The Bible affirms time and again that Jesus Christ is the Savior of all men. For instance, John wrote, “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 Jn. 2:2). Jesus, in His death and by the shedding of His blood, paid the price for sin. Again, John records the words of John the Immerser, “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (Jn. 1:29). Yet, when the Bible declares Jesus to be the Savior of all men, let us understand that not all men will be saved.
The Bible teaches that some will be saved and some will be lost. As a matter of fact, it teaches that few will receive salvation while many will be condemned to damnation (Matt. 7:13-14). Now, God does not arbitrarily pick and choose those who will go to heaven and those who will go to hell, as the Calvinist says. God does not show partiality (Acts 10:34). God loves the whole world and is not willing that any should perish (Jn. 3:16; 2 Pet. 3:9). He wants all men to come to the knowledge of truth–truth that sets free (1 Tim. 2:4; Jn. 8:32). So, some will be saved and some lost, not due to God’s partiality or inadequacy. Rather, the reason some will be redeemed and many others doomed is because of each man’s choices and response to God’s love.
God made man with a freewill; He gives man a choice of whether or not to serve Him (Josh. 24:15). Man can chose to submit to God’s will and be blessed, or to reject God and be condemned. Therefore, though Jesus is the Savior of the world, only those who accept His grace, and the terms of it, will be saved. Jesus said that a man must believe in Him or die in his sins (Jn. 8:24). He commanded men to repent of their sins (Lk. 13:3, 5).
He requires men to confess Him (Lk. 12:8-9). He also said, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mk. 16:16). These are the terms of His grace–for man to receive forgiveness. These are not things a man does to earn his salvation, but what God requires of him. When a man obeys the Lord, he receives the blessings of obedience (cf. Heb. 5:9).
Do you recognize Jesus as the Savior of all? Have you submitted to His conditions for salvation?
Jim McDonald
