Saved or Unsaved?

**Smitty** · 11-11-2017, 08:01 PM

Originally Posted by Colonel

Let's speculate that he makes an exception for some of them. Still more would have been saved if the gospel had been proclaimed and promoted to them. Why that didn't happen for 1500 years is something that some people will have to answer for.

The responsibility definitely belongs to us (Mark 16:15). "...but his blood will I require at thine hand" (Ezk 3:19-20). I have to wonder how many Christians will stand before God at the judgment seat of Christ with the blood of millions of people on their hands (in all honestly, I've blown opportunities, so that includes me).

After thinking about my own question (those who never heard but for the only light they had) I will attempt to draw my own conclusion.

There is only one way to be saved, only one way to get to heaven. No matter where the person lives, no matter who the person may be, there is still only one way to come to God.
"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). Jesus is the only door in which to enter through to be saved (Jn 10:9).

But what about those who truly have never heard? Well, the only conclusion that I can come up with is if a person desires to know about God, even though he has not heard the gospel message and about the Lord Jesus Christ, he can look about him and know by creation, the sun, the moon, the stars, even this very earth, that there is a God. In other words, that there has to be divine power behind creation, that it did not just happen.

For ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature and attributes, that is His eternal power and divinity have been made intelligible and clearly discernible in and through the things that have been made--His handiworks. So men are without excuse(AMP Rom 1:20).

A persons conscience will oftentimes lead him in respect to good and evil. "...because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them"(Rm 1:19). The conscience of a person--wherever that person may be and whatever time frame he may have lived in--is either a witness of obedience or of condemnation for disobedience, proving God has not left men without sufficient light to justify or condemn in the judgment. The moral and spiritual nature of men "in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness"(Rm 2:15). That does not mean that the heathen who have not heard of Jesus Christ can be saved by following their conscience. We still have to go back to the written word of God, that every person must come through Jesus Christ. Yet, basically, the conscience and creation do point toward God. So I have to come to the conclusion that people in isolated regions of the world who have never heard a Gospel message, cry out in their own heart for something greater than what they have or know.

So, in closing out this post, those groups (tribes) that would eventually die without ever hearing the Name of Jesus, I would believe God to have dealt with them through their conscience and the things He created to reveal or present a revelation of Himself in the midst of their lives upon this earth. God is eternally just and fair. He is eternally kind and compassionate. He is the personification of love. Where are those who died who never heard about Jesus? I will have to leave that in the hands of God. I will have to leave it to His mercy and grace, quoting Abraham in Genesis 18:25: "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"

**Valiant Woman** · 11-11-2017, 10:47 PM

Originally Posted by Cardinal TT

Paul was the great missionary and he was calling all groups of people to repent and turn to Christ.

I don't think Billy Graham believes unevangelized people can still be saved by the 'light' they have - it was probably an error in communication

I agree with you Cardinal.

**Bookman** · 11-11-2017, 11:14 PM

God has the responsibility to respond to every person who seeks Him, no matter what part of the world they live in or what era they lived. It's not possible to seek God with all your heart and not be found by Him.

I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me (Proverbs 8:17).

**Smitty** · 11-12-2017, 12:49 AM

Originally Posted by Bookman

God has the responsibility to respond to every person who seeks Him, no matter what part of the world they live in or what era they lived. It's not possible to seek God with all your heart and not be found by Him.

I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me (Proverbs 8:17).

I remember reading in an Assemblies of God magazine (Pentecostal Evangel) over 20 years ago a story about a native that came into a church somewhere in Liberia, West Africa one Sunday morning. The native lived a couple of hundred miles away, and although he did not know God, he tried to pray (to God) as best he could. Then an angel appeared to him. He did not know it was an angel, and described it as a figure of a man, yet glorious and wonderful. The angel told him to go in a certain direction and he would help him find God. The native traveled by foot day and night until he ran into a certain town. The angel appeared to the native again and told him this is the town that you will find God. The man was walking through the town when the angel appeared to him again and said to go into that building down the street. The man did as he was told. He walked right into a church service and was gloriously saved. After he was saved, the native went back to his village and won quite a number of souls to the Lord it was reported. He later attended a Bible school for some two years and planted several churches for the Lord Jesus Christ.

