Saturday, February 7, 2015

Saved by the Grace of God - Not by a Religion.



Jesus said, "Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.

In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.

And since I'm going away to prepare a place for you, I'll come back again and welcome you into my presence, so that you may be where I am. 

And you know the way to where I am going."

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."    John 14:1-6

Jesus didn't mean that people who had never heard of him could not be saved. He meant that the salvation of any person on earth will happen because of what he did on the cross. Without the death of the Son of God, no one can be saved.

I read once about a man in China who lived before Christian missionaries came to evangelize. He told his son that he knew there was something more to life than their own religion told them. He said he didn't know who or what God it was, but for his son to watch out for this God because he knew in his heart that knowledge of this God would come one day.

The son's father died and some years later missionaries came to his village. They told the people there about Jesus who died for them so they could live in heaven. This son recognized the God his father had spoken of and became a Christian. His father will be saved because he knew God; he just didn't know his name.

Paul writes in Romans 2, "For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves. They demonstrate that God's law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right."

God gave us all a conscience. It is written in our hearts. Those who do not have the written word are judged differently than those who do. We must all trust in our God, who loves everyone and longs to forgive everyone who comes to him, to save people whether they know his name or not.

No comments: