Good morning, Bereans. We have been looking at the first four verses of 1 Peter 5 for the past couple of weeks where Peter is addressing the elders/shepherds of the church.
So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 1 Peter 5:1-2 ESV
Peter says, "So I exhort the elders among you… shepherd the flock of God." The word "shepherd" is from the Greek word poimeno which means "to protect, feed, care for, and lead." The main responsibility of the shepherd is to feed the sheep, to teach them the Word of God. But a shepherd also has the responsibility to protect the sheep from predators, false teachers. Paul said to the Ephesian elders:
I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Acts 20:29-30 ESV
The shocking news was that some of those who would prove to be "savage wolves" were among them. Some of these elders would actually cease to be shepherds who were to feed the sheep and protect them from danger. Instead, they became wolves, preying upon the flock and speaking perverse things to achieve their destructive ends. We must guard against those who pose as Christian teachers but teach contrary to the Bible.
The church is always under attack from false doctrine. We need to be careful about embracing someone just because he states that his eschatology is Preterist. We cannot line up and associate with people based strictly on their eschatology. There are other doctrines that are much more important.
One false teaching that is infecting Preterism is the doctrine of Universalism. What is Universalism? It's the religion of the masses. According to Universalists, everybody goes to heaven.
Let's begin with a definition. Universalism is the teaching that God, through the atonement of Yeshua, will ultimately bring reconciliation between Himself and all people throughout history. This reconciliation will occur regardless of whether someone has trusted in or rejected Yeshua as Savior during his lifetime. As with any doctrine, there are many varieties of Universalism.
This doctrine is congenial to human nature. Most unbelievers think that when someone dies, he goes to heaven. What do people usually say when they lose a friend or loved one? "We know they're in a better place now." This doctrine goes back to what the serpent had to say to our first parents: "Ye shall not surely die." God says that sin leads to death, but people don't want to believe that. They'd rather believe the serpent.
Universalists all quote Scripture texts in support of their views, and by the manipulation of texts removed from their context, they make out a plausible case for the positions they hold. There are many verses that use "all" and "world" in relation to redemption. When looking at these verses, we must keep in mind the primary rule of hermeneutics known as the "analogy of faith." Scripture is to interpret Scripture. This means that no part of Scripture can be interpreted in such a way as to render it in conflict with what is clearly taught elsewhere in Scripture.
The basic presupposition of Universalism is that God loves everybody. Universalists focus solely on God's attribute of love. To show that this is a Universalist position, let me give you a couple of quotes from the web site, "The Plain Guide to Universalism" (http://www.auburn.edu/~allenkc/univ3.html ).
"We believe there is one God, whose nature is love; revealed in one Lord Jesus Christ, by one Holy Spirit of grace, who will finally restore the whole family of mankind to holiness and happiness."
"God loves all mankind. 'For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son' (John 3:16), and, as Jesus died for all men, so God loves all men."
Let's look first at God's nature. To say that God is love is the truth, but is it the whole truth? No! Love is one attribute of God, but He has many others: holiness, mercy, grace, justice, omniscience, immutability, sovereignty, and on and on we could go.
God's attributes are His characteristics, excellencies, or qualities exercised visibly in His work of creation, providence, and redemption. We call them attributes, not because we add them to the essence of God, but rather because they inhere in Him. They were and ever will be His. They tell us something about God's substance, His invisible essence.
Apart from an objective standard, we can make God to be anything we want. What is our objective standard? The Bible! The Bible is the self-revelation of God. If we are going to know God, we must learn of Him from the Scriptures. The problem is that most everyone believes in a "god" of their own invention. They have made up a "god" that they are comfortable with—a "god" who is only love. He loves everybody and puts up with everything. He's just a nice gentle old man! This is not the God of the Bible!
