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NASB | Romans 1:16 ¶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Romans 1:16 ¶ I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation [from His wrath and punishment] to everyone who believes [in Christ as Savior], to the Jew first and also to the Greek. |
Subject: What about those who have never heard? |
Bible Note: Hank, Here is what I wrote. Subject: The Gospel the sole means of salvation? Note: Pagans are not damned without an oppurtunity to believe. My understanding of Rom. 1:14-21. God reveals Himself to all mankind through various ways. v. 16 the gospel v. 20 in creation (I understand this to mean that if any man will just look around, he will come to the conclusion that this world did not happen by chance, that there is a master creator. God says He has revealed Himself in creation, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:" I believe that every person is born with the knowledge that he and this world did not just happen, he is born with a longing in his heart for more, or something else, and that something else is what died in man when Adam sinned, the spiritual part that communed with God. As sinners, whether in some dark remote part of the world or in America, we are dead in our trespasses and sins and cannot communicate with God as such. I believe the whole passage hinges on the last part of verse 17, from faith unto faith. The righteousness of God is revealed from faith unto faith. When anyone, even someone that has never heard the gospel, acknowledges that this world and himself did not just happen, but there must be a God or supreme being that controls it all, that is the first step of faith. And I believe God obligates Himself to that person to give him more revealtion, leading eventually to the gospel of Jesus Christ. God may use a missionary, a book, a tract, radio, who knows, because God is not limited in His power nor creativity. But I believe that God does obligate Himself to that person that takes that first step of faith. The problem comes in verse 21, many choose not to believe what they see. They ascribed the world to false god's, to some big bang or evolution, or something of their own vain imagination. When they knew God, had that first knowledge of Him that comes from what God has revealed to them, they did not worship Him as God, and therefore they damn themselves. On the other hand, I believe it is our part to make sure they hear. As Paul says, we debtors, verse 14, we must tell them. This is my understanding of this passage and how the gospel works, even in places where they have not heard. I just wanted your thoughts on this. wdc |