Creeping Universalism

January 27, 2016

Creeping Universalism

“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.

Matthew 7:21

Jesus amplifies this teaching later in the Gospel of Matthew when he gives his parable of the Final Judgment, Matthew 25:31-46. The common thread in both passages is that not everyone will make the cut! Those were not unexpected teachings at the time Jesus first spoke those words, but today they are even harder to hear because we live in a culture where everyone gets a ribbon. To avoid the stigma of having losers because we recognize winners, the culture awards participant trophies. Throughout history some people achieved success, and some didn’t. Societies understood this and provided incentives for people to strive toward success. However, this attribute of society has changed.

What is true in the general culture is true within some parts of the church society as well. Yes, there are still many who celebrate Saint Paul’s hope, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7-8). However, more and more I see signs of the culture influencing the church, instead of the other way around. More and more universalism is creeping in, where if not everyone, most everyone are saved.

Those who lean toward universalism will say that Jesus’ words in Matthew were before his crucifixion, and that after his death and resurrection everything changed, everyone gets included in God’s redemptive plan, whether they choose to follow Jesus or not. There are many places in the New Testament that dispel such a notion, but for now just look again at Paul’s words quoted above: “all who eagerly look forward to his appearing.” To eagerly look forward to the coming again of Jesus in final victory is to fully embrace his divinity, his values, and his ways. To eagerly look forward to the coming again of Jesus in final victory is to live your life in obedience to his Word and to bear fruits of righteousness.

I am saddened to see more and more people who have deceived themselves into believing that they can live life their way and still expect to receive Gods’ crown of righteousness. I agree completely with Brennan Manning: God loves us unconditionally, just as we are, not as we should be, because none of us are as we should be. Even so, God does call us to turn our hearts to Him and His ways. We are called by God to participate with Him as He is working in us, giving us the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.