A. W. Tozer wrote: "Perverted notions about God soon rot the religion in which they appear. The long career of Israel demonstrates this clearly enough, and the history of the Church confirms it. So necessary to the Church is a lofty concept of God that when that concept in any measure declines, the Church with her worship and her moral standards declines along with it. The first step down for any church is taken when it surrenders its high opinion of God." (A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy, Chapter 1, "Why We Must Think Rightly about God").
Is it right for us to pick out one attribute that we like about God and reduce Him to that attribute only? No! When we do this, we create a God of our own liking. This is idolatry! Believing the wrong thing about God is idolatry. When we think of idolatry, we think of somebody in a mud hut with a little god on his table that he bows down to. Or we think of a pagan temple, very elaborate and ornate with a lot of people burning incense. But idolatry is much broader than that. Idolatry is simply thinking something about God that is untrue of Him. It is postulating anything about God that is not right. In its fullest stage, it is creating a god. In its secondary stage, it is making the God who is into something that He isn't. And maybe in its third level, which even Christians are guilty of, is thinking thoughts about God that are untrue of Him:
These things you have done, and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you. "Mark this, then, you who forget God, lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver! Psalm 50:21-22 ESV
Are you like Israel in this passage? Do you think God is like you? Do you think of God as a gentleman who wouldn't hurt a flea. Does your God dismiss sin?
Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Psalm 97:2 ESV
God is holy and just, and He must punish sin. Even the slightest sin defies the authority of God, insults His majesty, and challenges His justice. Because of our sin, we all deserve God's WRATH.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. Romans 1:18 ESV
God does not hide His wrath. He reveals it, that is, He discloses it, brings it to light, and makes it known. He expresses it, not in violent, uncontrolled explosions, but nevertheless by definite, observable acts. Whenever it is expressed, it is always against ungodliness and unrighteousness. In other words, God's wrath, unlike ours, is always expressed against sin.
Does God have a right to display his wrath? Does He have a right to display His Justice? Yes! Wrath and Justice are as much a part of His character as are mercy, grace, and love. Many people have difficulty imagining God finding any glory in His wrath, but He does. He is pleased with His wrath. It is just as much an attribute of God as is His love.
In his book, Almighty Over All, R.C. Sproul Jr. writes this excellent statement: "We cannot imagine God looking at His wrath like unwanted pounds He wants to lose, if only He had the power. No, God is as delighted with His wrath as He is with all of His attributes. Suppose He says, 'What I'll do is create something worthy of my wrath, something on which I can exhibit the glory of my wrath. And on top of that I'll manifest my mercy by showering grace on some of these creatures deserving my wrath.'"
So, when Universalism says, "God's nature is the very essence of benevolence," they're not wanting to acknowledge His attributes of wrath and justice.
Universalism also says, "Jesus died for all men, so God loves all men." This is one of the main presuppositions of Universalism. But does the Bible anywhere teach that God loves every human being, from Adam to the last human ever born? Or does the Bible teach that God hates some people, as well as loves some other people? Yes, it does.
As it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." Romans 9:13 ESV
So, there are those God loves, and those He hates. Paul is quoting from Malachi 1.
"I have loved you," says the LORD. But you say, "How have you loved us?" "Is not Esau Jacob's brother?" declares the LORD. "Yet I have loved Jacob [3] but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert." Malachi 1:2-3 ESV
Some say that what Paul is talking about here is the election of a nation as over against nations, and not election of individuals. That's really a foolish argument. If it is unjust for God to select one man over another, why is it all right if he selects one nation over another? Aren't nations made up of individuals?
The quotation from Malachi 1:2 is in reference to the nations that descended from Jacob and Esau, respectively, Israel and Edom. The prophet is here reproving the Jews for their ingratitude. As a proof of His peculiar favor, God refers to His preference for them from the first.
Some try to twist it by saying that hate doesn't mean hate, but, rather, to "love less," or "to regard and treat with less favor." Hate is used in this way in several passages:
"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:26 ESV
Here hate would have the idea of "to regard with less favor." But in the original context of Malachi 1:1-5, loving less hardly fits with the visitation of judgment.
but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert." If Edom says, "We are shattered but we will rebuild the ruins," the LORD of hosts says, "They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called 'the wicked country,' and 'the people with whom the LORD is angry forever.'" Malachi 1:3-4 ESV
This doesn't sound like hate means "loving less."
