Universal reconciliation & eternal salvation:
Born in 1943, I grew up hearing of an awful Hell and wanting to avoid Hell! Since at least as far back as 1991, I have been "working out my salvation"...sort of realizing doctrinal truths...as reflected in essays on this my personal website. I have it on-line, visible to whomever might blunder into it (I even fancy it as a "ministry"...that the Holy Spirit might even direct someone to the website [I say that very self-consciously because I've had to continually revise as I learn more...often through e-mail discussions which challenge me]).
I'd been working on The Gospel during 2004. Jesus was either a fake, or He was who He said He was/is...the Messiah...the Savior of mankind. His resurrection from the dead validates all that He has said. After all, His resurrected Self was seen by over 500 witnesses (1 Corinthians 15:6) over the 40 resurrected days on earth. Ten days later Peter told the crowds in Jerusalem about Him, and over 3000 became converts and were baptized (Acts 2:41). His here-to-fore frightened disciples nearly instantly became fearless evangelists. And no religion of voluntary membership would have been founded or sustained for over 2000 years had He been a fake. But, in the background of my mind, it turns out that I was also struggling over who gets eternal salvation after death and how.
His first e-mail was entitled "no bad
news in the good news". With scripture and all, he
reasoned that Jesus died
an atoning & substitutionary death for
the forgiveness of sin AND eternal salvation of all people!! I then had exciting
thoughts about this being a means to clarify what had seemed like discordant,
possibly even contrary, statements of salvation doctrine. His emphasis was
that all humans are headed
to Heaven...that all our rules and "right ways" to follow "The Way" of Jesus
have to do with lives while on earth. A
life not indwelt by the Holy Spirit...not divinely empowered & not in
possession of any true fruits of the Holy Spirit...is going to be one with
earthly consequences different from those of the true Jesus follower (who is
indwelt by the Holy Spirit & possesses consequences of this
indwelling...fruits of the Spirit). That is,
God truly loves all and truly desires that all be saved; and Jesus set that very thing
up with His finished work on the cross.
Kurt further indicated that about two thirds of the
early churches prior to Constantine believed in universal eternal salvation.
And, some say that a "universal eternal salvation" doctrine prevailed until about
500AD when Augustine began to write of a hell with eternal torment. Could the
early church of Rome and Orthodox churches have made a colossal error in
formulating doctrine (doctrine = agreed-upon understanding of the Bible) restricting eternal
(after your death) salvation to those baptized with water & the Holy Spirit and
following Jesus? Has subsequent historical and cultural evolution
produced a momentum that makes it hopelessly difficult to discuss such a
thought as a Jesus-produced "universal eternal salvation" (universal reconciliation;
Gospel of inclusion; Christian Universalism) in any mainstream Christian church without immediate accusations of
heresy and false teaching? I'm afraid that the answer is "yes"
because our thousands of Christian denominations debate about
doctrines between and within themselves almost without ceasing.
In essence: (1) The "afterlife": All humans ever born will have eternal life with God after death...Jesus said "It is finished" because He made it all right with God the Father by His death. (2) The life on earth: As to a person's time on earth, there are only two types of humans: [a] those indwelt by the Holy Spirit and [b] those not indwelt, and this doctrine allows both to come home to the Father forever (remember Jesus' parable of the prodigal son).
One can ONLY become Holy-Spirit indwelt on earth by believing & becoming a Jesus follower. Therefore, the indwelt have a divine internal power (the Holy Spirit) helping them in this life on earth and those not indwelt are in this life "on their on". Universal reconciliation doesn't nullify the need for the "works" of Christianity. It is worth all possible evangelistic effort to be part of the converting of people to the state of being indwelt that they might glorify God and have a life of empowerment & peace on earth. Missionaries and church programs continue to be critically needed if one believes "universal Christian reconciliation". By exploring and presenting this grace-filled and mercy-filled doctrinal angle, I do not at all mean to commit blasphemy or heresy.
Indwelt by the Holy Spirit:
The Jesus follower/believer/disciple/representative/Christian, Holy Spirit indwelt, gets the following extreme, huge advantages in life on earth:
Here [here] is an almost-one-page summary you can print and read away from the computer. If you want to consider this all-inclusive eternal salvation in further depth, [click here].
Some related (not necessarily recommended) websites:
(posted 12 February 2005; latest update 7 June 2009)