Passages That Appear To Be Universal In Scope

PASSAGES THAT APPEAR TO BE UNIVERSAL IN SCOPE
There are certain passages of Scripture that, taken at face value, would seem to teach of a universal atonement. These fall into several categories.

1. General Passages.
It can easily be demonstrated that not every passage that uses the word “all” does so in a universalistic sense. There are times when a general statement is made that obviously has a limited sense.

Jesus said to His disciples, “You will be hated by all on account of My name” (Matthew 10:22). That does not mean there were no exceptions to this general rule.

Paul said, “All the Jews know my manner of life...” (Acts 26:4). This does not mean that there could not have been certain Jews who had never heard of Paul of Tarsus. It is obviously a general statement.

Joel gives a prophecy in Joel 2:28 that God would pour forth His Spirit “upon all mankind.” Peter quotes this prophecy on the day of Pentecost and states that it is being fulfilled in his day. Does this mean that all men everywhere had the Spirit of God? Or does it only refer to all believers? The answer is obvious. It refers to all believers.

2. Christ said that He would draw all men: “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” (John 12:32).
Does this teach a universal drawing of all men to Christ? If it does, then it teaches too much, since Jesus has already used this same term to describe the drawing of certain men earlier in John's gospel where he said, “No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:44). He went on in that context to say that those who were drawn by God will be taught of God (John 6:45) and that they will certainly not be cast out (John 6:37).

Why then does John 12:32 say that Christ will draw all men to Himself? First of all, we should notice that the emphasis given by John's own commentary on the words of Jesus is not focused upon the universality of Christ's drawing, but upon the kind of death He should die. We see this in the next verse: But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die (John 12:33). And yet, John 12:32 does say something about drawing all men. How are we to understand this? It must be seen in the context. Philip and Andrew have just brought some Greeks to Jesus (John 12:20-22). This is the first time this has happened in Jerusalem. Up to this point, the ministry of Jesus has been almost exclusively toward the Jews. When He sent His disciples out, He told them not to go to the Gentiles (Matthew 10:5-6).

Now some Greeks have been brought to Him. This takes place at the end of His earthly ministry. He will soon be lifted up and nailed to a cross. When He is lifted up, He will draw all sorts of men, both Jews and Greeks.

Once Christ has gone to the cross, He will gather into one body both Jews and Gentiles. There will be no distinction between races or genders or social strata. His church will draw all to Himself.

3. Justification to All Men: So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. (Romans 5:18).
Does this mean that each and every man in the universe has been justified? It does not. It anticipates two groups of people and clearly refers to all of God's chosen people. This language is similar to what Paul says elsewhere: For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive (1 Corinthians 15:22).

4. Salvation to all men: For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men (Titus 2:11).
The context makes it clear that Paul is speaking, not of every man being saved, but of the fact that the gospel is preached to all men. The previous verses mention all sorts of men as Paul has given instructions to old men, old women, young women, young men, and slaves. The basis for the instructions to each of these groups is that the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to each of these groups.

5. God Desires All Men to be Saved. Paul says this in his first epistle to Timothy. The context is helpful in determining exactly to whom these “all men” refer.
1 First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony borne at the proper time. (1 Timothy 2:1-6). The question is asked specifically about 1 Timothy 2:4 : If God really desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth, then why does He not save all men? Why are some predestined to salvation while others are not? Why are some saved while others are not? The Arminian answers this question by insisting it is all bound up in the free will of man. He maintains that God wants all men to be saved but has decided to do nothing about that desire because He has an even greater desire to allow men to exercise their own free will in choosing or not choosing to be saved. The problem is twofold. First of all, the passage does not say or even hint that all men are going to be saved, even though it does say that:

We are to pray for all men.

God desires all men to be saved.

Christ gave Himself as a ransom for all.

