Salvation. For Only A Few, For Many, Or, For All?

In the autumn of 1999 my wife and I stopped to visit some friends we had not seen for over 25 years and with whom we had only recently regained contact. During our stay I was introduced to a concept regarding salvation and reconciliation that I had never heard before. I must admit that my mind was not open to what I was hearing. However, my friend merely asked that I study it. Although I didn’t begin a study on my return home a seed had been planted. I frequently thought about what he had presented to me. Approximately a year later this same concept was presented to a group in which my son was in attendance. He shared some of the thoughts and ideas that he had been given. Yet, I was not moved to study this for myself.

Early in 2002 an individual that I love very much and for whom I have a great deal of admiration, sent me a piece of correspondence in which she outlined her beliefs. Although I knew in general what she believed seeing it spelled out in black and white somehow made it more “real.” Her beliefs, though widely held by many Christians, were quite different from what I had been taught for many years. This presented a challenge to me. I began to look into some of the things she had stated and as well as some of my beliefs. And, as I did so I began to stumble upon some of the concepts, ideas and understanding I had been presented with by my friend in 1999.

My mind was now being opened to look at the subject. I could see clearly that the beliefs commonly held by much of Christianity weren’t what the Bible taught. The Scriptures did not teach that the vast majority of humanity would be consigned to an ever burning hell fire in “eternal misery.” But, as I considered what I had always believed , that most would be saved but some would be annihilated, I saw this belief also wasn’t taught by the Scriptures. I saw numerous Scriptures stating that God was going to save ALL of mankind. This was the concept that I had not been receptive to three years earlier. I had raised all kinds of questions, numerous verses had come to mind to attempt to disprove this understanding and I had just “known” that this couldn’t be true. But, now I had to admit that IF the Bible means what it says, and I believe that it does, it reveals the most incredible and wonderful plan that God is working out, a plan that no one can thwart.

Although I know you may feel very comfortable with your beliefs and feel that what I am seeing can not possibly be true, I would ask that you read and prayerfully consider the following Scriptures. These are just a few of the scores of Scriptures that speak so powerfully of the Sovereign God’s wonderful plan for all of His sons and daughters.

“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Tim. 2:3-4) The Greek word translated “will” is thelo, Strong’s number 2309. It means “to will, have in mind, intend, to be resolved or determined, to purpose.” Young’s Literal Bible renders this as “who doth will all men to be saved.” I have to ask, can His will be thwarted? It is His intention and He is resolved that all come to the knowledge of the truth. Again, I have to ask, can any prevent His intentions and His will from coming to pass?

“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” (1 Tim. 2:5-6) Jesus didn’t give Himself a ransom for just a few but for all. That will be testified to in due time. Let us not be judging God before due time.

“And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.” (John 12:47) Jesus did not say He came to “save some of the world” or to “save part of the world.” Jesus said He came to save the world, all of it. The word “world” here is from the Greek kosmos, #2889 in Strong’s. One of the definitions given is “the inhabitants of the earth, men, the human family.” Do we doubt that He will succeed?

“And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.” (John 4:42) As stated here Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the world, the whole world, all the world. Can He truly be the saviour of all the world without saving all? In this passage it was the Samaritans speaking. Was this just their comment?

“And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.” (1 John 4:14) There it is again, the saviour of the world. We’ve read over this for years but we have never really believed what it says. If Jesus was sent by the Father to save the world, as it says He was, He will save the world. He has all power given to Him by the Father to accomplish all things.

“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” (John 12:32) There it is again, all men. He will draw them unto Himself. And, the word “draw” can also correctly be translated “drag.” The Bible in Basic English has it “will make all men come to me.” For what purpose? Not to roast them or annihilate them but to give them salvation. Jesus will perform His work as Savior.

“Therefore as by the offence of one judgement came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” (Rom. 5:18 You can read the whole passage, verses 15-21.) Through the sin of Adam all came under sin, were condemned. Yet, the same all to life through Christ.

