There are many Christians who believe that there will come a time when all men will be saved, regardless of whether they believed in Christ in this life or not. They believe that those who did not accept Christ will be raised for the great white throne judgment and given another chance to accept Christ as their savior. And since the power of God had been proven by the resurrection of the unbeliever who will stand at the great white throne, it is assumed that all men will believe in Him Who raised them from the dead.

In discussing this topic I will present several topics from the Bible which will greatly impact on the subject of universal salvation. These topics are:

I. The Difference Between Universal Reconciliation And Universal Salvation

II.  What Is Death?

III. Who Will Be Judged At The Great White Throne?

IV.  The Resurrection Of The Unjust

V. Resurrection in the Old Testament

VI.   Passages That Seem To Teach Universal Salvation

 

II Cor. 5:18-19 makes it clear that the Bible does indeed teach that the whole world is reconciled to God by the shed blood of Christ on the cross. "All this is from God, Who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them…".Note that reconciliation is God acting unilaterally, that is to say, reconciliation is unconditional, not in any way dependent on anything that man may or may not do.

Consider also Col. 1:19-20, 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". 

Let us go on in our study and look at Romans 5:10 which also speaks of reconciliation.. "For if, when 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! "Note that Paul is making a distinction between reconciliation and salvation. That is to say, he is saying that now that we have been reconciled by Christ's death, then we may go on and be saved through His life.

Now let us consider Romans 10:9 where we read, "if thou shalt confess with they mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved". This verse is speaking of salvation, not reconciliation, and it is extremely important to note that salvation, unlike reconciliation is given on condition that one confesses and believes.

Acts 16:30-31 is another passage that explains the condition which must be met in order to be saved, "..what must I do to be saved? They replied, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…". One might ask, "As long as an unbeliever's sins are not counted against him, why will he not be granted resurrection life? The answer is that resurrection life is a gift. It is a gift that is given to all who believe. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life."(John 3:16). Most Christians tend to believe that it is sin that keeps the unbeliever from resurrection life. But that is not what Scriptures teach. Sin is not imputed, even to the unbeliever. But the gift of eternal life is not given even to the unbeliever who, in God's sight, has no sin (because it is not counted against him) because resurrection life is given only to those who believe in His resurrected Son. 

Another question we might ask is, if God does not impute one's sin against him, why are there calls to repentance? In my paper on this web-site, Repentance Is Not A Message Of Salvation I give the reasons for my belief that one is never called upon to repent in order to be saved from death. I realize that this is not a widely held view, so I urge the reader to look at the above- mentioned paper.

When God reconciled the world to Himself He no longer counted men's sins against them. So when a man dies, God does not count his sins against him whether that man accepted Christ as his savior or not. Does that mean that because no sins are counted against the unbeliever that the unbeliever is saved? Absolutely not! Salvation is not unconditional, as is reconciliation; salvation is based on the condition of belief in Christ.

One might ask, "If reconciliation is not the same as salvation, what is it?". That question is answered in the paper on this web-site, "Who Was Reconciled To God By the Cross?".

II. WHAT IS DEATH?

Phil. 2:9 -11 is a passage that is often quoted to show that universal salvation is a scriptural truth. It reads, "Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father". Some of those who espouse the doctrine of universal salvation point to this passage and say that it includes even the dead. Our topic therefore demands that we understand the scriptural description of death.

Let us consider, for example, Psalm 49:13-15, "This is the fate of those who trust in themselves,…..Like sheep they are destined for the grave, and death will feed on them. The upright will rule over them in the morning; their forms will decay in the grave far from their princely mansions. But God will redeem my soul from the grave; He will surely take me to Himself". Note the contrast in this verse. The forms will decay, but the writer of the Psalm will be redeemed. Without redemption, i.e. resurrection, there is no life after death.

Job 8:13, "Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so perishes the hope of the godless". Not only does the godless man perish, but this verse tells us that his hope perishes as well.

Job 14:10, "But man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last and is no more".

Isaiah 26:14, "They are now dead, they live no more; those departed spirits do not rise. You punished them and brought them to ruin; you wiped out all memory of them". It is clear from these scriptures that apart from resurrection, man, when he dies, is no more. If he is no more, he can not have a second chance at salvation. (The note in the Companion Bible suggest that Is. 26:14 refers to Rephaim, not to the offspring of Adam. The paper on this web-site Were The Rephaim Progeny Of Fallen Angles? will prove from scripture that they were not. Therefore, Is. 26:14 is not limited, it applies to all unbelievers, except for those of the tribulation.)

Jer. 51:39 and 57, "In their heat I will make their feasts and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the Lord".

