UNIVERSALISM – A FAITH THAT DOESN’T COST YOU ANYTHING

Universalism is highly appealing to today’s itching ears. It offers a message that fits with the demands for a religion that includes all and discriminates against none. “Christian” universalism (CU) maintains that absolutely everyone will go to heaven, even if they have to endure a brief but painful cleansing process.

In the Preface of Love Wins, Rob Bell has written against the idea of the demands for justice of a righteous God:

·       "A staggering number of people have been taught that a select few Christians will spend forever in a peaceful, joyous place called heaven, while the rest of humanity spends forever in torment and punishment in hell with no chance for anything better.... This is misguided and toxic and ultimately subverts the contagious spread of Jesus’s message of love, peace, forgiveness, and joy that our world desperately needs to hear."

The Bible admits that the Gospel is an offense. However, this should not be a reason to reject it. Many unpleasant statements are nevertheless true. However, truth doesn’t seem to be Bell’s concern. Instead, it’s a matter of making Christianity attractive according to today’s standards.

Actually, I like the idea that God will judge. This means that I can get out of the judgment business and focus upon truth and love. But my preference leaves the central question unanswered – “Will God judge eternally?”

I don’t want to get into question of how God will judge, whether proactively or passively, by simply allowing people to go their own chosen way (Romans 1:24-28; John 3:17-20), even if it leads to eternal destruction. However, it is a serious thing to misrepresent God’s Word and to give people a false and misleading hope.

How then do will decide this question? Through the light given to us by our Lord – the Word of God – and this is the way we honor and love God (John 14:21-24).

I have to admit that there are a number of verses that seem to claim that all will come to God in the end. Here are several verses cited by CUs, but all of them fall short:

·       Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (Matthew 24:30; Revelation 1:7)

However, “will mourn” is not the same thing as “will be saved.” More importantly, this verse refers to a select group of people who survive the tribulation (Zechariah 14:16; 8:21) and not to everyone.

A similar verse cited by CUs comes a little closer to the question of salvation:

·       “For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call upon the name of the LORD and serve him with one accord. (Zephaniah 3:9)

However, the prior verse smashes all hope of a universalistic interpretation:

·       “Therefore wait for me,” declares the LORD, “for the day when I rise up to seize the prey. For my decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them my indignation, all my burning anger; for in the fire of my jealousy all the earth shall be consumed. (Zephaniah 3:8)

It is hard to regard 3:9 as teaching that all will be saved in view of 3:8 which talks about the wrath and judgment of God.

Another OT favorite of the CUs are these verses:

·       “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.” (Joel 2:28-29)

The fact the God will “pour out my Spirit on all flesh” seems to suggest that all will be saved. However, this promise pertains only to the survivors, those who call upon the Lord:

·       And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls. (Joel 2:32)

In the end, God will apparently save a great multitude of people:

·       Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths. (Zechariah 14:16)

However, this is a select group of people, and their salvation does not represent a universal salvation. In fact, there are no verses that explicitly claim that all will be saved. However, Jesus is often cited:

·       “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” (John 12:32)

However, drawing is different from saving. Many are called but few are chosen! Besides, the broader context argues against this hope. The previous verse argues:

·       “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.” (John 12:31)

And afterwards:

·       “While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” (John 12:36)

Why should Jesus have insisted that they become “sons of the light” if everyone is to be saved? Why His many fearful warnings, if all are to be saved? Nevertheless, the CU also cites:

·       “If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.” (John 12:47)

However, this doesn’t mean that the unbeliever will not be judged. The next verse, which the CU leaves out, claims that he will be judged:

·       “The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.” (John 12:48)

Let’s conclude with two verses from Paul, which CUs cite in favor of their doctrine:

·       Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. (Romans 5:18)

Once again, the CU leaves the prior verse out of the equation, which indicates that, while life was made available to all, it only becomes an actuality for those “who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.” This distinction is even plainer in another set of Pauline verses cited by CUs:

·       For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also IN CHRIST shall all be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15:21-22)

Truly, all those in Christ shall all be made alive. However, being in Christ depends upon receiving Him through faith. The CU might counter that all who are dead will eventually receive Him. However, there is not a single verse in the Bible that comes close to saying this. If universalism was a real hope, why doesn’t the Bible simply teach, “All will be saved?” Instead, we find a multitude of verses that claim that there will be a final and eternal “destruction” of the wicked.

In fact, the entire Bible is predicated on the fact of an eternal separation between the believer and non-believer. How so? Well, if all are to be saved, this “fact” undermines everything that the Bible teaches. If all are to be saved:

·       Why even evangelize?

·       Why live obediently?

·       Why bother praying?

·       Why flee from sin?

·       Why study the Bible or go to church?

·       Why even trust in the Lord?

·       Why follow any of the Bible’s teachings?

Why should CUs even attempt to spread their false hope, if all will be saved? The CU believes that, at least, life here will be better for us if we follow Jesus. Often times not! Paul makes an important distinction, claiming that those who have trusted in Christ are “more to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:19) than others, if Christ didn’t rise.

Why? Often times, Christians had to endure horrid persecutions. How? They understood that their hope was in the next life, eternal life. Historically, it was persecution that had separated the true believer from the imitation. I think that persecution will separate us again. The CU will quickly shift their allegiance to the world, and why not!