Jesus Christ had a stated mission to accomplish while he was on earth. The Son of God appeared to destroy the devil’s work (1 John 3:8), to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10) and to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). Now, Jesus says that he has accomplished this will according to his own words. “I have brought you (God) glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do (John 17:4). The scripture says that Jesus completed the work of destroying the devil’s work which is sin and death, seeking and saving the lost and saving sinners. Therefore, if one sinner remains or one person is lost forever, this verse would not be true. However, John 17:4 is true because through Jesus, every man woman and child will be saved. Every lost sinner that is the victim of the devil’s work will one day be with God.
Why again did Jesus appear? He appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself (Hebrews 9:26). I need to repeat that, “Jesus appeared to do away with sin.” The bible says that He accomplished His mission. Yes, sin is still prevalent in the world, which is obvious if one just looks around. So is death. However, Jesus’ death and resurrection made certain that sin and death will one day be destroyed and at God’s desired time, all of this will come to pass. Sin and death will become inoperative. They will not be operating in a corner of the universe or in some alternate dimension called eternal hell. Sin and death will not keep people dead as annihilationist’ teach. Sin and death will be gone and all that will be left is life. Everlasting life and immortality for every human being that has ever lived.
I will get back to the scriptures that prove that sin and death will be destroyed and all will be with God, in a moment. For now, let’s focus on Jesus Christ and what He actually was and is, the savior of the world.
Savior versus potential savior
The bible says that Jesus is the savior of the world. However, most people believe that Jesus is the potential savior of the world. How can this be? Surely Jesus cannot be the savior of those whom he does not save. But scripture indicates that He is the savior of the whole world, not just believers of the world or part of the world, but the whole world. Why is the word WHOLE used in the bible?
My point is that others and Jesus Himself cannot claim to be the savior of the world unless He actually saves the world. Otherwise, He should be referred to as “The savior of all who believe,” or “The savior of those who do right,” or “The savior of those who have faith,” or “The savior of those that chose Him.” If one person ends up dead or separated from God for all eternity, then Jesus is not that person’s savior because that person is not saved. Jesus was not called the potential savior of the world; He was called and is “The Savior of the World.”
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”
- John 1:29
Notice that John did not say, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of believers, or those who will follow him.” John the Baptist said that Jesus takes away the sin of the world, not part of the world. The bible makes it clear that it is important to believe that Jesus is our savior and to become believers. Scripture does indeed say that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. However, what scripture does not say, is that God’s saving power or Jesus’ ability to take away sin is limited to whether one is a believer in this life.
“And He himself (Jesus Christ) is the propitiation for our sins (believers), and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”
- 1 John 2:2
This scripture is written from the point of view of a community of believers. These believers say that Jesus Christ died for their sins, which is rightly so. However, they also say that Christ did not die for their sins only. This letter says that Jesus died for the Whole World. Yes, the believers have a special salvation and knowledge of the fact that Jesus Christ is the atonement for their sins. But, this atonement is also for the whole world. Not potential atonement for the whole world, but actual atonement for the whole world.
That is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the world of reconciliation.
- 2 Corinthians 5:19
This verse in 2nd Corinthians tells us that Christ is reconciling the world to himself! It is not segmenting or excluding anything. This verse simply says that God, in Christ, is going to reconcile the world. If Christ is not reconciling the whole world, then why wouldn’t this scripture say that God was in Christ reconciling those who believe to Himself. Simply, it does not say that, it says the world. And as we will discover later, some are saved in this life and the rest will be saved later. This constitutes the world that this particular scripture is referencing.
“For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the savior of all men, especially of those who believe.”
- 1 Timothy 4:10
This is the scripture that began to open my eyes to the fact that Jesus Christ would save all of humanity. This verse says that God is the savior of all men. How could He be the savior of all men if He did not save all men? But, not even that, the next word is the clincher. Paul says that God is the savior of all men, especially those who believe. Notice he does not say God is the savior of only or exclusively those who believe, but especially. The “especially” qualifies the rest of the group as being saved or God being their savior and remember, God cannot be their savior if He does not actually save them. This means that believers have a special salvation, but unbelievers will have salvation and eventually come to God through Jesus Christ.
Philippians chapter 2: 10-11 states, “That at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” This clearly means all people, right? Yes, it does. It includes people on the earth, in heaven and under the earth. That means everybody. Every person, according to these verses, is confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Scripture says that only the spirit can confess Jesus as Lord, and here, all humanity is making the confession unto salvation. Now, some may say that this is a forced confession. They may say that even unbelievers will be forced to confess Jesus as Lord even when they are in hell. However, verse 11 says that this confession of Jesus Christ is to the glory of God the Father. Would it really glorify the father if this was a forced confession? If these people actually rejected God’s loving gift of his Son and therefore God failed to redeem them through His Son and therefore these people will spend an eternity in a pit of flames, how would that bring God any glory? The answer is that it wouldn’t. This thought might make Christians happy and self-righteous, but certainly not the loving God.
These confessions do bring God glory, however. They bring Him glory because these confessions are heartfelt from transformed human beings that have been saved. Remember, Philippians, chapter 2: 10-11 clearly talks about all people. What would bring God more glory? God Being able to save a fraction of humanity or being able to save all humanity through the work of his son? All humanity! This is what these verses speak of: The glory of God saving all of humanity, and every last person confessing this to His glory. This is a humanity that has overcome sin and death through Jesus Christ. This is the truth of scripture!
Saved ignoble 
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