Did Jesus' death save everyone---all sinners? If that's true, then why the talk about Hell?
This question was answered by Andrea Ceplecci, our Young Adult Volunteer who is a theology graduate of Pittsburg Theological Seminary:
There are a wide range of opinions on this subject. Very wide. Generally speaking, the Reformed tradition has taken up the theory of limited atonement. This means that Jesus died for the elect. Or, rather, he died for all, but it was only effective for the elect. This is what most (but not all) traditional Calvinists would say, and then they are able to talk about hell for the non-elect. However, there are obvious problems with this: if God is loving, why wouldn't he save all? Does God just arbitrarily choose people? Wasn't the cross enough to save everyone? Is one newborn baby condemned to hell and another saved even before they do anything?
Personally, I try to leave salvation up to God. It's his job, and frankly, I wouldn't want it. That being said, this is still an important issue to discuss, because it affects how we treat others. If we believe that we are saved and others are damned, we will become self-righteous and will treat others as though they do not matter. It is for this reason that I think that we must treat every single person as a saved person, because we have no way of knowing who is saved and who is not. God has not given us the ability to know this information.
As for universal salvation, I don't think that we can preach it as the word of God. The Scriptures do not allow us to do this, and the church has never preached an absolute universal salvation. However, I think that we are required to hope for it. In my personal opinion, I believe that there will be a judgment of some kind (the Scriptures do indicate this, but they are not absolutely clear), but I am not sure who this will affect or what will happen to people after that judgment. Deep down, I believe that God will win everyone over in the end, though I am not sure how these events will unfold. Again, I can only hope and pray that all will be saved to the glory of God and for Christ's sake and trust that God, in his wisdom, will do what he will do for the sake of humanity. There is only one thing that I know for sure: I do not deserve salvation, and neither does anyone else. If God saves even one person, it is because he is full of grace and mercy, and for this, he deserves our praise.
Also, regardless of whether or not everyone is saved, God is the God of the elect and the non-elect. If there are people who are in hell for eternity, you can be sure that they will be bowing the knee the same as the people in heaven. But, like I said, we have no indication that God will leave people in hell for eternity; indeed, he is certainly free to do so, but we do know of his immeasurable goodness and desire to go to great lengths to save his children.