Mr. A.E. Knoch, one of the main teachers of the universal salvation doctrine writes, "The sinner is raised from the dead because he cannot be judged in the death state. Once raised he has tasted the power of God and sees the acts of his previous life in the light of the divine presence". And he also writes, "There can be no judgment in death. The resurrection of the unjust is proof positive that there can be no judgment before the sinner has been restored to life." Mr. Knoch also writes, "It (the judgment of the unjust) is at the great white throne in the interval between the resurrection and the second death .We are dealing with the great mass of mankind." It is clear that the key issue to universal salvation is that all unbelievers will be raised and judged at the great white throne. It is with this issue that, in my opinion, the doctrine of universal salvation totally fails. We have already seen that there are at least six passages that tell us that some will not be raised for judgment or anything else. We will study this issue in the next section of this paper.

III. WHO WILL BE JUDGED AT THE GREAT WHITE THRONE?

It has long been taught that all unbelievers of every dispensation will be judged at the great white throne. Let us consider this by searching the scriptures.

The great white throne is mentioned by name only in Revelation. The book of Revelation is centered on the tribulation. This fact connects the great white throne with the tribulation.

Rev. 20:11- 12 gives us further insight as to the great white throne judgment and reads, "Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it.….books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books". Note that these people at the great white throne were judged by what they had done. But man has always been saved by grace through faith in every dispensation. In Rom. 4:3 Paul quotes Gen. 15:6 when he writes, "Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness". And in the next verses Paul writes, "Now when a man works his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God, ….his faith is credited to him as righteousness" (Rom. 4:4-5). Abraham lived before the dispensation of Law. But we know that salvation was by grace through faith for the entire dispensation of Law, as well as before it, because in the next verse Paul writes that, "David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works. So Paul, in verse 5 tells us that for the man who trusts God, his faith is credited as righteousness. And then, by the Holy Spirit tells us that David says the same thing. We must conclude that those who lived in the dispensation of Law, as well as every other dispensation, are saved by grace through faith. 

We might ask ourselves why, out of all the times of history, are the unbelievers of the tribulation raised to be judged for what they have done, when the Bible is clear that salvation is by grace through faith? I believe that the answer lies in Rev. 3:10 where we read that the time of testing will come upon the inhabited world to test Israel. 

What is the tribulation all about? It is about Satan, with the antichrist as his agent "pulling out all the stops", so to speak, to try to get Israel, God’s chosen people, to forsake God and worship Satan. The very first commandment that God gave to His chosen people (Thou shalt have no other gods before Me) tells us how He would feel about them worshipping Satan. While it is true that Israel worshipped idols throughout much of their Old Testament history, there is no record of them ever having worshipped God’s arch- enemy, Satan. 

I believe that the tribulation will be a very special time when those who are to be tested will have to choose between remaining true to the God of heaven and earth, or worshipping Satan. Those who remain true to God and refuse to worship the antichrist, or to receive the mark of the beast, may lose their lives, but they will partake in the first resurrection and will live and reign with Him. Those who do receive the mark of the beast and who do worship the antichrist may save their temporal lives but will be judged at the great white throne, and are in danger of suffering the second death, i.e. being cast into the lake of fire. The fact that those who were judged at the great white throne by what they had done should make us, at least, consider the question as to who was judged and why they were judged by what they had done?

For the answer to those questions let us back up a little to Rev. 20: 4-6."….And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. "This tells us that John is speaking of those who went through the great tribulation, he is not speaking of every person that ever lived from the beginning of time. Let us go on with verse 4, "They (i.e. those who had not worshipped the beast during the great tribulation) came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. "We read in this portion of the verse of the reward for those who did not worship the beast, i.e. that they will reign with Christ during His millennial reign. Now let us go to verse 5,"(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.)"To say that the "rest of the dead" in this verse applies to the dead of all ages is to take this phrase entirely out of context. The context is clearly contrasting those who did not receive the mark of the beast during the tribulation with those who did. The former will reign with Christ in His millennial reign, the latter will be raised after the millennial reign to be judged. But in both cases, those who did and those who did not receive the mark of the beast, were those who lived through the tribulation. It is clear that we must take the phrase "the rest of the dead" in its context in order to have a correct understanding of who "the rest of the dead" were.

Let me put this concept in terms of every day life. If we, for example, went to a dog show, we might see that after the first round of judging some dogs were allowed to leave, but others were being kept. One of the judges might dismiss some dogs, but ask the rest of the dogs to go to a different room for further testing. When the judge asked the rest of the dogs to go to a different room, he did not have in mind the rest of the dogs in the whole world, but the rest of the dogs that were left in the competition.

So when John writes of the "rest of the dead", he is not referring to the rest of the dead that ever lived, he is referring to the rest of the dead who lived through the tribulation. The tribulation is what Revelation is about; we must take things in their contexts. 

