DID JESUS TEACH THAT ALL WOULD BE SAVED?

 

Jesus had been asked about the number of people who would be saved:

·       Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” (Luke 13:23)

If all would eventually be saved, this would have been the perfect time for Jesus to say so. However, Jesus instead declared that many who wanted eternal life would be denied:

·       He said to them, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ “But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’ “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out.” (Luke 13:24-28)

Instead, many would be "thrown out" of the Kingdom, even though they claimed to have had some connection to Jesus. In a similar teaching, Jesus taught that many would even claim that they were entitled to enter His Kingdom by virtue of their good deeds:

·       “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’”(Matthew 7:21-22)

In both cases, Jesus extended no hope to these two groups of people. These were not doing the "will of my Father." Both groups were still in their sins. He called them "evil doers." They would not enter into the "kingdom of heaven." Instead, for those who believed themselves entitled, there would be gnashing their teeth to find that they had been excluded.

Nor was there any indication that this exclusion was just temporary. Instead, heaven was reserved only for those who do “the will of my Father.”

But didn't Jesus also teach that those who sought Him would find Him (Matthew 7:7-8), and that He wouldn't turn any away (John 6:37). Weren’t those who were to be excluded seeking to enter the “kingdom of heaven?” Didn’t they want to be in the presence of Jesus?

I don’t think so. Consistent with the rest of the Bible, Jesus taught that humanity abhors the presence of God and seeks to flee from Him:

·       And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. (John 3:19-20)

This suggests that those who do not come to Christ do not want to come. Perhaps, they wanted the kingdom for its benefits but not the benefit-Giver. In another parable, a rich man in the place of torment did not repent or ask to be closer to the Lord but just to receive a bit of relief (Luke 16:19-31).

While the universalist claims that all will be saved, it seems that all do not want to be saved. Instead, they prefer a place of darkness where they can hide from the Light, as Adam and Eve after they had sinned.

Perhaps then God’s love and justice come together here. He gives each exactly what they want – Light for those who love the Light and darkness for those who love the darkness.