Recommended reading: Hope beyond Hell
It's not advanced systematic theology, but it doesn't need to be either. It does include insights from newer academic research on the topic. Good.
Find it here.
"For 25 years I held the Arminian view of God. Then, while a missionary in Senegal, West Africa, the realization that I did not have complete assurance of my salvation unsettled me. I wrestled with this for months and finally concluded that salvation had to be the work of God. I had made a paradigm shift. I began to understand God‘s power in the way our Calvinist and Reformed brethren do. I continued joyfully in this new perspective for about two years, until I no longer found comfort in my ― personal salvation. How could I in the midst of a world of lost people? Living in a Muslim nation deeply affected me. It prepared me to consider a third paradigm — the 'Blessed Hope'." (p. 83)The primary points are that God wishes the salvation of every person and that in relation to God human beings do not have a free will making them capable of thwarting God's purposes. Thus, the argument is based on a modified idea of predestination. We do not have a free will and power to choose faith and thus salvation.
"Have you ever heard the cliché "The gates of hell are locked on the inside"? This is to say sinners choose hell over heaven because they prefer to — even if given the chance to leave they would stay! This is pure twisted logic, and not at all based on Scripture; for we have only to think about it solemnly, and it falls apart. No, it is not we who have the keys of our judgment, but Christ." (p. 126)God's mercy works through judgment and chastisement.
"We need to recognize that God integrates both mercy and judgment. This factor is a crucial piece of the puzzle helping us to better understand God‘s plan for all." (p. 90)The only thing is that the atonement view of the book might seem a bit too Anselmian. On the other hand, it is better to make a clear point on the one issue on universalism, rather than going through all kinds of questions, which might had made the case much more complicated, than it needed to be.
Find it here.