“For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” (Rom. 5:19) Scripture is clear that the “many” who were made sinners was all men, every individual that has lived upon the earth. It is the same “many” that shall be made righteous by Jesus Christ.

“That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on the earth; even in him.” (Eph. 1:10) There is that “all” again.

“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil. 2:9-11) How will every tongue confess Jesus Christ unless they are given the Holy Spirit, unless they are brought to salvation? “Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.” (1 Cor. 12:3) It is only through the Spirit that one can say, or confess, that Jesus is the Lord. And, every tongue will. How wonderful!

In the preceding verses we have seen the words “all,” “all things,” “every.” These are all translations of the Greek word pas, #3956 in Strong’s. It means “each, every, any, all, the whole, everyone, all things, everything.” It does not mean “some” or “a few.”

“And so all Israel shall be saved:...” (Rom. 11:26) We know that most Jews don’t accept Jesus as Saviour but we are told that they all will be saved. Verse 25 tells us “that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.” Even all of the Gentiles haven’t been brought in yet but after that has happened the blindness will be removed from Israel. And, verse 26 is very much an absolute, “all Israel shall be saved:...” That leaves out no one.

“And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” (Heb. 8:11-12) ALL shall know the Lord and all of the sins and iniquities will be forgiven and remembered no more.

“And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.” (Col. 1:20) Once again we find that word “all.” “Things” in the context isn’t speaking of trees and rocks but of people, those created in the image of God.

“As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.” (John 17:2) This is from the prayer Jesus prayed before He was taken. How many did the Father give to Him? “The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.” (John 3:35) The word “things” is frequently translated “all men,” “everyone,” “every man,” etc. ALL men have been given into His hands. He will give salvation to ALL.

“But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.” The marginal rendering for “slept” is “died.” Jesus Christ was the very first one to be raised to spirit life from the dead.

But every man (“Every” in this verse is from the Greek hekasto, # 1538 in Strong’s. It means every man, all men, no exceptions) in his own order: (Not all at the same time.) Christ the firstfruits, afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

Then cometh the end, (What does he mean, “the end?” The Greek is “telos,” #5056 in Strong’s. Notice the definition from the lexicon. “1A) termination, the limit at which a thing ceases to be [always of the end of some act or state, but not of the end of a period of time.]” In other words, at the end of all being resurrected, at the end of the “order” which began with Jesus, continued with those that are Christ’s at His return.) when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.(“Put down” is from #2673, katargeo. It means “to render idle, unemployed, inactivate, inoperative. Often translated “abolish” and is defined by Vine’s as “lit. To reduce to inactivity.”)

The last enemy that shall be destroyed (This is from the same Greek word, katargeo, rendered “put down” in verse 24.) is death. ( Death is made inactive, inoperative, unemployed. How is death “destroyed?” Verse 22 told us, “All will be made alive.)

For he (God the Father) hath put* all things (ALL things–not trees and rocks BUT all men, all people.) under his (Jesus’) feet. But when he (The Father) saith, all things (ALL people) are put under* him (Jesus), it is manifest that he (The Father) is excepted, which did put* all things (ALL people) under* him (Jesus). (* The words “under” and “put under” are from the Greek hupotasso, #5293 in Strong’s. The lexicon states that “In a non-military use, it was ‘a voluntary attitude of giving in, cooperating, assuming responsibility, and carrying a burden.’ )

And when all things (ALL things again, ALL individuals.) shall be subdued (This is #5293 again that was translated ‘under’ in the previous verse.) unto him (Jesus), then shall the Son also himself be subject (This is also #5293, a voluntary act.) unto him (The Father) that put (#5293 again.) all things (Once more we see ALL things, ALL people, ALL individuals.) under (Under is from #5293 again.) him (Jesus), that God may be all in all. (Can we grasp this? God will be ALL, EVERYTHING, in ALL, EVERYONE. This speaks of the ultimate salvation of ALL.) (1 Cor. 15:20-28)