Let us look again at Rev. 20:5 where we read, "The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended". The word "loipos" is the Greek word translated here "rest". It occurs 42 times and is translated "other(s)" 24 times;" rest" 12 times; "remnant" 4 times and "residue" and "remains" one time each. One of the verses which translates "loipos" as "other" is II Cor. 12:13, "How were you inferior to the other churches, except that I was never a burden to you? "Did Paul mean all the churches of the world, including all the false religions of the world, or only Christian churches? The answer is obvious, we must consider "other" in its context.  Consider also Gal. 2:13, "The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy…". The context will show that the hypocrisy was that believing Jews refused to eat with Gentiles. Unbelieving Jews would not even have considered such a thing as they considered it against the Mosaic Law. So by not eating with Gentiles, unbelieving Jews would have been living in ignorance, not hypocrisy. Again, we must consider "other" in the context or we will certainly be led astray in our seeking for the truth. In this case "other" refers to believing Jews, not to all the Jews in the world, including unbelieving Jews.

If "loipos" had been translated "others" in Rev. 20:5 (as it had been in the 24 of the 42 occurrences of the Greek) there would have been no difficulty with the question of who would be judged at the great white throne."….I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.(The others did not come to life until the thousand years were ended)." The translators chose "rest" instead of "others", but "others" is certainly more accurate. That is to say, that if Rev. 20:5 had been translated in the same way as the majority of the other occurrences of "loipos", we would have understood that the "others" referred to in verse 5 are those who did worship the beast.

Some might say that while it is true that most of the Revelation has to do with tribulation times, the scope of the book changes when we get to the great white throne in chapter 20. Let us examine that thought. In Rev. 2:7 we read for the first time of overcoming. "….To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God". The paradise of God, is, of course described in Rev. 21 and we read in verse 7 of that chapter, "He who overcomes will inherit all this…". Chapter two promises the overcomers of the tribulation life in the "paradise of God", and chapter 21 describes that paradise and promises it once again to the overcomes. Because the promise made in chapter 2 is made to the overcomers of the tribulation, and that promise is referred to in chapter 21, it is obvious, in my opinion, that the scope of Revelation does not change from chapter 2 to chapter 21. The entire book centers on the tribulation and the reward or judgment of those who lived and/or died during it. 

Going back again to chapter two of Revelation, we read in verse 11, "He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death". The second death is explained in Rev. 20:14, "The second death is the lake of fire". The same promise is made in chapter two concerning the second death as is made again in chapter 20."Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them…"(Rev. 20:6).Again, the same promise is made to the same people (the overcomers) in chapter two as is made in chapter 20. This, once again, shows that the scope of Revelation does not change from the beginning of the book to the end of the book.

We have seen by comparing the earlier chapters of Revelation with the last chapters of Revelation that the scope of the book does not change at all. The entire book has to do with the tribulation and the reward or punishment given to those who lived through it. Therefore, when we read in chapter 20 of the great white throne, we should not read into God's Word that which is not intended. That is to say, we may not include all of humanity from every dispensation, when the entire book centers on a three and one-half year time period. (In another paper on this site, I give the reasons for my belief that the tribulation is not world wide, this limits the Revelation not only in the length of time, but also its geographical area. Please see The Tribulation Is Not Worldwide).

Some might object to the fairness of some unbelievers, i.e. those that live during the tribulation period and in the day of God's wrath, being subject to judgment and the punishment of the second death, while most unbelievers will not be. Let us examine that objection.

While it is true in my opinion, that unbelievers of the end times are subject to punishment that unbelievers of other dispensations are not, it is also true that they will be the beneficiaries of many special signs and ministries of God. For example, Matthew 24:4-29 is a record of the signs of the end times given by our Lord to His disciples so that they might recognize them when the end comes. These signs are recorded for all who seek the truth concerning those days, and should prove to all who read it that God is the One true God. Note verse 5 where we are warned that false prophets will come and deceive many. Verse 15, "So when you see standing in the holy place the abomination that causes desolation, spoken of through the prophet Daniel-let the reader understand- then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains". What further sign that the end times have arrived could anyone possibly want then an idol placed in God's holy temple? And how could even the unbeliever not be convinced that God is Who He says He is when he is a witness to the fulfillment of prophecy in his own time.

As if that were not enough, we read in Rev. 11:3 of two witnesses, "And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth". We read in verse 5 of these two witnesses and the absolute proof of their being sent from God. "If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies".

And as if that were not enough, let us consider Rev. 14:6-7, "Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth-to every nation, tribe, language and people. He said in a loud voice, 'Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come". What could possibly be more convincing?

Yes, I believe that it is true that some unbelievers (those of the tribulation period and the day of God's wrath) will be judged and punished whereas other unbelievers will not be. But those who will be judged and punished are given more advantages in hearing the truth than in other dispensations and will therefore, be without excuse.

