There Will Be Grace

Last night my husband and I went to the movies. We saw There Will Be Blood and we both loved it. One of the primary characters in this movie is a young charismatic preacher named Eli. In one scene he is loudly delivering one of his sermons to his congregation, saying "I wish Universalism were true...I wish everyone could be saved...but its just not true." When this was said, my husband and I just looked at each other and smiled. Why people just don't stop to think about the enormity of such a statement. To think salvation lies within our own hands and is a choice because WE HAVE THE POWER to choose God, not the other way around? As if God is just meekly sitting on the bench waiting for someone to come up and ask Him to dance. I don't think so. God is hands-on, baby. Always has been...always will be. And if salvation lies within our own hands, the crucifixion was for naught...because when it comes down to it, WE determine our own eternity? No way. People have control over so little...but people (specifically traditional Christians) like to feel that they do. They get flustered, straighten their collars and insist that destiny lies within their choice to believe or not. They like to feel that if they believe and are saved...wait a minute, they will then credit THEMSELVES, as opposed to God...well, gee, just how does that work? You can't take credit AND credit God's grace, too. Because God doesn't pre-select. It wouldn't be called grace if God had a pre-screening process. Grace is for everyone, not a select elite few.

Mercy and grace would be nonexistent if the (mostly misdirected) decisions made in this flicker of a lifetime were to determine an eternity. I think universal salvation upholds the greatness of God's power, not the so-called greatness of people's own ability to 'save themselves through belief'.

Universal salvation leaves man's ego behind and focuses on the omniscience and the so-big-it's-hard-to-fathom LOVE and GRACE of God. The Bible states that those who believe shall be saved...OK. Great. So, what if all came to believe...eventually... just maybe not during this flicker? Does it make grace and faith any less worthy of God? The original Greek manuscripts of the Bible indicate universalism in God's love. The Bible is not the end and last word. It is not the end of the conversation, but rather it is here to promote it. God waits up all night for His children to come home, like your parents when you were a teenager. And He will wait until every last child comes home. Those porchlights never turn off.