I was just working on homework for my Christian Life class... reading a book called "Believer's Payday." A story that the author shares got me thinking... he shared about how it is believed that there were people who knew about the possibility of Pearl Harbor being attacked before it actually happened. 2400 people were killed because of this attack. I started thinking about how angry I would be if I was personally attached to someone (family member or close friend) who was killed in this attack, only to find out that someone knew all along and could have prepared for and probably prevented much of the destruction. And this led me to thinking of the many who live in tribal settings without the gospel in their own language.
I decided to go back and read a
post from a year and a half ago that I wrote related to this topic. I was glad I remembered this post because it really got my blood flowing again about this issue.
I know there are those who believe that it is unfair for those whom have never heard the gospel to go to hell. But the more I read the Bible, and especially studying it chronologically, the more I am convinced that if Jesus is the only way, that people must hear the name Jesus, and believe on him, in order to be saved.
John 14:6 says, "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'"
Acts 4:12 says, "And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
In studying Romans, I came to understand the greatness and goodness of God. We are all wicked. (Ephesians 2:3-4 says, "...among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved u, even when we were dead in our trespasses made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved.") I also came to see the true heart of man. Man desires fleshly things- he desires idols and images. "For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them... 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" (Rom. 1:19; 22-23).
Romans chapter 1 is basically laid our like this...
1. There is a universal revelation of God in nature which is universally rejected by mankind
2. That universal rejection of truth by man leaves the human race without excuse before God
3. The whole human race is therefore under the wrath of God, facing ultimate condemnation and eternal death in Hell. **
If you take the words in Romans literally, you don't need to have the Bible in your hands or go to church every Sunday in order to be held accountable or condemned.
Condemnation is a consequence of being a descendent of Adam... of being a sinful man or woman (1 Corinthians 15:22).
Our sin makes us unrighteous. God is holy and righteous and cannot associate with unholiness and unrighteousness. This is the necessity of a sacrifice- to make us right before God. Jesus came as that perfect sacrifice. Without knowing him, and accepting him as our perfect sacrifice, we cannot be saved.
I must logically and faithfully conclude that this also includes the heathen. It is not with joy that I come to these conclusions, but as a student of the Word, I see no other way for one to go to heaven than if he or she knows Jesus as his or her personal Savior and intercessor... the sacrifice that makes him or her right with God.
Since I believe that the heathen (and all who do not call on Jesus as their personal Savior) will go to hell, I must take responsibility! To be honest, when I start thinking about this topic in detail, I get angry. Why are there still so many who have never heard the name Jesus? Why are there so few willing to go or willing to send? God has put us on this earth for one purpose- to bring him glory through making his name known. And so few of us truly care about this cause! I know I wasted years of my life caring very little about the heathen, let alone the girl next to me in class. If I cared, I would have wanted them to know this saving truth.
So back to the story about Pearl Harbor... how some suspect that there were people who knew about it before it happened. Doesn't it stir up emotions in all of us to think lives could be saved that are killed because someone who had the knowledge to do something about it chose not to? Especially if we think of a loved one as being in such a situation?
There are hundreds dying every day who have not put their faith in Jesus Christ. There are still about 2500 people groups who do not have the Bible in their language. What will you do about this?
Please, if you consider yourself to be a believer, take part in the Great Commission.
You can go or you can send. But don't just ignore and disobey.
You have the good news that can save. You have the opportunity to make sure others have this news too.
"For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!" (Rom. 10:13-15).
To read a longer article on this topic, go
here.
(** Many use Romans 1 to claim that a person can be saved by acknowledging God through nature. However, from the rest of Scripture we know that a person can only be saved through Jesus Christ. The purpose, then, of Romans 1 is to point out that all are held accountable because of nature and because of man's ability to have a knowledge of God apart from being told. This knowledge alone can only hold one accountable to search for more, however. It cannot save. Only belief in Jesus Christ's work on the cross to serve as a sacrifice for our sins can save.)
My volleyball team played well and hard too, but sadly we lost too... (the picture below was taken by a girl named Karis from Waukesha- thanks Karis! I didn't have any pictures)...
The other school- Waukesha- won 7 sports, and Jackson won 4, so unfortunately, Waukesha took the tribal cup from us (we won it last year). We were so glad we were able to go and play, and we had a great time!