In summary then, I am suggesting that because the entire book of Revelation is limited as to the time period, I believe that only the unbelievers who went through the tribulation will be raised and judged at the great white throne, not all unbelievers from every dispensation.  For the reasons given above, I believe that we may conclude that the great white throne judgment is not a judgment of all the dead who ever lived. Rather, it is limited to those who lived through the tribulation and did worship the antichrist and who did receive the mark of the beast. Therefore, we have no scriptural evidence of a general resurrection of all unbelievers and consequently, no second chance for salvation. With no second chance to accept Christ as savior, the unbelievers remain in their graves, and there is no universal salvation.

There are a few passages that do speak of the resurrection of the unjust. Do those passages speak of mankind in general? Let us examine the scriptures for an answer to that question.

IV. PASSAGES THAT SPEAK OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE UNJUST DANIEL 12:1-2

Daniel 12:1-2 is a passage that speaks of the resurrection and judgment of the unjust. "At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people, everyone whose name is written in the book of life, will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust will awake, some to everlasting life and others to shame and everlasting contempt. " How are we to understand this passage, who does it concern, when will this judgment take place?  Some of these questions are answered in the passage itself. Note for example, the phrase "your people" appears twice. That tells us that this passage is about Daniel’s people, Israel. What is the time that is spoken of in this passage? We are told that it is about the time of the greatest distress, i.e. the great tribulation. This makes sense; the tribulation is to be centered on Israel, Daniel’s people.

We read of those whose name is written in the book of life. While it is true that believers of the dispensation of the mystery have their names written in the book of life, I believe that to make Daniel 12:1-2 apply to believers of all dispensations is take the phrase "book of life" in Daniel out of context and force a meaning that the context will not allow. The context is about Israel and the tribulation, not about everyone who ever lived in the whole world. 

To summarize what we have learned of this passage: The resurrection of Daniel 12 includes the unjust, but limits that resurrection in time and scope. It limits the resurrection to the time of the tribulation and to the people of Israel. Again, we may not, in my opinion, include all unbelievers in this passage, as the Holy Spirit was specific in the description of the time and the scope of this resurrection. The phrase, "Multitudes who sleep in the dust will awake, some to everlasting life and others to shame…" is similar to the one in John 5 and will be discussed in the next section of this paper.

There are several passages in the New Testament about judgment. We will look only at those passages that speak of resurrection and judgment of the unjust as those are the only passages that impact on our study.

JOHN 5:24-29

Other than the passage in Revelation 20 about the great white throne judgment, there are only two passages in the New Testament that mention a resurrection and judgment of the unjust. The first one is in John 5:24-29. John 5:24-25 reads, "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of Man, and those who hear will live."

But then, in verses 28-29 our Lord says, "Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice and come out – those who have done good will rise to live and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned". In verse 25 "the dead will hear the voice of the Son of Man and those who hear will live". But in verses 28-29 we are told that all in the graves will hear His voice and come out but not all will live. "Those who have done evil will rise to be condemned".

There seems to be a contradiction in this passage. That is to say, in verse 25 our Lord says those in their graves who hear His voice will live. But in verses 28 and 29 He says that some of those in the grave who hear His voice will not live but be condemned.(While it is true that the word "judgment" is a better translation of the Greek than "condemned", it does not change the meaning of the passage, as it involves judgment of the wicked.)

The key to understanding this passage is to note that both statements begin with "A time is coming". I believe that the only way we can understand this passage and to answer the seeming contradiction, is to recognize the fact that there are two resurrections mentioned, and they occur at two different times. The first one mentioned is for the believer who will not be judged but has passed from death to life; the second resurrection mentioned is for those who will be judged.

Let us examine each resurrection for the scriptural evidence, which will tell us when these two resurrections will take place.

In verse 24 we read of those who "believe" and have therefore, "crossed over from death to life". I believe that this resurrection points us to I Thess. 4:16 where we read of the second coming of our Lord when "the dead in Christ will rise …".The resurrection of verses 24-26 then, refers to the resurrection at the second coming, i.e. at the beginning of the millennial reign.

When will the resurrection of verses 28-29 occur? We are not told explicitly when, but we are told something of the character of the judgment of those who are resurrected. We read in verse 29 that they will be judged according to what they have done, "those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned". This seems to be salvation by works! As we learned from the section above on the great white throne, salvation has always been by grace through faith. Nowhere but here, in John five, and in Revelation 20 do we read of the resurrection of the unbeliever in order to be judged according to their works. 

