“Who is Jesus Christ?”
This simple question has engrossed the minds of sincere theologians and pastors for the better part of several centuries. Whenever it is suggested that He is the Savior of the world, the Savior of every man, severe caution has been expressed: don’t slide into the evil doctrine of Universalism for the Bible is too clear that many will eventually be lost and go into the lake of fire after the second resurrection when they gather around the Great White Throne (Rev. 20:11-15).
So the idea has prevailed that Jesus Christ cannot be the Savior of every man unless every man first receives and believes Him. It’s only those who “believe in Him” who will not “perish,” John 3:16 says.
A few years back a prominent evangelist declared to young people worldwide that “Jesus wants to be your Best Friend,” but the idea is of course that He can’t be unless you open your heart, etc. (A very thoughtful, enlightened writer once wrote a book entitled Steps to Christ that said that Jesus Christ is already your Best Friend; then the publishers put out an edition for youth that said on the back cover, “Jesus Wants to be Your Best Friend.” This highly popular idea is intended to preserve the necessity of obedience to the law; true, no one persisting in willful disobedience to the ten commandments will be saved eternally; he couldn’t be happy!)
But there is not yet unanimity among theologians and evangelists as to who Jesus Christ is. They cannot embrace strict Calvinism that says He has predestinated some (“like the sand of the sea”?) to be lost eternally, and a few others to be saved eternally. (That idea has to be out.)
Hence an idea that rejects strict Calvinism—Jesus Christ is potentially “the Savior of all men” IF they take the initiative to elect Him to be so. Through the better part of several centuries this idea has prevailed.
But wait a moment. The problem is—therein lies the basic root of the idea that the sinner’s ultimate salvation is due to his own initiative; and there lies the source of the nearly universal lukewarmness that pervades the church in these last days (Rev. 3:14-21).
What the Bible has been saying all along is that Jesus Christ is already the “Savior of the world” (John 4:42), the Savior of “all men”(Rom. 5:18), the sinner’s Best Friend; but those who will be lost at last have chosen to resist and reject Him through unbelief; they have “frustrated the grace of God” (Gal. 2:21). This simple disclosure clarifies the theological conundrum.
The bottom line: repentance at last comes into focus (Rev. 3:19).
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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