Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8, NIV)
One of the questions that often confronts us as Christians is, "What about (fill in the blank) who never even heard of Jesus Christ? Will that person simply be condemned to Hell?" The short answer is no, God will not unjustly condemn anyone to Hell. The long answer is, well, longer.
Salvation comes through the person of Jesus Christ, period. There is no other path through which one can enter into the presence of God. Jesus clearly stated this fact in John 14:6 when he said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (NIV) So what about someone who has never heard about Jesus of Nazareth?
In the first chapter of Romans, verse 20, the Apostle Paul makes the statement, "For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." (NIV) The idea Paul is expressing here is that God is so evident within His creation, His existence is irrefutable. Therefore anyone who has experienced God's creation understands God's existence. Since everyone knows and understands God's existence, there is no excuse for not seeking God.
A sparrow does not fall to the ground that God does not know it. The scriptures declare that God has even numbered the hairs on our heads. (And for some of us it is getting easier every year for God to count that number, but that's the subject of another posting.) If God is that aware of His creation, then God knows the heart that is truly seeking him.
I think in part what Jesus was telling us in the seventh chapter of Matthew is that God will find a way to fully reveal Himself to anyone who is truly seeking Him. How God reaches that person with the message of the gospel, I do not know, but I do know He will.
Even in our fallen condition, we are still created in the image and likeness of God. Even in our fallen condition we still have a special place in God's heart. We know this because while we were yet sinners, Jesus died for us.
For that person who has never heard about Jesus of Nazareth? God will find a way to reach that person. After all, He found a way to reach me.
John
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That is exactly what i have been trying to say for the past two or three years! Just because someone doesn't "seem" to be "saved", it is our point of view and not God's.
ReplyDeleteGods way of seeing things and doing things is not how we do it. (For God's ways are not our ways) So our efforts to try to "save souls" is something we will fail at repeatedly if we do not acknowledge God's already presence and work in that person.
On the same token that says "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." also says "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him..." John 6:44
It is a circle that cannot be broken. We cannot short cut it. No one goes to Christ if we call them and preach to them. They go to Christ only and when the Father draws them and they cannot go to the Father except through Christ.
So without God's involvement and deep interest in that person, our works are in vain (Psalms, Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain.)
So yes, God will reach them. Today? Tomorrow? After the resurrection? Who knows....well, God does. Even Jesus said "I know not the hour nor the time".
So lets not beat our brains out trying to "Do the work FOR the Lord" and start *participating* in the work the LORD is doing and *sharing* with us.
Boyd
http://christiannaturism.blogspot.com/