WHY CAN'T EVERYONE BE SAVED?

LOVE CANNOT BE FORCED

The early Church understood something that modern ears sometimes resist: God does not force Himself upon anyone. Love, by nature, must be freely given and freely received. John Chrysostom, one of the greatest preachers of the early Church, once said,

“God does not drag by necessity those who are unwilling, but calls all, drawing them by persuasion and love.”

This truth lies at the heart of the matter. If God coerced every soul into heaven, removing choice, overriding will, it would no longer be love. It would be programming. We would not be sons and daughters but slaves, unable to choose otherwise.

When Jesus wept over Jerusalem, He revealed this heartbreak:

“How often would I have gathered your children together... and you were not willing!” Matthew 23:37

The will of God stood open. The arms of Christ stretched wide. But the people refused. And so it has been since Eden.

God does not break locks or kick down doors to invade. He simply and respectfully waits, every day, every year, until the door either opened, or the light in the window is gone.

Love, after all, is not a soldier, it does not invade. It knocks. And it waits.

THE TRADEGY OF HUMAN REBELLION

The problem is not God’s heart, but ours. The Bible describes sin not merely as law-breaking, but as a deep rejection of God’s rule. Paul writes in Romans:

“Although they knew God, they did not honour Him as God or give thanks to Him… therefore God gave them up…” Romans 1:21–24

This "giving up" is one of the most chilling realities in Scripture. It shows that God sometimes allows human beings to have what they want, to run from Him. To harden their hearts. To remain in darkness. Our instinct is immediate to turn the accusation toward God: How can this be fair?

It’s a haunting question. If God is love, if He is patient and full of mercy, then how can He ever “give someone up”? And if He does—how is that fair?

Scripture doesn’t shy away from this idea. In Romans 1, Paul writes that God “gave them up” to their desires, three times repeating that phrase with sorrowful finality. But this is not a picture of God growing tired or petty. It is the terrible moment when He honours a person’s consistent refusal of Him. It’s not that God slams the door shut, it’s that He stops holding it open against their will.

“Because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie... God gave them up." Romans 1:25–26

C.S. Lewis captured this weight in The Problem of Pain, saying, “The doors of hell are locked on the inside.” That is, hell is not just punishment, it is the result of persistent self-exclusion from God.

God’s giving up is not a betrayal of mercy—it is the result of mercy persistently rejected.

THE NECESSITY OF JUDGEMENT

Some argue that a truly loving God would never judge, but that misunderstands both love and justice. A God who ignored evil would be neither good nor loving. To let sin go unpunished would make God indifferent to suffering and cruelty. And God would no longer be unchanging.

He would have to bend to the shifting standards of human opinion and redefine justice according to our ever-changing preferences.

Anselm of Canterbury once wrote, “You have not yet considered the weight of sin.” By minimalising sin and its eriousness, we underestimate the horror of what sin actually is.

God’s justice does not stand in opposition to His love, it flows from it. Because He loves the world, He must act against the things that destroy it. Every lie, every cruelty, every theft, every abuse, every act of pride and idolatry is fracturing the world an must be be judged. Its continuation must be disrupted. The cross itself is the clearest demonstration of this. God does not sweep sin away, He deals with it through the suffering of His Son.

But this sacrifice, though sufficient for all, is not automatically applied to all.

THE CROSS IS SUFFICIENT FOR ALL

John Calvin described it this way: “The sacrifice of Christ is sufficient for the sins of the whole world, but efficient only for the elect.” In other words, the cross of Christ holds enough power to save every human being. But salvation is not received through mere existence. It is received through repentance and faith.

Salvation is offered. It is proclaimed. And it is extended with nail-scarred hands.

But the Bible never suggests that it is imposed. Jesus said:

“Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already.” John 3:18

Faith is the door through which grace enters. Not because God demands a payment from us, but because He refuses to override the heart and free will.

