None Will Be Lost

There is an interesting saying of the Savior that we see in a few places in the scriptures.  The first occurrence I know of is during the sermon on the Bread of Life: “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.  And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day” (John 6:38-39).  Perhaps the most obvious interpretation of this is that none will be lost because of the Resurrection—all men and women will be raised up at the last day.  Later in John in the great intercessory prayer He said this, “Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be bone, as we are.  While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled” (John 17:11-12).  Since we know that even the sons of perdition will be resurrected, perhaps this is referring to something different.  My understanding is that all those who are not sons of perdition will receive a kingdom of glory, and so in a real sense all will be saved except for the sons of perdition.  Because of the Savior’s atonement, none will be lost except those who are cast into outer darkness. 

This is same the interpretation that Brigham Young gave of the scripture: “When we inquire who will be saved, I answer, All will be saved, as Jesus said, when speaking to the Apostles, except the sons of perdition (John 17:12).  They will be saved through the atonement and their own good works, according to the law that is given to them. Will the heathen be saved? Yes, so far as they have lived according to the best light and intelligence they had; but not in the celestial kingdom. Who will not be saved?  Those who have received the truth, or had the privilege of receiving it, and then rejected it. They are the only ones who will become the sons of perdition, go into everlasting punishment, and become angels to the Devil.”  We know that the sons of perdition are the “only ones who shall not be redeemed in the due time of the Lord, after the sufferings of his wrath,” or put more positively, everyone except this small group will be redeemed, even if those of the telestial kingdom do have to pass through suffering for their sins (D&C 76:38).  Because of the Savior’s atonement nearly all will inherit a kingdom of glory, and hence the Savior could say that “none of them is lost.”  In modern scripture the Savior made this promise with similar language:  “Fear not, little children, for you are mine, and I have overcome the world, and you are of them that my Father hath given me; And none of them that my Father hath given me shall be lost” (D&C 50:41-42).

                Interestingly, the Savior gave yet a different application of the scripture the night of His atonement.  As the group of Jewish leaders led by Judas came to the garden to seize Him, He told them who He was and then said this: “Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he: if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way: That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none” (John 18:8-9).  In other words, He was asking that the apostles could be free to leave at that point so that nothing would happen to them on that dangerous night. They all subsequently fled, and He appears to have been trying to protect the apostles so they would not be lost in a very physical sense.  Christ cares about our earthly circumstances and helps those who follow Him to not be “lost” physically and spiritually while in this life, and ultimately because of His atonement we will all but the very few be saved through His grace. But of course, His desire is not simply that we be “saved” in the sense spoken of here but that we return to live eternally in His presence in the kingdom of His Father.