"Jacob have I loved." That is amazing! God doesn't owe any of us His love. And that He would choose to love any human is amazing. But men act like they deserve God's love. They don't; they deserve His wrath. We must see that God is sovereign in the exercise of His love. What I mean is that He loves whom he chooses. God does not love everybody. Now I know that when I say that, people get upset, but it is clearly what the Word of God teaches. He didn't love Esau, that is very clear. Now how will you argue, will you say that He loves everyone but Esau?
The idea that God loves everybody is a modern belief. The writings of the church fathers, the Reformers, or the Puritans will be searched in vain for any such concept. The fact is that the love of God is a truth for the saints only. With the exception of John 3:16, not once in the four Gospels do we read of the Lord Yeshua telling sinners that God loved them. In the book of Acts, which records the evangelistic labors and messages of the apostles, God's love is never referred to at all.Does that seem odd to you? But when we come to the Epistles, which are addressed to the saints, we have a full presentation of the truth:
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives." Hebrews 12:6 ESV
God's love is restricted to the members of His own family. If He loves all men, then the distinction and limitation here mentioned is quite meaningless. God only chastens whom He loves, which is a reference to believers, the elect.
What about John 3:16? Does it teach that God loves everybody? It seems to:
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 ESV
Doesn't this prove that God loves everybody? No. Remember that He hated Esau. You must admit the Bible says that. Let's put it in the form of a syllogism.
Major premise: God hated Esau
Minor premise: Esau is part of the world
Conclusion: God doesn't love everyone in the world.
The word "world" in John 3:16 is not used to mean every single person that has ever lived or will ever live.
"You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. Amos 3:2 ESV
Why did God only have a special relationship with Israel and leave all the other nations to walk in darkness? Because He didn't love them; He loved Israel.
The word "world" often has a relative, rather than an absolute, meaning. For example:
So the Pharisees said to one another, "You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him." John 12:19 ESV
Was everyone in the world going after Yeshua? No! Many were trying to kill Him.
And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship." Acts 19:27 ESV
Did everyone in the world worship Diana? No!
In John 3, Yeshua is speaking to Nicodemus, a Jew. The Jews believed that God loved only them. What John 3:16 is saying is that God's love is international in its scope, He loves Gentiles as well as Jews.
Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Yeshua knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. John 13:1 ESV
Yeshua loved those in the world who belonged to Him. God loved Jacob and He hated Esau. Why? God is sovereign in the exercise of His love.
God does not love everyone, and Christ did not die for everyone. The atonement was limited. Christ died with the intention of saving His elect. He gave His life "for His sheep" (Jn.10:11). To be sure, the value of Christ's person and work is infinite. His death, therefore, was entirely sufficient to atone for all the sins of all the men who ever lived. But of course, it was not designed to do that. We know this, very simply because His mission, as He defined it, was to save "those whom the Father had given Him" (Jn.6:37-39). Christ died for "His" sheep, not the goats.
since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. John 17:2 ESV
I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. John 17:9 ESV
Notice that Christ doesn't pray for the world, but only for His sheep—the elect. His life was a ransom, not for all, but for many.
so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. Hebrews 9:28 ESV
Again, Christ bore the sins of many, not all. The essential issue here concerns the nature of the atonement. Christ's atonement was only for the elect; it was limited. So, God does not love everybody, and Christ did not die for everybody. He loved and died for the elect.
The Universalist will say, "We can add nothing to Jesus' act on the cross to save us, NOT EVEN BELIEF." The Bible teaches that faith is a gift of God, but it is only given to the elect. Faith is evidence of God's election:
And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. Acts 13:48 ESV
Notice who it was who believed. The ones who were appointed to eternal life believed. Who appointed them? God! Clearly, the reason that they believed is because they were appointed:
So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." Yeshua answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. John 10:24-26 ESV
Many today would say, "You're not of my sheep, because you don't believe." But that's not what our Lord said. He said, "You don't believe, because you are not Mine, you're not one of My elect." They didn't believe because they were not appointed to eternal life.
