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Who Then Can Be Saved?Published: Wed, 01 Nov 2006 00:59:00 -0500 Who Then Can Be Saved? [MAT 19:16-26]
Health, wealth, and prosperity are often considered God’s blessings upon the righteous. Was it any wonder that the disciples were astonished when Jesus said that rich people would have greater difficulty entering the kingdom than a camel would threading himself through a needle? The Jewish culture promoted earthly success and linked it inseparably with righteous living. Today is little different in principle, but usually the distinguishing characteristic is that of fairness. Common assumptions about who will be saved include those who are sincere in their pursuit of God or who are decent people. Many feel confident that God will surely save such people. But is this true?
The primary area in which this assumption is manifested concerns the so called innocent native, one who has never heard the gospel message, but tries to live a good life. It is argued that those who have never heard the gospel could not be fairly condemned since they never had a chance to accept Christ. Secondarily, it includes those who are of other religions and are characterized as sincere in their faith. Often the argument is that people who try to live well, in sincerity to what they know either from their conscience or from their religion, are acceptable to God since they are basically good and trying hard.
First, has anyone ever found an innocent native? No innocent person will ever experience God’s wrath, for only sinners will [EZE 18:20]; but the uniform testimony of Scripture is that there are no innocent people [2CH 6:36; PSA 5:9; ROM 3:9b-18; 3:23]. Therefore, every person is under God’s wrath [ROM 2:12; EPH 5:6]. Second, what has rejecting the gospel to do with deserving punishment? It is the sin nature expressing itself in sinful acts that merits a person’s eternal destruction [JOH 3:18; EPH 2:3], not rejecting a gospel presentation [ROM 1:18]. Third, the damnation of so-called innocent natives is the consequence of the punishment of their father’s iniquities. God declares that He will visit the iniquity of the fathers onto the children to the third and fourth generation of those that hate Him [EXO 20:5]. And if visited even to the second generation, how likely is it that their own iniquity will be visited to their next generation, ad infinitum? This visitation of punishment includes an absence of salvation knowledge, an absence of the gospel. However, since this view is very uncomfortable, it is often considered to be wrong, and those who teach it maligned [ISA 59:15].
All other religions promise that they will get someone to God. In this they are very correct—the problem is not whether one gets to God, but whether he is saved from God’s wrath. The Day of Judgment will ensure that everyone gets to God, but only those who are in Christ will escape the eternal punishment of that Day. Jesus [JOH 14:6], Peter [ACT 10:42-43], and Paul [ACT 13:38] preached the exclusivity of Jesus as the only safe way to the Father. Why would a Christian want it any other way? Would he rather compromise the dignity and glory of Almighty God and impugn His character by suggesting that this is unfair as opposed to bending the heart and the knee and submitting to His revealed will? One must either embrace the fullness of the Scripture no matter how difficult or unpopular its teachings are, or, as a matter of integrity, reject it entirely—one never has the liberty to selectively read or believe God’s words.
Perhaps this selectivity is due to substituting comfort for action. If any wishes another to be saved, should he not preach truth rather than redefine reality [JER 6:14]? Redefinition, the assumption that so-called innocent or good people will experience eternal bliss outside of Christ, allows one to neglect his responsibility to proclaim and gives more time and resource for his own fleshly interests. Is this not what was condemned in the type-three soil [LUK 8:14]? Does one not emulate the rich young man and walk away from Jesus sorrowful that his comfort is in jeopardy?
The biggest obstacle to discovering the truth of salvation is approaching it by any means other than a humble reading of the revelation of the God who alone provides this salvation [PSA 119:160]. We all are prone to question, ignore, deny, or reinterpret what He has said [ISA 59:14]. None of this changes what He has said, but it speaks loudly of the unfaithfulness that many Bible readers have. It is not what do I believe but rather what has He said that determines the truth of the matter. The Edenic serpent promoted the first position, and denigrated the second. Perhaps we should take our cue from this tragic incident.
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