Because the only two passages that speak of a resurrection to judgment by works occurs in John 5:28-29 and in Rev. 20 at the great white throne, I believe that we may conclude both passages speak of the same event, the great white throne judgment. It is after the millennial reign, so the resurrection of John five verses 28-29 refers to the one after the millennial reign. Just as the first resurrection mentioned in Rev. 20:6 is for those who were resurrected before the millennial reign, so the first mention of a resurrection in John 5 ( i.e. verses 25-27) is before the millennial reign. So also, just as the second resurrection of Rev. 20:11-14 will be for those who will be raised for judgment after the millennial reign, so those in John 5:28-29 will be raised for judgment after the millennial reign. The judgment that occurs after the millennial reign is at the great white throne. We have a complete and beautiful symmetry between John 5 and Rev. 20.

As we discussed in the paragraphs above, the resurrection of Rev. 20 at the great white throne is limited to those who received the mark of the beast during the tribulation, so also, is the resurrection of John 5:28-29 limited to those who received the mark of the beast.

Let me summarize what has been written here concerning John 5. John 5:24-27 speaks of the resurrection of believers; they will be raised before the millennial reign of Christ, and they will not be judged. The resurrection of verses 28-29, on the other hand, will be after the millennial reign of Christ and they will be judged. By comparing John 5:28-29 with Rev. 20 we see that the resurrection of John 5:28-29 will lead to the judgment at the great white throne.

ACTS 24:14-15

Another passage having to do with the resurrection of the unjust is found in Acts 24:14:15. Paul writes, "…. I believe everything that agrees with the Law and that which is written in the Prophets, and I have the same hope in God as these men, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked". Note Paul’s reference to the Law and the Prophets. The only reference I can find by the Old Testament prophets to the resurrection of the wicked is Daniel 12:1-2. That scripture has been discussed above. As we have seen, it refers to the great white throne judgment, a judgment of those who lived through the tribulation. 

V. Resurrection in the Old Testament

Other than the picture of the resurrection of our Lord given by the experience of Jonas in the belly of the leviathan, I can find only two scriptures in the Old Testament which refer to resurrection. (It is therefore perhaps understandable why some who lived while our Lord was on earth did not believe in resurrection.)  One of those passages is in Daniel 12, which we have already discussed.  The other is in Ezek. 37:12-14. This passage speaks of the resurrection of Israel.  We read in verse 11, "Then he said to me: Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. ….Therefore prophesy and say to them: This is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘O My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them". If we take the phrase, the "whole house of Israel" out of context we may be drawn to the erroneous conclusion that it refers to the unfaithful as well as the faithful.  But let us continue with the very next phrase, where we read, "I will bring you back to the land of Israel".

This phrase is important in that it tells us that those who will be resurrected will be brought into the land promised by God to Abraham.  But as we shall see as we continue in our study, only believers will be allowed in the land for the millennial reign of Christ.  That is to say, resurrection is promised to only those of Israel who will be allowed into the land for the millennium, i.e. only believers.  Unbelievers will not be allowed entrance and they will not be resurrected.  (The exception in terms of resurrection is, of course, those unbelievers of Israel who worship the beast during the tribulation.) As we continue, we will see that God purges His people of unbelievers, they will not be allowed entrance into the kingdom of Heaven.  This purging is of those of Israel who will be alive at His coming, there is no hint of resurrection in these passages.

We read in Matthew 8:11-12, "I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.  But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth".

The "subjects of the kingdom" of verse 12 refers to Israel.  The phrase "kingdom of heaven" is limited in scope, and refers to Christ’s 1,000 year reign over Israel in the land. Those "thrown out" of the kingdom of heaven will be thrown out of the land of Israel to live in the Gentile nations. (For proof of these statements please see the paper on this web-site The Kingdom of Heaven.)

Matthew 13:37-43 includes the explanation of the parable of the weeds and the prophecy  which completes it.  Verse 38b, "the weeds are the sons of the evil one".  Verse 39b, "The harvest is at the end of the age". Verse 41, "The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil".  What will happen to those being weeded out?  Verse 42, They will be thrown into the fiery furnace…" (that is, outside the land of Israel, while those in the land will be enjoying millennial blessings.

The "weeding out" of this parable is what Ezekiel refers to in 20:35-38. "I will bring you into the desert of the nations and there, face to face I will execute judgment upon you.  As I judged your fathers in the desert of the land of Egypt, so I will judge you, declares the Sovereign Lord.  I will take note of you as you pass under my staff, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.  I will purge you of those who revolt and rebel against me.  Although I will bring them out of the land where they are living, yet they will not enter the land of Israel….".

A word of clarification of Ezek. 20:40 is in order.  The NIV has, "…..the entire house of Israel will serve me there".  That would suggest that all Israel, including unbelievers will be allowed into the land.  But the Hebrew-English Interlinear has, "The entire house of Israel, all of them in the land will serve me there". The KJV also includes this phrase.  This is consistent with all the other scriptures that concern the gathering of Israel for the millennial blessings, i.e. only the faithful are allowed into the land and therefore, only the faithful will serve Him there.

