Salvation: Does God desire it for everyone?
A part of the good news God has for us today is that He desires for everyone in all the world to end up in an everlasting place of blessing. Many passages of Scripture speak of this but the one that always comes to my mind first may also come to yours.
John 3:16-18
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
This by no means indicates that everyone is saved. It just tells us anyone can be saved. Personal faith must be expressed in relation to what God has provided for salvation to occur.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. [Emphasis added]
While believing “in the name of the only begotten Son of God” was Israel’s gospel message for a time in another day, it is faith in what Christ accomplished in His death, burial, and resurrection that is ours. Believing in His name is to do with believing He was the promised Messiah. We should certainly believe that, but it is what is sometimes referred to as the “cross work” of Jesus the Christ that is ours. When Christ uttered those words recorded in John 3, Christ had still not gone to the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. This gospel that is ours would come later through special revelation that was channeled to us through the apostle Paul.
Romans 2:16
16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. [Emphasis added]
It is in Paul’s writings that these things were first revealed.
1 Corinthians 15:3-4
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received [by special revelation], how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: [Emphasis added]
This is why Paul sometimes speaks of it as his gospel.
Romans 2:16
16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. [Emphasis added]
I mention these passages explaining our gospel often because I never know when someone will be reading about this for the first time. Of all messages, it is this good news about what God did through Jesus Christ to provide us with a way of salvation that is most important of all.
In this next passage we are provided with a broader understanding of what happened at the cross of Christ to provide us with a way of salvation and what faith in that work provides for us.
2 Corinthians 5:21
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. [Emphasis added]
Above all else it is God’s desire that people get this message and accept it as their one and only means to Heaven. It is by believing this gospel that people gain the perfect righteousness God demands for one’s salvation.
2 Peter 3:9
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing [THELO = desiring] that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. [Emphasis added]
God demonstrated His love for all by sending a Savior through which all could be saved.
When I was in college my first Bible teacher there said salvation was like climbing a mountain. He said there are many paths to the top. He was completely wrong! There may be many paths to the top of a mountain, but there’s only one way to be saved. That one way is through faith in Jesus Christ and the work He did to provide a way for all of us. Numerous passages speak of this.
John 14:6
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. [Emphasis added]
That passage alone makes it clear to me. But there are others!
Acts 4:12
12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. [Emphasis added]
The apostle Paul puts it this way:
1 Timothy 2:4-6
4 Who will have [THELO = desires] all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
If He didn’t want all to be saved, He wouldn’t have provided a way for all.
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. [Emphasis added]
If you’ve never accepted this one way for your salvation, I encourage you to do that now. If you will, you’ll be saved immediately and permanently and you’ll then never have to be concerned about this again.
