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NASB | Acts 17:30 "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Acts 17:30 "Therefore God overlooked and disregarded the former ages of ignorance; but now He commands all people everywhere to repent [that is, to change their old way of thinking, to regret their past sins, and to seek God's purpose for their lives], |
Bible Question:
AO, Excuse me for not being clear. There are too many implications on this question that sometimes I don't know how to formulate the question well. I appreciate your willingness to try to understand my point. Thank you for the contribution you have already given. I was trying to say that people seem to be saved out of a big number of peoples. If pagans are evangelized, then, most of a tribe may be converted. But there are no testimonies of single individuals of each generation of a non evangelized pagan culture, that proved to seek God and find Him. There are no patterns that indicate that Romans 1.20 could lead to salvation in circumstances like that. Like the the Buddhist that told Hudson Taylor why he had not come to evangelize the Chinese before his father had died. (What about the previous generations? Where are the evidences that out of the ignorant Chinese, some could have sensed the message of God through creation and then have obeyed? Did they really have a fair opportunity to know the Gospel? Or would there be another way?) Many points call my attention regarding universal truth and universal possibility of acknowledging God. There are not samples of individuals in history that came out of pagan cultures who found the God of the Bible by their own faithful obedience to the light that Rom 1:20 says they can perceive. Mass of pagans die without the God of the Bible and without evidences that might prove that they really have the same fair access that others have to the message of the Gospel. And are their best judgment and use of conscience enough to bring them to salvation? Billy Graham said that if they are faithful to the light they have, they will be saved, even if they don't hear anything about Christ. It seems that this is the case in Acts 17:30. Thank you, Finder |
Bible Answer: Finder, Thank you for your patience. I believe my "fog" this morning was self-imposed due to a multitude of tasks at hand and, possibly, an insufficient quantity of caffeine. Without a doubt, we must dismiss the possibility that a pagan, if faithful "to the light they have", will be saved, even if they hear nothing of Christ. Romans 10:14 14 How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? NAS So without hearing they will not come to the truth, which they must achieve to enter Christ's Kingdom. As to “multiple paths”, either the Bible is the truth or a complete lie. The Apostle Paul’s instruction is clear that if even he would have preached a different path, he would have stood condemned. Galatians 1:8-10 8 But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed. NAS As to why there is little or no evidence of these conversions, I would suggest two possible reasons. One, they are likely exceedingly rare. Old Testament examples show the percentage of righteous to pagans as extremely low, i.e. Sodom and Gomorrah, the Flood, etc.. Second, God likely causes each soul to be born in just the proper environment to fulfill His Master Plan. Just as Pharaoh was placed in his position because God knew Pharaoh would never obey Him, so God likely places the souls of those who will not obey Him in these highly indoctrinated societies. Conjecture, but in the "big picture", is it man's position to ask God why He did not save past generations? The Lord demands I serve Him; not the other way around. P.S. Does Acts 17:30 say that God has "saved" those who were ignorant of Him or simply that He will not punish them for their ignorance if they repent? If the later, would not the repentance be the seeking of God in accordance with knowledge (of the truth)? Best regards, AO |