Introduction

Universal salvation is widely misunderstood and I had dismissed it as erroneous for a long time. I had some vague questions but had never fully articulated them. But it was because of the gentle persuasion and persistence of a good friend that I finally came around to see just how sound and solid it is.

The universalist camp has variations, but for our purposes here, I’ll keep it simple.

Here’s my definition:

universal salvation – because Jesus Christ died and rose again, he now, as the exalted Lord of heaven and earth, offers deliverance from sin, death and evil to all humanity to be received as a free gift of his grace. He, as the Savior and the Last Adam, has inaugurated the recreation of the entire world.

Universal salvation is the triumph of the loving heavenly Father, who like most fathers, wants only the best for his children, and though they may rebel against him, he will never stop loving them. And the discipline – even the harsh discipline he may use – is ultimately for redemptive purposes.

I’ve broken seventeen objections into five categories:

Misunderstanding biblical teaching

What really is the salvation of God

Isn’t it heresy

What about extreme sinners

Hell as motivator

Feel free to read from the beginning or jump to the objections that most interest you.

Misunderstanding biblical teaching

We should not believe in universal salvation unless the Bible teaches it. I believe, taken as a whole, universal salvation is the consistent teaching of scripture. That may be hard to believe for many evangelicals, but the truth is, support for the doctrine of hell as endless conscious torment is weak. It persists mainly because of a few fiery scriptures plucked out of their context, which have been either mistranslated or misinterpreted or both.

OBJECTION 1: What else could ‘everlasting punishment’ possibly mean?

Theology and biblical exegesis is not trivial; it’s obviously quite complex and is usually the domain of biblical scholars. The original language of the New Testament is Koine Greek and the words used are not always easily translatable to twenty-first century English speakers and can have multiple meanings. For example, the phrase translated ‘everlasting punishment’ in Matthew 25:46 is the Greek phrase, kolasin aionion. The word kolasin derives from the verb kolazo, which means ‘to punish, chastise or correct.’ So its derivative kolasin can mean correction or chastisement as well as punishment. The word only appears in the New Testament twice, once here in Matthew, and the other in I John 4:18; where it’s translated ‘torment.’

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. — I John 4:18

Because we don’t have much usage of the word, its meaning is thrown more into doubt. So the apparent simplicity of the phrase everlasting punishment is not clear at all.

Also the word aionion does not necessarily mean endless duration, although that could be a secondary inference. But aionion has more to do with the character of eternity, that is, the origin of things like bliss, peace, love, justice, etc. Of course the origin of these things is the eternal God. Think about the use of the adjective ‘eternal’ describing God himself. Does it simply mean that God endures endlessly or does it also describe his character as being timeless, faithful, perfect, and without equal?

OBJECTION 2: If God will save everyone anyway, then Christ did not need to die.

No, it’s because of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus that all of humanity can and will be saved. Most would agree that Christ died for all people everywhere — the doctrine of unlimited atonement. What he accomplished on the cross benefits all for all time. Faith in Jesus does not ‘turn it on’ or ‘make it effective.’ It’s already operational and effective. Faith is simply our realization, our awakening, that it’s true; faith is our recognition of who he is and what he’s done.

Let’s use the analogy of Joey. This is from my article, LIE: God only grants salvation to those who have faith in Jesus.

A ten-year-old boy (we’ll call him Joey), grows up in an abusive home and in a dirty tenant slum. One day, while traveling in a car with his parents, a serious accident instantly kills both parents and critically injures the boy. He survives, becoming an orphan — no one in his extended family wants him. He’s then adopted by a couple unknown to him who nurse him back to health in their beautiful home. The contrast between the old and new homes couldn’t be more stark; it’s black and white, and the boy’s transition to his new home proves to be difficult. Although his new adoptive parents love and care for his needs, he keeps his old ways and mentality — he steals food, clothes, money, even though his parents provide everything. He cringes in fear and yells at them in anger; he disrespects, disobeys, and gets into trouble. He simply doesn’t trust them and can’t believe that his new home will last long. ‘Surely,’ he says, ‘no one could be that good.’

His new parents tell him that they love him unconditionally, accept him, that they’re giving him a forever home. He’s their son and nothing can change that. They discipline him in love, but he misinterprets their discipline as hate.

So what needs to happen to solve this problem?

Simple. Joey needs to shift his mind (repentance) and believe and accept his new life. He simply needs to trust his new parents. He doesn’t need to steal or lie or cheat or hurt anyone anymore.

