Category: Salvation – who

Christian Universalists believe that everyone in the world will believe in Jesus and be saved.  However, the following scriptures show that many people will not believe in Jesus and will not be saved, and we are unaware of any suggestion that they will ever be saved once they die:

Matt 7:21-23 ²¹ Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. ²² Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?  ²³ And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Matt 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen

Matt 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell

Mark 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Luke 13:23-28

²³ Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them,

²⁴ Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

²⁵ When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:

²⁶ Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.

²⁷ But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.

²⁸ There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.

Luke 16:22-28

² And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

²³ And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

²⁴ And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

²⁵ But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.

²⁶ And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

²⁷ Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house:

²⁸ For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.

Matt 25:41 and 46 ⁴¹ Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: ⁴⁶ And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

Rom 1:32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

Rom 2:5-12

⁵ But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;

⁶ Who will render to every man according to his deeds:

⁷ To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:

⁸ But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,

⁹ Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;

¹⁰ But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:

¹¹ For there is no respect of persons with God.

¹² For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law

Rom 9:27 Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:

2 Cor 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

2 Thess 1:7-9

⁷ when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,

⁸ In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

⁹ Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;

Heb 6:4-6

⁴ For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,

⁵ And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,

⁶ If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

Heb 10:26-29

²⁶ For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,

²⁷ But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

²⁸ He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:

²⁹ Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

Rev 14:9-11

⁹ And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,

¹⁰ The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

¹¹ And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

Rev 20:13-14

¹³ And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

¹⁴ And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

Rev 21:8, 27

⁸ But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

²⁷ And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Rev 22:15, 19

¹⁵ For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

¹⁹ And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

These are the majority of the Scriptures which refer to being “in Christ”, and show that only those who are believers are said to be “in Christ”:

In John 15 Jesus speaks on being “in me”, saying that we cannot bear fruit unless we abide in Him – if everyone abides in Him then everyone must be bearing fruit, but clearly they are not.  Jesus spoke very clearly in v.6 of the consequences of not abiding in Him.  Why say this if everyone is in him? It would be a pointless statement.

Ro 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”  If everyone is in Christ Jesus then this is a pointless statement for Paul to make, as there would then be condemnation for no-one, there would be no hell, and no point in preaching the gospel.  The second part of the verse makes it clear who is in Christ – those who walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh.

Ro 12:5 “So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.”   From the context Paul is clearly talking about believers, not everyone in the world.  Only believers are in Christ, not the whole world.

Ro 16:7 “Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellowprisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.”  If everyone has been in Christ since Christ died then this statement would not make sense.  Clearly this verse means these people became believers (were “in Christ”) before Paul did.

1Co 1:2 “Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:”   Why would Paul say this if everyone was already sanctified in Christ?  It is very clear that not everyone calls upon the name of Jesus Christ, yet Paul says that only those who do this are in Christ. So it cannot be true that everyone is in Christ.

1Co 3:1 “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.”  “Babes in Christ” clearly refers to immature believers.  If everyone is in Christ and has always been then why would Paul say this – it would make no sense.

Eph 1:10 “That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:”  This is probably the most difficult verse in this list to explain but here goes.  The verse again does not actually tell us who is in Christ, but many Bible versions, based on corrupt manuscripts miss out the first “in Christ”, which confuses the whole meaning here.  Basically God will gather together in one, in Christ, all things which are already in Christ. To be expanded.

Eph 2:6 “And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:” Who was this written to? According to Eph 1:1 it was written to “the saints…and faithful in Christ Jesus”, so it is believers, not unbelievers who sit together in heavely places in Christ Jesus.

Eph 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.”  Again, according to Eph 1:1, this is written to believers, as stated above.

Col 1:2 “To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”    Only the saints and faithful brethren are in Christ.  Clearly not everyone in the world are saints and faithful brethren, so it is clear that not everyone is in Christ.

1Th 4:16 “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.”   Hence there are some who rise first, and they are the people in Christ.  If everyone was in Christ, then everyone who is dead would rise at the same time and what Paul says here would be a pointless statement.

2Ti 2:10 “Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.”   Paul does this so people may obtain salvation in Christ Jesus. If everyone is already saved and in Christ then it would be pointless for Paul to endure all things.

2Ti 3:12 “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”   If everyone was in Christ, then everyone would be persecuted, but this is clearly not the case, no obviously not everyone is in Christ.

1Pe 5:14 “Greet ye one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen.”   Peter was clearly addressing believers here, who are those in Christ.  If everyone was in Christ, this would again be a pointless statement.

So we conclude then that those who are “in Christ” always refers to believers.  The Bible never says anywhere that the whole world is “in Christ”.