Love's Final Victory / Ultimate Universal Salvation on the Basis of Scripture and Reason

by Horatio

The great panacea for unbelief is a larger view. We have to take in the future, in order to see the rounding out of God's great plan. 'An edifice may be hideous if seen from the rear, and incomplete. But wait till it is finished, and then view it from some vantage ground in the front, and its noble proportions and beauty are appreciated. So it is with the divine plan. We see but a part of it now, and the lower part. But bye and bye it will be complete. Then—

"Ye good distrest! Ye noble few
Who here unbending stand, beneath
Life's pressure—bear up yet a while,
And what your bounded view deemed evil
Is no more, the storms of wintry time
Will quickly pass, and one unbounded spring
Encircle all."

In the various passages that I have quoted we cannot but discern three great universals that involve each other. To these three universals all Evangelical Churches are tending. They seem to me to include what is really vital to faith and hope. The great universals are these:

Universal Love;
Universal Atonement;
Universal Salvation.

The first is accepted nominally by all; but how the first can be intelligently received, with a supposed limitation of the second, is hard to see. It is admitted that on the part of God there is universal love for all his creatures; it is admitted that this love expressed itself in Atonement. It is further admitted that this Atonement is as suitable for all as it is for a part of the race. Yet for ages it has been claimed that the Atonement is not divinely intended for all. How universal love, united with infinite power and infinite wisdom could act in this way is to me an everlasting mystery. So absurd does this position now appear, that a majority of the churches idea—perhaps unconsciously—with a decision and force not warranted by the original. Therefore I think I am justified in laying no great stress on passages of such doubtful meaning. It seems to me more honest and candid to wait for greater unanimity.

On the other hand, the passages that I have cited in favor of Restoration are in most cases so plain that they can hardly even be tortured into giving an uncertain sound. Take for instance, the passage in relation to the extent of the Atonement. "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world." "We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man." "The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." There is no uncertain sound there.

To me it is a marvel how men could accept and defend the doctrine of a limited Atonement, in the face of such clear statements. If such a course was taken in order to uphold a certain system of theology, it ought to be an everlasting warning to theologians not to make their systems of theology too complete. When we come to realize how little we know of God's plans and purposes, we shall see that completeness is entirely beyond us.

Then with such clear statements of a universal Atonement as I have quoted, take that dictum to which I formerly referred, and which I think none will dispute, that "God infallibly accomplishes everything at which he aims." Put the two things together, and what do they amount to? Do they not give us a certainty of Restoration? For if God gave His Son in order to make provision for all mankind, He surely desires the salvation of all mankind; and if God thus "aims" at the salvation of all, will He not accomplish it? If we had no hints whatever as to how that is done, either in this life or the next, we might rest on the assurance; it will infallibly be accomplished.

And then we have such a revelation of the character of God that we could expect no less. He is infinite Wisdom; He is infinite Power; and He is infinite Love. Put those three things together, and what will they not accomplish? Think the matter over for awhile. Can you imagine any consummation less than the final salvation of all?

That divine wisdom, divine power, and divine love can compass nothing better than endless torment, is almost unthinkable. And if such an ultimatum could be thought of as a possibility, then I would humbly ask: Is such a consummation worthy of God? And I would ask also: What would be the practical benefit of it? Would it not be a reflection on love and power that are infinite?