John 3:36 : “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
I have seen some Universalists claim that John 3:36 doesn’t affect their doctrine at all. Instead they agree with it because they agree that unbelievers shall not see life until they believe in Jesus Christ. Which I agree with too. However, where we disagree is when this offer to accept salvation expires. Universalists take this to mean that even those who die physically in a state of rejection of Christ will still have the opportunity post mortem to accept Christ thus changing their eternal destiny by leaving Hell and going to Heaven.
The problem is that it is not biblical. The clear teaching of the New Testament is that our eternal fates are sealed at our death because we are judged solely based on what we did in this life and not on a choice we make after death. What we say after physical death has no impact on whether we go to heaven or hell. So when John says that the one who rejects the son shall not see life he is indeed correct and that will be permanent in effect when someone dies physically.
Luke 16:19-31 is a perfect teaching by Jesus Christ that once we die we cannot change our eternal destinations. Our fate is fixed. I don’t want to hear any Universalist throw a cop out card by claiming that this is a parable just so you can discard it and not deal with the clear teaching.
In Luke 16:19-31 the Rich Man after dying physically woke up in torment in Hades and is told that he cannot cross over to paradise and those in paradise or that are saved cannot cross over to those that are damned confirming that at death our fates are sealed for eternity and that is consistent with the rest of scripture which testifies that it is this life that determines our eternal abode.
"And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’" - Luke 16:26
This passage is nonsensical if post mortem salvation is true, what Jesus should have said is "You can cross over once you repent" but he doesn't and also we see the Rich Man once accepting his fate that he is forever damned he starts pleading with Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his brothers to repent so that they do not come to this place of torment. This text is not identified as a parable. But even if its parabolic in nature, treating it as an unreliable source ignores the one who is giving the account. Should we believe that Christ would engage speculative imagery on such a serious matter? Luke 16 is a clear teaching that this is the life to either choose or reject Christ and after death we will not get another chance.
Romans 2:6-10
“God's righteous judgment will be revealed.He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek”
We will all be judged based on what we did in this body and in this life. Based on that we will either go into eternal perdition or into eternal life. Only one group receives eternal life.
Other passages that make this explicit : John 8:21-24 ; Matthew 16:27 ; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 ; Galatians 6:7-9 ; 2 Corinthians 5:10 ; John 5:28-29 ; Matthew 25:31-46 etc.
All of these judgment passages teach the same thing and that is that God will judge us based on what we did in this life alone. There is no mention of post mortem salvation or multiple chances after death to repent and accept Christ. When John says that unbelievers "shall not see life" he is just confirming what Jesus says in Matthew 25:46 that when all people are judged according to what they did in this life those who rejected God will be sent into eternal punishment and its clear to conclude that they shall not see eternal life.
I have seen some Universalists claim that John 3:36 doesn’t affect their doctrine at all. Instead they agree with it because they agree that unbelievers shall not see life until they believe in Jesus Christ. Which I agree with too. However, where we disagree is when this offer to accept salvation expires. Universalists take this to mean that even those who die physically in a state of rejection of Christ will still have the opportunity post mortem to accept Christ thus changing their eternal destiny by leaving Hell and going to Heaven.
The problem is that it is not biblical. The clear teaching of the New Testament is that our eternal fates are sealed at our death because we are judged solely based on what we did in this life and not on a choice we make after death. What we say after physical death has no impact on whether we go to heaven or hell. So when John says that the one who rejects the son shall not see life he is indeed correct and that will be permanent in effect when someone dies physically.
Luke 16:19-31 is a perfect teaching by Jesus Christ that once we die we cannot change our eternal destinations. Our fate is fixed. I don’t want to hear any Universalist throw a cop out card by claiming that this is a parable just so you can discard it and not deal with the clear teaching.
In Luke 16:19-31 the Rich Man after dying physically woke up in torment in Hades and is told that he cannot cross over to paradise and those in paradise or that are saved cannot cross over to those that are damned confirming that at death our fates are sealed for eternity and that is consistent with the rest of scripture which testifies that it is this life that determines our eternal abode.
"And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’" - Luke 16:26
This passage is nonsensical if post mortem salvation is true, what Jesus should have said is "You can cross over once you repent" but he doesn't and also we see the Rich Man once accepting his fate that he is forever damned he starts pleading with Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his brothers to repent so that they do not come to this place of torment. This text is not identified as a parable. But even if its parabolic in nature, treating it as an unreliable source ignores the one who is giving the account. Should we believe that Christ would engage speculative imagery on such a serious matter? Luke 16 is a clear teaching that this is the life to either choose or reject Christ and after death we will not get another chance.
Romans 2:6-10
“God's righteous judgment will be revealed.He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek”
We will all be judged based on what we did in this body and in this life. Based on that we will either go into eternal perdition or into eternal life. Only one group receives eternal life.
Other passages that make this explicit : John 8:21-24 ; Matthew 16:27 ; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 ; Galatians 6:7-9 ; 2 Corinthians 5:10 ; John 5:28-29 ; Matthew 25:31-46 etc.
All of these judgment passages teach the same thing and that is that God will judge us based on what we did in this life alone. There is no mention of post mortem salvation or multiple chances after death to repent and accept Christ. When John says that unbelievers "shall not see life" he is just confirming what Jesus says in Matthew 25:46 that when all people are judged according to what they did in this life those who rejected God will be sent into eternal punishment and its clear to conclude that they shall not see eternal life.