Will Everyone Be Saved?

"Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?" He said to them, "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ "But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ "Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ "But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’ "There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out" (Lk. 13:22-28).

Christian Universalism is not a new idea. Very generally, Christian Universalism is the belief that everyone will be saved. There are many different shades of Christian Universalism which makes it difficult to explain exactly how they think this works. Some believe that everyone will come to saving faith in Jesus in this lifetime before they die. Others believe that you could die shaking a hateful fist at God and yet come to faith and repentance in eternity. The whole issue of whether some or all will be saved has been around since Jesus’ day.

While deep down in our hearts we long for it to be true that all will be saved, Jesus has made it crystal clear that this will not be the case. Again and again my attention comes back to Jesus’ call to “make every effort to enter through the narrow door.” I think the NASB and ESV translate the Greek better. They say: “Strive to enter through the narrow door” (emphasis mine). Really what Jesus has in mind is that we fight, struggle, strive, and make every effort to enter through the narrow door. I get a picture in my head of a small opening in a wall that is surrounded by a whole mob of people trying to jostle and squeeze and pull themselves through the opening.

This life is not a game. It’s not something to be taken lightly. Before all of us is a narrow opening that we must continually fight and struggle to get through, not giving up until we know for sure that we are safe inside and the opening has been closed. Do you live your days with this kind of seriousness? When confronted with the plethora of options as to how you spend your time, does this reality steer your course through the day?

Here’s the solemn warning of Jesus. Not everyone will be saved. There will be those who tried to enter the door and were not able to or strong enough to. They didn’t fight, struggle, and strive to enter and now it’s too late. There will be people who are left standing outside the door knocking and pleading with Jesus to open up the door and let them in. And Jesus will tell them straight up: “I do not know you or where you are from. Away from me, all you evildoers.” Accordingly, a true disciple of Jesus Christ is one who is right now fighting and struggling and striving to enter through the narrow door.

Have you been fighting to have real, deep, and vibrant faith in Jesus? Or are you just taking it easy? Have you been working out your salvation with fear and trembling? (Phil. 2:12). Or are you feeling pretty comfortable and ok that everything will be fine in the end if you just sit back, relax, and enjoy life?
Here’s the scary part to me. The people who are left outside knocking and pleading are the people who expect to be inside. ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ Come on Jesus! You know us! We know you! We heard your teaching in church every Sunday morning! To which Jesus replies again saying, I do not know you. “Away from me, all you evildoers!”

Notice Jesus’ evaluation of all the people that were left out who expected to be included. He calls them evildoers. Hypocrisy is deadly. The door of salvation is narrow and only few will enter it. Many many people think they are good people who believe in Jesus, but the way they live falsifies their claim. They are deceived. They are the people that Jesus calls evildoers and they don’t even realize it.

If you haven’t been fighting, struggling, and striving with all your might to enter through the narrow door, you could be one of those people! The final fate of the people who Jesus refuses to open up to is terrible. They are thrown out of the kingdom of God and experience weeping and gnashing of teeth (28). All over the place in the Gospels, Jesus uses this same language to refer to hell, the place of eternal punishment reserved for those who refuse to acknowledge, submit to, receive, believe, and obey Jesus Christ.

So my question for you is how’s the battle going? How goes the fight? Can you tell me about your striving and your struggling and how you are making every effort to be found secure in the glorious salvation of Jesus Christ?