I remember some years ago a very liberal Christian attacked me for suggesting that there are actually two classes of humanity: the people of God, and those who are not God’s people. He thought that this was an unloving, judgmental and divisive thing to believe and say.
He believed that we are all one big happy family, and there should be no talk about two humanities, or two destinies, or the saved and the lost, or the righteous and the unrighteous, or sinners and saints. He felt that God was an inclusive God who embraces everyone, and we make things hard on sinners if we speak of two humanities.
Sadly many folks believe this lie, including some very popular Christian leaders of today. One noted writer whose books and films have been adored by countless Christians is William Paul Young. But he is one of those who believe that at the end of the day we are included in God’s love.
He is a universalist in other words, who thinks we all are ultimately saved, whether we like it or not. And the very hell he seeks to deny is where millions of folks will go, including those who believe his false teachings. I have written about his older book The Shack as well as his newest book. See here:
Many others have written about him and his damaging views, including James De Young. In addition to his earlier helpful writings about William Paul Young, he has recently penned an article which looks at his long-standing universalism which is well worth reading: http://burningdowntheshackbook.com/truth-versus-lies/
One sure way to dispel this faulty notion of one humanity which is all happily reconciled to God is to simply read what the Word of God has to say about this. When we do, we find that from Genesis to Revelation there is always talk about two humanities.
We have the saved and the unsaved. The godly and the ungodly. The righteous and the unrighteous. The redeemed and the lost. And this is found in the earliest biblical accounts of man. Just as soon as Adam and Eve fell, God told them about a divided humanity which would be continuous, extending throughout the generations. Genesis 3:15 says:
And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.
Here we have talk about a godly seed or line, and an ungodly seed or line. And the fact that God chooses some people to be his own also demonstrates how we have two main groups of people. The choice of Israel over all other nations is a prime example of this. We find this often discussed in Scripture.
In Exodus 8:22-23 for example we read this: “But on that day I will deal differently with the land of Goshen, where my people live; no swarms of flies will be there, so that you will know that I, the Lord, am in this land. I will make a distinction between my people and your people. This sign will occur tomorrow.”
Other texts speak of the crucial division between Israel and non-Israel. Exodus 11:6-7 says, “There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt—worse than there has ever been or ever will be again. But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any person or animal. Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.”
And we find this in Leviticus 18:3: “You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices.” Consider as well Leviticus 20:22-26:
Keep all my decrees and laws and follow them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out. You must not live according to the customs of the nations I am going to drive out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them. But I said to you, “You will possess their land; I will give it to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, who has set you apart from the nations. You must therefore make a distinction between clean and unclean animals and between unclean and clean birds. Do not defile yourselves by any animal or bird or anything that moves along the ground—those that I have set apart as unclean for you. You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.
The wisdom literature is of course filled with talk of the two humanities. Let me offer just a few of these passages:
-Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers.
-Psalm 11:5 The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked, those who love violence, he hates with a passion.
-Psalm 37:17 for the power of the wicked will be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous.
-Psalm 37:37-38 Consider the blameless, observe the upright;
a future awaits those who seek peace.
But all sinners will be destroyed;
there will be no future for the wicked.
-Proverbs 3:33 The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the righteous.
-Proverbs 10:3 The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry, but he thwarts the craving of the wicked.
-Proverbs 15:29 The LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
The prophets too spoke about this. Let me offer just two texts, the first one being Daniel 12:10: “Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand.”
The second is Malachi 3:18:
Then you shall again discern
Between the righteous and the wicked,
Between one who serves God
And one who does not serve Him.
Things remain the same when we get to the New Testament. The gospels often dwell on this. Jesus led the way in emphasising this. As he said in Matthew 7:13-14: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
And consider Matthew 25:31-46 which speaks about the judgment between sheep and goats. Other gospel texts that can be mentioned include:
-Mark 8:35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.
-John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God
-John 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
And in John 8:31-47 we read about the dispute concerning whose children Jesus’ opponents are. In verse 39 they say, “Abraham is our father”. But in verse 44 Jesus replies, “you are of your father the devil”. Whom, sure sounds like two different lines there – a godly and an ungodly line.
Jesus and the disciples also spoke about the two humanities in terms of the future resurrection and judgment. As we find in Acts 24:15: “I have the same hope in God as these men themselves have, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.”
