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“For
as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive”
-
1 Corinthians 15:22
One
of the common objections that comes up when people question the eventual
salvation of all men goes something like this:
“John,
what you don’t understand is that salvation is not just
forgiveness;
it is also man’s need for life. Man’s real problem is not just
that he is a sinner in need of forgiveness; his real problem is that
he is dead and needs to be made alive. Just
because
Jesus died for the sins of all doesn't mean they have life in
Christ.”
I
cannot speak for others who believe that God will save all, but I
personally would not disagree with this common objection. I, too,
believe that men are saved by the resurrected life of our Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ.
Now,
having said that, let me try to explain further how it can be that while
all men must be made alive to be saved, Jesus will eventually save all
men.
First,
it is important to understand that while not all men are yet saved
because not all men yet believe, all men have already been conciliated to
God.
Paul
tells us that "God
was in Christ reconciling (literal Greek, conciliating) the world to Himself, not counting their
trespasses against them" (2 Cor. 5:19). When did God, through
Christ, conciliate the world to Himself? At the cross. Done deal. The
entire world has
already
been
conciliated to God.
In other words, on God's end of things, He is no longer at odds with
mankind.
Keep that in mind.
Secondly,
Paul
tell us that "having been reconciled (past tense), we
shall be saved by His life" (Romans 5:10). Who is the
"we" he is referring to in this context? It is those who "were
(past tense) reconciled to God through the death of His Son"
(Rom. 5:10). So, who is it, that we have already noted, that has been
conciliated to God according to Paul in 2 Cor. 5:19? It is the entire
world. Those who have been conciliated to God (the entire world, no
exceptions) are those who will not only eventually be friendly toward
God, but will also be saved by His life. Good news?
Finally, Paul
declares that "For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all
shall be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the
first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming, then the
end, when He delivers up the kingdom to the
God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and authority and power.
For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The
last enemy that will be abolished is death" (1 Cor. 15:22-26).
When
death has been abolished, all, not some, shall be made alive
in Christ. It is because of the cross and His resurrected life that
"there resulted justification of life to all men"
(Romans 5:18).
My
friend, Jesus "humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of
death, even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:8) so that the same
"many" who were made sinners in Adam would eventually be made
righteous in Christ (Romans 5:19).
By
grace, and through the gift of faith, some are "saved" now in
this life. This is all of God's choosing and doing. It is according to
His will and for His ultimate glory. In the same way that He has blinded
the Jews as a nation as to their Messiah but will eventually save them
all, He is doing the same with the nations today.
One
day, God will be All in all (1 Cor. 15:28) and all men will rejoice, not
only in their own salvation, but in the salvation of everyone else. No
man will be angry at God or at odds with Him. God and all mankind will
be reconciled. Even
those who now despise the thought of God saving all men will be glad.
All
will one day joyfully confess that Jesus is Lord. Every knee and every
tongue (Philippians 2:11; Romans 10:9-10) will acknowledge Him as Savior
and Lord. All will have been made alive by the Spirit. It is "the
spirit doth make alive" (2 Cor. 3:6). The evidence for that
wonderful truth is the fact that "no one can say, 'Jesus is Lord,'
except by the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor. 12:3).
So,
are we saved by the life of Christ? Yes, we who believe are saved now,
but all men will one day be made alive by the Spirit, all praising and
all acknowledging that Jesus is Savior and Lord!
Grace
and peace to you,
John
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