I believe that what Jesus did at redemption , was for ALL man.
I believe all will be saved...and " every man in his own order".
You are correct my sister, Christ did not die simply for the Church (for believers alone),
but for the whole world of mankind.
“
And He Himself is the propitiation (the atoning sacrifice)
for our sins (the Church, believers),
AND NOT FOR OURS ONLY but also for the whole world.” (
1 John 2:2)
“
Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which ALL who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the RESURRECTION of judgement.” (
John 5:28, 29)
If you have a correct understanding of the word “
resurrection”, as well as a correct understanding of
what the judgement will consist of, you would know that the judgement to come is to be a
blessing and NOT a curse as is commonly taught by the nominal church. See our blog posts, “
Understanding the Resurrection” and “
Understanding the Judgement” for more on this.
“
For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of ALL MEN, especially of those who believe (
NOW, during the “
acceptable time”).”
1 Tim 4:10; 2 Cor 6:2
“
For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam ALL die, even so in Christ ALL shall be made alive.” (
1 Cor 15:21, 22)
“
For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one (having passed upon all),
much more those who receive abundance of grace (the unmerited favor of God)
and of the gift of righteousness (the “
free gift”, justification to life, such) will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment (the sentence)
came to ALL men (extensively),
resulting in condemnation (death),
even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to ALL men (co-extensively),
resulting in justification of life.
For as by one man’s disobedience many (
ALL)
were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many (
ALL)
will be made righteous.” (
Rom 5:17-19)
“
A ransom for ALL”,
what does this imply?
Some say that for a person to benefit from the ransom he must
first recognize his sinful condition, and that
likewise he must gain knowledge of the truth, and when he has accomplished this he then has a basis for exercising faith.
Is this true,
is it required that one must first recognized his sinful condition prior to receiving the benefits of the ransom, that the individual must first exercise faith in the ransom in order to acquire its benefits?
In respects to the world of mankind which comes first, knowledge of the truth (specifically the knowledge of man’s true condition and need for a savior)
or salvation? Note God’s answer as given in
1 Tim 2:3, 4
“
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires (1) all men to be saved and (2) to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Now if it be God’s will that
ALL men should be
saved first (from the Adamic curse),
and then following this to come to an accurate knowledge of the truth then it is apparent that whether or not the individual firsts recognized his sinful condition has no effect upon whether or not he shall reap the benefits of the ransom (i.e. salvation).
Just as the original
sentence (death) came upon
ALL mankind
irregardless to their own personal preferences (i.e. we were born in sin), so too the “
free gift”, salvation from the Adamic curse,
sentence (justification to life) comes to
ALL mankind once again
irregardless to their own preferences, it is the grace (the unmerited favor) of God.
Now with this in mind
1 Tim 2:3-6 should become all the more clear to us.
“
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; who will have (
UNCONDITIONALLY)
ALL MEN to be saved (from the original Adamic curse),
and to come unto an accurate knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom FOR ALL, to be testified in due time.”
Here is a salvation, which is clearly unconditional and depends alone on the will of God;
it is NOT however an eternal salvation, merely a salvation or redemption from the original Adamic curse, which resides upon ALL.
The right to life provided by the ransom sacrifice of Christ once understood is obtainable only upon the basis of acceptance and obedience.
Now many will argue with this reasoning, but how soon they forget that when Adam was condemned (lost the right to life) so too his seed in him lost that right also. It is only because of Christ took the place of father Adam that there is any hope of life for us. We were
bought with a price even the precious blood (life) of Christ, we no longer have any say in the matter, our lives were forfeited, and we are now the property of Christ.
And if it be his will to save ALL men who are we to argue.
He “
is the guarantee of our (the Churches)
inheritance (as sons of God)
until the redemption (deliverance)
of the purchased possession (i.e. Mankind; the rights, privileges, life and kingdom originally given to Adam; and the earth itself; all that was lost.),
to the praise of His glory.” (
Eph 1:14)
Our Redeemer was in the world for the very purpose of redeeming mankind (
ALL mankind), and all his forfeited rights and possessions. It is the purchaser's privilege to give life to any he so chooses, and it is his will (the Father’s will) to give life to
ALL men.
Note: we are not Universalist, God having saved (redeemed) all men from the original curse which was upon Adam and his race does not guarantee
everlasting life to any, he merely releases us from the original sentence, brought upon us by Adam’s sin. Eternal salvation will be determined upon the conclusion of the trial (a new trial) of each individual, the Church presently during this the Gospel Age as each prospective member of the body passes beyond the Vail of death, and the remainder of the world by the end of the Mediatorial reign at the end of the millennial age.
I will attempt to address the remainder of your comments in a future post.
