Ye Must Be Born Again.
In this language addressed by Jesus to Nicodemus, (John 3:7,) is the perpetual declaration of the Almighty Father to all who are unregenerated, and it will continue to be uttered, as long as there is an unregenerated soul. Usually it is understood as expressing what ought to be, but it also expresses what God has determined shall be—what must be will be. “Ye MUST be born again,” is prophetic of all human beings.
A Conditional Promise.
I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. John 12:32.
Here Jesus predicates universal salvation on his crucifixion. “If I am crucified,” he says, “I will ultimately attract all men unto myself.” For he said this (verse 33) to signify the mode of his death. The conditions have been complied with; he has been crucified. We must believe in the result announced, or we deny the declaration of Jesus himself.
Sin Burned; Sinners Saved.
Paul declares:
If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire, 1 Cor. 3:15.
Every Soul Worth Saving.
Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God. 1 Cor. 4:5.
Comfort For All.
Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. 2 Cor. 1:3, 4.
What can the Christian say to those who mourn the death of unrepentant friends, that will comfort them—”those in any trouble”—except that they are still in the hands of Divine Grace, who will do for and by them better than their dearest friends can ask or think? Only the Universalist faith can comfort those in any trouble.
Heaven’s Joys Certain.
For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 Cor. 5:1.
The apostle could not know this, unless it depended on God’s immutable purpose. If human weakness or sin could sacrifice it, then Paul could only hope or believe that he might have such a house. His certainty renders its existence absolute, and its inheritance sure.
The Substance Of Things Hoped For.
Paul gives one grand definition of Christian faith: “It is the substance of things hoped for.” Heb. 11. 1. What partial view of God’s redeeming grace merits this description? What do all Christians ardently hope for, but the ultimate deliverance of all souls from the thraldom of sin?
The Wickedest Saved.
The apostle Peter addressed the wickedest of human beings, those who committed the worst act ever perpetrated, the murder of the sinless Savior, as destined to salvation, after having received the just penalty of their sins. He said:
Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles, and wonders, and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know; Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. Acts 2:22, 23.
And when they were “pricked to the heart” he added:
Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call, (vs. 38, 39).
It is not possible that the promise was to these men, and that they are to be saved, and any less wicked than they “lost.” Their deliverance insures the redemption of all. Hence Peter adds to the same wicked people:
Ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; and killed the Prince of Life. Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, and in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Unto you first, God having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities. Acts 3:14, 25.
The Image Of God.
Jesus was
The image of the invisible God. Col. 1:15. The brightness of his glory and the express image of his person. Heb. 1:3.
That is, in all his conduct, in every trait of his disposition, he was just like God, and did just what God would have done. How did he treat sinners? To the woman taken in adultery, he said, “Go, and sin no more. John 8: To Thomas, the skeptic, who refused to credit his resurrection, he showed the evidence of that great fact in his hands, his feet, and his side. John 20. To Peter, denying with oaths and curses that he had ever known him, he looks with pity and grief, and the heart of the false disciple is melted. John 18. To Saul, hating him and persecuting his followers, he sends no stroke of doom to annihilate him, but the opening heavens are radiant with light as he arrests the cruel persecutor with the unanswerable question, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” Acts 9:4. For those who nailed him to the cross his last breath is a prayer that they may be forgiven for their unparalleled crime. Luke 23:34.
Was it the prayer of faith, and will that prayer be answered? Christ was the friend of sinners in this world; is he their friend now? Will he always be their friend? If not, is he the same yesterday, to-day, and forever? As God’s image he will always remain the loving friend of sinners, employing all possible means for their improvement and welfare. His whole life was in the same spirit. He invoked no vengeance, demanded no bloody sacrifice, either of the sinner or of a vicarious substitute, but pity, mildness, mercy and love went from him towards even the vilest of the vile. God must treat the skeptic, the profane, the cruel, the murderer, the wicked of every grade in the same manner, or the resemblance between image and original would be destroyed. Can God justify the resemblance to Christ, unless, though he punish, he continues to love, and employs all his infinite attributes, and all the ages of eternity if need be, in the blessed work of purifying and saving his children from the sins that alienate them from him? This was the work that always occupied Jesus, that still occupies him as he sits at the right hand of the Father. As truly as Jesus is the image of God, the Father must always thus be employed, until the last exile from the home of the soul returns to allegiance, and duty, and heaven.
Paul’s Hope.
Paul hoped that the unjust would be raised. He said:
I have hope towards God that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and of the unjust. Acts 24:15.
