Warnings against non-universalism

    Non-universalists, both annihilationist and infernalist, often point to passages that suggest a limited scope of salvation (e.g., Matt. 7:13-23) as evidence against universalism. But contrary to this, many times in the gospel accounts, Jesus warns against assuming a limited scope of salvation — in other words, against non-universalism. In fact, this applies to many of the passages that non-universalists themselves point to as evidence for a limited scope of salvation! (Note: Some universalists believe that Paul was the only one to explicitly teach universal salvation; whether or not this is correct, Jesus’ warnings should be seen as paving the way for the explicit doctrine of universal salvation.)

    The debtor’s prison

    Two of Jesus’ parables in the gospel of Matthew use the metaphor of a debtors’ prison. The first is from the sermon on the mount:

Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. (Matt. 5:25-26)

This comes in the middle of several ‘Gehenna-sayings’ (5:22, 29-30), which suggests that the prison is a metaphor for Gehenna, a punishment inflicted by God. A parallel passage from the gospel of Luke (12:57-59) is nearly identical to Matthew 5:25-26. In another parable, a king forgives his slave’s debt, but the slave fails to forgive another’s debt to him, so the king throws the slave into the debtors’ prison (18:23-34). Jesus says, “This my heavenly Father will also do to you, if you don’t forgive your brother from your heart” (18:35), which shows that this too is a metaphor for divine punishment.

    Non-universalists typically view these passages as parables of future, hopeless punishment of unbelievers. After all, Jesus says, “You won’t get out until you’ve paid the last penny!” (Matt. 5:26; Lk. 12:59) In ancient debtors’ prisons, it would have been impossible (or nearly so) to pay one’s debt from prison, especially a sum like 10,000 talents (Matt. 18:24, 34).

    However, this ignores what the actual debt is, from the context of the parables. In Matthew 5:25-26 and Luke 12:57-59, the ‘debt’ is a refusal to reconcile with someone that you sinned against. In the longer version of the parable, the ‘debt’ is a refusal to reconcile with someone that sinned against you, even as many as 490 times (Matt. 18:21-22, 35). It follows that the person remains in ‘prison’ as long as they fail to reconcile, but their ‘debt’ is repaid when they reconcile with their enemy, whether it’s someone they sinned against or someone who sinned against them! In none of the parables is there any indication that the ‘judge’ (i.e., God) acts to prevent the ‘debt’ from ever being repaid; on the contrary, God’s justice demands that the ‘debt’ is repaid (Matt. 5:26; 18:34-35; Lk. 12:59).

    Rather than supporting non-universalism, these passages act as a warning against assuming a limited scope of salvation. The point of these parables is that we should forgive and reconcile with everyone — both those whom we’ve sinned against and those who’ve sinned against us — or else God will judge us. If we think that some people will suffer eternally for their sins, and God himself will never forgive and reconcile with them, how could we ever truly reconcile with them? This demands that we should at least be hopeful universalists; we can’t assume that it will ultimately be impossible to reconcile with some people.

    The narrow path

    Non-universalists often appeal to Jesus’ statements about the “narrow path” that “few” will take to find life, in contrast to the “broad path” which “many” will follow to destruction (Matt. 7:13-14; Lk. 13:22-30). At first, these seem to be strong evidence against universal salvation. However, we have to look at the context of both sayings.

    In the second one, Jesus is responding to someone who asks, “Are only a few people being saved?” (Lk. 13:23) He answers that “many” will seek to enter “the narrow door,” but won’t be able (13:24). He then says that, after the Lord closes the door, “you-all” (second person plural) will seek to enter, and claim to be his followers, but will be unable; [1] they will be cast out, but “people from east and west and north and south” (i.e., many gentiles) will enter the kingdom of God (13:25-29). Those who seek to be first will be last (13:30). Jesus is actually rebuking the person who asked the question; he wishes to be one of the “few” who are saved, and claims to be Jesus’ follower, but he’ll be surprised when he’s cast out and many other people enter in. Because he seeks to be first, he’ll be last. [2]

    In a parallel passage from Matthew’s gospel, Jesus says that “many” (Gk: polloi) gentiles — using the same word that describes the “broad way” in Matt. 7:13 and Lk. 13:24 — will enter the kingdom, but the “sons of the kingdom” will be cast out (8:10-12). Matthew 7:13-14 and Luke 13:24-30, therefore, are some of Jesus’ paradoxical sayings. The “many” who follow the broad way and are destroyed are those who wish to be part of the “few” who are saved, while the “few” are, ironically, those who recognize and accept that “many” will be saved. This is actually a warning against assuming a limited scope of salvation.

