Can Universalism be Refuted?

Dear Mike,

I read an essay by Ron Rhodes, and I wanted to know your thoughts on his essay, “Is Universalism Biblical?”

In the intro, he talks about Joh 12:32, Php 2:11, and 1Ti 2:4 as being “typically twisted out of context in support of universalism.” He explains how Joh 12:32 says that Christ’s death “makes possible” the salvation of Jews and Gentiles, but that in verse 48, it warns of judgment for those who reject Christ. Secondly, he says that Php 2:11 assures that all people will acknowledge Christ as Lord, but not necessarily as Savior (“Even those in hell will have to acknowledge Christ’s Lordship”). Finally, he says that 1Ti 2:4 “expresses God’s desire that all will be saved, but does not promise that all will be. This divine desire is only realized in those who exercise faith in Christ.”

Rhodes then proceeds to present several passages that seem to express the placing of people into the distinct classes of “saved/ unsaved, also called believers/ nonbelievers” and tell of two separate realities for each group (“heaven or hell”). They are Mat 13:30, 49; 25:32; Luk 16:26, and Act 16:31. In his analysis of Luk 16:26, he tells of how Hades has two “compartments,” namely “paradise” and “torments,” and that the unsaved cannot travel across the chasm into salvation.

I am very confused and intimidated by this essay, and would like to hear your insights.

Thanks and God bless,

B__

Hi B__,

Do not be intimidated by anyone who will not deal with the clearly erroneous translation of the word aion. Of course there are the ‘saved,’ and there are the ‘lost.’ The entire weight of the scriptures is an exhortation to not be one of the ‘lost.’ Be instead one of the “few” ‘saved.’

Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.
Mat 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Mat 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

All such scriptures are true in a proper understanding of the aions. In other words, of course there are many who are being called right now, but very few of those many are being chosen. This is the time of the “firstfruits.” This is the aion of the firstfruits. The aion of the “latter harvest” is not represented by the feast of firstfruits in the summer; it is represented by the feast of fall festival, the “feast of ingathering.”

Exo 23:16 And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.
Exo 34:22 And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year’s end.

All of the apostles were very much aware of the purpose and message contained in the observance of the holy days God gave ancient Israel. Though it is not to be observed by the mature, the laws regarding the holy days have been and always will be a “schoolmaster to bring us to Christ.”

Gal 3:25 But after that faith [ Christ] is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

It is the churches who refuse to admit that this word aion has a beginning:

2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called [ us] with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world [ Greek- aion] began,
Tit 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world [ Greek- aion] began;

Whatever this word means, it obviously was clearly understood to have a “beginning.”

But was it understood by the New Testament writers to have an end?:

Mat 13:39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world [ Greek- aion]; and the reapers are the angels.
Mat 13:40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world [ Greek- aion].

Whatever this word aion means, it has an end, and it has a beginning according to the way in which the Holy Spirit inspired it to be used. This scriptural fact annihilates any and all opposition to the fact that God is indeed a loving Father:

1Ti 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved [ in the latter “harvest of ingatherings], and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

The firstfruits are not the only fruits. But the firstfruits, as any farmer knows are special:

1Ti 4:10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, [ not exclusively, but] specially of those that believe.

I was a farm boy. I am very aware of the natural fact that the first tomatoes, the first melons and the first berries and even the first flowers, are always the biggest and the best. My firstfruit blueberries are almost twice the size of the later berries. I especially appreciate those long awaited firstfruits, but I have an equal appreciation for that much larger fall harvest. The fruits are nowhere as big but the volume is much greater. Both are a joy to harvest.

And so it will be with God.

If you can find a copy of The Restitution of All Things by Andrew Jukes, you can have all your questions and then some answered on every imaginable scripture on this vital topic. You will be blown away at the deliberate attempt of the translators to cover up the true meaning of this little Greek word, aion.

Read that book and then, if you still have questions, get back to me.

Your brother in His service,

Mike