Universal Salvation: Introduction

And this is going to be a glorious unfolding

Just you watch and see and you will be amazed!

You’ve just got to believe that the story is so far from over

And hold on to every promise God has made to us

And watch this glorious unfolding!

from "Glorious Unfolding" by Steven Curtis Chapman

1 Timothy 2:1-4 says, “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— ² for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. ³ This is good, and pleases God our Savior, ⁴ who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. ⁵ For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time. ⁷ And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a true and faithful teacher of the Gentiles.” 

The word “want” in verse 4 can also be translated as “to will or desire” (Strong’s Greek: 2309). God desires, He wills, for all people to be saved. Paul connects God’s will here for all people to be saved with intercession for all people, not just some. He then connects God’s will here with the gospel message, stating clearly that Jesus did not die for some people: he died for all people. It is for this purpose that Paul was appointed a herald and an apostle. In other words, Paul is saying that he became an apostle so that God’s plan to save and redeem all people, as made possible by the man Christ Jesus, can be made a reality.

“All” means “all”. “All people” does not mean “some people”.  Job 42:2 says, “I know that you [God] can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”  God’s purpose to save all people, which Paul outlines in 1 Timothy 2, will not be thwarted. Ephesians 1:11-12 confirms this when Paul says, ^“In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, ¹² in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.” God works out everything in conformity to His will, which includes the saving of all people. Christ died to save the world, not part of the world. There are many, many verses and passages that affirm this.

To name another one, Peter prophecies about Christ’s return, stating that when this happens God will fulfill His promise of “the restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:21). Anything less than the salvation of every soul would negate this promise of God for the restoration of all things, which He has purposed since the world began. 

This blog aims to affirm Peter’s words that God’s plan from the beginning was to restore His world: to save every person. The orthodox Christian position is that this is not God’s plan from the beginning. God’s plan only saves a relatively small percentage of the world. While the Bible does present some challenges to holding the belief that God will save all, overall, the Bible reveals that God’s plan from the beginning has been to save and restore everyone and everything in His world. The verses and passages that seem to suggest otherwise, correctly interpreted, do not contradict the multitude of other Biblical evidence that demonstrate God’s plan of universal salvation.

Most of my life I thought that only a small number of people would be saved. I thought this in part because that is what I have been taught my entire life: by my spiritual leaders, by the churches I have attended, and by the Christian school and college I attended. This type of thinking was backed up by Bible passages that seemed clear to me on the reality of an eternal hell. Even though the idea of unending torment seemed to contradict the God of love I knew from the Bible generally, my own personal experience with this God, and the personal experiences of others I knew with this God, I thought there was no way the doctrine of eternal torment could be false.

Nevertheless, especially since college I prayed earnestly and faithfully for the salvation of all people, holding onto passages like Matthew 19:26 where Jesus says, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” The context is the disciples’ lack of faith that a certain rich man could be saved. Jesus responds it is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Passages like this, coupled with the God of love I knew personally, led me to hope for the salvation of all people, even though I could not see how it was possible given certain passages in the Bible.

When I first considered Timothy 2:4 and Job 42:2 together in my late twenties, I really started to believe that universal salvation might be a viable possibility biblically. I reasoned: if God wants - or, “wills” – all people to be saved, and no purpose of His can be thwarted, how can universal salvation not be a guarantee? Universal salvation seemed to synch way better with my understanding and experience of God, whose essence is Love (1 John 4:8), and who loves all equally without favoritism (Romans 2:11).

However, the passages about God’s judgment in the New Testament made me hesitate from fully embracing the idea of universal salvation, along with the sizeable witness of the Church to the contrary of this doctrine. All God’s Words are true, I considered, so God’s judgment is real. Moreover, His eternal judgment is real. But is the traditional interpretation of those passages on judgment correct? What if there are alternate interpretations that synch better with the Bible’s overall message of God’s love, grace, and mercy? Would a loving God – could a loving God – condemn even one soul to eternal suffering? Would heaven be heaven if so much of humanity was lost to eternal hell? Would it not eternally pain God and the loved ones of those individuals for the lost to be condemned forever in hell?

This blog attempts to answer the question: is universal salvation biblical? I by no means exhaustively answer this question, but I do think I provide solid and sufficient biblical evidence towards answering that question with “yes”. In so doing, I do not ignore the question of God’s judgment but consider the meanings of the words used to say God’s eternal judgment is true in their original language and context. The following books were a great resource for me in writing this blog, and I wholeheartedly recommend them to those who desire deeper understanding of this very important topic: “The Inescapable Love of God” by Thomas Talbott, “Christ Triumphant: Universalism Asserted as the Hope of the Gospel on the Authority of Reason, the Fathers, and Holy Scripture” by Thomas Allin, and “Bible Proof of Universal Salvation” by J.W. Hanson. I was amazed in reading these books at the great amount of Scriptural support for universal salvation that I had somehow missed in reading Scripture for decades. I was greatly comforted and encouraged by the perspective of these authors on God who, if what they and I write is true, is far better than I imagined. I have always believed, though of course at times struggled with believing, that God is good: reading these books confirmed for me beyond a doubt that He is.