**Colonel** · 11-12-2017, 02:36 AM

1 Peter 4:6 For this reason the gospel was preached also to the dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

This one is pretty straightforward, Jesus preached to the OT saints who were contained in the bosom of Abraham in Hades and they were released into heaven.

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us[e] to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,
19 by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison,
20 who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.

A literal reading of the above verses suggests that Jesus preached to people who had been dead for thousands of years and who did not believe at the time of their deaths, rather they were the ones who were disobedient to Noah's message. What are the ramifications especially in terms of unreached tribes ? I don't know.

**Cardinal TT** · 11-12-2017, 03:22 AM

Originally Posted by Smitty

I remember reading in an Assemblies of God magazine (Pentecostal Evangel) over 20 years ago a story about a native that came into a church somewhere in Liberia, West Africa one Sunday morning. The native lived a couple of hundred miles away, and although he did not know God, he tried to pray (to God) as best he could. Then an angel appeared to him. He did not know it was an angel, and described it as a figure of a man, yet glorious and wonderful. The angel told him to go in a certain direction and he would help him find God. The native traveled by foot day and night until he ran into a certain town. The angel appeared to the native again and told him this is the town that you will find God. The man was walking through the town when the angel appeared to him again and said to go into that building down the street. The man did as he was told. He walked right into a church service and was gloriously saved. After he was saved, the native went back to his village and won quite a number of souls to the Lord it was reported. He later attended a Bible school for some two years and planted several churches for the Lord Jesus Christ.

That proves that salvation is only through faith in Christ. A pagan may be searching for God but there has to be someone who gives them the gospel.
It's like many Muslims now receiving Jesus, they are having supernatural encounters but that encounter always leads them to hear the gospel.

Some will say but God knows their hearts and they are searching for him....but that is true of every culture as each have set up their own gods to try and find peace and salvation.

Idolatry is man searching for God but doing it with their own human efforts even if they are sincere.

The gospel is still needed or they will be lost

**Colonel** · 11-12-2017, 05:05 AM

Originally Posted by Smitty

I remember reading in an Assemblies of God magazine (Pentecostal Evangel) over 20 years ago a story about a native that came into a church somewhere in Liberia, West Africa one Sunday morning. The native lived a couple of hundred miles away, and although he did not know God, he tried to pray (to God) as best he could. Then an angel appeared to him. He did not know it was an angel, and described it as a figure of a man, yet glorious and wonderful. The angel told him to go in a certain direction and he would help him find God. The native traveled by foot day and night until he ran into a certain town. The angel appeared to the native again and told him this is the town that you will find God. The man was walking through the town when the angel appeared to him again and said to go into that building down the street. The man did as he was told. He walked right into a church service and was gloriously saved. After he was saved, the native went back to his village and won quite a number of souls to the Lord it was reported. He later attended a Bible school for some two years and planted several churches for the Lord Jesus Christ.

God will sometimes do extraordinary things to reach individuals that search for him but he will mostly do that because he sees the potential for reaching others through them later. It's not because he has a super special love for that individual.

**fuego** · 11-12-2017, 10:56 AM

Originally Posted by Bookman

God has the responsibility to respond to every person who seeks Him...

Proverbs 1:28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me...

**Colonel** · 11-12-2017, 11:10 AM

Originally Posted by fuego

Proverbs 1:28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me...

There has to be a level of truth in the seeking.

Acts 17:26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,
27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;

The question is if God will save in afterlife those who sought him like that but didn't find him and consequently died without being born again. There is nothing that suggests that this is automatic.

One theory is that the gospel will be preached to a lot of people like the verse from 1 Peter describes just it will be much harder to repent. Many people think that repenting after death should be easy if one is given the opportunity to but I'm not so sure. Notice that 1 Peter 3:18-20 says that Jesus preached the gospel to those who were disobedient in the days of Noah but it says nothing about how many of them received the message.

**Bookman** · 11-12-2017, 12:10 PM

Originally Posted by fuego

Proverbs 1:28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me...

Read on to verse 29 to see whom he's speaking of: "since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord." That's not a genuine seeker after God. As I said in the post, "It's not possible to seek God with all your heart and not be found by Him."

Thread: Saved or Unsaved?

Thread Tools

Search Thread

Display

The Following User Says Thank You to Valiant Woman For This Useful Post:

The Following User Says Thank You to Bookman For This Useful Post:

The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Smitty For This Useful Post:

Posting Permissions