Churchianity is so lopsided on the issue of love that it has decided that God must love everybody! And if He doesn't love everybody, then He can't be our God. I think that most of churchianity believes that they are worthy of God's love and goodness. People actually think that God owes them. In this twisted view, God is the debtor and man is the creditor.
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. John 5:24 ESV
Those who do not believe in Yeshua the Christ will not see life because they are under the wrath of God. Believers have already passed from death to life and will not come into judgment.
And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." John 12:32 ESV
Are we to take this to mean that God is drawing everyone to Himself? No. We have already seen that God does not love or choose everybody. And because of that, He does not draw everybody. We need to look at the context of this verse:
Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, "Sir, we wish to see Yeshua." Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Yeshua. John 12:20-22 ESV
Here we have Greeks who want to see Yeshua. What do Gentiles have to do with Christ? He is the Jewish Messiah! "All peoples" here is used of "people of all races." God is going to draw Jews and Gentiles, rich and poor, bond and free. This passage doesn't teach Universalism.
The unforgivable sin
The Universalist states that there is no unforgivable sin because all people who have ever lived will ultimately be reconciled to God. In other words, all sins from all people who have ever lived will be forgiven. However, the Bible teaches that there is a sin that will never be forgiven.
Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. Matthew 12:31-32 ESV
I'm sure that countless numbers of people have read this in their Bibles and wondered if it applied to them. Yeshua clearly states, "but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven." The contrasting preposition "but," is from the Greek "de." The use of the word "but" is showing that there is a contrast, or an exception to the previous statement, "every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people." All sins are forgivable, but blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is not. That is why the word "but" is there—to show that there is a qualification, an exception to the first statement.
So, we really need to understand what "blasphemy against the Holy Spirit" is. The word "blasphemy" is a compound word made from the Greek words "to speak" (phemi) and "to hurt" (blapto). It describes the act of speaking of someone in a hurtful way.
Blasphemy is the opposite of praise and worship. Praise is to speak good of someone. Worship is to assign worth to someone. Blasphemy is to speak evil and to attempt to take worth away from one that is deserving of such. Blasphemy is speaking evil against God. This is a serious sin. In the Tannakh, it called for the death of the offender.
Whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death. Leviticus 24:16 ESV
Blasphemy was a serious crime. It was a capital offense. And yet, even blasphemy can be forgiven. The Apostle Paul confessed to having been "a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor" (1 Timothy 1:13), but he was shown mercy.
All sin is forgivable—except one. So, it is imperative that we understand what it means to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. In context, the scribes had been given all of the evidence. They had seen the miracles. They had heard the teachings. And they still rejected Christ. They have just accused Him of performing miracles by the power of Satan. They have witnessed the power of the Holy Spirit, and they said, "That is Satan!" They pointed to the Holy Spirit and said, "Unholy and unclean!" They rejected the very One, Yeshua, in whom it was necessary to believe in order to receive forgiveness. As a result, there remained no possibility of forgiveness.
These scribes made the most serious accusation in declaring that what Christ had done by the power of the Holy Spirit in testimony to His Messiahship was actually the work of the devil. Yeshua was saying that it is the power of the Holy Spirit that is revealing who He is and what He came to do. The power of the Holy Spirit has made that so evident. The clear revelation of Christ as the Messianic King, affirmed by the unmistakable healing and deliverance by the power of the Spirit, was totally rejected and declared to be of the devil. They attributed the work of God to Satan.
So, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is witnessing Yeshua performing a miracle and then attributing that power to Satan instead of the Spirit. They saw Yeshua do miracles and rejected Him. Today, people read in the Bible of Yeshua's miracles and still reject Him.
