That's A Lot of "All's"

There is a word in Scripture that is easy to read past.

All.

We see it so often that we can become almost immune to it.

But what happens when we stop and put the verses together?

Not one verse.

Not two.

But the whole witness of Scripture.

The Bible repeatedly speaks about what God has done in Christ using words like all, every, the world, everyone, and the whole world.

And when those texts are placed side by side, something remarkable begins to emerge.

The Gospel Is Bigger Than We Thought

Isaiah looked forward to the work of Christ and wrote:

“The LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”— Isaiah 53:6

John the Baptist saw Jesus and declared:

“Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”— John 1:29

Jesus Himself said:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…”— John 3:16

And John later wrote:

“And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.”— 1 John 4:14

The world.

Not merely a select group within the world.

The world.

Paul makes the language even more striking:

“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”— 1 Corinthians 15:22

And again:

“Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.”— Romans 5:18

Notice the parallel.

One Adam. One humanity. One Christ. One accomplished work.

Paul does not tell us that Christ merely came to make salvation possible.

He tells us what Christ actually accomplished.

“If One Died for All Died…”

Paul says something even more astonishing in 2 Corinthians:

“For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died.”— 2 Corinthians 5:14

And just a few verses later:

“God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them.”— 2 Corinthians 5:19

Again:

All.

The world.

This is why the Gospel begins with Christ—not with us.

The Gospel is not a story about humanity climbing its way back to God.

It is the story of what God has already done in Jesus Christ.

Christ entered our humanity.

He became our Representative.

He bore our condemnation.

He died our death.

He rose again.

And God reconciled the world to Himself through Him.

Then Why Does Faith Matter?

This is where another important distinction appears.

Paul writes:

“Who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.”— 1 Timothy 4:10

Why say “Savior of all” and then “especially of those who believe”?

Because Scripture distinguishes between what God has accomplished in Christ and how that accomplished work is experienced and lived by those who believe.

Faith does not finish Christ's work.

Faith does not persuade God to love us.

Faith does not convince God to save us.

Faith believes the good news.

Faith receives what God has already accomplished.

Faith stops trying to establish its own righteousness and rests in Christ.

That is why Scripture can speak so strongly about God's work for humanity while still calling us to believe.

The question is not whether Christ has done enough.

He has.

The question is whether we will believe what He has done.

There’s More

Listen to the language Scripture continues to use:

“All people” — 1 Timothy 2:4

“A ransom for all” — 1 Timothy 2:6

“Savior of all” — 1 Timothy 4:10

“Saving grace… appeared to all” — Titus 2:11

“Taste death for everyone” — Hebrews 2:9

“The sins of the whole world” — 1 John 2:2

“Savior of the world” — 1 John 4:14

“Not willing that any should perish” — 2 Peter 3:9

And Paul says:

“For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross.”— Colossians 1:19–20

That is a lot of “all.”

And perhaps the better question is not:

“How can we make these verses fit our theology?”

Perhaps we should ask:

“What happens if we simply let Scripture say what it says?”

The Gospel Begins With Christ

At BornSaved.org, that is where we want to begin.

Not with a denomination.

Not with a theological system.

Not with what we have been told we are supposed to believe.

With Scripture.

Open the Bible.

Look at Christ.

Look carefully at what He actually accomplished.

Then ask what that means for you.

Because the Gospel is not rehabilitation of Adam.

It is not God giving fallen humanity a better set of instructions.

It is not:

Try harder.

Become good enough.

Fix yourself.

The Gospel announces something far greater.

God came to us.

God became one with us.

Christ took our humanity.

Christ bore our death.

Christ rose again.

And in Christ, God began something new.

So yes…

That’s a lot of “all’s.”

Maybe we should stop being afraid of them.

Maybe we should start asking what they are telling us about Jesus.

Open the Bible. Look at Christ. Discover the Gospel.