Saviour of all – all saved?

30-06-2016 - Posted by Andre Piet

GoedBericht.nl explicitly shows that God is the Saviour of all mankind. As front-page news, literally and figuratively. And how controversial that may be, it is undeniable that the apostle Paul himself proclaimed that message; and he also strongly recommended it. He wrote in 1 Timothy 4:

⁹ Faithful is the saying and worthy of eall welcome
¹⁰ (for this are we toiling and being reproached),
that we rely on the living God,
Who is the Saviour of all mankind,
especially of believers.
¹¹ These things be charging and teaching.

Elsewhere in this letter it is called ‘sound teaching’ (1 Timothy 1: 10)

Still an actual fight

One tried everything to avoid or mutilate this truth. For example by replacing ‘Saviour’ by ‘Maintainer’ (Telos translation). Or by translating ‘of all mankind’ with ‘for all mankind’ (Dutch translation 1951). In this way the fact is reduced to an offer. Or by changing ‘all mankind’ into ‘all sorts of people’ (Jehovah’s Witnesses). Thus this text proves that the struggle Paul is talking about, is actual until today. It is a fact that God is a Saviour of all mankind. And its meaning is unambiguous: God saves all people.

A good message!

God wills that all mankind be saved (1 Timothy 2: 4) and He is a Saviour of all mankind. (1 Timothy 4: 10). Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1 Timothy 1: 15). And since all people are sinners, He did so to save all people. That is why He is giving Himself a correspondent Ransom for all (1 Timothy 2: 6). And thus the saving grace of God made its advent to all humanity. God guarantees that what He wants (the salvation of all mankind), will be realized. That is ‘the evangel of the glory of the happy God’ (1 Timothy 1: 11) – All His purposes will be successful!

All mankind is saved?

It has not been said that all mankind is saved. That is an amiss misconception. I find that in both camps. Not only as a caricature from people who are opposed to the message of God as Saviour of all people, but also from people who do believe. And that is in my opinion even more amiss, because it can disparage the truth.

This weekend a brother from the United States showed me a newsletter which was claiming that God saved all mankind, in the death and resurrection of Christ. That was not a ‘slip of the tongue’, but a clue of what was taught. When Paul, for example in Romans 10: 9, writes that who believe and avow, shall be saved, than it means, according to this brother, that you realize that you are saved. I protest against this. When Paul says: ‘you shall be saved’, then it means that the salvation is not realized until that time. Read what is written. On many places in Scripture we can read that: ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved’ (Acts 16: 31). ‘For everyone, whoever should be invoking the name of the Lord, shall be saved’ (Romans 10: 13). With the mouth it is avowed for salvation (Romans 10: 10). And so on.

In the name of Jesus

God is a Saviour of all mankind, and that means that He will save all people. No matter when He does it. The same universal is the truth that God will save by means of believingly calling his Name. The name of JESUS means, by the way: YHWH saves. Period. The one who calls that name, confesses that YHWH saves, without limitation and without reservation. And that is the reason why in the name of Jesus every knee will be bowing and every tongue will be acclaiming that Jesus Christ is Lord, for the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2: 9-10). As from then, and not earlier, actually all people will have been saved!