holy Spirit. And since God cannot lie (Num. 23:19; Titus 1:2; Heb. 6:18), it is impossible that any person could not be saved. But the Bible says that not everyone will be saved, right?
God would be made a sinner
According to scripture, God is actively willing that all men be saved:
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 Timothy 2:1-4)
If this is truly God’s will, then it is quite literally a guideline that He has set for Himself. That means that if anything less than all people are saved, God is a sinner, because “sin” simply means “to miss the mark”. And God can’t sin, so He cannot miss the mark that He set for Himself, which means that all people must eventually be saved.
But wait, doesn’t this passage just mean that God wills all kinds of men to be saved? Isn’t He only referring to the body of Christ in this passage, which includes both Jews and Gentiles? No, that’s not what this passage is talking about. Paul includes even “kings and all who are in authority” in the “all men” whom God wills to be saved, which means that if even Nero - the persecutor of Christians who was emperor of Rome at the time - is not saved, then God has sinned.
Conclusion
I hope that this post has shown you that, no, in fact, the Bible does not say that not all people will be saved. It does say that few people will enter the kingdom of God, and that many will go to Gehenna instead, but this only relates to the Messianic kingdom; it says nothing about whether all people will eventually receive the gift of salvation and be reconciled to God, which we know from elsewhere in scripture will happen. So we can rest assured that the cross will not fail, that Jesus is both powerful enough and loving enough to save everyone, and that God is not a liar nor a sinner; all people will be saved.
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