He must have believed that the resurrection of the unjust would be a moral as well as an existential anastasis. He might believe in it, if it were an unhappy fate, but he could not hope for it. Hope is compounded of desire and expectation. He therefore expected and desired the resurrection of the unjust. Only a demon could desire their rising if it were to a condition of endless torment. But Paul, whose heart always yearned for human happiness, tells us that the unjust will rise into an improved condition, a desirable and therefore good and happy existence, when he says he hopes for the resurrection of the unjust. Hoping for it he demonstrates that he believed it to be something desirable, a benefit to them.
The Glad Tidings Of God.
The apostle Paul, in the first verse of the first chapter of his letter to the church in Rome, calls Christianity “The Glad Tidings of God,” gospel, (euaggelion). His writings show that he delighted to dwell on the universal grace and mercy of God. He announces it in scores of passages, found in this book, and asks concerning those who deny it:
What if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar. Rom. 3:3. Believe what? That
The Universe Shall Be Delivered From Sin.
Paul says:
The creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Rom. 8:21.
- Dr. Macknight says ” Ktisis ” (the creature in this passage) “signifies every human creature.” Prof. Stuart declares its meaning to be, as in Mark 16:15, and Col. 1:23, “mankind in general.”
- It is subject to evil.
- It has a hope of deliverance.
- It shall be delivered.
- Into the liberty of God’s angels, or children. Though not yet accomplished it is the province of Christian faith to believe in this result, and thus eat celestial fruit on earthly ground. Hence the same apostle says:
Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. Heb. 2:8, 9.
The subjection of all men to Christ is like that of Christ to God.
And when all things shall be subdued unto him, (hupotagee) then shall the Son also himself be subject, (hupotageesetai), unto him that put all things under (hupotazanti) him, that God may be all in all. 1 Cor. 15:28. For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery lest ye should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, there shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: for this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. Rom. 11:25-27.
It is therefore a willing service, the love and homage of faithful and obedient children. All men are to be subject to Christ with the same subjection under which Christ is subject to God.
What God Will Not Do.
He will not always chide. Ps. 103:9. He will not contend forever. Isa. 57:16. He will not cast off forever. Lam. 3:31. He will not retain his anger forever. Micah 7:18.
What God Will Do.
He will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 1 Tim. 2:4. He will swallow up death in victory, and wipe tears from off all faces. Isa. 25:8. He will destroy the devil. Heb. 2:14. He will destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8. He will destroy man’s last enemy. 1 Cor. 15. 26. He will reconcile all things unto himself. Col. 1:19, 20. He will finish sin, make an end of transgression, and bring in everlasting righteousness. Dan. 9:24.
Sin, Satan, Death And Hell Destroyed.
Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Heb. 2:14, 15. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8.
The Revelator saw the work accomplished.
Death and Hell were cast into the lake of fire. Rev. 20:14.
This denotes their destruction. Paul declares:
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is Death. 1 Cor. 15:26.
The words “that” and “is” are supplied by the translators. The passage as Paul wrote it is “The last enemy shall be destroyed, Death.” So whether we suppose he meant physical or moral death, it is to be destroyed, and all other enemies are to be destroyed previously. Death is the last. This is what caused the apostle to exclaim triumphantly:
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 1 Cor. 15:55.
There is no sting, no victory. Then there is no sin. “The sting of death is sin,” and Christ is victorious over sin and death, by accomplishing their destruction. These passages teach that Jesus became mortal to destroy man’s enemies, the devil, sin, and death, and that he succeeded in his great mission, leaving not an enemy of man in existence, when he had finished his work.
- “O’er every foe victorious,
- He on his throne shall rest,
- From age to age more glorious—
- All blessing and all blest.
- The tide of time shall never
- His covenant remove,
- His name shall stand forever
- That name to us is Love.”
All Shall Be Righteous
Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. Isa. 60:21.
Who are his people?
Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people FROM THEIR SINS.” Matt. 1:21.
His people are sinners, and as “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,” all men are sinners, and all are “his people.” “All souls are his,” and though all have gone out of the way in sin, all are to return to willing obedience.
I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear, surely shall say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength. Isa 45:23, 24.
And that word shall be fulfilled:
It shall not return unto me void; but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Isa. 55:11.
Hence we read:
I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Ps. 2:8. Thou has given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. John 17:2, 3. And he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the WHOLE WORLD. 1 John 2:2. He gave himself a ransom for ALL. 1 Tim. 2:6. He tasted death for EVERY MAN. Heb. 2:9.
Jesus foresaw and announced this when he said:
And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, (crucified) will draw all men unto me. John 12:32. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. John 6:37.
This explains the meaning of such passages as these:
All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee. Ps. 86:9. Unto thee shall all flesh come. Ps. 65:2. All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord. Ps. 22:27. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, say- ing, know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them, unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord, and I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no more. Jer. 31:34. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; and having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven. Col. 1:19, 20.