What does this mean? It means that the love and concern of God is offered to all men. All men are commanded to repent and to believe the gospel. Furthermore, it means that the Lord grieves over man's sinful condition. Jesus wept over the unrepentant city of Jerusalem and God weeps over those who remain in their lost condition. It also means that the death of Christ was of a sufficient nature to atone for all the sins of all men. It means that Christ would not have had to spend an extra five minutes upon the cross in order to save an extra million people. His atoning death was infinite in merit. Is this a denial of the sovereignty of God or of the particular nature of the atonement? Not at all. The same God who weeps over the lost condition of all men also has moved into history to regenerate the hearts of some and to bring them to Himself.

Paul alludes to this in the very next verse when he says, And for this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth (1 Timothy 2:7). Notice that on the one hand, God desires that all men be saved and Jesus serves as the ransom to that effect. On the other hand, it is obvious that, while Paul was appointed as a preacher and apostle, this apostolic appointment has not extended to every person. By the same token, neither is the election to salvation extended to every person. Yet this is not a sign of some weakness on the part of God, but rather it is in order that God's purpose according to His choice might stand (Romans 9:11). We can conclude by saying that two things are equally true:

God takes no pleasure in the final destruction of any.

God finds pleasure in the salvation of every person who is saved.

God finds no joy in the death of any sinner. “Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord God, “rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?” (Ezekiel 18:23). The question is rhetorical and obviously expects a negative reply. God is not vengeful or vindictive. The Creator does not delight in the destruction of any person he has made, not even his enemies. He calls all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth and He tells us that there is celebration in heaven over every sinner who repents (Luke 15:7; Luke 15:10). He commands all to come to repentance. This command is universal. Paul said that God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent (Acts 17:30).

God Desires all to come to Repentance: The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). As we have pointed out, the Lord commands all to come to repentance. At the same time, we should note toward whom God is said to be patient. Peter does not say that God is patient toward all men. He says that God is patient toward you. This is because Peter has just finished describing some men with whom God is not patient. But He is still being patient with you. To whom is Peter addressing his epistle? It is to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours (2 Peter 1:1). It is to those who have been called and chosen by God (2 Peter 1:10).

If God had not been patient with us, waiting for us to come to repentance, then none of us would be saved today. He has held off His judgment and He continues to hold off that judgment until all have repented. It is because of this that Peter instructs us to regard the patience of the Lord to be salvation (2 Peter 3:15).

Christ is the Savior of all Men, but especially Believers: For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers (1 Timothy 4:10). This passage is particularly striking because it seems to establish a contrast between two different groupings of people: All men versus believers.

Christ is the Savior of all men|c|He especially saves believers|

Two possible interpretations have been presented for this passage. The issue revolves around our understanding of the Greek word malista (malista), translated in this passage as “especially.” Two possible meanings have been set forth for this word:

Most of all, chiefly, especially. This is the way it has been translated in the NAS, the NIV, and the King James Version in each of the instances it is used. This is also the way the word has generally been understood.

Specifically, that is. The word malista is found a total of twelve times in the New Testament. All but four of those instances are by Paul. In most of these instances, the translation could go either way and still make sense.

It must be noted that this is not the normal meaning of the word. In 1979, T.C. Skeat published an article in the Journal of Theological Studies that proposed this alternate meaning of malista. George Knight takes this reading in his commentary on the Pastoral Epistles. If this were the case in this passage, it would be saying that Jesus is the Savior of all men, specifically and by that to mean that He is the Savior of believers. The problem with this view is that it cannot be proven that malista has this alternate meaning anywhere in the Greek language. Furthermore, Paul could easily have used the Greek phrase tout' e;stin to get across the idea of “specifically” or “that is.” This phrase is regularly used throughout the New Testament to convey this idea (Matthew 27:46; Mark 7:2; Acts 1:19; Romans 7:18; Romans 9:8; Romans 10:6-8; Philemon 1:12). Because of this, we are obliged the reject Skeat's rendering and proceed with the normal use of the term.

What is this passage saying? It is saying that there is a sense in which Christ can be said to be the Savior of the world while, in a special sense, He is the Savior only of those who believe. In what sense can Christ be said to be the Savior of the world? It is in the general sense in which He redeems the world by redeeming a remnant of that world. There is coming a day when “all Israel” will be saved. That does not mean that each and every Jewish person is going to be saved and it does not mean that each and every human being is going to be saved, but redemption will ultimately come to the world as that world is made new. This will be seen in greater detail as we examine the next passage.

