“What about people in remote corners of the world who don’t know of Jesus? Will they go to Heaven if they don’t accept Christ? If it’s our job to reach them, what happens if we can’t get to them in time?”
Pastor Ryan of Palm Valley Church: There are several different theological topics at play here. The first is salvation and how one receives it. The second is about our role in the salvation of others. Finally, revelation, or how God reveals himself to us, brings the two topics together.
Every person is in need of salvation. We are all separated from God because of our sin, and we are helpless on our own to solve that problem. When Jesus Christ gave up his life on the cross, it was a sacrifice of mankind’s sin. Upon Christ’s sacrifice, God did not automatically forgive all sin. Forgiveness is available, but it is upon our belief or faith that God forgives and saves us.
“If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.” Romans 10:9-10
We must be careful not to misunderstand the role of our belief or faith. Our forgiveness and salvation are completely undeserved and unearned. Salvation is a gift from God, his grace to us. It would be incorrect to think of our belief step as an act we did to earn our salvation in some way.
“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” Ephesians 2:8-9
So, there is this interesting dynamic and tension. The truth is, in order to be saved, to receive God’s gift of salvation, we must do something—believe. Our belief is active, not passive; meaning that it is a conscious decision to accept God’s forgiveness. It is also an individual decision. We cannot believe for others. Every individual must come to a point in their life where they make that conscious decision for themselves.
In 20 years of working with patients of all walks of life, I (Jen) have seen so many people who feel as though they are “not good enough.” This feeling of inadequacy also comes with some degree of guilt, shame or both. This creates all measure of mental health problems, namely anxiety and depression. First of all, we must remember that “good” and “good enough” are very subjective terms, so, really, how do we judge this? Secondly, guess what?! Not one of is good enough. Believe it or not, this is good news: We aren’t judged on being good enough to get into Heaven! As Christians—and people in general—we should do good things, be good to others and so on; but it is God’s grace alone that gets us to Heaven. That is, he’s not keeping score of how many good things we do, lest we miss some cutoff and go to hell. What a relief! All we have to do is accept the salvation that Christ gifts us when we ask him into our hearts.
Regarding the second topic of our role in the salvation of others, that role really revolves around communication. Whose responsibility is it to tell everyone about their need for forgiveness and the opportunity provided through Christ’s sacrifice (the Gospel message)?
The initial challenge was given by Jesus himself to his disciples as he was leaving this earth after his resurrection:
“Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20
Jesus gave his disciples, and through them the church, the commission of spreading the Gospel message to the ends of the earth. In fact, this message is reinforced in Paul’s second letter to the church at Corinth:
“And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God!’” 2 Corinthians 5:18-20
God has given us, believers, a role to play in his plan of salvation. He has called us to spread and communicate the Gospel message.
I would like to use a passage from Romans to transition to the topic of revelation. Paul is pointing out that salvation is for everyone. It is not exclusive to only the Jews. Anyone who believes will be saved.
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, ‘How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!’” Romans 10:13-15
So, what happens if someone never hears about God? Are they still condemned? The answer to this question lies in natural revelation; the way that God reveals himself through the natural world.
“For the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore, God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.” Romans 1:18-25
God created the world in such a way that a creator is revealed. Each and every individual must respond to that in some way. As the passage states, many chose to worship the creation instead of the creator. Others chose to fashion objects of worship out of created things. Now, simply believing that there is a creator seems like a far cry from hearing the Gospel message. It is here that we must rely on a promise from Christ himself.
“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8
God will not abandon those who earnestly seek him out. We know that it is his desire to save.
“The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.” 2 Peter 3:9
The ultimate question is what happens to someone who does not believe? The answer is troubling because the consequence is so severe: eternal separation from God. Because their sin was not forgiven, God in his holiness cannot be in the presence of sin.
What we must NOT do at this point is look at this as God sending people to hell. When mankind rejected God and sin entered the world, separation was the consequence. We walked away from God. But the Gospel message is that God is trying to rescue us and save us. Forgiveness and salvation are available to anyone who would believe, and God promises that anyone who seeks him will find him.
I (Jen) think this is such an important piece: the element of choice. Just like with nearly everything else, we have the choice to follow God. We also have the choice to share the word of God. This project with Pastor Ryan is one way I’m trying to do that. Please feel free to share God’s word by sharing this blog as well. Now, go and make disciples!
