1 Tim 4:10 We have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.
Who Else?
Who else would be the Savior of all, other than Christ?
This verse does nothing to prove objective justification. Why? Because, the verse does not speak of the justification or even forgiveness or righteousness of all, but at best (in keeping with UOJ reasoning) of the salvation of all.
Salvation For All
Moreover, some proponents have stated as much, yet somehow still deny universalism (the universal salvation of all). Consider the following (referring to 1Tim 4:10):
God is not merely the potential Savior of all people; he is the Savior of all people. If God is the Savior of all people, and Christ’s redemptive work is complete, then we can say that God saved all people in Christ. To say that God did not save all people in Christ would be to say that Jesus’ work was incomplete or not for all. (Jesus Canceled Your Debt! By Pastor Jon D. Buchholz) Emphasis is mine.
In Christ
In context, Mr. Buchholz goes on to reject universalism. By doing so, he seems to recognize some sense in which God has saved all and yet not saved all. Notice, what he does to resolve this dilemma. He says, “God saved all people in Christ.” In fact he mentions what God has done in Christ twice.
I wonder if Mr. Buchholz actually leans more toward JIC than traditional UOJ, without realizing it. By the way, I’ve seen this sort of thing quite a bit in my UOJ investigations. When the proponent of UOJ sometimes finds himself in a bit of a sticky situation theologically (trying to carry UOJ to its logical conclusion while also avoiding universalism, for example), he sometimes adds the words in Christ to his UOJisms (UOJisms, I just made that up, could you tell?).
Do I believe salvation is found in Christ? Absolutely! But how does anyone receive that which is in Christ? Scripture’s answer is to be in Christ yourself. Those who are NOT in Christ do not have that which is in Christ. Why? Because they are outside of Christ (simple, huh?). In other words, salvation is by faith alone.
UOJ or JIC? You decide.
Cake Anyone?
As for the proponent of UOJ, he regularly likes to have his cake and eat it too. He regularly likes to speak of the salvation of all, while also rejecting (for now) universalism (see Category 1 – Question 9). He likes to speak of the justification of all, while also rejecting eternal life for all, even when the “all” of Ro 5:18 refers to both justification and eternal life, for example (which we’ll look at next).
While this may be a very convenient way of interpreting Scripture, I would suggest it is not very honest with the text. Again, is UOJ being pulled from the text or imposed upon it? You’ll have to decide for yourself.
Transition
Otherwise, please take notice (in this “proof” passage) of the perfect example we have from Paul as he speaks very clearly when he is transitioning from speaking about unbelievers to speaking about believers only (“the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.”), just as John did previously (1Jn 2:2). Yet, proponents of UOJ would have us believe that Paul jumps back and forth between speaking about believers and speaking about the whole world (including unbelievers) in passages like Rom 4:25, while giving us no notice that he is doing so. While it is true that the biblical writers could have chosen to give no transition if they wanted to, maybe verses such as 1Jn 2:2 and 1Tim 4:10 can serves as a reminder that the writers might just have been in the habit of giving us a nice transition (a heads-up), instead.
So, what do you think…does UOJ or JIC work best here?