Universalism and the Patience of God
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 1:17 am
Luke 13 (New King James Version)
1. There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2. And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? 3. I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. 4. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5. I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”
6. He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7. Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’ 8. But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. 9. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’”
As I read through this passage, and studied it, the thought struck me of relavance to the arguments of the Universalists. Jesus speaks of the necessity of repentance, then Luke relates Jesus' parable of the fig tree. The man came seeking fruit for three years, and had found none. The Law forbade the eating of the fruit until the fifth year, Leviticus 19:21-23, so the tree by this time must have been at least seven years old. By this time the tree would appear to be hopelessly fruitless. As trees do, it is also using nutrients that would otherwise support other plants in the vineyard. The tree needs to be cut down, yet the caretaker (representing Christ?) wants to take the extraordinary step of applying fertilizer, giving the tree one last chance. Then, if there is no fruit, the tree will be cut down.
In Jesus' parable we find both the patience of God, and we find that His patience is not without limit. Yet one of the principle arguments of the Universalists is that God's patience knows no limits. Their system, as argued interminably, depends on that idea. It is a philosophical argument, as the only good arguments of the Universalists are. The scriptures inform us that God's patience does in fact have its limits (see the story of Noah and the flood, for example). As a principle argument of the Universalists for their position, one would expect that Christian Universalists would be able to prove, from the scriptures, that God's patience has no limit.
Genesis 6:3 (New King James Version)
3. And the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”
Psalm 95:7-11 (New King James Version)
7. For He is our God,
And we are the people of His pasture,
And the sheep of His hand.
Today, if you will hear His voice:
8. “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion,
As in the day of trial in the wilderness,
9. When your fathers tested Me;
They tried Me, though they saw My work.
10. For forty years I was grieved with that generation,
And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts,
And they do not know My ways.’
11. So I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”
Hebrews 4:7 (New King James Version)
7. again He designates a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” after such a long time, as it has been said:
“ Today, if you will hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts.”
So we see God's limited patience, factually demonstrared in the Old Testament and reiterated in the New Testament. It is incumbent upon the Universalist to show from scripture, not just the philosophy of men, that though God's patience is limited in this life, it has no limit in eternity. Even better, and easier, show that it is any longer at all than it is in this life.
1. There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2. And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? 3. I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. 4. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5. I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”
6. He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7. Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’ 8. But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. 9. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’”
As I read through this passage, and studied it, the thought struck me of relavance to the arguments of the Universalists. Jesus speaks of the necessity of repentance, then Luke relates Jesus' parable of the fig tree. The man came seeking fruit for three years, and had found none. The Law forbade the eating of the fruit until the fifth year, Leviticus 19:21-23, so the tree by this time must have been at least seven years old. By this time the tree would appear to be hopelessly fruitless. As trees do, it is also using nutrients that would otherwise support other plants in the vineyard. The tree needs to be cut down, yet the caretaker (representing Christ?) wants to take the extraordinary step of applying fertilizer, giving the tree one last chance. Then, if there is no fruit, the tree will be cut down.
In Jesus' parable we find both the patience of God, and we find that His patience is not without limit. Yet one of the principle arguments of the Universalists is that God's patience knows no limits. Their system, as argued interminably, depends on that idea. It is a philosophical argument, as the only good arguments of the Universalists are. The scriptures inform us that God's patience does in fact have its limits (see the story of Noah and the flood, for example). As a principle argument of the Universalists for their position, one would expect that Christian Universalists would be able to prove, from the scriptures, that God's patience has no limit.
Genesis 6:3 (New King James Version)
3. And the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”
Psalm 95:7-11 (New King James Version)
7. For He is our God,
And we are the people of His pasture,
And the sheep of His hand.
Today, if you will hear His voice:
8. “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion,
As in the day of trial in the wilderness,
9. When your fathers tested Me;
They tried Me, though they saw My work.
10. For forty years I was grieved with that generation,
And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts,
And they do not know My ways.’
11. So I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”
Hebrews 4:7 (New King James Version)
7. again He designates a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” after such a long time, as it has been said:
“ Today, if you will hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts.”
So we see God's limited patience, factually demonstrared in the Old Testament and reiterated in the New Testament. It is incumbent upon the Universalist to show from scripture, not just the philosophy of men, that though God's patience is limited in this life, it has no limit in eternity. Even better, and easier, show that it is any longer at all than it is in this life.