Am I a Universalist?

My understanding of universalism is the belief that everyone will eventually be reconciled back to God, and that is without any exception.  My claim in a previous post (which was guest posted by Matt in Menlo and you can read the comment conversation there) was that everyone who falls out of a river raft and is headed towards a likely death deserves rescue.   And the next paragraph started like this:

“Everyone facing a certain death deserves rescue. This is grace. While we do not deserve it from God…”

Where I admit my mistake is separating this statement from the previous paragraph.   “This is grace” should be the beginning of a new section.  This problem has led people to believe something interesting about me.  But please know I don’t wish to mislead anyone or support a bunch of entitled Christians.

Nonetheless, the claim is out there, so let’s talk.

A person who is separated from God needs rescue.  God has shown that we are worthy of saving and that his grace is sufficient.  But to take this one step further I would say that God’s grace is universal.  It is without exception and shows no favoritism.  God does not withhold his grace from anyone.  God desires reconciliation with everyone, and a willing heart is a willing heart.  Our job is to unconditionally ‘save’ anyone around us who is heading towards death. Does that mean that everyone will eventually be reconciled to God?  I sure hope so.

Does that make me a Universalist?  You decide.

PS. Thank you Matt for posting my River Rafting thoughts on your blog, you would pick the most outdoorsy post I’ve ever written.