First Question! Universal Salvation

Hooray! Shannon has asked the first question. And it's nice and complicated and asks for my opinion. How can I resist? Here it is:

what do you think of universal salvation? that's asking more for your opinion than just a question with a set answer, but i'm still curious, so i thought i would ask.

There are several stages to this question. First of all, some of you may be asking: "What does she mean by universal salvation?" The idea behind universal salvation is that God saves all people, not just the ones who believe in a particular thing or act a certain way. For more on this see: If Grace is True: Why God Will Save Every Person by Phillip Gulley and James Mulholland

Second: What is salvation? I believe that salvation is not the same thing as getting into heaven and sitting on clouds playing harps... er whatever. Salvation is having a new life--eternal life--and becoming part of God. It's something mysterious that begins while we're alive, and continues after we die. This eternal life--participation in the realm of God--is a gift from God.

Finally: Do I believe in universal salvation? I don't--I think it ties God's hands as much as demanding that Jesus be the only possible path to God.

Free will is key here. God loves us but does not force us to be in relationship. If all people are saved, then there is no choice, and the relationship is one of control of us by God, rather than freely elected love.

Ultimately I believe the key to salvation is not ethics, behavior or belief, but a relationship with and connection to God. But this isn't a connection we earn or initiate--God comes to us first. Our response--accepting that love and responding to it--is what begins the ongoing relationship and allows eternal life to well up inside of us. Those who don't choose it simply don't continue in that life after they die.