Have you ever tried to explain God or the gospel to someone only to have them reply, "I just don't think God would be like that"? Maybe they didn't think a loving God would send people to hell. Maybe they thought different religions are simply equal paths to the same God. Whatever the case their views were based upon subjective experience (i.e. their opinions) and not objective truth.
We must be careful not to simply chalk these responses up to ignorance and then give up on the person. The way to reach these people for the gospel is to put ourselves in their shoes and figure out why they think this way. But first we must understand our position as created beings and the proper way to relate to God as our Creator.
Consider Isaiah 29:16:
16 You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!
Shall what is formed say to him who formed it,
"He did not make me"?
Can the pot say of the potter,
"He knows nothing"?
We can’t just say, “Well I don’t think God would act like that,” or “I don’t feel like that’s how God really is.” As if God’s character and being depend on our opinions.
For example, if you’re on vacation and your neighbor calls and says, “Your house just got robbed,” you would not reply by saying, “No, I don’t feel like my house got robbed,” or even, “I just don’t think anyone would rob my house.” You’re in denial. Whether or not your house got robbed does not depend on how you feel or what you think.
Another example is the status of the un-evangelized. In Romans 1:18-3:20 Paul shows that clearly NO ONE will be justified apart from faith in Jesus. Even the unreached people groups who only have access to general revelation will be judged by the law on their hearts that they chose to disobey (Rom. 1:20-21, 2:12-15). Therefore their state is hopeless unless reached with the good news of Jesus.
We can't just say that we don't think God will send the un-evangelized to hell (as many Christians do). In fact, those who say such things don't actually act like they believe it. How so? They promote missions. This biblical doctrine is the greatest motivation for missions. If those who never heard about Jesus went to heaven wouldn’t we do everything in our power to STOP them from hearing about Jesus? By that logic, apart from Jesus all go to heaven, but once you hear about him there’s a chance for hell. But most Christians would agree that this is ludicrous.
In our post-modern world Bible-believing Christians are fighting an uphill battle for objective truth. Some crucial goals in reaching the lost need to be helping non-Christians realize:
- God is Creator
- He is the standard of absolute, objective truth
- He has revealed this truth to us in the Bible
- We don't choose what kind of God we get
I may be one of those many Christians to which you refer. I do not believe that a remote tribe that has never been reached by Christian people will all go to hell, just as I don't believe that young children go to hell when they die. If one is not offered the choice, I don't believe God will automatically "opt them out" of Heaven so to speak. I'm sure God has more elaborate criteria for deciding the eternity of each man than if a missionary has reached them or not. Even if everyone who never heard about Jesus went to Heaven, the main point of missions should not be only to make sure everyone makes the right choice, but to provide for their immediate needs and to introduce a relationship with Jesus whereby they can understand life and live it to the fullest. I think it is foolish to mold God into what we want him to be, but I cannot claim to understand God enough to judge people for Him.
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ReplyDeleteI understand what you're saying... and I hope you're right. But when I read Romans 1-3 that's not what I find. Romans 1:19-21 seems especially clear as well as 2:12-15, and 3:10-20. It's not that they're being punished for not knowing about Jesus, it's that they've rejected God (1:19-21, 3:23) and all sin must be punished if God is just (6:23).
ReplyDeleteFor babies - reached and unreached - there's the age of accountability (Rom. 7:9-10). But other than babies, the mentally handicapped, and the like Paul seems pretty clear that they've broken God's law and cannot be justified apart from faith in Christ (3:28).
I know what you're saying... and I hope God does have a way to do that... but what God's revealed to us in the Bible seems to suggest to me that faith in Christ is required.
Also I wanted to address two other things.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I understand the parallel you're trying to make with babies but they don't have a choice whereas unreached people groups do. According to Romans 1:19-21 they knew God but didn't choose to glorify him. And according to Romans 2:12-15 they have a law written on their own hearts (that they've broken) which they'll be judged by.
Second, while God may have something "up his sleeve" that he hasn't revealed to us (and I hope he does) I don't think reading Scripture (such as Romans) and trying to work out what it's trying to say is wrong. It's not that those who believe this way are lifting themselves up to judge others. They are trying to interpret Scripture as faithfully as they can. If this is what someone believes Scripture says I can't see how it would be wrong voice it as biblical theology. **** all that being said... I (and others who believe this doctrine) could be wrong ****
But how can they have rejected something they were never offered?
ReplyDeleteAnd I thought about this today- If this applies to unreached people groups, what about about the millions of people that lived and died before Jesus ever came to earth? If God is outside of time (one of my favorite things to ponder), then did Jesus die for people in the past, present and future?
To the first point... they're not rejecting the offer of Jesus, they're rejecting God's general revelation of himself to them (Rom. 1:20) and his demand for them to live perfectly to the law written on their hearts. I think what Paul's saying in Romans 1-2 is that each person inherently understands that there is a God and that there is a right/wrong and each person has chosen the wrong. Therefore they are guilty before God.
ReplyDeleteThe second point... Romans 3:25 seems to say Jesus' atonement is retroactive to OT believers. Now the question is what did they believe in? I think we have to use Abraham and Genesis 15:6 as the standard, "Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness." So it was by faith in God's promises that the OT people were saved. They believed the promises God provided for a future savior. This is special revelation that mostly all Gentiles did not have at that time. It's my understanding those Gentiles won't be saved either. The way I see it in Scripture only those who have special revelation from God (promises, prophets, Scripture, gospel) have the chance of being saved, unless it is physically impossible for them to understand right/wrong (babies, mentally handicapped). Is that making sense (I'm worried I didn't explain it well enough)?
Again... I hope there's a way God can save people who only have general revelation. I really do. This is my least favorite doctrines in Scripture. But it's what I see and have learned from other wiser, older Christians.