To recap, the Scripture tells us that “this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires (“will have” in some translations) ALL men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for ALL, to be testified in due time...” (1 Tim. 2:3-6) 1 John 4:14 tells us that the Father sent the Son to be SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD. John 3:35 tells us that the Father has given ALL into Jesus’ hands. If it is the desire of the Father to save ALL and He has given Jesus all power and authority to do His will, why don’t we believe Him? “This is the will of the Father Who sent Me, that of ALL He has given Me, I should lose nothing, but raise it up at the last day.” (John 6:39) The Father has given ALL into His hands. (John 3:35)

The verses we have looked at, plus scores more, very plainly speak of the salvation of everyone who has ever lived. So, I ask, why doesn’t everyone simply believe these Scriptures and rejoice? There are some very definite reasons.

Most people it seems are vengeful. They do not want ALL to receive forgiveness. It seems almost inherent within us to want to look down on someone else. So, it appears that many Christians can’t enjoy their salvation apart from seeing someone else being denied theirs. Just as the parable of Jesus points out, we don’t want anyone hired at the last hour of the day receiving the same wages we are to receive. For some reason we don’t think this is “fair.”

Perhaps one of the biggest reasons is that many of the Bibles we use have been tainted by the translators with many pagan beliefs. As most of us are aware the Roman church absorbed numerous peoples and their religious beliefs. Sadly, when the Bible was being translated into the languages of the common people those doing the work were steeped in these beliefs and many of those doctrines found there way into our Bibles. Though many have been corrected over the years there are still a number of passages and words that are terribly mistranslated.

A major problem, and one that my friend tried to point out to me three years ago, is the inaccuracy and inconsistency of the translation of the words “olam” in the Old Testament and of “aion” and “aionios” in the New Testament. These are the Hebrew and Greek words most often translated “forever,” “eternal,” and “everlasting,” signifying endless duration. A honest and thorough study will show that these words in their original usage denote limited duration. This greatly changes what we have supposed numerous Scriptures are saying to us.

If interested in studying this I can recommend a number of articles, books, etc. Perhaps one of the most detailed is a small book first published in 1875 entitled “The Greek Word AION—AIONIOS, Translated EVERLASTING—ETERNAL, in the HOLY BIBLE Shown to Denote Limited Duration.” It was written by John Wesley Hanson and has been republished by the Concordant Publishing Concern, 15570 Knochaven Road, Santa Clarita, CA 91387. Or, it can be found on the internet at http://www.tentmaker.org/books/Aion_lim.html

I have believed and continue to believe that all Scripture was inspired by God and that it must all be in complete harmony, one passage cannot contradict another. The unclear must be understood based on the clear. The scores of clear Scriptures which say that God will save all of mankind has to be the basis for understanding the unclear. It takes time to study and understand many of the passages we have been taught teach unending torment or total annihilation. I’m finding this study to be fascinating and reveals to me a God that is so much “bigger” and greater than I ever have known or comprehended.

In closing I would like to recommend one more article for those that are interested. It is actually a chapter out of a book written in 1840 by Thomas Whittlemore. It is entitled “100 Scriptural Proofs That Jesus Christ Will Save All Mankind.” It is available on the internet at http://www.tentmaker.org/books/ScripturalProofs.html

As I mentioned earlier, you may be very comfortable with your beliefs. But, I would ask, as my friend did me, that you study this subject for yourself. It is proving to be the most “mind expanding” thing God has ever opened to my understanding. It is so wonderful knowing that God isn’t going to cast millions and billions into a fiery inferno for all eternity. (In fact it never even entered His mind. See Jer. 32:35) Likewise, it is cause for great rejoicing knowing that NONE are to be annihilated. How great and how wonderful that what we all long for and strive for and work for (the sinner to be saved) will occur. ALL will be saved!!