In order not to create any confusion, we should consider Ezek 36 in this discussion of who is allowed entrance into the land. Ezek. 36:24-27, "For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. ……..You will live in the land I gave your forefathers, you will be my people and I will be your God".  Here we read that Israel will be in the land, but in Ezek. 20 we read that some would not be allowed entrance into the land. Let us consider this apparent contradiction.

We have seen in two passages in Matthew (and there are several more) that some of Israel will be "thrown out" of the land; they will not be allowed entrance into the kingdom of Heaven. We have also seen in Ezek. 20 that the unfaithful will be brought out from where they had been scattered, but they will not be allowed entrance into the land. We must conclude therefore, that the promises of Ezek. 37 are not given to unfaithful Israel, they are given to faithful Israel only.  If we do not recognize that truth we are faced with the unthinkable conclusion that there is a contradiction in God’s perfect Word. They are not all Israel that of Israel and the faithful will be cut off from their people and will not be counted as Israel.  (See Rom. 11:17a and 23.)

Let us also consider the following scriptures that tell us that only the faithful of Israel will enter the land.

Psalms 37:9, "For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land".
Ps. 37:22, "those the Lord blesses will inherit the land, but those He curses will be cut off".
Ps. 37:34, "Wait for the Lord and keep his way.  He will exalt you to possess the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it."
Prov. 2:21-22, "but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be torn from it."

We are now ready to draw some conclusions about who will be included in the resurrection of Ezekiel 37.  Because the resurrected of Ezek. 37 will be in the land for the millennial reign, we must conclude that they are believers, as unbelievers are not allowed entrance.  That is to say, the unbeliever is not included in the resurrection of Ezek. 37. There are therefore, no scriptures, other than Revelation 20 (great white throne) that speak of the resurrection of unbelievers.

If unbelievers of Israel will not not be raised, and I believe they will not be, then they will not inherit resurrection life. Therefore, there is at least one company that can not be included in a "universal salvation". In my opinion, therefore, this is one more piece of evidence from scripture that universal salvation is not taught in God's Word.

VI. PASSAGES THAT SEEM TO TEACH UNIVERSAL SALVATION

PSALM 22:27-29

"All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord; and all the families of the nations will bow down before him. For dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations. All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him- those who cannot keep themselves alive". The phrase, "all who go down to the dust will kneel before him" suggests to those who believe in universal salvation, that all will be resurrected in order to worship. There are however, two things wrong with that conclusion.

1) This is obviously a Psalm which looks forward to the millennial reign for its fulfillment. Note the phrases, "nations will bow down before him", and "he rules over the nations". But the only resurrection that the Bible mentions as taking place before the millennium is of those in Christ, i.e. believers (see I Thess. 4:16).Some unbelievers will be raised to be judged at the great white throne, but that is not until after the millennial reign, (see Rev. 20:5).

2) The NIV Hebrew Interlinear has literally, "all of one going down of dust". In other words, "all who are dying". That explains the phrase "those who cannot keep themselves alive". Therefore, I believe that we must conclude that because there is no resurrection of the unbeliever until after the millennial reign, that this passage does not refer to those who have already died and will be resurrected, but to all that are alive, but dying.

JOHN 12:32

"But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." It is abundantly evident that our Lord has not "drawn all men" to Himself. Therefore, if "all men" means everyone who ever lived, a resurrection of unbelievers is a necessity. But, apart from the resurrection of those who lived in the time of the tribulation and will be raised for the judgment at the great white throne, there is no resurrection of unbelievers. How then are we to understand Christ's statement that he would draw all men to Himself?

The key to understanding John 12:32 is in John 6, verses 37, 39 and 44."All that the Father gives me will come to me…" (John 6:37)."And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me."(John 6:39)."No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him". (John 6:44).

There is, of course, no contradiction between Christ saying that He will draw all men to Himself and the plain fact that not all men have been drawn to Him. Christ will draw all men that the Father has given Him. Some men will die before they have accepted the free gift of salvation. Because there is no universal resurrection of the unbeliever spoken of in the Bible, those unbelievers will never be drawn to Christ.

ROMANS 5:18-19 

(Vs. 18), "For if by one man's offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by One. (vs. 19) Therefore as by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of One, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life". To those who believe in universal salvation, this passage teaches that the "free gift" was given to all men. What is the gift of which Paul writes in this passage? It is the gift of eternal life. Is this gift given to all men? No, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God" (Eph. 2:8). Therefore we must understand that when Paul writes that "the free gift came upon all men", we must understand it in its context. Verse 18, the immediate context, tells us that those who receive the gift of righteousness shall reign in life. That is to say, when Paul writes of all men in verse 19, he is writing of all men who receive the gift. Those who do not receive the free gift do not have eternal life.