It would be unrealistic to expect a sudden change in his attitude. His parents would be wise to celebrate even the small ‘acts of faith’ — sitting down to a meal, receiving some new shoes, him asking a sincere question. But the truth is his parents unilaterally chose to adopt him into their home. They knew the risks. It was done for him by grace. He himself had done nothing to deserve it, actually much the opposite. But now through repentance and faith: the slow realization that his new parents DO love him unconditionally, he accepts his good home and grows up to live a NEW LIFE.

His new parents’ home is a GIFT — he did nothing to deserve it. He was adopted well before he put his faith in them. All he really needs to do is accept it and start enjoying the benefits of it.

Does this sound familiar? Here is Paul describing our adoption into God’s family:

 . . just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. — Ephesians 1:4–6

But without faith — without the recognition that his parents really are for him — Joey will continue to believe the lies of his old life and will reap the consequences of those actions, despite his new parents’ protestations and their discipline and assurances. Believing in the love, acceptance and grace of his salvation, which he did nothing to get and does not deserve, will make all the difference. His faith is the key that unlocks the peace, joy and assurance that he needs and desperately wants.

But that faith – the trust in his new parents – is not a binary transaction. He did not suddenly become a new believer. His faith and our faith is often slow to emerge. But Joey and we are already in our new home that has been provided to us as a gift. The hard part is simply believing that our parents and our God really are that good. See also LIE: Salvation is a transaction.

OBJECTION 3: If everyone will be saved anyway, what good does it do to preach the gospel?

We preach the gospel — announcing Christ’s reclaimed authority over the world, and making disciples of all ethnicities, teaching them to observe all the commands of Christ (Matthew 28:18). We do all of that so that all peoples can now believe and walk in the freedom from the bondage of sin and death. If we don’t preach the gospel, they will remain bound and without hope in this life. And that unnecessary hopelessness will be perpetuated through the generations, generations that produce whole communities where poverty, squalor, corruption and evil are rife. Christ came to deliver us from that, not just so that we can go to heaven.

We come to them like Christ, who, when he arrived, the prophet Isaiah’s words were fulfilled:

“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles:
The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,
And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death
Light has dawned.” — Matthew 4:15–16

OBJECTION 4: What about the verses:

Matthew 25:45-46: “Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

We’ve already talked about the verse Matthew 25:46, but let me ask you this: what should a father’s proper motive be when his child does something wrong? Is it just to punish him or is it also to correct? Most would say a good father should punish TO correct and teach. But I would bet that no one would say a father’s motive should be purely to punish with no recourse for correction. Someone who only wants to punish – just being satisfied to see their child suffer – qualifies as a sociopath/psychopath. By interpreting this verse to say that God’s punishment is purely punitive — and an endlessly punitive judgment at that, never to be satisfied — are we saying that God is psychopathic?

Ephesians 5:5: “For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”

The kingdom of Christ and God does not equate to ‘going to heaven.’ At face value this verse says that fornicators, idolaters, etc, are disinherited — they receive no inheritance in the kingdom. It does NOT say that sinners go to hell. The question is what does it mean to be disinherited from the kingdom? Whatever it means it’s not good and this should motivate us to avoid these sins.

Paul, who wrote Ephesians, also wrote Romans. And in that letter, Paul defines the kingdom of God. He says:

Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men. — Romans 14:16–18

The kingdom of God is a present reality on earth where the Spirit’s righteousness, peace, and joy characterize a place. There are pockets of the kingdom, large and small, everywhere. It’s the environment, the community, that cannot and will not accept the sins of fornication and idolatry. So those who practice these sins will not and cannot experience or inherit the realities of the kingdom where righteousness, peace, and joy prevail.

2 Thessalonians 1:6–9: “it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,”

It is from the coming presence of the Lord and the glory of his power that this punishment comes on those who are troubling the Thessalonians. But the flaming fire that proceeds from his coming both punishes and purifies. Again, a good father punishes to correct. Fire is a common metaphor for punishment AND purification. There is no reason that cannot be the meaning here. In I Corinthians 5:5 Paul makes a similar statement about the ‘destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit could be saved.’ The destruction of the flesh must be done SO THAT the spirit can be saved. The same concept is found in I Corinthians chapter three:

Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. — I Corinthians 3:12–15

What really is salvation?

God is painting on a much bigger canvas than we can imagine.