Paul too speaks in such terms. In 1 Corinthians 1:18 he writes, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” And in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 he says, “Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”
Peter also speaks about the two humanities. For example, 1 Peter 2:10 puts it this way: “Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” And this is clearly spelled out in the book of Revelation. Consider Revelation 20:11–15:
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
This is just a small selection of the numerous passages which clearly delineate the two humanities and the two destinies. We are not all one big happy family of God. We are all born sinners, but only those who repent and put their faith in God can claim to be part of his household.
People may squabble over competing sports teams and boast about which side they are on. And folks can claim allegiance to a nation or a philosophy or a lifestyle, over against all the others. But the one thing that really matters is which side you are on when it comes to the two humanities.
That is the most important issue we need to deal with. Moses put it this way: “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19).
Joshua put it this way: “But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15).
Jesus put it this way: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). And John put it this way: “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:11-12).
Thanks for this article Bill. I found Ralph Martin’s book “Will Many be Saved” instructive from a Catholic point of view. He seeks to correct the post Vatican II universalism Catholics have had to endure since then. The heart for evangelisation has, to a large extent, gone out of the church as, since all are saved, there is no longer any reason for it. Your article shows that there is no basis for this approach in Scripture and, in fact, it is clearly incorrect. As the church moves ever further from its biblical foundations it mover further away from the truth of Christ. Our former parish priest was heard to say: ‘I don’t follow biblical morality, I follow Catholic morality.’
This is a very harsh statement ! I know it is written in the New Testament. I have brought my children up to these rules I have 1 grandson in the Ministry in the US and one grandson studying in Melbourne to be a Minister. But What worries me is I have one grandson who has never been baptised, because his mother does not believe in it. And she insists that he can make up his own mind when he is grown up. And I worry about it . And my prayers are naturally for him to be saved, I even partake of the holly communion on behalf of him , rather than myself. I feel that our God is a loving God and I believe that when we die and we depend all of our sins, that he will forgive all of us ! How can someone who has not been brought up as a Christian be condemned to eternal Death ? I don’t buy this ! My grandson is innocent ! He should not be punished for the sin of his mother.
Thanks Karin. The Bible teaches that each person is responsible for his own relationship with God. So one person cannot really prevent another from choosing to become a follower of Christ. And baptism is not essential for salvation (think about the thief on the cross for example). Repentance and faith are however, and if this is something your grandson has done, then that is the first step in a new life in Christ.
As to those who may have died without ever hearing the gospel message, God will judge them fairly based on the light they did have, and how they responded to it.
A Great Word Bro Bill.
Thanks for this article Bill. I found Ralph Martin’s book “Will Many be Saved” instructive from a Catholic point of view. He seeks to correct the post Vatican II universalism Catholics have had to endure since then. The heart for evangelisation has, to a large extent, gone out of the church as, since all are saved, there is no longer any reason for it. Your article shows that there is no basis for this approach in Scripture and, in fact, it is clearly incorrect. As the church moves ever further from its biblical foundations it mover further away from the truth of Christ. Our former parish priest was heard to say: ‘I don’t follow biblical morality, I follow Catholic morality.’
This is a very harsh statement ! I know it is written in the New Testament. I have brought my children up to these rules I have 1 grandson in the Ministry in the US and one grandson studying in Melbourne to be a Minister. But What worries me is I have one grandson who has never been baptised, because his mother does not believe in it. And she insists that he can make up his own mind when he is grown up. And I worry about it . And my prayers are naturally for him to be saved, I even partake of the holly communion on behalf of him , rather than myself. I feel that our God is a loving God and I believe that when we die and we depend all of our sins, that he will forgive all of us ! How can someone who has not been brought up as a Christian be condemned to eternal Death ? I don’t buy this ! My grandson is innocent ! He should not be punished for the sin of his mother.
Thanks Karin. The Bible teaches that each person is responsible for his own relationship with God. So one person cannot really prevent another from choosing to become a follower of Christ. And baptism is not essential for salvation (think about the thief on the cross for example). Repentance and faith are however, and if this is something your grandson has done, then that is the first step in a new life in Christ.
As to those who may have died without ever hearing the gospel message, God will judge them fairly based on the light they did have, and how they responded to it.