My Problem With 'Universalism'? Jesus' Words.

I've been thinking a lot lately about "universalism" -- the idea that everybody will be saved.  I guess my introduction with this concept came at an early age.  In the circles I often was exposed to, there was always the idea that if there wasn't a belief in 'out and out universalism' -- there was at least a promotion of the idea that eventually everyone (dead or alive) would be given a chance to see Christ in His Glory and given a second chance to be saved in the last days.  That much has always been a possibility in my mind.  Of course, they could reject Christ and thus be lost, and hence no 'universalism'.

More recently, yet another controversy within the Evangelical Church -- this time stirred up, perhaps unintentionally, by Rob Bell's book, Love Wins, has made me do my fair share of thinking on the topic.  So, I must admit I was open to reconsidering the possibility of some variation to what we  evangelicals have generally accepted as the Gospel truth; that is, that there is no universalism.  Yes, we do not know who Jesus will allow into His Kingdom and who He will not.  And yes, we'll be very surprised when the time comes to find out who is there and who isn't.

(Let me interject some separate thoughts here which hopefully will not muddy the waters.  There is the issue of young children who have not reached the age of mental accountability where they can genuinely make a decision about Christ as Lord and Savior on their own.  I am not prepared to say that a child of a parent who is able to get his or her two-year-old to repeat out loud the words, "I accept Jesus into my heart" will be treated by God differently than a two-year-old whose parent was not able to have them echo those words.  We also believe those who have never had the Gospel shared with them -- those who may have lived all their lives in an isolated island or in the depths of the jungle -- they will be judged in accordance with what they did with the light that the very universe has given them about God for in Psalms 97:6 we read, "the heavens declare His righteousness and all the people see His glory."  I believe Romans 1:20 also speaks to that possibility.  Finally, there is the issue of the Jewish person that is faithful to the promises of the Old Testament, and who, unlike those who have seen or been told about the Messiah and have rejected Him out of hand, this Jew has not had this opportunity.  For me at least, the verdict is still out on the faithful Jew who continues to seek His Messiah.  And we still have to consider Isaiah 45:17 which says, "Israel has been saved by the Lord With an everlasting salvation; You will not be put to shame or humiliated To all eternity."  Let us set these three situations aside, as important as they are, for another time and stick for now to the main discussion of 'pure and total universalism'.)

But for the most part, I believe that the way to eternal life is through Jesus Christ and the acceptance of His sacrifice on my behalf when He gave His Life for my sins.  That is, no 'universalism' as defined as "everyone goes to heaven."

I asked God to give me some clear confirmation, not for anyone else, but just for me, from His Word that what I believed was indeed the truth and I was to stick with it.  I then forgot about it.  I really did.  This morning, getting ready for church, I was studying the gospel of John with the help of Philip W. Comfort and Wendell C. Hawley's Opening John's Gospel and Epistles: Pastoral Reflections on Love, Light, and Logos.

I came to John 8:21.  Jesus, who is Truth, says this: "I go away, and you shall seek Me, and (you) shall die in your sin (because you won't accept me); where I am going (to the Father), you cannot come."  I have added the words in brackets to clarify context of this verse in the passage as a whole.

And then it hit me.  I'm not expecting it to hit you the some way.  But at least hear me out.

Many scholars believe that as far as John's actual writing is concerned the section that begins with chapter 8, verse 12 was actually preceded by chapter 7, verse 52.  And everything in between was added later by scribes.  When you study the contexts in these three sections (up to 7:52; then 7:53 to 8:11; and then from 8:12 forward) in light of the various major threads and themes John is trying to convey in his gospel, you can see where the scholars are coming from.

Basically, they contend that in 8:12 and following, Jesus was really continuing with His declaration of Who He Is.  In the section designated as Chapter 7, verses 37-39 He presents Himself as the true source of living water and He immediately continues in Chapter 8, verse 12 to present Himself as the true Light that needs to be received and followed.  A little further down in verse 19, Jesus tells the Pharisees that they do not know Him and they do not know His Father.  In fact, if they had known or accepted Who He was, they would know His Father.

Then down in verse 21, likely on a separate occasion, He continues to tell them that because they do not know Him, nor will they accept Him, He's going to go away and they'll still be seeking the Messiah they were waiting for.  And in the meanwhile, they will die while yet in their sin.

And what exactly was that sin?  It was the fact that they had Him in their midst, they had an opportunity to accept Him for Who He said He Is, and to get to know Him well, and they did not.  They would go to their graves "with that sin" not dealt with, not atoned for.

Now if we stop there, some may say, "Okay, but there's still hope for these guys at the resurrection of the dead." Perhaps.  But Jesus does not stop there.  He continues with these words: "(and) where I am going, you cannot come."  That sounds pretty final for me.  Jesus did not say to these individuals who would accept Him, that "you cannot come now."  Neither did He say to them as He did to His Disciples when He comforted them a few chapters later in John 14:1-3 with these words, "Let not your heart be troubled . . . I go to prepare a place for you. . . I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also."  These men had accepted who He was.  They were His.

But to those who had not accepted Who He Is, Jesus was implying, "if you die in your sin, that only accepting Me and knowing Me and My Father could prevent, you will not, you cannot, come where I am going now or later."

As I said, you can come to your own conclusion.  But I do not know of a better source for truth than Truth Himself as given to us in the living Word of God.  My mind was set at ease.  But even if you accept what I am postulating here as the rationale for rejecting 'universalism', your mind will only be set at ease if you find yourself on the 'upside' of that Truth.

Thanks for dropping by.  Sign up to receive free updates.  We bring you relevant information from all sorts of sources.  Subscribe for free to this blog or follow us by clicking on the appropriate link in the right side bar.  And please share this blog with your friends.   Ken Godevenos, Church and Management Consultant, Accord Consulting.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.