A Point Against Universal Reconciliation
Studying the Bible is a great joy of mine. I very often get different things out of it when I read it. I make new connections, deduce new meanings, and feel filled with the Spirit of God when I read my Bible.
Today, I would like to talk about one of the things I do NOT think is in the Bible that is taking more root in Christendom in the current times.
The doctrine I am talking about is universalism. I would define universalism as the theology that all humans will go to heaven. There are varied interpretations of universalism, just as there are varied interpretations of reformed theology. So while I cannot tackle speaking against all forms of universalism, I can speak against a specific subset of it here. Most specifically, I would like to say I am speaking against a specific branch of universalism called universal reconciliation (UR henceforth). This theology states that even though there is a final judgment that is real, and people really do go to hell, with enough time, every single person will repent of their sin, even if it takes millions of years in hell to get to the point of repentance. Not all proponents of UR believe Satan will be reconciled to God. However, that was a version condemned as heresy against Origen, one of the early church fathers who held this view.
Now allow me to draw your attention to an overlooked or understudied passage that goes against UR. That passage is Luke 16:19-17:4. Please read that passage now or have your Bible out so you can follow along with my reasoning.
But before I go there, we have to get the context. We find this here:
Luke 16:14–18 CSB17
“The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and scoffing at him. And he told them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly admired by people is revolting in God’s sight.
“The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then, the good news of the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is urgently invited to enter it. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter in the law to drop out.
“Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and everyone who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.””
Why am I quoting this? Because I want to show the order in which Jesus says things. Jesus first talks about "[T]he ones who justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts" (that's a claim about Jesus' deity which I will not explain now). And that has specific implications for our main passage. You see, Jesus gives three different talks about the rich Pharisees. First is self-righteousness, next is about the law and the kingdom of heaven, and finally, about sexual immorality or law-breaking/law-keeping. And this pattern holds for the three sections Jesus talks about. First about the rich man and Lazarus, and next about warnings and the kingdom of heaven come (which I will explain), and finally about faith and duty in terms of keeping the law. Each of these parallels what Christ said in Luke 16:14-18. We are primarily concerned with the first part, but since this is a multi-layered passage and things overlap in what Christ says in Luke 16:14-18 with Luke 16:19-17:10 we will cover other things too.
Now we get into our text.
Luke 16:19–20 CSB17
““There was a rich man who would dress in purple and fine linen, feasting lavishly every day. But a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, was lying at his gate.”
Notice right away that Jesus makes a parallel between the rich Pharisees in Luke 16:14 and the rich man in Luke 16:19. We also see that Lazarus is poor in verse 20. This is very significant. Being rich in this context is a sign of pride. We know this because although it is not explicitly stated, Lazarus was considered humble, which allowed him in Abraham's Bosom and the rich man was in Hades. We know Lazarus was humble because the Bible says, "For what is highly admired by people is revolting in God’s sight," which is a direct parallel between Lazarus and the rich man. So the rich man was prideful, and Lazarus was humble. That is what causes each person to go where they go after their death.
Next, we look here:
Luke 16:22, 25-26 CSB17
“One day the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.
“‘Son,’ Abraham said, ‘remember that during your life you received your good things, just as Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here, while you are in agony. Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that those who want to pass over from here to you cannot; neither can those from there cross over to us.’””
In this story, Abraham says there is a "chasm" that no one can cross between his bosom and Hades. I point this out because it demonstrates that there is no crossing over to the "other side" after you have died. There is no going back after that. You have your chance when you are on earth, but there is no going back after that. A proponent of UR might then say that this is a parable, but I will address that in a bit.
Next, for our purposes, I want to show how this is multi-layered with what we are concerned with here.
Luke 17:1–4 CSB17
“He said to his disciples, “Offenses will certainly come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to stumble. Be on your guard. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and comes back to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.””
The point here is to allude to Lazarus, who was humble. And Christ here is preaching repentance. The big deal with Jesus preaching repentance is that the Pharisees were against doing any such thing. We know this because of the testimony of John the Immerser. He tells the Pharisees to repent, and they don't. We see this here:
Matthew 3:1–2, 7 CSB17
“In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near!””
“When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?”
Notice that John's message was repentance (the same message as Jesus' from Matthew 4:17), and then the Pharisees approached John. Later in the book of Matthew, we see this:
Matthew 21:24–25 CSB17
“Jesus answered them, “I will also ask you one question, and if you answer it for me, then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Did John’s baptism come from heaven, or was it of human origin?”” (Emphasis mine)
So the Pharisees knew what John the Immerser's message was and what Jesus' message was. But they hardened their hearts toward this message. They could not repent, so Jesus likens them to the rich man who does not go to Abraham's bosom.
Next, in looking at how this is multilayer, we see it written:
Luke 17:5–6, 10 CSB17
“The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
“If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,” the Lord said, “you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.”
“In the same way, when you have done all that you were commanded, you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we’ve only done our duty.’””
Notice how Jesus answers them. First, he gives them the incentive to have great faith that brings great power. Secondly, He tells them they have this great faith by being humble and submitting to the Lord. So this element of humility creeps up a lot in this idea of salvation. And just to add, though the incentive to have great power is truly there, this power you would gain for having faith pales in comparison to the source of the power, which is of God and Christ. And faith is the way of following the Law, which brings you into the Kingdom of God.
Finally, I want to tackle the objection that the rich man and Lazarus story is a parable. I don't believe it is, and I have three reasons for this.
1) Jesus' parables never contain names.
2) Lazarus in the story could very well be the same story of Lazarus' resurrection from that Christ rises from the dead. I say this because the only places in the whole Bible where the name Lazarus is used are in the Gospel of Luke in this story and the Gospel of John, where Jesus resurrects Lazarus. It could very well be the same exact Lazarus and demonstrates that Lazarus played a crucial role in Jesus' story.
3) The story falls in the arch of Jesus' teachings against pride by using a real person as an example. Rather than Lazarus being an unnamed character in a story Jesus is telling, it could well be that Jesus wants to honor this individual by naming them and bringing attention to the characteristics people should follow to prevent them from going to Hades. After all, why would Jesus confirm the well-known idea at the time in Jewish culture that you go to one of two places after death?
If all that is not enough to demonstrate that point and you still think it is a parable, then I will only say if it is a parable then Jesus' words saying no one can cross is meant to be a greater reality rather than a lesser reality. The question is why that was included if people CAN cross over in the next life. It would make little sense for Jesus to include that part if people cross over after being purified by fire.
And that's one point against Universal Reconciliation.
God bless you! Until Next time!