Scriptures to the Witness of God being the Father of ALL, and Jesus being the Savior of ALL. Part 5

Part 5

The gospel of the universal grace is the best news that was ever heard and its benefit includes ALL people, but it is not the doctrine of inclusivism

What is inclusivism?

Because I believe that the Grace of God is inclusive of ALL people I have been accused of believing that…Jesus died and rose again, and as a result everyone is saved. All people...whether they believe it or not...are included in Christ and are presently saved and can continue to sin without suffering any consequence of sinning and they call such believing, universalism.

But, is it "universalism?”

Universal grace teaches that ALL men will be saved, not that ALL men are already saved.  Inclusivism teaches, that “all men are already saved...they just don’t know it yet.” Inclusivism is often mistaken for universalim because it speaks the language of grace. Yes: Grace is inclusive...Grace is universal...Grace includes ALL people...but...inclusivism is not grace.

One of my friends explained it to me this way... "Universalism" means that all humans will ultimately be restored to a right relationship with God. It is inclusive, in the sense that it is open to everyone. However, "inclusivism," in religious terms, means that, even though the work of Christ is the only means of salvation, it does not necessarily follow that explicit knowledge of Christ is necessary to salvation."

I believe that Jesus Christ is the way to God and it is conditional upon our knowing and accepting Him as the way. I believe that ALL people are born immortal, not in the traditional sense that a handful of people will be immortal in a land of bliss...while the vast majority will experience immortality in a land of eternal punishment and suffering for ever...day without end...in the city of "Hell Fire."

I believe that Jesus is the ONLY WAY to God and eternal bliss, and that ALL people (past, present and future) will be given an opportunity to side on the side of Christ and ALL will do so. I do not believe that death throws up a barrier that limits God's ability to save or shortens His arm of salvation to accomplish His purpose and will...in that ALL people were created for  His pleasure. I fail to see that imprisonment in the torture chamber of hell suffering untold agony to the majority of people He created for His pleasure, will bring our loving Father pleasure.

Now I do not believe, as some accuses me of, that a person can go out and sin as much as they like and their is no adverse circumstances to experience and they end up in the land of bliss without siding with Christ.

I do believe that the scriptures support that ALL will be reconciled to God through the finished cross-work of Christ, and that God was with Christ in His ordeal on the cross doing just that. I also believe the sin, that Hell defenders say is what sends people down a slippery slope to hell fire...though deplorable...is not an issue with God any longer...The irony is however, according to the life of Jesus...the evil sin of self-righteous saints of His time was displeasing to Him as seen by His raking the religious elite on the carpet over their self-righteousness, but they still refused to accept Him or believe Him. I believe that rather than seeking out the sin of "sinners" and condemning them to hell if they do not say the "sinners prayer", it is better for us to search out what God considers as an evil sin in ourselves as saints, and cease from committing it. The biggest proponent of evil...at least what God considers evil...I believe, is religion even though it may be considered good by the majority of people.

It behooves all of us to open our eyes of understanding to all the possibilities of the Kingdom of God reality that is already in us because of God in us.

When we are talking to people who have never met Jesus, we do not tell them, “You’re already in a relationship with God, you just don’t know it, if that were the case there would be no need to share the Gospel message.” We still need to use the same invitation Jesus used in  (Mt 11:28, 19:14, John 5:40, 6:37, 44, 65, 7:37), and the apostles used (Acts 3:19, 20:21, 26:20) by saying, Believe the good news that Christ took care of your sin through His finished cross-work, repent (by turning away from self-righteousness and religion) and follow Him.”

The gospel of grace is the only true Gospel there is. It is the only message we have been commissioned to preach (Mark 16:15) and it is the only message that reveals God’s saving power to a lost and hurting world (Rom 1:16). And it is the message that ALL people will eventually hear and understand and accept. Any other message...no matter how appealing or fear-mongering the message may be...ought to be rejected as "another gospel that is no gospel at all", as Paul says.