The "be saved or be damned" doctrine is but one of many interpretations which the mind of man has put together, and which have been handed down by man to man, but God loves them for trying and for being sincere.
The Bible gives plenty of references to universal salvation, which are unseen by the over-indoctrinated. For instance...
"I, if I be lifted up from the earth,
will draw all men to me"
John 12:32
Comment: In the above statement, not only was Jesus prophesying about the kind of death He was to have (lifted up while on the Cross), but He was also prophesying about the universal salvation that this would bring about by "drawing" true love and devotion from all men and women to Himself, thus enabling the inevitable process of spiritual purification resulting in eventual perfection to be brought into being for "all".
Jesus Christ...
"is the propitiation for our sins;
and not for ours only, but also
for the sins of the whole world"
1 John 2:2
Comment: While the fundamentalist pedants claim themselves the only ones saved, this statement declares the very opposite. Not only were those early seekers who followed Christ to receive the blessings generated by Christ's birth, death and rising, "but also" all others too, namely, "the whole world."
"The Father sent the Son to be
the Saviour of the world"
1 John 4:14
Comment: The Christ "proceeded forth from the Father" in order that "the world" (its inhabitants), might be redeemed by the Saviour. The Christ did not emerge from the Father and manifest as the man Jesus to be the Saviour of the limited and exclusive few, but, indeed, to be the Saviour and Redeemer of all of His children who would pass through the earth, whether in the past, present or future (the full effects of Christ's earthly sojourn are inconceivable to the mind of man).
"...who gave Himself a ransom for all,
to be testified in due time"
1 Tim.2:6
Comment: The selfless love inherent in God, meant that He would give Himself for the sake of His children. So immensely powerful is this gift that its unending effects mean that the spiritual redemption and attainment of eternal happiness, joy and perfection "for all" is assured - and in its own time this goal shall be achieved for each and every one..
"We trust in the living God,
who is the Saviour of all men,
specially those that believe"
1 Tim.4:10
Comment: Those early seekers of Truth had found the everlasting God, and had had this belief reinforced by His brief sojourn in the flesh with the exceedingly beneficial consequences His presence and deeds in the earth plane had brought to them. They trusted in God and knew His reassurances were beyond doubt, but He was not their Saviour alone but, indeed, "of all men" - as inspired Biblical statements like this one clearly testify.
"The lord is long-suffering toward us,
not willing that any should perish"
2 Pet.3:9
Comment: God is Spirit. And His children, made in the image of God, made of the same substance of God, brought into being out of His love because Love desires to share His treasures with others, for Love finds happiness only in giving and giving again - His children have the never-dying love of their Great Parent. His patience is beyond the imagination of any being, let alone those restricted by a body of flesh - Indeed, He "is long-suffering towards us". His children, having fallen from their initial state of perfection and having gone on a long, long journey to gain the experience which would allow them to receive the never-ending blessings and glories which a loving Father and Lord longs to bestow upon His children - His children have the assurance from such statements as this, that their God will not allow them to perish, even in their own extreme ignorance and wickedness. God is "not willing that any should perish".
"And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself..."
Col. 1:20
Comment: The Saviour of the world knew that He must go to the Cross to achieve His Goal. If there was no powerful memory of His qualities - the qualities of the Christ of God - Love, Purity and Sacrifice, then the mark would have been missed. The Cross would ensure that throughout all time He would be remembered, and as a consequence reconcile the souls of those whether in the body on Earth or those in the darker regions where - by His own Example (preaching to the spirits in prison) - redemption also takes place. Christ, Who had come so that there would be a restitution of all things (Acts 3:21) was to reconcile all things, not just a few "elect people", to Himself.
"The grace of God has appeared
bringing salvation to all men"
(Titus 2:11)
Comment: Many Literalists assume that they cannot receive salvation until something supernatural happens to them - that by accepting a metaphysical concept they shall be spiritually perfect and therefore capable of existing in a spiritual state where the most advanced and highest of angels can exist - and they then say that this salvation is the Grace of God which saved them, meaning that they have been saved and anyone who has not been saved in this way is damned. However, the original Christian teachings before the heresies of eternal damnation and annihilation corrupted them, state that through the Grace of God all men shall receive salvation, and this fact was sealed through the accomplishments of Christ when He came in the flesh and claimed victory through the Cross.
Moreover, how will God be "all in all" (all things in all beings) if the majority of His creations are to be in "everlasting punishment"? (1 Cor. 15:28)
Christ waits "until the times of restitution of all things" (Acts 3: 20,21). This time shall be that spoken of by Isaiah: "I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear" (Isa.45:23).
Indeed, Isaiah tells the truth when he says Christ "shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied". This is the good God who shall save all of the life He has brought into being. Teaching otherwise - that God saves only a small amount of His children - only causes divisions and ill-feelings among people who may be following a spiritual path which is also very Christian in its teachings and which allows them to grow above personal likes and dislikes and to love humanity unconditionally.
The salvation of a restricted few is a misguided teaching which gives a misconception of God and His love. Indeed, before the proud and cruel early Latin race adopted Christianity, early Christians - the ones who were closest to the Source of Christianity, Jesus the Christ - were most certainly Universalists: Gregory of Nyasa, Clement and Origen all clearly refused to dogmatize and corrupt the original Christianity. When, under Constantine, Christianity became the State Religion of the Roman Empire with its harsh and exclusive instincts, a further distortion was impressed upon Christ's original Universalist teaching. A study of the Alexandrian and Carthaginian Theologies shows that it was the contact of the earlier Christian Religion with the Latin race which caused an extremely unfortunate bias towards a restricted view of God's Purpose and Christ's Saviourhood.
All are equal in the sight of the Lord, who is the living, radiant Christ, who would welcome anyone into His kingdom who would offer kindness and love to the less fortunate, because they do it to Him. What comes from the heart is what matters, not necessarily that which comes out of the mouth.
The teachings of Jesus were more than interspersed with Universal Salvation, they were wholly and completely about Universal Salvation - that is the Good News that He scattered - it is the Best News that any child of God could ever wish to hear! Because the Law of Consequences (Divine Law) has been made of none effect by the damnation heresies, it is claimed that "teaching Universal Salvation incites people to sin by letting them become complacent". However, if Divine Law was taught properly, if the seriousness of the consequences of our thoughts and actions after physical death was clearly explained, if the unconditional Love of Christ was given its true status instead of a pseudo-unconditional Love, and if the idea of receiving salvation based solely on a one-time belief and acceptance of a metaphysical concept meaning all others were destined for an everlasting punishment was consigned to history - then there would be far, far less complacency than exists today under the literalistic Fundamentalist's theological offerings.
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