FREEDOM, IDENTITY, AND THE CONSEQUENCE OF REFUSAL

Tim Keller once observed, “Hell is simply one's freely chosen identity apart from God, on a trajectory into infinity.” That trajectory does not begin after death, it begins now. Every choice, every resistance to grace, every moment of self-exaltation over surrender, slowly carves a path that either moves toward God or away from Him.

The heart that turns from God in this life does not suddenly awaken to love Him in the next. Eternity does not override the affections we cultivate now but reveals them in full. A soul that despises holiness today will not suddenly desire it when it burns brighter and nearer. A person who has closed their life to the presence of God will not find joy in a kingdom where that presence fills all.

To force such a soul into heaven would not be kindness, it would be torment. Heaven is not merely a perfect place, it is a perfect Person, radiating glory, purity, truth, and beauty. For those who have hated His presence on earth, heaven would not be a reward, but agony.

The counter-question still presses in: Why do so many resist following God, when He is nothing but good, just, and merciful? What lies beneath that refusal? What is the real motive behind such resistance? If we dare to look closely, we may find that hidden in their answer is the real answer to our own question.

In the end, God does not lock the door to keep people out. Many lock it from the inside, unwilling to be where God is. Hell is not populated by those God rejected, it is filled with those who have finally been given what they persistently chose: separation from the God they refused to love.

And those who choose God do not merely choose what is honourable, kind, loving, and good—they delight in it. They love what is pure. They rejoice in the light.

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WHAT THE CHURCH HAS TAUGHT

Throughout history, the Church has rejected universalism, the teaching that all will be saved regardless of their response to God. While some Church Fathers such as Gregory of Nyssa held to a hopeful vision of future restoration, this view never became doctrine.

The consistent witness of Scripture is sobering:

“These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25:46

Both destinies are described with the same word: eternal. This is not vindictiveness. It is the outworking of real choices made in the face of real grace. And if those who choose against God find this unfair, then we must ask, why? What is unjust about a good and perfect God who longs to extinguish suffering for all humanity, once and for all?

What is it they desire that lies outside God’s realm? What exactly they wish to keep doing that cannot exist within His kingdom of light? We must not simply accept the question of fairness, we must also turn it around to understand the motive behind. What is it that disturbs them about God? Why can’t they love Him?

Sometimes it’s because they’ve misunderstood who He is by what they heard. Butfar more often, it’s something deeper: a true rejection of light, innocence, and beauty. There are those who love the dark, who cling to control, pride, and manipulation. They want to be their own god, and that is exactly what will happen.

Hell is the outworking of that choice. The living out of one’s own godhood, one’s own will, one’s own kingdom, apart from the very One who gave them life.

WHAT WE ARE LEFT WITH

We are left with the deep and painful truth that God desires all to be saved, but not all desire God. The offer is real. The cross is powerful. The love is unshakable. But the human heart, apart from grace, turns inward.

The message of Christianity is not: “Why would God not save everyone?”
The message is: “Why would anyone refuse so great a salvation?”

• God Desires All to Be Saved
  His mercy is real and extended to all. The cross of Christ is sufficient for every soul.

• Love Cannot Be Forced
  True love requires freedom. God will not force the heart to love Him.

• The Tragedy of Human Rebellion
  Many reject God's grace, not because He is unkind, but because they prefer darkness to light.

• God's Justice and the Necessity of Judgment
  A God who ignored sin would not be good. Judgment is the necessary expression of holiness.

• The Cross: Sufficient but Not Imposed
  Christ's death provides for all, but is only applied to those who believe.

• Freedom, Identity, and the Consequence of Refusal
  Hell is not God's cruelty, but the fulfillment of human autonomy apart from Him.

God still calls. He still offers mercy. The cross still stands. And even now, the Spirit still whispers, "Come."

In conclusion, we have discussed the many layers behind the question of why all are not saved. The answer, as Scripture and Christian thought reveal, is not due to any lack in God's power or love, but in the human heart’s persistent resistance. God does not force love, override the will, or compromise justice. He offers salvation fully and freely, yet many walk away.

We have now arrived at the central truths that emerged from our reflection:

“Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” Hebrews 4:7