I get asked that title question quite frequently, mostly by young people as they are the ones who seem to care. Even with their youth they are already recognizing the inequities of life and tend to falsely apply those perceptions to the spiritual realm as well. So unless they have a strong background in the doctrines regarding faith and salvation they will often assume, and in their very question imply, that God is unfair and unjust in pronouncing condemnation upon some who never had a chance for salvation. And so I address that issue here by pointing out the errors and providing some answers.
First of all, God is always just, all the time and it is only our misunderstanding of His justice that leads to error. The Scripture testifies, "He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he." (Deuteronomy 32:4) and our Lord Jesus Christ tell us, "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." (John 7:24) Things are not always as they appear but God, who judges justly, can see things as they are. Our perception regarding this temporal world often don't apply to the spiritual world. What seems like injustice here MAY not be injustice at all spiritually.
Second, we must understand the lost condition of EVERY man upon entry into this world.
The Bible says, "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." (Eph.2:1-3) The word "quickened" means to be made alive. Why were these believers made alive? Because they believed! They were formerly dead in trespasses and sins, which is the case of all mankind until such time as they are made alive. Not only were they "dead in trespasses and sins" but the chapter goes on to say "That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:" (Eph.2:12) Remember, this is the state of all mankind including you and me. If you have since trusted Christ as your Saviour things have changed but if you have not, this is your condition and there's only one way to change it! We can add verses like, "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:" (Romans 3:10) or "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" (Romans 3:23) but I'm sure you get the point. All, that is every single person born into this world is born lost, dead in trespasses and sins, even if they die before they have had a chance to actually sin, death itself is proof that the stain of sin is upon the sinful soul.
We also must consider God's Mercy and Grace and we are talking about that mercy and that grace extended to lost sinners so that they may be saved. I will limit my discussion to that mercy and that grace. It is God's Mercy toward His elect that brought Jesus Christ to the cross and it is His grace upon the elect that brings about our salvation. I will not spend much time here proving election or defending it as the reader can read my former posts for that. What I want to show here is simply that one cannot be saved without the Mercy which brought Christ to Calvary and the Grace that works faith in our salvation. For instance Peter writes, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." (1 Peter 1:3-5) and Paul writes, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Eph.2:9-10) So we see then that Mercy and Grace were necessary to bring us to life from death and to give us the gift of faith so we could believe. Salvation then, is a gift from God to lost sinners who were dead in trespasses and sins, who didn't have Christ, were without hope, were without God and were deserving of the same end as all sinners. Mercy has often been explained as "God not giving us what we deserve" and Grace has been explained as "God giving us what we don't deserve". You see all mankind is on a wide road to destruction but it is by God's grace that He saves some, not out of respect to their person, and not because He sees some spark of goodness in them, and not because they chose Him but because He chooses us. I like these verses in John's Gospel, "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:12,13 underline added) Jesus said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." (John 5:24)S o we see that Sovereign God, by His mercy and His grace saves some out of the world and leaves others to the end rightly deserved. Our hearts should ALWAYS be thankful for His Grace and our lips should be filled with praise for His Goodness and Grace.
Now, what about those who have never heard. There is a wonderful verse in Psalm 50 that says, "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God." (Ps.50:23) In the Book of the Revelation we find that "And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;" (Rev.5:9 underline added) There is built within every man, even though he is spiritually dead, an ability to recognize the glory of God. Paul writes about it in Romans when he says, "Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened." (Romans 1:19-21) It is not that they can know God in any of His Persons, but they can acknowledge that there must be a God and recognize His power. Then, providing they recognize that power and the reality of God, God will then "show the way of salvation", just as He did Cornelius in the Book of Acts.
I believe, therefore, that even though all men are lost sinners, born dead in trespasses and sins, are without God, without Christ, and with no hope, there is still an ability to recognize the reality of God. I'm not saying they will be saved, but I believe God will reveal the WAY of salvation to them, so that, in the end, of every kindred, and every tribe, and every nation, we will find those who found the WAY, who were "born of God", and who will be kept forever by His power to enjoy their eternal inheritance.
No comments:
Post a Comment