The teachings of Universalism are not new. For many years we have been urged to take the teachings of Scripture on the salvation of all men more seriously. We have been told for many years that when Scripture uses such terms as “all men,” “world,” “all,” or “every one” that we must take that at full value. Scripture, we are told, proclaims that all men are taken up in t he work of Christ. He died for all and paid for the sins of all. Rev. Neal Punt is now adding his voice to the list in this chorus. He too says that we must take such texts for what they say. To him they say that all men are elect in Christ, though not all men are saved. That ultimately depends on whether man accepts or rejects that election he has in Christ. Says Punt: All will be saved except those who refuse to have God in their knowledge.

Rev. Punt refers to several texts in his writings that teach this truth, among them 1 John 2:2. Here we read, “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but for the sins of the whole world.” Of all the texts quoted by Universalists, this is the real clincher. You cannot have it spelled out more clearly than that.

Let us take a close look at this clincher. I contend it says much more than Rev. Punt, or any other Universalist, wants it to say. To the new converts John wrote “if anyone does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One” (vs. 10). He wrote those words to comfort those troubled by their sin against a loving Father. John says, as it were, that we can always go to the Father through the Son because “. . . he is able to save those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them” (Hebrews 7:25). This truth John conveys in the words, “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins.” Christ’s eternal interceding (speaking to the Father in our defense) rests on, and has its eternal ground in, His once-for-all sacrifice on the cross for all our sins, past, present, and future.

For all believers that text would have been sufficient had the apostle left it at that. But he added the words “for the sins of the whole world.” Rev. Punt says that we must take these words just as they stand. Suppose we do that. Then this text says that the whole world, of which the apostle testifies that it is “in control of the evil one” (I John 5:19) shares with believers in the great redeeming work of God. It must follow then that Christ speaks to the Father in defense of those in control of the evil one. We must then conclude that all men are Christ’s purchased property while still being children of the devil, citizens of his dark domain, lost in sin, under the dominion of satan.

Very evidently this text says much more than the Rev. Punt wants it to say. But Punt does not want to draw such conclusions. He contends that Christ died for all men but not all are saved by Him. They will be saved, but that depends on whether they reject His or not. So Punt puts us right back into the camp of Arminian intellectualism. Salvation ultimately depends on man. We must then conclude that Jesus actually saved no one, but made salvation possible. He died on the cross to purchase to Himself a “church of God” (Acts 20:28; Peter 2:9) but he does not really possess what he purchased. That depends whether men say “yes” or “no” to that. So in one stroke we empty this beautiful text of its comforting message.

We must ask: Just what is the message of Scripture in this text? The text says that we can go to the Father because Christ died for us. He is the atoning sacrifice. For those for whom he died He is the defender, the interceder. We cannot read here: He will be, or He once was, depending on how we respond or react to Him. It is precisely in the knowledge that Christ has removed all our sins as far as the east is from the west (Ps. 103:12) by His atoning sacrifice that believers find their source of comfort. That is the glorious truth the apostle proclaims. The apostle declares that the “whole world” shares in this. If we conclude that this means all mankind then it must follow that all men, head for head, are saved. Yes, we would have to conclude that the world that now lies in the evil one is really a saved world, purchased by Christ, washed in his blood, recipients of eternal salvation, heirs of the new heaven and the new earth.

The Rev. Punt rejects such a teaching. I judge he is badly mixed up in his thinking at this point. On the one hand he says that only born again believers are saved, on the other that all are saved save those who reject the salvation they have in Christ. That is saying that men can be saved but cannot be saved at the same time. Or that man is saved but can lose it at any time along the way. In any case we are dealing with the old Arminian heresy that salvation ultimately depends on man. Then Rev. Punt’s conclusion that all men are elect in Christ empties election of all meaning. Election means nothing to man. His response to the Gospel means something. Indeed, Arminians have always said that we are saved by grace, but they contradicted this, and still do so today, by averring that it depends on man’s will whether he is saved or not.

Now if the apostle’s declaration cannot mean that all men share in Christ’s salvation, just what does he mean? Must we not conclude that “the sins of the whole world” means all mankind? We cannot conclude that because Scripture does not allow us to do so. No one who takes God’s Word seriously would ever contend that all men will eventually be saved. Scripture says that though many are called, few are chosen. It speaks clearly of those who in the final judgment will go away into eternal punishment. Unless we want to empty this text of its comforting message we had better maintain that those for whom Christ died are verily saved, can depend on that because it is God’s Work and hence cannot fail. We must thank God this is so because if salvation in any way depended on us we would all be lost. Indeed we are called, indeed we must believe, but our faith was also purchased on the cross and is a gift of God’s grace.

What then did the apostle teach? That when Christ died on the cross He completely fulfilled His mission. He paid the supreme price and purchased to Himself the Church of God. But He did more, and this glorious truth the apostle joyfully proclaims. Jesus not only purchased those given Him by the Father of all nations, kindreds, and tongues, but he also purchased a new heaven and a new earth. What the Son presented to the Father was nothing less than a saved world. When the great work of Christ is finally consummated we will see a new heaven and a new earth peopled by God’s elect children. I believe we can say that John‘s contrast was between “the little flock” and the multitude before the throne “that no one can number” (Rev. 7:9). That is the world that shares in Christ’s atoning sacrifice, the world He continues to intercede for. That, and that alone, is the true Biblical universalism!

Cecil W. Tuininga is a retired Christian Reformed pastor living at Edmonton, Alberta., Canada.