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Let's see if we can wrap this up in this post.

5. The Whole World is Under the Power of the Evil One

1 John 5:19
19 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
NIV

This problem is similar to number 4. But, again, this cannot mean everyone without exception. See Rom 6:14-18 again. Also see what John said earlier in this epistle in 3:8 in which he said that "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work".

Moreover, in the more immediate context of 5:19, he said in the preceding verse that no one born of God continues in sin, that is to say, lives a lifestyle of ongoing sin. Therefore, since it's unreasonable to think that John contradicted himself from one breath to another, we can only reasonably conclude that by the "whole world" he limits that to just a class of people who are not believers -- who have never been born again, and therefore, have no power to extricate themselves from the power of their spiritual father, the devil.

6. Do Not Love the World or Anything in it

1 John 2:15
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
NIV

So...a consistent universalist would need to explain how Christians are called to love their neighbors, theirs spouses, their sons, their daughters, their parents, fellow believers, etc. and yet at the same time not love any of these people because, after all, they're in the world and part of the world. The above text does say to not love anything in this world. The command is NOT to love the world! If the world is every person it it without exception, then what do we do with all the commands to the contrary!? See 1 Jn 3:11, 23; 4:7, 11-12, etc.

The best way to understand this command is this passage:

James 4:4-6
4 You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

"God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble."
NIV

When John tells us, therefore, to not love the world, he's saying don't love the world's ways. Or as Paul said in 2Cor 6:14-16, Christians are not to be yoked together with unbelievers. The Children of Light cannot have fellowship with the children of darkness. Also, righteousness and wickedness have nothing in common. To love the worldly or the world system is to have an affinity with it. A Christian would be aligning himself with the devil, who is the "prince of this world'. This is why Christians, like their God and Savior, are to hate all that is evil.

7. Christ is the Atoning Sacrifice for the Sins of the Whole World

1 John 2:2
2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins , and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
NIV

If Jesus actually died for each and every person in the world without exception, then the entire world would be filled with nothing but disciples of Jesus Christ; for this means that His Father gave the entire world to Him (John 6), but we know this isn't the case. The whole world is not filled with Jesus' disciples. Not even close!

The apostle John, whose ministry was primarily to the Jews (Gal 2:7-10), again was writing from the perspective his original Jewish audience would have clearly understood. The "whole world" would have been understood to have included Gentiles -- clearly a distinctive class of the world's population.

8. The World Hates Christ and His Disciples

John 15:18-25

18 "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. 23 He who hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: 'They hated me without reason.'
NIV

The "world" in this passage cannot possibly be each and every person in it without exception. For one thing not everyone in the world hates Christ. None of the born again children of God hate Jesus. In fact, I don't believe that's even possible, since the children of God have the Holy Spirit living with them.

For another thing, what about all the infants, babies and young children who have little or no understanding of Good and Evil? How could they consciously hate Jesus?

Again, the big clue of what is being said here is in v.19. That since the disciples don't belong to the devil's world -- to his world system -- the world will hate them as it hates Jesus. Jesus clearly told his disciples that the world will hate them because He chose them to come out of the world system. The world will hate the disciples just as it hates both Father and Son (vv. 23, 24).


9. Jesus Does Not Pray for the World

John 17:9
9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.
NIV

To many (including many Christians), the above text seems to be incongruous with the rest of the bible, especially NT passages. Why would Jesus say such a thing when "God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son" to it (Jn 3:16)? Or perhaps, even more perplexing, when Jesus himself said that he didn't come into this world to judge it but to save it (Jn 12:47)? Why wouldn't He have prayed for the world (for everyone without exception) and yet not pray for the world (for everyone without exception)? In John 17, Jesus clearly limited his intercessory prayer to his Father's elect, that is to say, believers contemporary with Him and future believers who would embrace the gospel by faith through their preaching and the preaching of all future generations of believers.

The biggest clue to understanding why Jesus prayed what he did is to be found in verses 14 and 16 wherein Jesus taught that the elect are not OF this world, anymore than He was OF this world. Yes, they're "in" the world, but not OF its system. They are not worldly. Instead, they are God's HEAVENLY kingdom people. This prayer actually strengthens my argument in #6.

What is also fascinating about this passage is Jesus went on to say his disciples are ONE with the Father and the Son, and their unity with the Godhead would contribute to the world's believing the gospel (v21). In v. 23, he further says of this unity that the world would know that Jesus was sent from the Father and that He loved them (the disciples) even as the Father loved Him. Not a thing in this passage about how God's love for the world for which Jesus did not pray -- only that the world would come to see the Father's love for Jesus and the elect through the elect's sanctified life.

Last argument as this is already too long. But I have to get this one in.

10. The Argument of the Many and the Few Refutes Universalism

As pointed our previously, when Jesus instituted the New Covenant at the Last Supper, he clearly said this:

Matt 26:27-28
27 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for MANY for the forgiveness of sins.
NIV

Clearly, "many" does not equate to everyone in the world without exception.

Then we have this passage:

Matt 7:13-14
13 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a FEW find it.
NIV

So, how can "few" = everyone without exception? In other words, most enter through the broad gate that leads to perdition (destruction). Only a few find the narrow "gate". And that "gate", incidentally, is none other than Christ himself (Jn 10:7-9). There is no other way TO God the Father except through the God the Son, i.e. Jesus Christ incarnate!