Often we think of salvation in terms of individuals being saved, but the Bible has a much larger vision. The truth is that God is completely remaking, renovating, recreating the entire world and everything in it — his entire creation, of which we humans are his crowning jewels. We get a glimpse of this in Romans.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. — Romans 8:18–25

His salvation is all-encompassing, comprehensive; he has worked out everything in advance. And the theological conclusion of Romans in the last verses of chapter eleven, just before he begins his practical application and exhortation in the remaining chapters, reveals the Lord’s great purpose.

Here is Paul’s shocking conclusion:

For God has committed [corralled] them all [meaning: all of humanity] to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all. Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!

“For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has become His counselor?”
“Or who has first given to Him
And it shall be repaid to him?”

For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. — Romans 11:32–36

Paul does not shy away from the comprehensive word ‘all.’ And why should he? Is not God able to accomplish salvation with an unlimited breadth and depth?

OBJECTION 5:  Is everyone already a Christian, and they just don’t know it?

A Christian is one who follows Christ, so no, not everyone is already a Christian. But Christ died and rose again for all humanity; he is the ‘last Adam’ (I Corinthians 15:45), the beginning, the fountainhead of the new creation/humanity. We did nothing to receive this; it’s all by grace that we have been saved:

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. — Ephesians 2:8–9

Faith is the simple realization that it’s true. Once this realization hits us, whether slowly or suddenly, we will want to follow him. Every human is created with this built-in need for perfect love, which only God has. Once we see it, we melt into God’s eternal embrace.

OBJECTION 6:  Where in the Bible does it say that people can become Christians after death?

It doesn’t. We can only become a Christ follower by faith. Once we die there will be no need of faith. Faith is only needed when we don’t see. But after death we will see clearly. Paul says, “now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then shall I know even as I am also known.” But faith is not binary; it’s dynamic. We ALL see dimly now, even Paul did and he wrote most of the New Testament.

But the scriptures do hold clues that Christ’s salvation is effective after death:

• By the Spirit Jesus preached to the ‘spirits in prison’:  “[He] went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, . . . ” — I Peter 3:19–20a
• Jesus has the ‘keys of Hades and Death’: In John’s vision of Jesus on the Isle of Patmos, he heard him say: “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.” — Revelation 1:18
• Paul spoke of those who are ‘baptized for the dead’: Paul makes a somewhat cryptic statement: “Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all. Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? Why then are they baptized for the dead?” — I Corinthians 15: 28–29
• God will ‘wipe away every tear’: “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’” — Revelation 21:4–5a

Death is the door through which we all must enter. Beyond it is a mystery but the salvation accomplished by Christ is just as true and effective now as it will be then. But after death we will all face the judgment (Hebrews 9:27). And it is in the judgment where God will separate the sheep from the goats. What separates the sheep from the goats? The difference is in how we care and serve the ‘least of these my [Jesus’] brethren.’ The judgment of God is based on how we lived, not on what we believed. But what we believe determines how we live.

OBJECTION 7:  What about those who intentionally reject Christ? Doesn’t God need to respect their free will?

God does respect our will.

His cause-and-effect world is designed and built to teach and discipline us to do what is right and good and true. But when we choose to violate those built-in guardrails, we will inevitably receive the consequences. So if we lie or cheat or steal or murder, we will lose trust or discipline or property or time or even our own lives. If you’re unfaithful to your wife, she will withdraw from you. If you jump off a cliff it will be the last time you do so. Whatever you sow, you will also reap (Galatians 6:7).

But those who intentionally reject Christ do so either because of ignorance, deception, or misinformation. But if and when we are fully informed of God’s goodness and love and salvation, the rational choice will always be God. “We love because he first loved us.”

God has a way of backing us into a corner for our own good.

Here’s a thought experiment: Imagine a game of chess where an international grandmaster sits down to seriously play a novice. The novice has the same choices as the grandmaster, the same pieces, the same number of squares on the board. But who do you think will win? The grandmaster does not need to control the choices of the novice in order to win. He can simply see farther than the novice. So that apparently benign opening pawn move by the novice, the grandmaster will be sure to capitalize on in the end game. God is a grandmaster many times over. He does not need to control our choices to win. If God desires all men to be saved, then don’t you think he is able to checkmate us in the end? Actually he already has checkmated us in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.

For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. — I Timothy 2:3–4

If he desires all people to be saved, he is quite capable to fulfill his desire in a righteous way without violating our will.