8. Christ is the Propitiation for the Sins of the World: My little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. (1 John 2:1-2).

Jesus is said to be the propitiation both for our sins (referring to the sins of believers) as well as for the sins of the whole world. As in the previous passage, this text makes it obvious that there are two distinct groups of people in view. Who are they? a. The world of believers.
This is the interpretation offered by John Murray. The writer would be saying, “It is not only we disciples who are saved, but all other believers as well.” Murray defends this view by pointing out that the author uses the plural pronoun in chapter 1 to refer to himself and the other disciples who had seen and heard and touched the resurrected Christ.

However, of the 185 times that kosmoj (kosmos — “world”) is used in the New Testament, not once does it offer such an interpretation. John uses the term to describe the world of mankind. b. Jewish versus the Gentile world.
This view sees John, as the author of the epistle and a believing Jew, speaking of how Christ is the propitiation of he and his fellow believing Jews as well as the propitiation of believing Gentiles. This interpretation fails to account for how kosmoj can refer only to Gentile believers. Neither is there any indication that John is addressing himself to Jews and not to the church at large. c. The Elect versus the non-Elect.
This is the Arminian view. It states that Christ is equally the propitiation for all men, both saved and lost. The problem with this view is that if His propitiatory work is equal in all aspects to all mankind and He is the propitiation both for the lost and for the saved, then how can it be of any benefit to the saved? If Jesus did not satisfy all of the wrath of God toward all sins, then man must do something to save himself and we cannot say that God saves sinners. d. The Present Elect versus the Past and Future Elect.
This view would focus upon the perpetuity of the propitiation that Jesus provided—that it extends to all time and is therefore chronologically universal in its extent. This interpretation is problematic in that the context makes no mention of past, present, or future. e. The Exclusiveness of Jesus.
This view suggests that the emphasis of the passage is that Jesus is the exclusive means of propitiation for all men — that without Jesus there is no other means of propitiation. Jesus is not merely the Savior of John and his little religious group. He is the Savior of all men who are saved so that there is no other Savior. The strength of this argument is seen in the fact that Jesus, not the world, has been the subject of the book up to this point and continues to be the subject of the rest of the book.

Each of these passages has described the work of Christ as applying to the world or to all men. If these verses are taken to guarantee salvation and redemption and justification to all men, then we would be forced to conclude a universal salvation. I want to suggest that this is exactly what we are to conclude. This does not constitute a denial of the clear Biblical teaching of the eternal punishment of the damned. It does constitute a recognition of the Scriptural description of salvation in universal terms. Consider the following.

25 For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery, lest you be wise in your own estimation, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in; 26 and thus all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob." (Romans 11:25-26). Is all of Israel to be saved? In one sense, we can say, “No.” There are many who are descendants of Abraham who will find themselves shut off from the kingdom. On the other hand, we read here that all Israel will be saved. The reason for this is that only those who are saved are identified as being the true Israel. In the same way, Peter could quote the prophet Joel as he pointed to the Pentecost incident and cited that incident as the fulfillment of Joel's words.

“‘And it shall be in the last days,' God says, ‘That I will pour forth of My Spirit upon all mankind...'” (Acts 2:17 a). Was the Spirit given to all men — literally, to “all flesh” on the day of Pentecost? Did the emperor of Rome receive the Spirit of God on that day? No. And yet, those believers in Jerusalem became representative of all men. God has formed a new race of mankind—homo electus—the redeemed of the earth. This is that of what Jesus was speaking when He said:

“It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall ALL be taught of God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me.” (John 6:45). At the same time that He was teaching that some men do not come to Him because they are not drawn by the Father, He turned to speak of those who do come and He said that they are all taught of God. This promise of a universal blessing goes all the way back to Abraham.

...and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed (Genesis 12:3 b). Will all the families of the earth become blessed in Abraham? Yes, in a sense, we can say that they will. There will be a new heavens and a new earth and all who are a part of that new heaven and new earth will be blessed in Abraham.