13. Biblical Support for Universal Salvation
See the Hebrew scriptures and New Testament scriptures above about people not being punished by God forever in hell.
SUMMARY: Nobody can thwart God's will, who wills all men to be saved, not wanting anyone to perish, to have mercy on everyone, to save the whole world by Jesus atoning for the sins of the whole world.
SCRIPTURE EVIDENCE:
a."Then Job replied to the Lord: 'I know that you can do anything and no plan of yours can be thwarted.'" (Job 42:1-2)
b."God our Savior, who will have all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:3-4)
c. "[God] is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)
d."For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all." (Romans 11:32)
e."For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." (John 3:17)
f."And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world." (1 John 4:14)
g."[Christ] is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:2)
SUMMARY: All who die will be made alive in Christ, so that God will be all in all, because he gave his life as a ransom for all men, as the Savior of all men, he died for all, to draw all men to himself, so that all people will see God's salvation which has appeared to all men. Just as Adam's sin brought condemnation to all, so Christ act brought justification for all, to bring everything under his control and to bring all things in heaven and earth together under him.
SCRIPTURE EVIDENCE:
a."For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive." (1 Corinthians 15:22)
b."The Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all." (1 Corinthians 15:28)
c."For there is one God and one Mediator between God and man, which is the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men, to be that testimony in due time." (1 Timothy 2:5-6)
d."For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe." (1 Timothy 4:10-11)
e."And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. (2 Corinthians 5:15)
f."But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." (John 12:32)
g."Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all people will see God’s salvation.’” (Luke 3:5-6)
h."For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men." (Titus 2:11)
i."Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people." (Romans 5:18)
j."But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." (Philippians 3:20-21)
k."And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment -- to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ." (Ephesians 1:9-10)
SUMMARY: God reconciles his enemies to himself because he loves even his enemies and reconciles all things to himself. When God reconciles all his enemies, even death itself, it will be the "universal restoration" first prophesized by Elijah, then by his reincarnation John the Baptist, then by his future reincarnation as one of the "two witnesses" in the Book of Revelation. Then the end will come and the Kingdom of the Lord will be established on earth.
SCRIPTURE EVIDENCE:
a."If, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!" (Romans 5:10)
b."But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked." (Luke 6:35)
c."For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross." (Colossians 1:19-20)
d."Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.. For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all." (1 Corinthians 15:24-28)
e.[Peter addressed the Israelites;] "But God had foretold through all his prophets that his Christ must suffer and this was how his words came true. Now you must repent and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, that time after time your souls may know the refreshment that comes from the presence of God. Then he will send you Jesus, your long-heralded Christ, although for the time he must remain in Heaven until that universal restoration of which God spoke in ancient times through all his holy prophets." (Acts 3:18-23)
f.SUMMARY: The "time of universal restoration" is the time heralded by Elijah when the promised Jewish Messiah comes to rule the Kingdom of God on earth to restore all things and creatures to God. But because John the Baptist (as the reincarnation of Elijah) and Jesus were killed, the time of universal restoration was postponed. After Jesus was killed, the Church age began when Gentiles were being brought to God. According to the Book of Revelation, another time will come when both Elijah and Moses will reincarnate again heralding the return of Jesus. Afterward, the universal restoration will occur and the Kingdom of God will be established on earth.
--"Jesus chose Peter, James and his brother John, to accompany him high up on the hillside where [Jesus transformed into a being of light]... Then Moses and Elijah were seen talking to Jesus... On their way down the hillside Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about what they had seen until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. Then the disciples demanded, 'Why is it, then, that the scribes always say Elijah must come first?' 'Yes, Elijah does come first,' replied Jesus, 'and begins the world’s reformation. But I tell you that Elijah has come already and men did not recognize him. They did what they liked with him, and they will do the same to the Son of Man. Then they realized that he had been referring to John the Baptist." (Matthew 17:1-13)
--Read about all the scriptural evidence proving John the Baptist was the reincarnation of Elijah the prophet. Here more some examples:
(1)"Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord." (Malachi 4:5)
(2)"For all the Prophets and the Law have prophesied until John. And if you are willing to receive it, he (John the Baptist) is the Elijah who was to come." (Matthew 11:13-14)
SUMMARY: In the Book of Revelation, the prophets Elijah and Moses appear again before Jesus appears. This time the result is the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth.
--"'And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.' They are 'the two olive trees' and the two lampstands, and 'they stand before the Lord of the earth.' If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. They have power [of Elijah] to shut up the heavens so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power [of Moses] to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want ... The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth ... Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, 'Come up here.' And they went up to heaven in a cloud ... The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: 'The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.'" (Revelation 11:3-15)