ROMANS 9:19 AND I TIMOTHY 2:4

"…..for who resists His will?" (Rom. 9:19) "This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wills all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth" (I Tim.2:4).I believe that every word in the Bible is inspired by God, the Holy Spirit. So when the Greek words translated "will(s)" is different in one verse than it is another, that, in my opinion, is meaningful. The Greek word translated "will" in Romans 9:19 is "boutomai" and means "intentions". Whereas, the Greek word translated "wills", in I Tim. 2:4 is "thelo" and means "to wish or desire". So in Romans what is implied by Paul's question is that no one can resist God's intentions. But in I Timothy Paul says that God desires all men to be saved. What God desires is not always what He intends to accomplish. In the case of salvation, He offers it as a gift, but it is clear that that gift is not accepted by all men, thus His desire, in the case of all men being saved, is not fulfilled.

ROMANS 11:32

"For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all". The eleventh chapter of Romans has been quoted by some in an effort to prove that one can lose his salvation: it has also been quoted by others in an effort to prove that all men will be saved. I believe that the exponents of both doctrines have taken this passage out of context, but I will limit my comments to the doctrine of universal salvation.

Let us try to determine just what Paul's message is in Romans 11. Verses 17-18 reads, "If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not boast over those branches". This passage does not speak of salvation, but of dispensational standing. If we fail to see that, we are forced to come to the erroneous conclusion that one can lose their salvation. 

Consider the very first verse of this chapter, "I ask then, Did God reject his people? By no means!…" Paul is writing of Israel as a nation and their dispensational standing at the time of the writing of Romans, which was as God's chosen people. God could not reject His people in terms of salvation. To read that into this chapter is to do a great disservice to Paul's message.

Consider verse 22, "Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fail, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. "Here too, we must understand that this has nothing to do with salvation, or again, we are forced to the erroneous conclusion that a child of God can lose his salvation.

Now that we have seen that Romans 11 has nothing to do with salvation, but with the dispensational standing of Israel and the nations, let us come to verses 28-32. Paul tells us in verse 30 that the Gentiles have received mercy "as a result of their (Israel's) disobedience..". What mercy is he writing about in this passage? Again, to say that it is the mercy in granting all men salvation is to take this passage out of its dispensational context. I believe that the mercy Paul had in mind, is the mercy that God bestowed on the Gentiles in preaching the gospel to them (verse 30).We must bare in mind that before Paul, Gentiles were "without God and without hope in the world" (Eph. 2:12).That is to say, Gentiles could receive the gift of resurrection life before Paul, but they had never had the privilege of having been preached to as Gentiles, before Paul became the "apostle to the uncircumcision".

What was the mercy that God bestowed on Israel? It was that Gentiles were being grafted in, in order to make Israel jealous. This would hopefully, bring all Israel to accepting their risen Messiah. In short, Israel was disobedient and God sent His message to the Gentiles in order to provoke Israel to jealousy (Romans 10:19). In so doing, God showed mercy to the Gentiles and mercy to Israel. That mercy is not that He granted the gift of salvation to all, but that He sent His message to the nations (that was His mercy to the Gentiles) and by so doing hoped to make Israel jealous (that was His mercy to Israel).

I CORINTHIANS 15:22-23

I Corinthians 15:22 reads, "So as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive…". Does this verse say that all are in Adam and that all are in Christ? It is obvious that all are in Adam, but are all in Christ? The answer to that question is found in Romans 16:7, "Salute Andronicus and Junia......who also were in Christ before me". It is clear that all men are in Adam by natural birth. But if all men were in Christ by natural birth then how could Paul be in Christ later than some? Obviously, he could not. We must conclude therefore, that not all men are in Christ.

Mr. Knoch teaches that verse 24 refers to "the balance of mankind", in the word "end". "Then cometh the end when He shall deliver up the kingdom of God". His reasoning is that the great white throne judgment is at the "end", and that is when the resurrection of all the unjust of mankind will take place. Therefore, according to Mr. Knoch, verse 24 speaks of the resurrection of all mankind.

In my opinion, that is reading into scriptures what is not there. That is to say, verse 24 does not mention resurrection, it speaks only of what will happen at the end. Also, as I have shown in the section of this paper on the great white throne, there is not going to be a resurrection of the unjust of all mankind, therefore I do not agree that verse 24 teaches the resurrection of "the balance of mankind" as Mr. Knoch suggests.