The only unpardonable sin is to physically die having rejected Yeshua as Savior. Any sin today can be forgiven. But if anyone denes the Person and work of Yeshua the Christ, there is no means by which God can forgive. They have denied the only way to salvation. That's the unpardonable sin. The unpardonable sin is to deny Yeshua as the Christ. Every other sin can be forgiven. But to reject Yeshua as the Savior leaves no means by which God can grant forgiveness.
And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. Matthew 12:32 ESV
It shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. There are only two ages spoken of in the Bible, and this sin won't be forgiven in either one of them. In Universalism, all men are forgiven. The Bible teaches no such concept. In the context of this passage, men were committing this sin, and they would not be forgiven. They would not be saved:
Yeshua said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 ESV
This truth is stated over and over and over again in the New Testament—Yeshua is the only way of salvation. But many in churchianity are very offended by that and, therefore, accuse their opponents of being intolerant, rigid, judgmental fundamentalists. They want to be considered Christians, but they deny the very essence of Christ Himself. So, if the unforgivable sin is to reject Yeshua, then all who reject Him will perish.
I see Universalism as an attack on the Gospel. Over and over the Bible calls upon man to "believe on the Lord Yeshua the Christ" for salvation. But Universalism says, "You don't need to believe in Jesus; all will be saved." The Philippian jailor asked: "What must I do to be saved?" The apostles answered: "Believe on the Lord Yeshua the Christ." But the Universalist would answer the jailor as follows: "You don't have to do anything, all men will be saved."
One of the favorite verses of universalism is 1 Timothy 4:10.
For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. 1 Timothy 4:10 ESV
So what does this mean? First of all, let me say that this is a text where I think that "all" means "all." The living God is the Savior of all men. That is what it says. But what does it mean? This is where our principle of: "Determine carefully the meaning of words" comes in. Hermeneutics uses two basic methods by which words are defined: 1) Etymology— which is the science of word derivations. 2) Usage—which is how the author uses a word. Which of these two always takes precedence? Usage. Why? Because words can change their meaning over time.
Let's look at a couple of words in the phrase, "The Savior of all people, especially of those who believe"—Universalists jump on this verse, because on the surface it sounds as it it supports their theology. But does it? If God is the Savior of all men, what does "especially of those who believe" mean? The word "especially" is from the Greek word malista, which means "chiefly, most of all." It is not contrastive, or adversative, so it can't be saying all men are saved in this sense, but believers are saved in this sense. What it's saying is that all men are saved in this sense, but especially do believers experience it. So whatever salvation it's referring to, it refers to all men experiencing in some way and to some degree the very same kind of salvation that believers experience.
What exactly does He mean by this? To understand this, we must first understand the word "Savior." A true exegesis must begin with a definition of "Savior." The majority of English readers see this word and automatically think that it means eternal life, salvation from wrath and spiritual death. But the Greek noun soter (Savior) and the verb sozo (save) have a wide range of possible meanings. They can be referring to physical healing, rescue from danger, spiritual deliverance of various kinds, and to preservation from final judgment. For example, look at Judges 3.
But when the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. Judges 3:9 ESV
The word "deliverer" here is the Hebrew word yasha, which is the Hebrew equivalent of the Greek soter, Savior. Young's translation has the word "savior" in Judges 3:9. Othniel was the savior of Israel because he delivered them from their enemies:
(Therefore the LORD gave Israel a savior, so that they escaped from the hand of the Syrians, and the people of Israel lived in their homes as formerly. 2 Kings 13:5 ESV
God gave Israel a "savior" to physically deliver them from the Arameans.
I think that "Savior" in 1 Timothy 4:10 is not used in a soteriological sense. It is used in the sense of a preserver of all men, specially of those that believe:
Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O LORD. Psalm 36:6 ESV
The word "save" here is the Hebrew word Yasha—Savior. So, Yahweh is the Savior of man and beast. This isn't animals receiving eternal life. This is preservation.
