Bible Question: I would like to know about the souls of the people that lived on the earth in the time of Jesus, and before and after as well, but did not know who he was. At the time of Jesus, there were people all over the world. They were worshipping sticks, smoke, clouds and all sorts of "things". They had no knowledge of God of the Bible,no knowledge of Jesus or anything that was going on in the Middle East, but they had a "God" of some sort. This is my biggest stumbling block! (One pastors comment was that "they are LOST. God doesnt have to give them anything.") I thought that was brutally harsh. So what of all those millions that were hangin out well before Jesus time. |
Bible Answer: Dear joeb101, Welcome to the forum! Often people feel obligated to help God appear less "brutally harsh" (as you put it). Typically it arises as an essential component for theological presuppositions. The actual term for this question is theodicy. It is as old as Christianity -- and the answers are rooted in the Kerygma (the teachings of Christ and the Apostles; cf Ephesians 2:20); e.g., Christ Himself preaches on it in John 6; Peter preaches on it in Acts 4; Paul discusses it in Romans 9; etc. In keeping with the wishes of our gracious host (see the Terms of Use), we would not want to leave just the single denominational response. Therefore, as opposed to the "theology of glory" perspective, I will try to provide you with the "theology of the cross" perspective. Keep in mind that we never evaluate who God is by what He does, rather we interpret what He does based on who He is. We know who He is from the Scriptures; without that self-disclosure, we would not know Him. What we know of God is that He is omniscient (Romans 11:33), omnipotent (Job 42:2), omnipresent (Jeremiah 23:23-24), immutable (Malachi 3:6), righteous (Psalm 129:4; 145:17), sovereign (Psalm 115:3; 1 Chronicles 29:11-12), etc. One of His most significant attributes is holiness (Psalm 99:9; Habakkuk 1:13). It never says in Scripture that God is “fair, fair, fair.” But it does say that He is “holy, holy, holy” (Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8). We also know that there is no salvation outside of Christ (Acts 4:12; John 14:6). The Scripture makes it clear that there is no other mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5). The Bible declares that sin merits eternal death (Romans 6:23). What is worse, we know that every single human being is sinful: “There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is no one who seeks God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one” (Romans 3:10b-12 NASB; cf Psalm 53:1-3). Furthermore, salvation is not a matter of a man saving himself. No, people do not initiate their salvation, God does the whole work. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13 NASB; see also Psalm 3:8; John 6:44; Romans 9:1-24; Philippians 2:13; James 1:18) The really astounding thing is that there are any men that are saved! What an astonishing thing that God has seen fit to bring many to the Gospel (John 10:25-29). He would be perfectly just and perfectly righteous to leave all men in their sins. Nevertheless, to the glory of His mercy, He has saved some men! Amazing grace indeed! In Him, Doc |
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Questions and/or Subjects for Bible general Archive 4 | Author | ||
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Jkagu | ||
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gregoryrobb | ||
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Victoria | ||
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Dr. Peter H. Burgess | ||
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sondrastone | ||
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private eye | ||
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Bob M | ||
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gkssharp | ||
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joeb101 | ||
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EdB | ||
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DocTrinsograce | ||
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Nevermore |