Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | Proverbs 24:12 If you say, "See, we did not know this," Does He not consider it who weighs the hearts? And does He not know it who keeps your soul? And will He not render to man according to his work? |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Proverbs 24:12 If you [claim ignorance and] say, "See, we did not know this," Does He not consider it who weighs and examines the hearts and their motives? And does He not know it who guards your life and keeps your soul? And will He not repay [you and] every man according to his works? |
Bible Question:
Eph 2:12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. When presenting the gospel we are oftimes asked by skeptics "What about the poor innocent native in the jungle that has never even had a chance to hear the gospel? Does he go to Hell? What do you tell them and what scripture do you use to support your answer? John Reformed |
Bible Answer: Romans 2:14-15 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) First of all the Lord knows whether a man really "knew it" or not because he knows the deepest parts, that part of the conscience and will of man and how that person did indeed sin against that knowledge. The scripture in Romans is a scripture that applies to all gentiles including the poor native in the jungle. He knows by instinct what is right and wrong. And when he has violated that conscience he has sinned. The fact that he has not heard about Jesus simply means he has not heard about the details of how God provided a remedy for sin. All natives in all jungles have violated their conscience at least once and have chosen to do what they knew was wrong.. therefore as it relates to their rightstanding with God on the basis of whether they have kept the inner moral instinct that they knew, their conscience will convict them as law breakers. Let me repeat ... their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another..In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. In that day what will their conscience do Excuse them or Accuse them? Without fail it will Accuse them. For all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God. Now lets answer the question, "What if said jungle native realizes he is guilty of not being true to the inward knowledge of what is right and decides to spend the rest of his days seeking to do well." Now he has not heard of Jesus, but it is certainly the Spirit of Christ that has motivated him to do right. The man seeks to make restitution, for wrongs done. He is not necessarily trying to make himself acceptible before God, he is simply feeling bad about that which he did to his neighbor that he wants to try and make right somehow. So he goes to the neighbor and pays him 3 monkeys trying to ask forgiveness. He will find as a result of this sincere desire to do right that his conscience is quickened a little, and light or illumination will be granted him. The more he seeks to do right and with the knowledge he has, seek justice, such as take up for the abused around him, he will recieve more light. Soon God will direct the man to a village or something where as if by "accident" he will come upon a missionary who will point him in the way of Christ. Or such a man might even recieve a dream by God telling him what to do whereby he must be saved. Acts 10:2-6 A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway. He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do. There are many many scriptures that teach us that those that seek to do well will certainly be given the understanding of Faith and will be saved. They will not be saved because they do well, but their desire to do well will bring them into the light and will allow them to hear. Those that choose to do evil will be driven to darkness and their rebelion against their conscience will cause their conscience to eventually be seared so that they cannot hear. The fact that many jungle native, refuse to seek to do what their conscience tells them they ought to do, does not make them innocent but rather guilty. |