Universalism Briefly Examined
Universalism Briefly Examined
Universalism holds that everyone will eventually go to heaven--all will
be saved in the end. Even though universalists appeal to biblical
passages to support their view, this belief is in direct opposition to
the teaching of the Bible. Let us examine the so-called "universalist
passages."
Universalism originted in the Garden of Eden when Satan said "you will
not surely die" (Gen. 3:4). The appeal by Universalists to God's desire
to save all is unconvincing because the same God who reveals that He
desires for everyone to be saved also reveals that not everyone is saved.
Additionally, we must distinguish between God's sovereign will (which God
infallibly brings to pass in the world), and His permissive will (what He
does not want in and of itself, but wills to occur in light of all of
history considered together).
Universalists often appeal to Romans 5:18 to support their
position: "Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was
condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness
was justification that brings life for all men." But in the next verse
Paul says "For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many
were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many
will be made righteous." We cannot press Paul's use of all in
verse 18 any more than we can his use of many in verse 19, for if
we do we make Paul contradict himself. Why take the all in
opposiiton to the many, causing them to contradict each other?
The word all in the Bible is not always to be taken in the
absolute sense--meaning every individual without exception. Mark 1:5 has
"all" of the people of Jerusalem going out to see John the Baptist.
Obviously Mark doesn't mean every single person in Jerusalem. The word
all often means "all of some kinds" or "some of all kinds." So
when Paul says that Christ brought "justification that brings life for
all men," he is making a
reference to both Jews and Gentiles being saved--some of all kinds and
not just the Jews, God's first chosen people.
Therefore we see that Paul's point is that the effects of Adam's
sin and Christ's righteousness reach "all men," meaning that the effects
do not apply only to Jews, but extend to Jews and Gentiles alike. This
is in accordance with what Paul has been saying since 1:5--that all men,
Jew and Gentile alike, stand on equal level before God because of their
sin, and all must come to God in the same way--through Jesus.
Verses like 1 Corinthians 15:22, which say "As in Adam all die,
in Christ all will be made alive," are also appealed to. But
theall who are made alive in this passage (and others like it) is
equivalent to all who belong to Christ, not all people without
exception. This is because "In Christ all will be made alive" qualifies the
expression
"each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruites; then, when he comes,
those who belong to Him." This expression clearly defines who the
all is that Paul is talking about--all "who belong to Christ."
Paul is describing the manner through which death and life
came--death through Adam and life through Christ. All who die, die in
Adam. All who live, live in Christ. When we look further at the
context, we also see that verses 1:18; 5:13; 6:9 are clear that everyone
does not belong to Christ. Universalists do not acknowledge the Bible's
teaching as a whole, but attempt to argue from only a portion of the
biblical data that has been taken out of context.
Sometimes it is argued that the Bible's promise that all things
will be reconciled in Christ entails the salvation of all. This is not
what the Bible means by the phrase. When the Bible talks of
reconciliation of all things in Christ it means that the rebellion of
God's creatures against Him will be crushed and everything will finally
be made to conform to the perfect plan of God. If we take the
reconciliation of all things to mean the salvation of all things, then
we must conclude that Paul taught that even the fallen angels would one
day be saved. Furthermore, we would have to
reject a significant body of data which says that there will be people in
hell for all eternity (Rev. 14:9-11; 20:15; Matt. 5:21-22, 27-30; 23:15,
33; 25:41, 46).
Scripture quotations are generally from the New American Standard Bible, copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1977, by the Lockman Foundation.
MP
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