One In Jesus

Romans 2

But what about Romans 2? Doesn’t Paul say something there about the fate of those who never heard the gospel?

He does. The discussion actually begins in chapter 1 — Continue reading →

Available light

And so those who’ve never even heard the gospel are punished? Surely not!

Jesus certainly seems to say so here, doesn’t he? But we need to look deeper.

We begin by noticing that ignorance lessens the punishment. A good man, unaware of the gospel, may receive very little in the way of punishment. But even a very good man has sinned and cannot claim to deserve eternity with Jesus. Continue reading →

Perpetual conscious torment

Wouldn’t you agree that perpetual, conscious torment is a very, very harsh punishment for people who’ve never even heard the gospel? Or good people who just weren’t persuaded by a bad evangelist?

I know the theory that calls this “good,” but it defies every notion of “good” I can think of — other than being conventional Bible teaching. Continue reading →

Justice

But what makes that good? How is it good that anyone is damned — for any reason? I agree that what God wants is, by definition, good, but shouldn’t we able to understand it? Why should God’s notion of goodness contradict our own so severely?

What we haven’t talked about is God’s justice. God is not only good, he is just, and this is a major theme in the Scriptures. Continue reading →

The fate of those who’ve never heard the gospel

What happens to those who’ve never heard the gospel? It’s hardly fair that they be damned,  you know.

Believe it or not, I disagree. It’s perfectly fair. But before we get to that, let’s consider the possibilities:

* The orthodox view is that those who’ve never heard the gospel are damned, if they’ve attained the age of accountability.

* The “available light” view is that they’re saved, if they’re good people.

* The universalist view is that all are saved.

* Finally, some argue the agnostic view that we really can’t know who is and isn’t saved, based on the Parable of the Tares and similar passages. This is pretty close to an effective universalism, with the expectation that God will sort it out at the end and we have no busy trying to do God’s sorting for him in this life. Continue reading →

Thanks for joining me. I’ve read some deeply disturbing articles lately about salvation, and I consider you a clear thinker. We don’t often agree, but I still find our conversations helpful. And (who knows?) maybe one day you’ll actually convince me of your views.

Hey! I enjoy our talks together. I’ve always said that you learn the most from those who disagree with you. Continue reading →