What happens to people who die without ever hearing the gospel?

This is a question I get quite often. How could God punish someone for not believing in Jesus when they've never even had an opportunity to hear about Jesus?

It would be like your boss yelling at you for not preparing a report when he never mentioned to you anything about it in the first place. You'd say "That's not fair! I never even knew about the report!"

Usually the question gets phrased this way: What about tribal people from the jungles of Africa? Or what about other 3rd world societies? They don't have Bibles or missionaries or churches. How can a loving God condemn entire societies for not believing in someone they've never encountered?"

Number one: The Bible says that "the Lord is a God of justice." (Isaiah 30:19) And Psalm 145:17 says that "The LORD is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made." Notice the words "In all His ways." God is righteous in everything He does, including His acts of judgment. Therefore, we can have confidence that in every situation, God is going to do what is right and fair and loving.

Number two: Romans 8:29 says that those God foreknew, "he predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren." In other words, God knows everyone, and He knew us even before we were born.

Since God knows us so well, He knows the people who will eventually respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ. And He knows the people who WOULD have eventually responded to the gospel of Jesus Christ if they had been offered an opportunity.

He also knows those who would NEVER respond to the gospel of Christ. Does this mean that when it comes to those who never heard, God saves some and not others based on what he foreknows about them? It's entirely possible.

However, I cannot say this with certainty because it is an inference from scripture rather than a declaration of scripture. It is crucial that we share Christ with as many as we can and as clearly as we can. Jesus says in John 14:6 that "no one comes to the Father except through Me."

Number three: Romans 1:20 says that there is so much evidence for God's existence based on an understanding from what has been made that man is without excuse. In other words, there is no excuse for anyone being an atheist. Acts 14:17 says that God "has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy."

Jesus loves you this I know, for the Bible tells me so.

This is My Creed

They say it's not a good idea to talk shop in church. You want to concentrate on expounding the scriptures and applying them to daily life without getting too technical.

But on my blog, I can just let it rip! I am a Jewish Christian. I am Jewish because my mom is Jewish, and so were all of my ancestors as far back as we know. I am Jewish by blood.

But I am a Christian because of the blood of Jesus Christ. Through faith in Him, I have been grafted back into the olive tree of God's covenant people! Yes!!!!!!

I believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God. It is inerrant and infallible in the original manuscripts. This does not believe I am blind to paradoxes and puzzles and mysteries (for example, why is the Last Supper a Passover meal in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, but in John 13, it seems to take place the day before Passover). Write me if you want to know what I believe to be the answer!

I am a moderately conservative evangelical who believes that there is no other way to be saved other than through faith in Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and rose again on the third day (Acts 4:12, John 14:6, 1 Corinthians 15:3-6).

I use the word "moderately" because I will fellowship with anyone and everyone who believes in Christ, unless they are hateful and mean. Then maybe I'll just back off and pray for them!

I am conservative because I believe the Bible cover to cover. I believe in the Trinity, the divinity and humanity of Christ, His virgin birth, His sinless life, His miracles His atoning death and bodily resurrection, and that our mission in life is to worship God and bring as many people to faith in Christ as possible.

I am a dispensational premillennial pretribulational Arminian. Now this really requires some explanation! I am dispensational because I believe that even though salvation has always been by grace through faith in God's Messiah, I also acknowledge that there have been different expressions of grace through the centuries. The time of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was the time of promise, when the people of faith looked ahead to the fulfillment of God's promises of land, security and salvation.

The time of law was from Exodus 20 until John 19, where God's gracious gift of Torah was our guide as far as how to live for God. Of course, we all fell short (Romans 3:23), and needed a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 3:25-26). And so through Christ's sacrificial substitutionary death for us on the cross, we have entered by faith into this grace in which we now stand (Romans 5:2). Today, this is the time of grace! Amen!!!!

I am premillennial because I believe that Jesus Christ will come back with His angels and with the raptured church to conquer the beast and reign in glory over the earth for a thousand years. Christ returns BEFORE the millennium begins. That is why I am PRE-millennial (Pre means "before," millennium means "period of one thousand.")

I believe in a two stage return of Christ. Christ comes back FOR His saints to take them to be with Him in the Father's house (heaven, see John 14:1-3). This could happen at any time, like a thief in the night (1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:2, followed by a seven year period of tribulation and destruction for the inhabitants of the earth). That's why I am pretribulational, which means "before the tribulation."

At the end of the tribulation period, the time of Jacob's trouble (Jeremiah 30:7), Christ will return WITH His saints to beat up the bad guys and reign for a thousand years!!!! Yeah!!!!!

I am also Arminian. I believe that we are totally depraved, and that we cannot lift a hand or foot toward our own salvation. We are dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). On this point, Arminians agree with Calvinists.

But we disagree on the second point. Calvinists say that God has predestined certain individuals to be saved and He has passed by the others.

But this flies in the face of texts such as Revelation 22:17-18, John 3:16, 1 Timothy 2:4, and 2 Peter 3:9 which teach that God loves everyone and wants everyone to come to faith in Christ. If God really wants everyone to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth, why in the world would he write off whole masses of humanity without even taking into consideration whether or not they would respond to the gospel? That is not the God I serve!