OBJECTION 8:  If everyone is saved in the end, where is the justice in that? Some people really deserve to be punished.

Clearly the Bible teaches that God will bring justice to every injustice; he will right every wrong. It’s a fallacy that universal salvation means that there is no ‘hell’ in this life or the next. God is bringing and will bring justice to every people, language, tribe, family, and individual. And that justice, which is likened to the legal concept Lex Talionis — the law of exact retaliation or reciprocal justice — is proportional; it’s the punishment designed to fit the crime. This was clearly spelled out in the law of God.

If a man causes disfigurement of his neighbor, as he has done, so shall it be done to him — fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has caused disfigurement of a man, so shall it be done to him. — Leviticus 24:19–20

For example, I think you’ll agree that, let’s say, a mother who lived in central Africa in the eighteenth century, who never had heard of Jesus Christ, does not deserve to endlessly suffer in hell alongside a serial killer.

Paul dealt with this question in his letter to the Romans when he spoke of the Gentiles who have the law written on their hearts, and who by nature do the things written in the law:

. . . for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel. — Romans 2:14–16

It’s not a one-size-fits-all, ham-fisted “justice” that imposes eternal conscious torment for every unbeliever. That is NOT justice. An infinite punishment for a finite sin is not just no matter how egregious the sin is. But God will bring justice in the end and his justice is nothing less than a full and complete reconciliation and restoration of the entire world. Do not think it difficult for God to do this: HE IS GOD!

Isn’t it Heresy?

OBJECTION 9:  Hell is a standard doctrine of the church. It must be true if it’s been an orthodox teaching for so long.

What most do not know is that the early church fathers, men like Clement of Alexandria, and Origen, and Eusebius, believed and taught universal salvation. It was apparently the dominant teaching of the early church for hundreds of years. But it was not until the Roman church, dominated politically by the emperor’s administrations, that the tide turned and the fear of hell was used for social control. This is not hard to prove.

I could also point out that it was not until the sixteenth century that the doctrine of justification by faith was recovered. That truth took close to fourteen hundred years to recover, thanks to a brave man named Martin Luther.

So we cannot rest on our laurels; just because a teaching may be well entrenched, does not make it true or complete. We must continue to ‘contend for the faith once delivered to the saints.’ (Jude 3).

OBJECTION 10:  Are you saying that well known Bible teachers are wrong? How could they all be wrong?

The word of God is a deep well and biblical theology is complex and we all should be careful and humble with how we approach it. I agree on most points with well-known Bible teachers, and for most of my life I believed and taught the same thing on hell (although I was careful to de-emphasize and euphemize it as most Bible teachers do).

But no one has all the answers; if we say we have the definitive doctrine on all Bible teaching and do not remain teachable to adjustment or correction, we have already succumbed to error.

What about extreme sinners?

And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation. — Hebrews 9:27–28

Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences. — 2 Corinthians 5:11

“ . . . we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ . . ”

Note the comprehensiveness of Paul’s statements. Paul did not distinguish who might be terror stricken. It’s obviously a sobering and frightening prospect for us all, no matter what we’ve done or not done. See also my article, What is the judgment of God?

OBJECTION 11:  Will Hitler and Mao and Pol Pot be saved?

Adolf Hitler, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot and other bloody tyrants will no doubt face a terror-filled judgment. And multitudes of others unknown to history will also receive the justice and mercy of God — same as everyone else. We can be confident that God’s judgments will be thorough and just. But God’s mercy is not opposed to his justice; these two attributes of God’s character are two sides of the same coin. His character is full of integrity. We should never underestimate the love, and compassion of God. God loves and Christ died for every human being, including the worst among us.

OBJECTION 12:  Will Satan and the demons be saved also?

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. — Colossians 1:15–20

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. — Philippians 2:10–11

Our God is about true and comprehensive reconciliation and justice. Why would it be strange for this justice and mercy to also extend to the spirits? I can’t say that Satan and demons will be ‘saved,’ but Paul did not hedge or qualify his statements that: “every knee will bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth.” This bowing of the knee to worship and confessing Jesus as Lord is not forced; this confession is “to the glory of God the Father.” God will not accept an outward submission that masks an inward rebellion.

That word ‘confess’ is from the Greek word eksomologéō —  meaning to fully agree and  acknowledge that agreement openly (whole-heartedly); hence, to confess (“openly declare”), without reservation (no holding back). That confession is something that EVERY TONGUE WILL SPEAK.