    This interpretation is supported by the context of Matthew 7:13-14. This part of the sermon on the mount begins with a warning not to judge others, because those who judge will be judged by the same standard (Matt. 7:1-5). Who is Jesus talking about here? Certainly not those who limit the ultimate scope of salvation! He goes on to say that everyone who asks will be given, everyone who seeks will find, and everyone who knocks will have the door opened to them (7:7-11; cf. Lk. 13:25). We should want other people to be treated the way we want to be treated (7:12). Those who claim to be his followers, but are cast out (7:21-23), aren’t those who believe in universal salvation; it’s actually those who fail to accept that many unexpected people will be entering God’s kingdom! (Lk. 13:25-30)

    The eonian sin

    What about the famous “unforgivable sin” passages (Mk. 3:28-29; Matt. 12:31-32)? Jesus says that blasphemy of the holy spirit won’t be forgiven in this aiōn (“age”), nor in the next one, but is actually guilty of “aiōnios sin!” Non-universalists appeal to this passage against universalism, because it appears to promote a hopeless judgment against those who commit a particular sin — although they can’t seem to agree on what exactly this sin is. Let’s look at the context of the passage.

    The passage begins with Jesus healing a demon-possessed man who was both blind and mute (Matt. 12:22-23; Lk. 11:14). The Pharisees, however, claim that he’s casting out demons by the authority of the ruler of demons (Mk. 3:22; Matt. 12:24; Lk. 11:15-16). Jesus denies this, saying that the ruler of demons can’t fight against the demons, and he exorcizes by the spirit of God (Mk. 3:23-26; Matt. 12:25-28; Lk. 11:17-20). To the contrary, he must bind up the ruler of the demons in order to plunder his territory, freeing those within (Mk. 3:27; Matt. 12:29; Lk. 11:21-22). The Pharisees, however, refuse to “gather” with him, and “scatter” instead (Matt. 12:30; Lk. 11:23); this is “blasphemy against the spirit” and won’t be forgiven (Mk. 3:28-30; Matt. 12:31-32; cf. Lk. 12:10).

    What is blasphemy against the spirit? It’s a refusal to believe that Jesus can free those in Satan’s kingdom by the spirit of God. The Pharisees denied this, claiming that he must be freeing those in Satan’s kingdom by Satan’s power; they refuse to “gather” with him. Once again, this is a paradoxical saying of Jesus. The sin that won’t be forgiven is a refusal to accept that every sin will be forgiven (Mk. 3:28; Matt. 12:31); a refusal to believe that God’s power binds up Satan and “plunders” his kingdom, “gathering” those within. This certainly isn’t a warning against believing in universal salvation — once again, it’s actually a warning against assuming a limited scope of salvation!

    But does it mean that the Pharisees will never be forgiven? Not at all! Ironically, claiming that the Pharisees can’t be forgiven, by the power of God, for their blasphemy comes close to committing that sin itself. To say that every blasphemy will be forgiven, but blasphemy against the spirit won’t (Mk. 3:28-29; Matt. 12:31-32; Lk. 12:10), is simply a common idiom that means it’s more difficult to forgive that blasphemy than any other. [3] Jesus’ statement that they won’t be forgiven in this aiōn or the next, that they are guilty of an aiōnios sin, isn’t proof of this either; if they abandon their prideful attitude and accept that Jesus can save unexpected people by God’s spirit, they’re no longer guilty of this aiōnios sin.

    Conclusion

    In this post, we looked at just three lessons from Jesus’ ministry that are often appealed to by non-universalists to support a limited scope of salvation: the ‘debtors’ prison’ parables, the ‘narrow path’ statements, and the ‘unforgivable sin’ pericope. All three of them were found to actually be warnings against assuming a limited scope of salvation! Although Jesus never says explicitly in the synoptic gospels that God will save all people, he does strongly warn against assuming that some people will never be saved. The “narrow path” by which “few” find life is, ironically, the acceptance that “many” unexpected people will enter the kingdom of God. Based on this, every Christian should be at least a hopeful universalist! We shouldn’t assume that anyone, no matter how lost, will never be saved, or we might face God’s judgment ourselves.

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[1] Grammatically, it’s most plausible that Jesus is addressing those who asked the question when he says, “You-all will begin to stand outside and knock at the door” (Lk. 13:25). He says that these people will address him as “Lord” (Gk: kyrie), which is the same word that the man used to address Jesus in v. 23.

[2] However, the ultimate salvation of the prideful man isn’t precluded by this passage. Jesus says that the door will be closed when they knock, but in the parallel text from Matthew, he says that everyone who knocks will eventually have the door opened to them (Matt. 7:7-8; cf. Lk. 11:9-10). Because they seek to be first, they’ll be “last” (Lk. 13:30), but being last still means they will ultimately enter.

[3] For examples of this idiom, which simply means that one thing is preferable to another (or more important, or more severe, etc.), see Gen. 32:28; 45:7-8; Exod. 16:8; 1 Sam. 8:7; Job 2:10; Jer. 7:22; 16:14-15; Prov. 8:10; Ezek. 16:47; Joel 2:13; Hos. 6:6; Matt. 6:19-20; 9:13; 24:35; Lk. 14:12-13; John 6:27; Acts 5:4; 1 Cor. 1:17.