Archbishop Newcome and Prof. Stuart say “all things” here mean “all intelligent beings.” Thus all souls are to be converted to God, and universal holiness will prevail.
All Destined To God.
For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Rom. 11:36.
Can human language more fully state the sublime truth of God’s universal triumph over sin and death in briefer terms, than it is here declared? As truly as all souls came from God, and exist by him, they shall go to him. For it is of human beings that the great apostle is here speaking. Having reached the conclusion of universal salvation, what wonder that he said:
O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? Rom. 11:33-35.
And then he closes with that grand epitome: OF HIM, THROUGH HIM, AND TO HIM ARE ALL THINGS.
- “O Thou whose power o’er moving worlds presides,
- Whose voice created and whose wisdom guides,
- On darkling man in pure effulgence shine,
- And clear the clouded mind with light divine.
- ‘Tis Thine alone to calm the pious breast,
- With silent confidence and holy rest;
- From Thee alone we spring, to Thee we tend,
- PATH, MOTIVE, GUIDE, ORIGINAL AND END!”
What wonder that, on hearing this great truth for the first time,
The People Were Astonished.
The common people were astonished at his doctrine of the resurrection of all souls to holiness. They were familiar with the idea of annihilation, and of endless punishment, but universal salvation was new to them. No other news could have astonished them. “They were astonished at his doctrine.” Matt. 22:33. Had he taught annihilation in this argument concerning the resurrection, he would not have astonished the Sadducees, had he taught endless punishment he would not have astonished the Pharisees and Pagans. But universal salvation astonished all because new to all. He taught the resurrection of all mankind to an equality with the angels.
Universal Pardon And Obedience.
I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and I will be their God and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord; for they shall all know me. —”whom to know is life eternal”—from the least to the greatest of them, saith the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more. Jer. 31:33, 34. For all [the house of Israel] shall know me, from the least to the greatest. Heb. 8:11. Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Rom. 8:21
Christ Cancels Adam.
Christ’s labors cancel Adam’s influence,
| Therefore as by the offence 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. Rom. 5:18. |
| But where sin abounded, | grace did much more abound. Rom. 5:20. |
| As sin hath reigned unto death, | even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord. Rom. 5:21. |
| As in Adam all die, | even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 1 Cor. 15:22. |
| For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, | so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” Rom. 5:19. |
Here observe:
- All mankind are to be made alive.
- They are to live “in Christ.”
- They are therefore to be new creatures, for “if any man be in Christ he is a new creature.” 2 Cor. 5:17.
- They wear the heavenly image.
- Grace reigns wherever sin has borne sway.
- The exact number “made sinners,” namely, all men, are “made righteous.”
This is
A Healthful Doctrine.
A belief in universal salvation exerts a good moral influence.
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation to all men hath appeared teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world. Titus 2:11, 12.
This is the true reading. God’s grace hath not appeared to all men, but it bringeth salvation to all.
No More Sorrow.
The Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces. Isa. 25:8.
Can there be a hell full of agony and wo? Must not heaven, then, be universal?
Universal Obedience Prophesied.
All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord, and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. For the kingdom is the Lord’s, and he is the governor among the nations. Psalms 22:27, 28. All kings shall fall down before him; all nations shall serve him, all men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed. Psalm 72:11, 17. All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord, and shall glorify thy name. Psalm 86:9. The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. Isa. 40:5.
When all the ends of the world turn to God and worship, then will be universal obedience.
The Universal Propitiation.
And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:1, 2.
Have the sins of the whole world been propitiated? If so, can payment be asked again? Christ has done for all what he has done for any. The fate of each, so far as Christ is concerned, must be the fate of all.
Their Works Follow Them.
And I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them. Rev. 14:13.
Not the belief, the faith, or the moral and spiritual condition of the last moments of life is here alluded to, but the works. That is, the works of the spirit. These are love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Gal. 5:22, 23. These follow the spirit into the other world. The Bible does not teach that the works of the flesh follow the dead. These are adultery, fornication, uncleanliness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like. Gal. 5:19-21. These perish at the death of the body:
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good, I find not. For the good that I would, I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God, after the inward man: but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Rom. 7:18-24.
This explains Paul’s words:
For he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh (not of the spirit) reap corruption. Gal. 6:8.
The works of the flesh perish with the flesh, but the works of the spirit survive with the spirit. All that is worthless dies.
Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide, which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. 1 Cor. 3:13-15.
The Building Of God Sure.
For we know that, if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 Cor. 5:1.