Here's what I think based upon my understanding of the Scriptures: God has chosen Christ to be the Savior of the world, and based on His foreknowledge of who will respond to the gospel, he chooses them to be in Christ, which is exactly what Ephesians 1:3-4 and 1 Peter 1:1-2 teach!

In other words, God knew before the beginning of time that on September 15th, 1985, I would get down on my knees in my Ohio University dorm room and ask Him to be the boss of my life, and to receive Jesus Christ as my Savior and as my atonement for my sins. Therefore, based on this foreknowledge of me, He chose me to be a part of His family.

This view of predestination is the Arminian position on election. I also believe that Jesus's death is for everyone, but effective only for those who turn from their sin and trust in Christ. I believe that those who are predestined will eventually respond to His grace and that those who God foreknows will be secure in Him. Can a person forfeit their own salvation? It certainly sounds that way when you read 2 Peter 2:20-22. We should also take the warnings of Galatians 5:18-21 and Hebrews 2:1 seriously. But John says that those who permanently leave the Christian community were never a part of it to begin with (1 John 2:18-19). And Jesus will say I NEVER knew you (Matthew 7:21-23), not "I knew you at one time, but then you lost your salvation.

In other words, people who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and permanently fall away (Hebrews 6:4-6) were (from God's perspective) probably never true believers to begin with! And yet the true believers in Christ can experience security through the promises of God to keep us safe (John 10:27-30). But my experience tells me that we feel even more secure when we remain in Him (John 15:1-6).

I believe that all of the gifts of the Spirit are in operation today. But I also believe that there have been three main periods where supernatural miracles have been particularly prominent: 1. The time of the Exodus 2. The ministries of Elijah and Elisha 3. The ministry of Christ and the apostles. In each case, God was giving new revelation of Himself to His people. Hebrews 2:4 tells us that this is the primary purpose for supernatural miracles, to confirm the message that God is sharing with His people.

What about some of the hot potato issues of our day? We'll start with homosexual behavior. I believe it is an abomination, just like all other sins. Romans 1 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and 1 Timothy 1 are quite clear. Also, the word porneia (sexual immorality) in texts such as Mark 7:21 and 1 Corinthians 6:18 are intended to cover the gamut as far as sexual sin is concerned, including homosexual contact.

I think we are all born with baggage and obstacles that can only be overcome with God's help (Thanks a lot, Adam and Eve!) We are all in this together, and with the help of our loving God, we can experience victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57, Romans 7:24).

What about women pastors? This is where I am inconsistent. When I read 1 Timothy 2:8-15 and 1 Corinthians 14:33-36, I take this to mean that God's intention is for men to be the teaching pastors in the congregation. I know that my friend Dr. Ben Witherington has done outstanding work in this area, and He vigorously defends an interpretation of these texts that applies them to the first century patriarchal culture of the day. But the Timothy text in particular seems timeless to me.

Having said that, I know some awesome lady preachers! God seems to be blessing their ministries! And we do have the examples of women ministers in Acts 18 (Priscilla) and perhaps Phoebe in Romans 16:1 (though neither appears to be a senior pastor per se).

My personal belief is that the teaching pastor of a church is meant to be male. But I inwardly rejoice when God does great things through women pastors. And if my wonderful beautiful niece sensed a call from God to be a Bible teaching pastor, I would support her. So like I said, this is a doctrine I struggle with. My Bible says that a woman should not be the teaching shepherd of the church. But my heart says "Then why are You blessing Jill Briscoe and so many others?"

What about baptism? I think the Bible teaches believer's baptism. As soon as someone confesses Christ as Savior and Lord and is born again, they should be baptized as the first step of obedience to Him (Acts 2:41, Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 16:31ff).

What about Holy Communion? I believe that the bread and the wine symbolize the body and blood of Christ. Christ is present in an inexpressibly special way through the administration of this sacrament (a sacrament is a sacred ceremony), but I do not believe that the bread and the wine are physical representations of the body and blood. When Jesus says "This is my body," He is using a metaphor. He means "This REPRESENTS my body. This is symbolic of my body."

Did I mention that I am a trinitarian? Just in case I forgot to mention it, I believe in the trinitarian conception of God, even though analogies fail to capture this awesome mystery (Matthew 28:19, 1 Corinthians 13:14).

Well, this is my creed. This is where I stand. Write me and let me know what you think. Love and God's blessings to all!
Marc

Getting Older

Every time I get sick, it reminds me that the body that God gave me is like a car. It runs good when it's young. But it wears out when it gets older. And the older it gets, the more you have to take it in for repairs.

I've had a sore chest for four months. After an EKG and a chest Xray (which were clear), I had an endoscopy, where they take a flexible tube with a camera, and they look down your throat all the way to your small intestine.

The doctor found moderate inflammation by the gastro-esophageal junction. They tested for cancer. Last weekend was one of the longest weekends of my life. But one thing that made me feel OK while I was waiting was knowing that I was living my life with no regrets. I spend time with Him every day in scripture and in prayer. I'm doing the work He's calling me to do. And I know that whether I live or die, I belong to the Lord (Romans 14:8).

The biopsy came back yesterday. I have a hiatal hernia with chronic esophagitis. But no cancer! I'm so happy! Not that I have esophagitis, but that I am cancer free! Thank you God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

And so now, I'm going to celebrate with a big juicy double cheeseburger and a large coca cola with steak fries. Just kidding. It's probably going to be leftovers. I'll pig out Friday night!