Hell as motivator

Fear is surely the most effective negative motivator, but that does not mean it’s the best one. Obviously, fear does have its place, but used wrongly, it can be very destructive.

Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us. — I John 4:17–19

Paul said:

Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences. — 2 Corinthians 5:9–11

There is no escape that the coming judgment of God is sobering and can even be terrifying.

OBJECTION 13  Isn’t it true that if we don’t preach or believe in hell, people will be more inclined to sin and fall away from the Lord? Doesn’t fear of judgment/hell help keep us pure?

It is true that Christ used the prospect of ‘hell’ [actually the Greek gehenna] as a motivator. He did this to motivate us to choose the right path, and to sober us to the realities of choosing the wrong path. A good father will be faithful to warn us of that wrong path, to warn of the consequences of the living hell that we can descend into on this side of death.

Yes, the judgment of God is indeed sobering and can even be terrifying (2 Corinthians 5:11). Yet John in the verses above also says that we can have boldness in the day of judgment if love is perfected in us. He says that perfect love casts out fear. To me this passage says that adopting the kind of love that Christ had, that is, being “as He is, so are we in this world,” is the process where love is perfected and fear is cast out. Love is fear’s antidote.

Fostering and cultivating a life characterized by the kind of love demonstrated by Christ generates in us the right kind of boldness. This boldness is possible even in the face of an otherwise scary judgment because we see this character of love in the Judge himself — it’s what is most important to him. Love is the engine of compassion and service — we will be judged by our life of works.

OBJECTION 14:  Wouldn’t it be prudent to preach or believe in hell just to be sure? Can we really know one way or the other?

Obviously, we should not preach anything unless we truly believe it. How could we and still maintain our integrity? This doctrine is not easy to comprehend, especially when the evangelical world has been steeped in the teaching of hell as eternal conscious torment. But try we must. Universal salvation, if it’s true, is of utmost significance; no other doctrine is as important.

OBJECTION 15:  Isn’t it true that as we get older we’re more inclined to wish universal salvation to be true? Or if our children have fallen away from the Lord?

Of course this can happen. As we age we often collect and go through experiences of suffering and tragedy, either personally or of loved ones or even empathetically. These experiences can either soften or harden us; they can either make us more compassionate or apathetic or cynical. And as we age and get closer to our own deaths, we inevitably imagine what the judgment of God could be like, what the afterlife could be like. And yes, obviously we want to imagine the best possible outcome for us and our loved ones.

This may explain the move to universal salvation for some, but does not mean we can use it to explain away all the other evidence for it.

OBJECTION 16:  Isn’t the appeal of universal salvation simply due to hell’s offensiveness? We all wish universal salvation were true, but we can’t always have what we wish for.

If we’re honest, no one wants to believe in a hell of endless conscious torment. Yes, it’s offensive, and for good reason: it is unthinkable that the God of Jesus Christ and his self-giving and love could arrange for only a small segment of humanity to avoid being tormented forever without remedy. We don’t want to imagine that God’s great salvation will end up sending most people to hell forever.

The punishment ‘does not fit the crime.’ It is not just, and, in fact, it is irrational to think that it is just. And we cannot excuse it with the flippant: ‘God can do anything he wants.’ If we rationalize that God can do that righteously, then what does righteousness even mean?

So it’s not a lack of integrity to want hell to be false; it’s a search for the integrity of God himself. Universal salvation as I’ve described it here seeks to preserve the integrity of God and respect the whole of scripture.

OBJECTION 17:  If we don’t believe in hell we will be less motivated to preach the gospel.

No. The common misconception is that not believing in hell means you don’t believe in the judgment of God either. But that’s just not true. The judgment of God should provide plenty of motivation to preach the good news. And actually, preaching the whole gospel should include warnings of judgment in this life and in the life to come.

We should warn people of the broad way that leads to destruction — divorce, mental illness, suicide, adultery, hunger, isolation, slavery, addictions, poverty. A life of destruction here somehow extends into the life there on the other side of death.

But often I see it in reverse: believing in “no-fault salvation,” where the message is ‘”believe in Jesus and you’ll go to heaven and avoid God’s judgment” de-motivates the making of disciples and causes us to become sloppy in our own discipline. Preaching a ‘no-fault salvation’ fosters a false salvation to simply get ‘fire insurance.’

