Due to the sheer verbiage of Eric Landstrom’s tome against Christian Universalism…
ovrlnd.com/Universalism/allthealls.html
…it seems practical to begin with his examination of what he considers to be CU’s primary or favorite passage from the Bible which supports the salvation of all, 1 Tim 4:10:
“For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.”
Before we get into Mr. Landstrom’s assessment of the passage, I think it prudent to preface this with a few quotes from among hundreds—possibly thousands—of generally conservative, evangelical Protestants on the internet who promote proper hermeneutics. We should then consider Eric Landstrom’s handling of the interpretation of 1Tim 4:10.
*“Bible passages should be read literally in their common sense plain meaning unless it is obvious that it relates to a symbolic truth.” *[1]
“The “normal literal” method of Bible interpretation refers to the way human language is ordinarily interpreted. God has revealed His truth through the normal means of human language. Thus, the normal literal sense of Scripture must rule. Dr. David L. Cooper wisely observes: “When the plain sense of scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense, but take every word at its primary literal meaning unless the facts of the immediate context clearly indicate otherwise.” [2]
*“The literal method is a true and honest method. It is based on the assumption that the words of Scripture can be trusted. It assumes that since God intends His revelation to be understood, divine revelation must be written based on regular rules of human communication……when a word is used in a given situation, it should normally possess but one intended sense or meaning. This is the regular law of linguistic exchange among sensible people.” *[3]
Consider:
“…we should ask ourselves if the focus to explain the verse should be the “Saviour of all men” part, or should we take into account that passage lays in the context of “specially those that believe” within the verse?..The universalist fails to rightly divide the truths of Scripture. I say this because salvation is more than just being justified. To be saved, one must receive eternal life. Therefore, let us be honest with ourselves, because from looking at this verse, as well as the other “all” verses, we don’t know with any certainty that the truth it conveys is that all peoples whom have ever lived shall be given eternal life and dwell with the Lord in heaven.”
So much for the important fundamental tenet of good hermeneutics, reading the verse in its “common sense plain meaning” Yes, salvation is more than being justified. It’s a process for those of faith in time and space. But justification is an eternal decree, and God’s eternal decree is never broken (**Isa 14:27, 43:13**). Given that justification is given as a gift of grace, it's difficult to imagine how one could be justified by God's grace yet never attain salvation. Does He recall His justification from humans? How can God's perfection be maintained in the illogical notion that He could pronounce someone justified, then refuse to save her?
“More likely, based upon biblical theology looked upon as a whole (systematic theology), and word studies of the word specially, as well as understanding the historical times and people to whom the verse was originally written to -that this verse states that God shall save all people from destruction, or the annihilation that they rightly deserve. This is supported by Daniel 12:2; John 5:28-29; and Acts 24:15, all of which affirm that the resurrection applies to both the saints and the wicked. The basic premise of this being God’s loving nature to save. As Romans 3:22-23 teaches, all have fallen short of the glory of God and deserve to be destroyed. But it would be contrary of God’s nature (see the reply to God is Love below) to destroy us all, His creation. Therefore because existence is better than non existence, or something is better than nothing, all are resurrected to appear before the Lord for judgment.”
Let’s return to the literalist axiom that Bible passages should be understood in their simplest, most direct sense of meaning. Now reread Mr. Landstrom’s paragraph above. Apparently when he carefully considers all the sober manmade rules of interpretation—except of course the most fundamental of them, that we’re supposed to allow the plain meaning of a passage to stand—we are supposed to dutifully follow as he leaps completely out of the arena of logic, context and common sense and invents a framework that has nothing to do with what Paul is talking about in 1Tim 4:10. Worse, as justification for this modification of the passage’s meaning we’re supposed to understand that it’s justified in the notion that existence in an eternity of horrible torment is “better” than the non-existence of annihilation. It’s not good enough for God to mercifully delete sinners, He wants to keep them alive forever so they can scream in ceaseless agony throughout eternity?
Landstrom continues:
"To interpret the meaning of 1 Timothy 4:10, we note that, as with most of the “all” verses used to support universalism, the verse includes a qualifier. In the case of 1 Timothy 4:10 for instance, the qualifier or clue as to whom the saved are is the “specially of those that believe” part. Looking at the qualifier leads us to ask the question: “Who are those that believe?” Reading through our Bible, brings to remembrance verses such as John 3:15-18, 36; 11:26; Mark 16:16; et cetra, which causes us to remember and say, “those who live and believe in Christ Jesus as their Lord and Savior are those whom have received eternal life, have entered into the kingdom of heaven, and are therefore saved.”
