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Question

Is there anyone God ł¦˛ą˛Ô’t save?

Answer


Scripture clearly shows God is all-powerful: “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27, ESV). Asking if there is something God ł¦˛ą˛Ô’t do seems to question His power or ability. Surely, God can save anyone, although not everyone will be saved.

God has the authority and the ability to save anyone: “Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear” (Isaiah 59:1, ESV). God’s saving power is not limited by the amount of a person’s sin, the type of a person’s sin, or the years a person has sinned. Paul persecuted the church before becoming one of the apostles (Galatians 1:23), demonstrating that no one is beyond God’s reach. Later, Paul reflected on his conversion, saying, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost” (1 Timothy 1:15, ESV). If God saved Paul, He can save anyone.

There is no record in Scripture of someone repenting of sin, trusting in the Lord, and being rejected by God. Jesus promised, “Whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (John 6:37, ESV). Salvation is available to all who call on Him: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13, ESV, quoting Joel 2:32).

Is there anyone God ł¦˛ą˛Ô’t save? Consider these biblical examples:

• Jesus saved a man possessed by a Legion of demons (Luke 8:26–36).

• Jesus saved a thief dying on a cross (Luke 23:40–43).

• Jesus saved a high-ranking Ethiopian official (Acts 8:26–39).

• Jesus saved a murderous persecutor of the church (Acts 9).

• Jesus saved a Roman centurion (Acts 10).

• Jesus saved a jailer on the brink of suicide (Acts 16:27–34).

• Jesus saved the ruler of a synagogue (Acts 18:8).

• Jesus saved sorcerers and witches (Acts 19:18–19).

• Jesus saved fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, thieves, greedy people, drunkards, slanderers, and swindlers (1 Corinthians 6:9–10).

The plain teaching of the Bible is that God can save anyone. No one is beyond the reach of His grace. At the same time, the Bible also teaches that not everyone will be saved.

Jesus declared that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven (Matthew 12:31–32). The Pharisees of Jesus’ day were guilty of this sin. In our day, this sin can be thought of as a continuous and intentional refusal to respond to God’s work through the Holy Spirit in one’s heart. Persistent rebuffing of the Spirit’s conviction constitutes this sin, which will not receive forgiveness.

Romans 1 describes the process by which God has gives people over to unbelief and hardness of heart. In response to the continued rebellion of the wicked, God “abandons” them to three things:

⚬ “God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity” (Romans 1:24, LSB).

⚬ “God gave them over to dishonorable passions” (Romans 1:26, LSB).

⚬ “God gave them over to an unfit mind” (Romans 1:28, LSB).

People such as Romans 1 describes are not beyond God’s ability to save, but their unrepentant rebellion and refusal to acknowledge God leads to God’s judgment—and part of that judgment is an increasingly hard heart. Sinners naturally desire sin, and God’s judgment sometimes takes the form of giving them what they want.

God can save us from sin because He abounds in grace and mercy. Light has come into the world; however, some people will not be saved because they “loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). If someone is not saved, God is not to blame. Each individual must take responsibility for the state of his soul..

Understanding God’s power to save all people leads us to express gratitude and sincerely pray that more would be saved (see Luke 10:2). The gospel is straightforward in calling sinners to repent and believe in Christ. Whoever turns to Him will receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

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This page last updated: May 1, 2025