Others will point to the
fact that Paul is quoting Isaiah 45:23 (which Paul also quotes in Romans 14:11)
and baldly assert that ultimate reconciliation cannot be Paul’s meaning since
Isaiah speaks of those put to shame, who must summarily be seen as those
excluded from reconciliation with God. This remains to be seen. Let us examine
the wider passage in question at greater length.
20 “Assemble yourselves and
come; draw near together, you survivors of the nations! They have no knowledge
who carry about their wooden idols, and keep on praying to a god that cannot
save. 21 Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who
told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the Lord? And there
is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides
me. 22 Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and
there is no other. 23 By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in
righteousness a word that shall not return: ‘To me every knee shall bow, every
tongue shall swear allegiance.’ 24 Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me,
are righteousness and strength; to him shall come and be ashamed all who were
incensed against him. 25 In the Lord all the offspring of Israel shall be
justified and shall glory.”
Here, Yahweh gives a command
for the nations to turn from their idols, which cannot save them, and to the
only God who can save. Yahweh then swears by Himself that every knee
shall bow and tongue confess allegiance to Him. Non-universalists will claim
that by this, Yahweh simply means that He will subjugate all rule, but this is
not so. The context clearly indicates salvation, as Yahweh has just instructed
the nations to turn to Him for salvation, not merely subjugation.
Still, non-universalists will insist that verse 24’s statement concerning those
who are put to shame excludes the notion of ultimate reconciliation. Yet verse
24, when understood in its broader context, is speaking of those who were
formerly idol worshipers.
They are turned back and
utterly put to shame, who trust in carved idols, who say to metal images, “You
are our gods.” (Isa 42:17)
All who fashion idols are
nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither
see nor know, that they may be put to shame. Who fashions a god or casts an
idol that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all his companions shall be put to
shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand
forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together. (Isa 44:9–11)
All of them are put to shame
and confounded; the makers of idols go in confusion together. (Isa 45:16)
Such people were formerly
enemies of God, trusting in carven images, and so when they turn to God, there
is shame that comes with the acknowledgment of their former rebellion and
ignorance, but such is the case for all believers. I myself was ashamed of who
I once was when I came to Christ, but this did not mean that I was therefore
excluded from His salvation. Notice, also, in the Isaianic portion quoted by
Saint Paul that in the following verse (24) those same individuals who shall
confess before Yahweh cry, “Only in the Lord . . . are righteousness and
strength.” Who could utter these words if not a genuine believer? As Jerome
once said: The nations are gathered to the Judgment . . . that in Jesus’ Name
every knee may bow, and every tongue may confess that He is Lord. All God’s
enemies shall perish, not that they cease to exist, but cease to be enemies.
Even so, this passage seems
too good to be true. How do we know that Yahweh has not sworn in vain? How do
we know that His word shall not fail?
For as the rain and the snow
come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. (Isa 55:10–11)
Some final points as I
attempt to drive the point home. Paul directly links salvation to the situation
in verse 11 by writing, “Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. Therefore . . . work out your own salvation
. . . for God works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure”
(Phil 2:11–13). The word “therefore” joins together confession and salvation,
which was a given in the early church, where the confession of Jesus Christ as
Lord was used in baptismal services to express one’s commitment to Christ and
thus subsequent deliverance. (Andrew
Hronich, Once Loved Always Loved: The Logic of Apokatastasis [Eugene, Oreg.:
Wipf and Stock, 2023], 307-8)
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