Good News! There are two ways into heaven!

Working the third shift has given me a great perspective in the sense that in the darkest hours of night when things are very quiet God provides me with a time to reflect on the life God blessed me with, His church, His community and His world. I was in the process of putting up a post when I noticed John put one up an hour before me. The funny thing is I was going to write one along the same lines, so with that having been said we'll consider this a series.

Recently one of my assignments in school required me to critique a pastor's work on the salvation of those who have never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ or even heard of His name for that matter. Do these people find salvation? Scripture clearly indicates that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life and that no one comes to the Father but through Him. Scripture also indicates that some will be made for election while others for destruction and who are we as the clay to question the Potter (Romans 9:14-24)? Now I might get some comments on this but I must say it... there are two ways into heaven. One is through Jesus Christ, the other is perfect adherence to the law. In Luke 18:18 The question asked of Jesus was "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" I think it is fair and everyone would agree that Christ wasn't here to play word games and He certainly can't lie. He did answer with Truth. In all of scripture you will always find Christ giving law to the proud and grace to the humble. Case in point, the woman at the well, Jesus convicted her of her immoral lifestyle by telling her of her five husbands and her current live-in situation. With the woman caught in the very act of adultery, Jesus did not give her the law, her shame was there in the open public for all to see, but He did however write on the ground and then said "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her" (John 8:7 NASB). These are only a couple of examples of law to the proud and grace to the humble. So, in answering the young ruler, what Jesus said was Truth, ""You know the commandments, 'Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.'" Jesus was reading the law to this man. Why? God's law is perfect and just, to say it is not is blasphemy. Men are not perfect and cannot keep all of the law. Jesus knew this man's heart as He knows all men's hearts that is why He came here, Jesus knew (being deity), that no man ever could nor ever would be able to keep all of the law, hence He offered Himself up as the sacrificial lamb for the world. Jesus offered the young ruler redemption by showing him that he was in sin and needed a Savior the same as everyone else and that He was that Savior in verse 22. Most people think they are "good" people, ask anyone you meet on the street and they will proclaim their own goodness, the Bible says men will. That is why Jesus asked "Why do you call Me good?" No one is good except God alone." Most men rate themselves on man's standard, in most cases using that standard, they would be good, but God's standard is perfect and we all fall short. Jesus was showing the man this. Webster's defines "good" as morally perfect. So in light of scripture there is none good. Now we know that Jesus is good but He emptied Himself of His glory to be here among us and gave all glory to His Father in heaven, so His statement is True. Roman 3:10-11 clearly states "As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one: There there is none that understands, there is none that seeks after God." Jesus again gives us a glimpse at this other way to heaven in Luke 10:25-28 where a lawyer asks Jesus the same question to test Him. Jesus didn't respond with "follow me, I'll give you peace, joy, love and a happy life", no... He asked him what was written in the law. How does it read to you? After the lawyer answered Him, Jesus responded by saying "You have answered correctly; do this and you will live."

Now after saying all that, does the person who has never heard of the name Jesus Christ find salvation? I guess my personal belief is that I truly don't know. However, scripture seems to indicate that because Jesus is the only way to the Father, and scripture also indicates that some are made for destruction (Romans 9:14-24), then unless Christ reveals Himself through dreams, visions, etc. I am left to believe that there are people that will perish. I guess this is where I think it gets sticky and people have a tendancy to question God's integrity. The one thing I do know for certain is that God is just and holy. He makes no mistakes. So if there are people that perish, then they were destined to perish whether or not they heard the Gospel. This would also include babies, which is where it can get extremely sticky, because no one wants to believe babies would perish. I certainly don't, but who am I, the clay questioning the Potter? God can see the life of that baby to it's conclusion and thus knows if that baby would repent and turn to Christ. Every fiber of my being wants to think that babies are exempt from judgment, but are they? What I have said in the past, and I will reitterate is we must not first, question the integrity of God and second we must be very, very, very careful not to create a god of our liking/understanding, this is idolatry and God hates it. We broach this when we start forming opinions and personal beliefs. We know that our conscience bears witness to the law. This is for all of humanity throughout the ages past and to come. What seperates us from the unregenerate soul? When the unbeliever wakes up they say "Today is (fill in the day), today I sin", not literally mind you, but in an essance they don't care that they have transgressed the law written on their hearts. To sleep around, or get drunk and high, or steal is not so bad and sometimes is kind of exciting and fun, and hey they're not as bad as some people, right? Wrong. But this is the mind of the unregenerate soul. When a believer sins, they fall into sin against their desire. They have no desire to anger or hurt the Lord. They know the heavy price He paid. It pains them to sin. Most accept that man is born with a sin nature and that he carries original sin from Adam. Everyone born since Adam and Eve and including them need a Savior. There is not one except Christ that can keep all of the law. Our sin nature deprives us of this ability. Hence our despererate need for a Savior. So if a person dies without knowledge of Christ which means no enlightenment through dreams, visions, stories, etc. Then that person is destined for destruction. This is an extremely difficult subject that challenges solid believer's because there is no text that is clear on either side. Although it would seem that it does lean on the side that some are made for destruction. I think some people have a hard time with that idea because why would a good an just God make people that are set for destruction. I think this is only simantics. It is because He is outside the boundries of time and can see through history, He already knows who is bound for destruction. To not make these people would be in an essence "stacking the deck" for another outcome. It's like saying He wouldn't make Adam because He knew he would fall. I feel that the key is what Jesus commanded us to do in the Great Commission. Are we doing that, or are we doing it in a friendship evangelistic sort of way? We are to seek and save the lost. Who are the lost? I don't know, so that means I need to share the Gospel with everyone I meet. To which I am guilty that I haven't and this is an obvious sin of omission. If anything it would seem that this post should compel people to share their faith, to get out of their comfort zone. Every 24 hours 150,000 people walk off into eternity, heaven or hell as I type this.

-Jerry