So, in our text in 1 Timothy 4:10, we find that Yahweh is the Savior of all men in the sense that He preserves the life of all men, but He especially does His work to encompass His own sons and daughters. Now notice the context of verse 11.
Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 1 Timothy 4:1 ESV
So, the apostle begins by speaking of the coming apostasy and affirming the certainty of it. Now that expression, "the faith," does not refer to the faith by which we believe in the Lord Yeshua. The New Testament uses faith in different senses. Sometimes the term faith means "the faith by which we believe and are saved." At other times, the faith is a reference to that which we believe, the body of truth. He is talking about certain doctrines, and he says that there are men who shall depart from the faith.
Now let's go to the end of the chapter.
Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. 1 Timothy 4:16 ESV
We have an interesting occurrence of the verb sozo here translated "save." Can a man save himself by taking heed to himself and taking heed to the teaching and continuing in them? Is that the way you get saved? No. That's not the way you get saved? You get saved by believing the Gospel message concerning the Lord Yeshua. If you take heed to yourself and to the doctrine of the Word of God and if you continue in them, you will preserve yourself from the false teachers and their attacks.
So, you can see that the word "save" here means "to deliver" in this context—not save spiritually, in the sense of from the penalty of sin, but preserve from the effects of the teaching of the false teachers.
Notice what Paul says to the Gentiles in Athens on Mars Hill.
nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. Acts 17:25 ESV
God, then, in a sense, is the sustainer, and the provider of life and breath and all things for all people. So the word "savior" can mean sustainer, provider, deliverer. It is used this way later on in the book of Acts:
Therefore I urge you to take some food. For it will give you strength, for not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you." Acts 27:34 ESV
The word "strength" here is soteria—salvation. He's not talking about spiritual salvation; he's talking about their physical deliverance.
God is the Savior of all men who breathe air, live life, know healing in their human bodies because God is the sustainer of all of that. So, He is the Savior of all, but especially does He sustain and provide for those who believe and will forever and ever. And this is what Paul is talking about in 1 Timothy 4:10. Paul is not a Universalist.
Alright, here's another one:
He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:2 ESV
This is not teaching that Yeshua propitiates for everyone's sins, but that He is the ONLY propitiation that there is. It is not speaking of universal propitiation but of exclusiveness. In other words, there is no other propitiation other than Yeshua Christ. If they don't look to Christ, there is no one else to propitiate for their sins. Yeshua is the only propitiation for all the world. Peter tells us this in Acts 4.
let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Yeshua the Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead-by him this man is standing before you well. This Yeshua is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:10-12 ESV
So, 1 John 2:2 doesn't support Universalism either.
A Universalist writes: "Belief is not a 'requirement' to be returned back to God in spirit when you die. Belief is that thing that gives us joy RIGHT NOW, KNOWING that it has been accomplished, that the works of the Devil have been undone, and that Jesus is the Savior of the world."
The Bible doesn't say that those who believe will have joy, but eternal life. To not believe is to not have eternal life.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. John 3:18 ESV
The Scripture from beginning to end proclaims the necessity of faith.
But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Yeshua the Christ might be given to those who believe. Galatians 3:22 ESV
Again the promise is given to, and only to, those who believe.
for in Christ Yeshua you are all sons of God, through faith. Galatians 3:26 ESV
You become a son of God only through faith! Apart from faith in Christ, men will perish. Eternal life is only for believers.
Why did Paul and all the apostles sacrifice so much to preach the Gospel if it was really unnecessary because all men would be saved anyway. They were persecuted unto death, some were thrown into boiling caldrons of oil, some of them were burned at the stake, and some of them were crucified. Why go through all this to bring men the Gospel when all men will eventually be saved anyway?
Why does Paul want to reach the elect? In order that they may obtain what they've been elected to obtain. The point is this, God has chosen them to be saved, but God also gives us this incredible privilege of being the human agency by which the saving Gospel is brought to their hearts. They must believe, but they must hear so that they can believe.