Universalism revisted

[B-A-C]

Universalism (Unitarian)

There is a group of people that call themselves Christians. They believe everyone
is saved. Everyone is going to heaven. It doesn't matter if you are a Christian or not.
It doesn't matter if you believe in Jesus or not. They believe no one goes to hell,
at least not anymore. You can even worship Satan and torture children, it doesn't
matter all that much.

Some key verses they use to support this...

1 Jn 2:2; and He himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours
only, but for those of the whole world."

They don't believe this verse is only talking about Jewish believer and Gentile believers,
but everyone, whether they believe or not.

1 Cor 15:28; When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be
subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all
in all.

They take this to believe that God is in everyone, and because He is in everyone, everyone
must be saved.

John 3:17; For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the
world through Him might be saved.

God sent Jesus to save the "whole" world, so therefore the whole world is saved.

Mal 2:10; "Do we not all have one father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal
treacherously each against his brother so as to profane the covenant of our fathers?

Since we are "all" sons of God, and God won't let any of His children perish...

Ezek 18:4; Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die.

All sould belong to God and He won't let them go to hell. It seems they interpret the
part of this verse that says "The soul who sins will die" was only applicable before
Jesus died for our sins.

John 3:35; The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand.

Since every thing is in Jesus hands and He saves everyone...

They are other religions that believe this as well. Some sects of Hindiusm, and Buddhism,
even some Muslims believe this. The majority of Mormon's believe this. Which almost begs
the question... why call yourself a Christian? If the Christ isn't required to go to heaven,
then why believe in Him at all? (Some of these sects even admit they believe this as well).

This is slightly different from Hyper-grace Calvinists, and Antimonianists, because they
believe you have to at least "believe in Jesus" (although they have differing opinions on
what that entails).

Universalists don't believe the book of Revelation to be the end of God's plan for the
current world. But that "there is a future truth left for each individual to discover".

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Obedience to God is not required. Moral character is not required. You "should" be a
good/moral person, but it's not required. Belief in God or Jesus or any other is not
discouraged, but it's not required either.

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There are some of these people lurking about here in TJ. They rarely come out and identify
themselves as Universalists, but usually they are easy to spot by comments made in their
posts from time to time.

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I can't help but think about many of these beliefs are related to several forum threads
that are currently active here on TJ. Do we really need to believe in Jesus?
Do we just need to believe in Him, or do we need to know Him personally? Do we trust Jesus
to save everyone no matter what, or is some obedience required on our part?

... to be continued ...

 

[B-A-C]

*Update*
I have a a couple of corrections. By someone who wants to remain anonymous.

The reason they identify as Christians, is because it required Jesus's sacrifice in order for everyone to be saved.
Not everyone is required to believe it, but that's why they identify as Christians.

I was also told I should include a couple more verses.

1 Tim 2:3; This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
1 Tim 2:4; who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth

2 Pet 3:9; The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing
for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

God doesn't want anyone to go to hell. Since God's will is supreme, no one will go to hell (now).

.... to be continued ..

 

[RJ]

When I was in the Presbyterian Church, I went to a Presbytery Seminar. The speaker was a Pastor..with a PhD. He was a Universalist. Like you say, he believed that in the end, everyone will be saved, even the devil!,,,they use Romans 14:11 and Philippians 2:10 as some of their proof. I told him that I realized he was the one with the degree and I was a nobody and we had quite a debate until he said that he must get back to teaching his class. Needless to say, I didn't agree with him and the Bible told me a much different story....I have since left that Presbytery!

 

[B-A-C]

I briefly mentioned antimonianism in post #1.

The only real difference between Antimonianism, and Universalism is that you have to
believe in Jesus. You can still commit murder, rape, homosexuality, satan worship,
but you have to at least acknowledge Jesus.

The primary argument here is that "those who believe in Jesus" are no longer under the law.
So therefore the law doesn't apply to Christians.

Again, much like the Universalists, they say "you "should" have good morals, and you should
not do things to hurt other people, but even if you do, it isn't sin because we are no longer
under the law. In fact you can't sin even if you wanted to. (As long as you believe in Jesus).

We have had a few professed antimonianists here on TJ as well. However I haven't heard from them
or seen any posts from them in quite a while.

... to be continued ...