The judgment of God warns and promises a full life review of “things done in the body, . . . and what we have done, whether good or bad.” It is not a simple binary judgment: “you’re a Christian . . . you’re not a Christian . . you’re a Christian . . you’re not . . . ” The passage in Matthew 25 of the sheep and the goats is all about whether we have served and loved ‘the least of these my brethren.’ It’s a judgment of works and will finally reveal a true and complete history — what really happened — no idle word will be missed:

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. — Matthew 12:35–37

Conclusion

Universal salvation, as I’ve described it here, is biblically sound, respects the perfect justice and mercy of God and honors the exalted character and integrity of God himself. It answers the deepest longing of our souls that desire God to be true and just and merciful and compassionate.

Universal salvation is not a ‘free pass,’ or a ‘get-out-of-jail-free card.’ Quite the opposite: universal salvation ensures that every soul, including all of Christ’s followers, receive a comprehensive, just, and merciful judgment. He said ‘All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.’ Every knee will bow and confess him as Lord and they will do it knowing that his justice flows from a heart full of demonstrated mercy and compassion.

Such a major claim of correction to our doctrine deserves a sincere and open dialog. So I hope my words invite that. I’ve spoken boldly but I hope not in an off-putting manner. But turn about is fair play, so here are some questions I have about ‘non-universal salvation,’ that is, the conventional and dominant teaching of the evangelical church.

QUESTIONS about Non-Universal Salvation

There are legitimate questions to answer concerning universal salvation. I’ve tried to answer some of those. But I also have some questions about NON-universal salvation, that is, the belief that all ARE NOT and WILL NOT BE saved.

Here are my questions:

• Could you really be in a state of perfect bliss in heaven if you knew a close family member who remained an unbeliever until death — your wife, son, daughter, mom or dad — is at the same time being continuously tormented?
• Does God hate the people currently in hell? or does he continue to love them — if so, how does he demonstrate his love? The first few lines of the beloved old hymn The Love of God, written by Fredrick Lehman, reads:

The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell
It goes beyond the highest star
And reaches to the lowest hell.

• Or, at the moment of death of an unbeliever, does God’s love suddenly turn to hate?
• Do you really believe that people will continue to be consciously tormented, with a continuous intensity, millions, billions, even trillions of years from now?
• Is it just and righteous to consign people to the same punishment of hell no matter what sins they have committed? For example, should Hitler and a loving but unbelieving grandma receive the same judgment and be tormented together?
• Is it just and righteous to commit people to be tormented in hell forever if they have never heard of Jesus?
• Doesn’t making salvation contingent on our right belief — He accepts us only if we accept him — make God’s love conditional?
• Did you know that Augustine, who lived from 354 to 430 AD, said that “indeed very many . . .deplore the notion of eternal punishment of the damned and their interminable and perpetual misery. They do not believe that such things will be. Not that they would go counter to divine scripture.” So ‘very many’ during that time did not believe in hell as ‘eternal conscious torment.’
• Does God reserve or dedicate a place for this torment? Where in the new heavens and earth could it be?
• How does an endless torment not perpetuate the evil that Christ came to destroy?
• Is our conscience wrong when we consider the endless suffering of hell? Or does our God-given conscience tell us that an endless torture is indeed wrong and therefore untrue?
• Are we violating our conscience and sensibility to believe in an endless hell and that God must nevertheless be right? What does it do to our conscience to believe in an endless hell?
• What does it do to our ability to worship a God who prepares and authorizes an endless hell?
• Does it not create doubt in the perfect goodness of God and in the verse that says, “[divine] love never fails.”

These are the words of the theologian Thomas Allin from his book Christ Triumphant.

The vital question is this, that the popular creed, by teaching the perpetuity of evil, points to a victorious devil and to sin as finally triumphant over God. It makes the corrupt, nay, the bestial in our fallen nature to be eternal. It represents what is foulest and most loathsome in man, i.e., the most obstinate sin as being enduring as God himself. It confers the dignity of immortal life on what is morally abominable. It teaches perpetual anarchy, and a final chaos. It enthrones pandemonium as an eternal fact side by side with paradise; and, gazing over its fetid and obscene abysses, is not afraid to call this the triumph of Jesus Christ, this the realization of the promise that God shall be “all in all.”
A homely illustration may make my meaning more clear. What should we say of a householder who, prizing purity before all things, and with ample power to gratify his tastes, should sweep into some corner every variety of abomination, there to rot on for ever under his sight?