Landstrom’s arguments have become incoherent. The ‘qualifier’ “especially of those that believe” does not modify the “all” of the previous clause, in fact the opposite: the special salvation of those who believe is in contradistinction to all and serves to sustain it, not erase it. Mr. Landstrom grasps at straws to force Paul into his theology without regard for grammatical rules.
*"This is very important: If you believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God given to us by the mutterings of the Holy Spirit and written by the Lord’s faithful servants, then look at John 3:16-18: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son. (What happened? God loved us so much he gave His only Son to die as atonement for our sins.) That whosoever believeth in him (what Jesus died for) should not perish (another words those that don’t believe will perish), but have everlasting life. (So we know IN ORDER TO HAVE everlasting life, you’ve got to believe and have faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ.) 17. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world (Why not? Because the world is already condemned -we know this from Romans 3:10, 23 and Genesis chapter 3 where God has already condemned sin); but that the world through him might be saved. (So now we know we’re all damned and we must have belief in Christ’s work on the cross to be saved. This is reinforced by verses like Romans 6:23. Further, we know it is only through Jesus Christ that we are to receive eternal life, ref. Matthew 7:13-14, John 14:6.) 18. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (This is a wonderful summery of verses 16 and 17. Those alone who believe in the atonement Christ’s life made are saved. Everybody else is not saved because they are condemned already, because they didn’t have faith in the name of Christ Jesus. If these words from the Bible are true, and they are, how can universalism be correct?).
If you believe the words of the Bible, you can logically conclude that only those who have received Christ as their Savior are saved and receive eternal life with the Lord in heaven. Therefore, 1 Timothy 4:10 isn’t saying that all peoples are saved and receive eternal life, rather, it is saying that all are justified to stand before the Lord, and in addition, to receive eternal life, one must believe. Again for clarity, 1st Timothy 4:10 says that Christ’s sacrificial atonement on the cross was to atone for the sins of all people, but that in order to gain eternal life one must believe (ref. 1 Corinthians 15:22). Therefore the spiritual truth that 1 Timothy 4:10 presents to us is that Christ, who is God, is the Savior of all men -be it one man, or all men. The verse further tells us that those whom believe are saved and will receive eternal life to dwell with the Lord in heaven. The word “specially” used in the verse designates the position in the household of God a believer holds rather than their relationship to God (see called or chosen below). Any attempt on the part of the universalist to refute this would mean that men can be saved apart from Jesus, who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6)."*
The real problem is the incredible amount of intellectual coreography Mr. Landstrom performs to try to make Paul’s simple statement say something completely different from what was intended.
Let’s return honesty and simplicity to the picture. In **Rom 11 **Paul identified two classes of people in time and space, those of faith and those not as re his example of being grafted into the wild olive tree (Christ) (vv. 17-24). Just prior to these verses, Paul—speaking of the Jews’ failure to find salvation in time, wrote, “I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. Now if their transgression be riches for the world and their failure be riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be! But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles…if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them. For if their rejection be the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” (vv. 11-15)
There are two modes of salvation going on here in Paul’s theology, the salvation of faith in time and space (Temporal mode) and the salvation of unbelievers in eternity (Eternal mode). Both are seen by Paul to be forms of salvation specifically by the atoning death and resurrection of Christ Jesus, despite Landstrom’s protests. Paul cements this in vv. 25-27: "For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery, lest you be wise in your own estimation, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in; and thus all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, ‘THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB. AND THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.’"
Now return to 1Tim 4:10: “For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men [the eternal decree for all], specially of those that believe.[the temporal offer in time]” This also fits snugly with Paul’s teaching that, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1Cor 15:22) and **“So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.” **(Rom 5:18) Both refer, in the clear, simple literal sense of meaning, to what Paul understood the eternal decree of God to be, that all will eventually be saved.
Tensions abound in Eric Landstrom’s interpretation of 1Tim 4:10 as he performs incredible grammatical gymnastics in order to bring Paul into conformity with traditional doctrine. Tensions evaporate when we allow Paul to say what he means, in 1Tim 4:10 as well as in all his writings.
[1] suite101.com/article/interpretin … ble-a96232