Bible Questions Answered:
“In Colossians 1:19,20 we read here
that all will be saved! Why don't you teach that. Our …. here has
taught this....”
Raffaello/ Como, Italy
Bible Answer:
Bible Text:
Colossians 1:19,20 NLT
19 For God in all His fullness was pleased to live in Christ,
20
and through Him God reconciled everything to Himself. He made
peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s
blood on the cross.
Such belief is what is called “Universalism.” A gospel that teaches that all are saved. Such is “not,” what is taught by the Apostle Paul or in The Word Of God!
The Context:
Colossians 1:1-29 NLT 1 This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy.
2 We are writing to God’s holy people in the city of Colosse, who are faithful brothers and sisters in Christ. May God our Father give you grace and peace.
3 We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
4 For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people,
5 which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News.
6 This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.
7 You learned about the Good News from Epaphras, our beloved co-worker. He is Christ’s faithful servant, and he is helping us on your behalf.
8 He has told us about the love for others that the Holy Spirit has given you.
9 So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding.
10 Then the way you live will always honor and please The Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.
11 We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy,
12 always thanking The Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to His people, who live in the light.
13 For He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His dear Son,
14 who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins
(Christ The Head of all things:)
15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and
is supreme over all creation,
16 for through Him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through Him and for Him.
17 He existed before anything else, and He holds all creation together.
18 Christ is also the head of the church, which is His body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So He is first in everything.
19 For God in all His fullness was pleased to live in Christ,
20 and through Him (Christ) God reconciled everything to Himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.
21 This includes you who were once far away from God. You were His enemies, separated from Him by your evil thoughts and actions.
22 Yet now He has reconciled you to Himself through the death of Christ in His physical body. As a result, He has brought you into His own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before Him without a single fault.
23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.
24 I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for His body, the church.
25 God has given me the responsibility of serving His church by proclaiming His entire message to you.
26 This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people.
27 For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing His glory.
28 So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ.
29 That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.
Paul was speaking to believers, Christians at Colosse. The Apostle stated that Christ is head over all things, including the church.
In verse 15, Paul states that sin separates man and God, “This includes you who were once far away from God. You were His enemies, separated from Him by your evil thoughts and actions.”
But God in His great love, created a bridge for sinful man to the holy God, in the form of His Son The Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse 4 NLT “ faith in Christ Jesus”
Verses 12-14 NLT
12 always
thanking The Father. He has enabled you to share in the
inheritance that belongs to His people, who live in
the light.
13 For He
has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into
the Kingdom of His dear Son,
14 who
purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.
Here are the Apostles words to the Ephesian believers:
Ephesians
2:12-18 NLT
12
"...You lived in this world without God and without hope.
13 But now
you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away
from God, but now you have been brought near to Him through the blood
of Christ.
14 For
Christ Himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles
into one people when, in His own body on the cross, He broke down the
wall of hostility that separated us.
15 He did
this by ending the system of law with its commandments and
regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in
Himself one new people from the two groups.
16 Together
as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of His
death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put
to death.
17 He
brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far
away from Him, and peace to the Jews who were near.
18 Now
all of us can come to The Father through the same Holy Spirit because
of what Christ has done for us.
Humanity born
under the curse of sin, now has a bridge of escaping the anger of
God, that bridge of salvation, is God's Son The Lord Jesus Christ.
To refuse Him, is to refuse pardon and life.
Our Lord's
message of reconciliation is open for all!
Isaiah
40:3-5 KJV
3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness,
Prepare ye the way of The Lord, make straight in the desert a highway
for our God.
4 Every
valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made
low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places
plain:
5 And the
glory of The Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it
together: for the mouth of The Lord hath spoken it.
John 1:1-5,9 KJV 1 In the beginning was The Word, and The Word was with God, and The Word was God.
2
The same was in the beginning with God.
3
All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made
that was made.
4
In Him was Life; and The Life was The Light of men.
5
And The Light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it
not.
9
That was The True Light, which
lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
Titus 2:11-14 KJV 11 For 11 The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
I Timothy 2:3,4 KJV
3 For this
is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior;
4 Who will have
all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of The Truth.
II Peter 3:9
KJV
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count
slackness; but is long suffering to us-ward, not willing
that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
John 1:12 KJV
But as many as received Him (Jesus Christ),
to them gave He power to become the sons of God,
even to them that
believe on His name:
John 3:36 KJV
He
that believeth on The Son hath everlasting life:
and he that believeth not The Son shall not see life; but the wrath
of God abideth on him.
John 14:6 KJV
Jesus saith unto him, I am The
Way, The Truth, and The Life: no man cometh unto the
Father, but by Me.
Romans 8:15
KJV
For ye have not received the
spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received The Spirit Of
Adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
I John 3:1-10
KJV
1
Behold, what manner of love The Father hath bestowed upon us, that we
should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not,
because it knew Him not.
2 Beloved,
now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall
be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for
we shall see Him as He is.
3 And every
man that hath this hope in Him purifieth Himself, even as He is pure.
4 Whosoever
committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the
transgression of the law.
5 And ye
know that He (Christ)was
manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin.
6 Whosoever
abideth in Him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him,
neither known Him.
7 Little
children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is
righteous, even as He is righteous.
8 He that
committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the
beginning. For this purpose The Son of God was manifested, that He
might destroy the works of the devil.
9 Whosoever
is born of God doth not commit sin; for His seed remaineth in him:
and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
10 In this
the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil:
whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that
loveth not his brother.
This is the
message of reconciliation, but even for those who reject Him, Christ
is still their head! Believers and enemies alike will all one
day, bow to The Lord Jesus.
Psalm 110:1 KJV
The
Lord said unto My Lord, Sit thou at My right hand, until I make thine
enemies thy footstool.
Romans 14:11 KJV
For
it is written, As I live, saith The Lord, every knee shall bow to Me,
and every tongue shall confess to God.
Philippians
2:9-11 NLT
9 Therefore, God
elevated Him to the place of highest honor and gave Him the name
above all other names,
10 that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory
of God The Father.
Are
all men saved because of Christs vicarious death on the cross?
No, only those who
turn to Him in faith, living for Him, who take Him as their means of
Salvation, are.
The choice of
adoption, is ours!
Acts 2:21 KJV
And it shall come to pass,
that whosoever shall call on the name of The Lord shall be saved.
Romans 10:13 KJV
For
whosoever shall call upon the name of The Lord shall be saved.
I John 1:9 KJV
If
we confess our sins, He is Faithful and Just to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Revelation 22:17 KJV
And The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And
let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And
whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
