Alan,
It is my desire to choose my words carefully, trying not to convey a confrontational attitude. If I fail in my attempt, please forgive me.
I won't take it as confrontational Mike.
Following is one paragraph from a piece dealing with what I sense the writer believes is God's ultimate plan.
The usual way is to view the goal in the darkness of the way. We go back to passages which deal with judgments and allow them to throw their dark shadows across the consummation.
We should believe that God will justify all mankind (Rom.5:18), and view the previous judgments in the light of this final achievement. We bring up passages which tell of death, to darken God's declaration that it will be abolished. We should believe that God will make death inoperative at the last, and view the previous passages in this glorious light. We turn to texts which prove that unbelievers will be lost or destroyed, and, with these passages, dim the great declaration that God wills the salvation of all. We should illumine them with the later and higher revelation. We find God's enemies in the fiery lake at what seems to be the close of revelation, and misuse this fact to deny God's declaration that all will be reconciled (Col.1:20).
We should not take one to destroy the other, but believe both, for reconciliation follows estrangement, and it alone accords with God's final goal.
With all due respect, I believe the writer is in error, unless he has been privileged with some spiritual interpretive knowledge which I fail to recognize. He quotes Romans 5:18 and says, "We should believe God will justify all mankind, etc." Yes, and no. While it is true all men have
been justified by the blood of Jesus Christ, it is conditional upon the individual to accept the Grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord by confessing Christ as Lord, asking for forgiveness with a contrite spirit and an honest desire to repent of one's sins, and ask Jesus to come into their life and be their Lord and Saviour. You'll also note in the following verse (5:19) it says, "so by the obedience of one shall MANY (not ALL) be made righteous.
Mike, I fail to see where in the verse puts any qualifiers on salvation. Let's read it:
Romans 5:18 Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification to life for all men. 19 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.
Yep, Adam condemned us all to death, Christ will justify us all to life. Did you see anywhere in that passage that WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING? Paul said "it's nothing we do, lest any man should boast". (Eph 2:8&9) We don't choose Christ, He chooses us.(Eph 1:4 and others) John 1:12&13 says "believers are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. God determines the timing of our salvation. We don't.
Verse 19 doesn't say "many", it says "the many". It contrasts Christ (the One) with all mankind (the many).
Regarding Col. 1:20. Paul isn't speaking to all men in this passage, those who both have and have not accepted Christ as Lord and Saviour. Paul is speaking specifically only to those who have accepted Christ as Lord and Saviour. And Paul is comforting those who have accepted by relating what God has done for those who believe by the work of Jesus at the cross.
Correct, he isn't speaking to all men in this passage, He is, however, speaking about all things (which includes all men), whether they be things in heaven or things in the earth. The verse actually says "He will reconcile all things". How? By the blood of His cross. It says nothing about believers in the passage. If what you say is true, it would read He will reconcile all believers to Himself. It says "all" here, why can't we just believe it?
To suggest that all men will ultimately be saved stands in direct disagreement with the words of Jesus when He says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the
Father except by me." To suggest that even after the second death in the lake of fire there is a way to be redeemed unto God not only calls into question the need for Christ to be crucified for all the sins of mankind, but also suggests one can live a life without any care for what is to come after death, expecting God will still redeem them unto himself.
I can't for the life of me understand where you're coming from here Mike. The only way possible for all to be saved is by Christ's blood shed on the cross In 1 Corinthians 15:22 Paul again assures us that "in Adam, all are dying, even so, in Christ shall all be vivified". This in no way shape or form negates or "stands in direct disagreement with the words of Jesus". He is the way, the truth and the light and no one will cometh to the Father except through Him. That's a fact.
Here is an analogy I heard about this.
Asking why Jesus had to die on the cross IF all people will be saved anyway is about like asking: "I can understand why the fireman had to go into the burning building to save one trapped person, but since he, in fact, saved ALL TEN TRAPPED PERSONS, why did he have to go into the burning building AT ALL?
You see, that is HOW the fireman saved ALL TEN TRAPPED PERSONS, and going to the cross to die is HOW Jesus Christ saves ALL HUMANITY!
Jesus Christ's work on the cross is the only reason all will be saved.
I believe 2nd Peter 3:9 is quite explicit as to what God's hope is for mankind in addition to 1st Thessalonians 5:9. Again, both scriptures suggest the onus is on mankind to accept God's gift of salvation to mankind. Otherwise, I suspect there will be a whole lot of people standing on a trap-door on the Judgement day.
Mike
Salvation, when spoken of in these verses and always is "for the ages," and during the ages is only for believers. In both cases, Paul and Peter are speaking to believers. Believers are not appointed to suffer indignation. Paul, in 1 Thessalonians 5 is encouraging believers to not be dozing and to encourage one another. Peter also. Believers
are to be saved during their lives.
The "onus" was on us during Christ's earthly ministry. Entrance to the kingdom was based on our actions (and the only One who would ever qualify was Christ). After the crucifixion, the "onus" was/is on Christ. We can do nothing for our salvation. God gives us faith when He decides. The decision is not ours.
alan |
