"ARE THERE FEW THAT BE SAVED?"
By C. P. Bollman
THIS interrogation, though plainly answered by our Saviour more than eighteen hundred years ago, is still, to many minds, an open question; some holding that comparatively few will be lost, while others endeavor to maintain the proposition that all will finally be saved. That such should be the case seems strange, for the Bible says explicitly of the heathen, who always have been and are still far more numerous than Christians, that "they shall be as though they had not been" (Obad. 16); and the psalmist says of all the wicked that they "shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away." Ps. 37:20. Malachi, too, testifies that "the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." Mal. 4:1. Surely these texts teach that some, in fact many, will be lost; and in this they agree perfectly with the words of the Saviour, who said: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." Mark 16:16. This does not mean simply that they will be punished for a long time and then be restored to the favor of God, but that they will be destroyed forever; for the apostle says that those who "know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ," "shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power." 2 Thess. 1:8, 9. It will not do to say that the destruction here spoken of is not literal, but only banishment from the presence of God; for "the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." It is equally vain to say that this destruction will not last forever, for the Saviour said: "And these [the wicked] shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal." Matt. 25:46. In this latter text the words, "everlasting," and "eternal," are both translated from the same Greek word, aiónion, which here undoubtedly means "unending duration;" and if in these words the righteous are promised a never-ending reward, the wicked are just as certainly threatened with never-ending punishment; and, as we learn elsewhere, that punishment is death. See Rom. 6:23. The question, however, is not, "Will some be lost?" but, "Are there few that be saved?" Some, we have seen from several texts (and very many more might be quoted to the same intent), will be eternally lost; this is stated in terms that cannot be misunderstood; and the Scriptures make it equally plain that few, comparatively, will be saved. We know that God had a purpose, a design in creating the earth: "For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited." Isa. 45:18. The character of the beings who were to be its inhabitants may be inferred from the statement that God "made man upright;" and we learn something as to their numbers from the words addressed to our first parents: "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth," i. e., people, or fill the earth. It was, then, God's original purpose to fill the earth with beings loyal to himself; and though sin entered, and death because of sin, his purpose is still the same; hence, the promise to Abraham: "I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth;" and also the promise of the Saviour, "Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth"—not a part, but all the earth. But notwithstanding the fact that God's purpose to fill the earth with beings loyal to himself was not to be turned aside, he foresaw that few of the race, comparatively, would avail themselves of the means so graciously provided for their restoration to his favor, and so in pronouncing the curse upon the woman he said, "I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception"—not simply add to it, but multiply it—that is, because of sin many would fail of eternal life, and so in order to fill the world with righteous inhabitants the number of births must be greatly multiplied. And this leads us to the conclusion that only a small part of the race will be saved. But we are not left to surmisings, or even to logical inferences upon this important question. As before intimated we have the plain and unequivocal testimony of the Son of God himself, who, when asked, "Are there few that be saved?" answered: "Strive to enter in at the strait gate; for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able." Luke 13:24. This text alone ought forever to settle this question; but the Saviour said many other things which are equally pertinent. The parable of the tares of the field certainly cannot be reconciled with the doctrine of the final restoration of all men; for in explaining it the Lord said: "The tares are the children of the wicked one." "As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." Matt. 13: 38, 40-42.4 It has been said that the chief difference between Universalists and Unitarians is, that the former believe that God is too good to damn anybody, while the latter believe that they are too good to be damned. But the Saviour has said: "He that believeth not shall be damned;" and our only safety is to believe just what he says, and flee for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us in the gospel. Though the gate is strait and the way narrow, the invitation is broad; and whosoever will, may come; and we are assured that Christ "is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him." God has said: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die," and they who teach the contrary are simply carrying forward the work which Satan began in Eden, when he said to the woman, "Ye shall not surely die." To all such the Lord says: "With lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life." Eze. 13: 22. "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Eternal life is not inherited, neither is it ours by right; but it is freely given by God to all "who, by patient continuance in well-doing," seek for it.