Universalism is nothing new. The first Universalist congregation in America was founded in Gloucester in 1779. Eleven years later Universalists met in Philadelphia to prepare their first declaration of faith and plan of government.
As time progressed the liberalism of the Universalist church increased until in 1942 the charter was changed to read: “To promote harmony among adherents of all religious faiths, whether Christian or otherwise.” Finally, in May of 1960, Universalists and Unitarians merged into the Unitarian Universalist Association. At no time have the major evangelical denominations recognized these churches as part of the Protestant tradition.
Evangelical Christianity is now confronted by a different form of universalism, all the more dangerous because it insidiously distorts the Gospel and opens the door of salvation to all, not on the basis of faith in Christ but on the basis of inherited participation in God’s redemptive love. Salvation must be effective for all men, we are told.
That the Unitarian-Universalist concept has a deadening effect on its believers is easily seen. After nearly two centuries there are only a few hundred congregations with a total membership of fewer than 200,000. Missionary purpose and evangelistic zeal are naturally lacking—why preach to a need that does not exist?
The universalism that the major denominations find in their midst today may not involve crass unitarianism, or the frank syncretism of full-fledged universalism, but this only increases its danger. There is, on the surface, an apparent attempt to magnify the redemptive work of Christ that is appealingly deceptive.
Strange to say, those who espouse this new universalism avidly try to bolster their position by a method they often try to deny to others, the quoting of “proof texts.” At the same time they find it necessary to reject the total revelation found in the Scriptures, to pass over other statements in the Bible that completely refute their position. True, some theologians admit the possibility that some people may be lost while they reject the biblical affirmation that some are lost.
The argument frequently heard from laymen is that “God is too good to condemn anyone.” Apparently they do not know that man is condemned by his own sins, and that God’s love is evidenced by his provision for man’s redemption through the death of his Son.
Among the Bible verses quoted to support this new universalism are John 12:32; First Corinthians 15:22; First Timothy 2:4, and Philemon 2, 10, 11. Let us examine these.
In John 12:32 we read, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” Jesus was speaking to Jews and telling them that his crucifixion would draw “all men,” Gentiles as well as Jews. His was a universal offer of salvation, and men from every tribe and nation would respond.
Again, First Corinthians 15:22 says: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” All men are born dead “in Adam,” but by the new birth we are “in Christ.” The death inherent in the old man and his deeds is lost in the new life we have in Christ.
Paul in First Timothy 2:4 says, “[God] will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Unquestionably it is God’s will that all men come to the knowledge of the truth. Unfortunately, many reject that truth, and God’s loving concern for them is defeated by their own willfulness.
In Philippians 2:10 and 11 we read: “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.” Here, as in all Scripture, we must take care not to interpret any one verse in a way that refutes Scripture as a whole. The logical interpretation would seem to be that some day every creature will acknowledge the sovereignity of God, some in his holy presence and some in the shades of eternal separation, between which there is “a great gulf fixed.”
The universalist position does violence to the total revelation of God, as found in the Scriptures, and to specific statements of our Lord and others.
In Matthew 25:46 our Lord says: “And they shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal.”
In John 3:36 we read: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
In Malachi 3:18 God warns against confusing the righteous and the wicked in these words: “Then once more you shall distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.”
And to make even clearer this distinction he goes on to say: “For behold, the day comes, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch” (Mal. 4:1).
Paul describes the awful reckoning for unrepentant sinners in these words: “… when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power” (2 Thess. 1:7–9).
How can we preach the love of God without the backdrop of his righteous anger against sin? How can we proclaim the mercy of the Cross without telling of that which made the Cross necessary?
Thank God for his love! It was this love that sent his Son into the world, and it was this love that made necessary his death. But Jesus tells us that the object was to change the destiny of man, so that he “should not perish, but have everlasting life.” This was a universal offer to be received by faith. To proclaim the love of God is the good news. To accept that love through faith in God’s Son brings eternal life.
The universal offer, “whosoever believeth,” does not mean universal salvation; it means salvation to all those who accept him by faith. To cry “Peace, peace” when there is no peace for the wicked is a grievous distortion of the Gospel.
The watchword of the Reformation was. “The just shall live by his faith.” God forbid that we should subvert this to a new slogan, “All men are saved; our task is merely to tell them so.”