I am convinced, because of Scripture, that all truly will be well, for all will be saved. Everything sad will become untrue. God will redeem and restore all things. He says He will so many times in Scripture… I do not know how I have missed it. I seem in my Bible reading to have overemphasized eternal judgment without giving proper weight to passages like Acts 3:21, which says, “Heaven must receive him [Christ] until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.” God’s promises will all be fulfilled. God will restore everything, which of course means every single person who ever lived. There is a reason God does not say He will restore “most things” or “some things”. Rather, He says “everything.”  May we have the faith to believe the promises God gives us in Scripture that, if we truly believed them, would fill us with a hope everlasting!

Yes, God’s judgment is real, and I address that – but I now firmly believe, because of Scripture, that God’s judgment is always out of His love, always and ultimately to lovingly correct sinners and change them. I no longer believe the lie that God dishes out eternal torment. In “Bible Proof of Universal Salvation", Hanson asks: "would not God do better than the worst of devils regarding His treatment of men? The worst of devils would torment a soul for an eternity – he could no worse than that. Surely a God of love would do better" (Hanson, 2024). I have mentioned Scripture – I also am convinced universal salvation is correct because of God-given reason. If God is all loving, desiring all to be saved (2 Timothy 2:4), and all powerful, such that His purposes cannot be thwarted (Job 42:2), all souls will be saved. It is as simple as that. This blog is merely a fleshing out of that one sentence, which is perfectly rational – if we would have the faith to believe that what we all desire deep in our hearts the God of Love will do.

Many, many Christians and Church Fathers throughout the centuries have believed in universal salvation. It was the prevailing view for the first few centuries of the faith (Allin, 2015). For example, Origen, St. Jerome, St. Gregory of Nazianzus, St. Ambrose, Clement of Alexandria, St. Gregory of Nyssa, and St. Chrysostom held this view. If Church history is a barrier for you to embrace this biblical truth, read part of “Christ Triumphant: Universalism Asserted as the Hope of the Gospel on the Authority of Reason, the Fathers, and Holy Scripture” by Thomas Allin. He, in detail, describes the many Christians over history who believed in universal salvation. This is not a new belief but an old one, believed by, as this blog will show, the prophets of the Old Testament, Jesus, and Paul.

Does universal salvation contradict free will? The doctrine of universal salvation does not contradict the free will given us by God, rather, universal salvation postulates that ultimately, all humans will freely choose God, as God is irresistible. God is everything good and is Love in essence. People were all created and made for God, and God in His wisdom and love will make a way for all to eventually choose Him.

Contrary to popular belief, belief in universal salvation does not result in a small view of sin. Rather, universal salvation affirms the necessity of God’s judgment and punishment for sin while rejecting the unbiblical view that God’s plan is to torment most of the human race in hell for all of eternity. All of the passages that seem to indicate this have other legitimate interpretations that line up who the God of Bible is as revealed in the person of Jesus Christ.  The Father of Love as revealed by Jesus would never subject even one soul to endless torment in hell. That is an idea from Satan, not from God. It is heartbreaking how many Christians have been deceived by Satan to believe that endless torment in hell is an idea propagated by God the Father – myself among them.

Universal salvation was God’s idea and intent from the beginning; the Bible is clear. Any Christians who believe as I did in God’s plan of endless torment for most of humanity: I hope your mind is transformed and your heart is greatly encouraged by this blog. My mind has not been changed by wishful thinking but by Scripture and the biblical exegesis of many Christians who affirmed universal salvation throughout Church history. May we go back to the heart of the good news: God’s Father heart for every person that will prevail over even the hardest of hearts. May we leave the destructive theology that prompts us to share the gospel in such a way that we describe two different Gods: one who loves unconditionally with great abandon and grace, and one who will torment most of humanity for all eternity, most simply for never even having one opportunity to hear the gospel message. The second God described does not seem just or loving to our human understanding: and it is fine to use our God-given human understanding here. If something seems off – if God seems less than Love and Just – than maybe the God described is not the God of the Bible. Maybe our interpretations of Scripture are off.  Our understanding of justice and love teach us about God’s justice and love. If not even the worst of human fathers would torture his son or daughter for all eternity, this is a good indication that our Heavenly Father would not either.

Perhaps you do not agree with me, but I hope that at the very least you want me to be right about what I write. The Bible has the final say, and the Bible is clear: God intends to restore everything, all people. He does this in part using His justice, and true biblical justice is always ultimately restorative. God disciplines His children in justice out of His love for them and desire for sinners to change. He is the best Father. He shows no favoritism (Romans 2:11) and continually works for the salvation of all people. Even in death He works for our good and ultimately sanctification. This is seen most clearly in the death of Jesus. Evil and suffering are temporary things that God uses for good, and He only ever acts in love – God’s justice is a means of His love; they are not contrary to each other. Evil and suffering will be gone forever in the new heaven and new earth.

Researching for writing this blog and writing this blog has opened my eyes to how good God really is: better than I ever imagined. His plan in creating the world was always for every soul to be saved. You may not agree with me. Maybe in reading this you still will not. But I am confident that your mind will change because you will see it with your own eyes. At some point, God will restore all things (Acts 3:21). All means all. He never lies.

First, I explain what salvation means according to the Bible, which includes both justification and sanctification. Then, I give biblical evidence of universal salvation from Genesis to Revelation, addressing the passages that, falsely interpreted, indicate eternal torment.

I hope you are encouraged.