Did the reader ever reflect that the apostle could not say ” we know ” that we have an eternal mansion, if its acquisition depended on man’s efforts, or if any possible act of his could forfeit it? He might hope for it, but it would not be certain. His certainty demonstrates that the title rests not on man’s conduct, which might forfeit it, but on God’s absolute purpose. Every Christian can say “we know,” because God in his house of many mansions has reserved one tenement for each immortal tenant, and at some time in the far future each son and daughter of God will find and occupy his predestined home. We can only read our title clear, and say with Paul ” WE KNOW,” when we feel that we can neither earn nor forfeit that title, but that our occupancy depends on one whose purpose cannot fail.
God Hates Sin.
Sin is the abominable thing that his soul hateth. He could not, therefore, so stultify himself as to build an eternal hell, and perpetuate sin. But he loves the sinner. He will, therefore, destroy the sinner’s foes, all his enemies, even the last.—
The last enemy shall be destroyed, death. 1 Cor. 15:26.
God All In All.
And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. 1 Cor. 15:28.
When he is all in all can the devil be in any?
And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. Eph. 1:19-23.
God’s Glory.
God’s glory can only be promoted by the salvation of all his children. Good music glorifies the musician, good machinery the machinist, a good farm the farmer, good children a father. Success glorifies, and defeat shames. God designs a holy race. He can only be glorified by universal holiness. Hence he says: “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me.” Ps. 50:23. And the “honor and the power and the glory” can only belong to him when his efforts to redeem all shall issue in the redemption of all.
God A Universal Savior.
Every soul is under perpetual obligations to regard God as his personal Savior. Then the doctrine must be true. God must be the final personal Savior of all, or those of whom he is not the Savior are commanded to believe a lie, but because he is, those who do not believe make God a liar, by their unbelief.
He that believeth not God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God has given us eternal life; and this life is in his Son. 1 John 5:10, 11.
That is the divine plan, and all the means have been adopted to insure success. In the Divine mind the future is the present, what is to be, is. Thus God is the Savior of all men. This was
Why Paul Was Persecuted.
It was for preaching Universal Salvation. He says:
For therefore we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God who is the Savior of all men especially of those that believe. 1 Tim. 4:10.
Paul does not claim that he was persecuted for teaching that God had made it possible for all to be saved, but for declaring that God is actually the Savior of all men. Had he inculcated the Methodist or Presbyterian scheme of partial salvation, he would have agreed, substantially, with the heathen and the Jews. They believed in a partial God who would save but a part. Had the apostles taught only that, they would not have been reproached. But believing in the salvation of all, they were persecuted. Had they been partialists as were the Jews and the heathen would they have been persecuted for teaching that God is the universal Savior? Can God be the Savior of those he does not save? If any one is lost, is God the Savior of all men? Is he in any sense the Savior of unbelievers? He is not the especial Savior of believers, unless he is the actual Savior of all. Paul suffered reproach for no other reason than for teaching that God is a universal Savior.
All Are To Be Righteous.
All will confess righteousness:
Unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear, surely shall say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength. Isa 45:24.
This confesses the Lordship of Jesus.
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Phil. 2:9-11.
This is not compelled, but voluntary.
No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost. 1 Cor. 12:3.
Hence, the attractions of the cross will win the loving allegiance of all souls, at the last.
And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. John 12:32.
This condition is now fulfilled, he has been crucified, the conclusion follows in due time.
Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule and all authority, and power. For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. 1 Cor. 15:24-28.
The Final Consummation.
The apostle describes the “far-off divine event to which the whole creation moves,” thus:
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord: I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people: and they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord; for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Heb. 8:10-12.
And the Apocalyptic seer saw all men happy when he beheld the final consummation:
Every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, blessing, and honor, and glory, and power be unto him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever. Rev. 5:13. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. Rev. 21:2-4.
We have thus indicated the chief passages that teach the doctrine of universal salvation. We have not quoted all of them, nor have we quoted that spirit which is without measure, and which can not be reduced to chapter and verse, which pervades the Bible—the divine aroma that sweetens and perfumes the Book of books. The love and character of God, and the life and spirit of Christ are forever at war with the idea of endless hate and ceaseless torment, and breathe that holy spirit that will have nothing less than universal reconciliation to God, universal holiness among men. The few passages we have quoted unmistakably teach the great truth inculcated by all God’s attributes, and that was the vital breath of him who came to do God’s will among men, and who successfully accomplished his great mission, in reconciling universal humanity to its God and Father. When God’s plans shall have been completed,
Then THE END, beneath his rod
Man’s last enemy shall fall;
Hallelujah! Christ in God, God in Christ is ALL IN ALL.