The Bible tells us that Christ rose from the dead after three days and three nights. The Bible tells us that those in Him will be raised at His coming. But there is no mention, (other than the white throne judgment - which is a resurrection of a very specific group who lived during the very limited time of the tribulation) of a general resurrection of the unjust anywhere in the Bible, and especially not in verse 24 of this passage under consideration . 

I CORINTHIANS 15:25

"For He must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. "We must assume that all existing enemies are meant by the phrase "all his enemies". The dead, as we have seen in the section above on death, do not exist. In order for them to exist they must be resurrected. And, there is no place in the Bible that tells of a general resurrection of all unbelieving dead from every age, therefore, the dead do not exist.

II CORINTHIANS 5:10

"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad". Who is the "all" that must appear before the judgment seat of Christ? Is it all mankind? There are two things in this context which, in my opinion, will show that all believers, must appear before the judgment seat of Christ.

The first thing to note is that those who are being judged are being judged according to what they have done. Unbelievers are not judged (again, the exception are those who lived through the tribulation and will appear before the great white throne for judgment) according to what they have done. Salvation has always been by grace through faith, as shown in the earlier section of this paper. 

The second thing to note in this passage is that Paul is addressing his remarks to saved people. Note verse 5, where we read, "..…God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the spirit".Eph. 1:13-14 also speaks of this "earnest"."….. in whom also after ye believed ye were sealed with that holy spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of His glory". The earnest of our inheritance is that which guarantees the believer resurrection life. It is given only to believers, never to unbelievers. This fact alone is enough scriptural evidence to prove that Paul is addressing believers. But verse 7 also indicates that Paul is addressing believers, "For we walk by faith, not by sight".

Therefore, I believe that we may say without hesitation, that believers will appear before the judgment seat of Christ. This passage has nothing to do with a judgment of unbeliever, it has to do with the judgment of believers in terms of rewards.. 

"All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them…".As we have seen in the first section of this paper, God is not counting sins against anyone. But that does not mean that all men are saved. Salvation is a gift that must be accepted, it is not unilateral as is reconciliation.(Please see the section of this paper, The Difference Between Reconciliation And Salvation.

COLOSSIANS 1:19-20

"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." As we have seen in the first section of this paper, Christ has indeed reconciled all things to Himself through His shed blood, but reconciliation is not at all the same as salvation.

I Timothy 4:9-10

This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe."

What did Paul mean by the phrase. "specially of those that believe"? Salvation is being resurrected from the dead. One is either resurrected or not resurrected. Therefore one is either saved from the grave or not saved from the grave. How can one be especially saved? I believe that we must consider this passage in its context.

To begin with, this passage is not in the context of doctrinal teaching. The context is Paul's advice to Timothy on how Timothy should conduct himself. Therefore, we should not expect to find a doctrine not otherwise substantiated in Scripture.

Secondly, is Paul's point that God saves all men? Or could Paul have meant something else when he wrote that God is the "Saviour of all men"? Given that the phrase "specially of those that believe" makes no sense if we assume that all men are saved, and that this phrase comes in the context of Paul giving Timothy advice on how he should conduct himself, I believe that he meant that indeed God is the Saviour of all men who believe. This explains the phrase that follows, "specially of those that believe." God is the Saviour of all who will be saved because there is no other by Whom any might be saved. But we do not read anywhere in God's Word that all men will be saved by Him, because not all men do accept the gift of salvation.

In other words. I believe that Paul is not saying that all men are saved by God. I believe that what Paul is saying is that it is by God that all men might be saved, i.e. all men who believe. But because all men do not believe, and they do not accept the gift of salvation, not all men are saved.

I PETER 4:5 AND 17

I Peter 4:4-5, "They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you. But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead". We must ask the question, "Who are the living and the dead that will be judged? "Note the contrast Peter makes between "they" and "you". Obviously, the "they" are unbelievers and the "you" are believers. Are "they" the unbelievers of every dispensation, i.e. all mankind? If they are, when are they to be resurrected for judgment? That is to say, we are not told anywhere in the Bible of a resurrection of the unbelievers of all mankind, only of those who lived during the tribulation. I agree with Mr. Knoch's statement quoted in an earlier section, the dead can not be judged, they must be raised for judgment. These once dead unbelievers who must "give account", are those who must answer for what they have done. I believe that because the only resurrection of unbelievers is at the great white throne, and that the great white throne judgment is also the only judgment of deeds of unbelievers, these spoken of by Peter are those who lived during the tribulation, and did not overcome.

While it is true that there is no mention of the tribulation in the context, it is also true that Peter's first epistle was written to Israel. See 2:9, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God ….".(Compare Ex. 19:5-6).At the time that Peter wrote his epistles, Israel was looking for the immediate return of Christ. They expected to live through the time of "Jacob's trouble". The tribulation was very much in the minds of all believing Israelites. 

I PETER 3:19-20