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.

Jesus the Creator.

"Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."  John 1:3-5

In Genesis it is written, "Let us make man in our own image." God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit created the world.

Jesus is life. Everything that is alive owes their life to Jesus.

Jesus is light. Any good that is in the world comes from Jesus.

There is no life or light apart from God.

Darkness has not overcome the light from God. Satan wanted to obliterate the light - but it was impossible. He tried to turn Jesus to darkness - but he couldn't do it. One day there will be no darkness in the universe - only light.

"The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world."  Verse 9.

This verse tells us God gives light to every person in the world. Everyone is born with a conscience. This is a wonderful gift from God. Even if a person never hears the name Jesus, yet he can be saved if he lives up to the light of his conscience. This person is saved by Jesus' death but will not know that until he rises and goes to heaven. The Holy Spirit has helped this person all his life for we cannot do good without God.

"They (pagans) show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them."  Romans 2:15

I thank you Father that you bring light to the world.

Our Conscience.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sconce.jpg

"The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of his being."

Proverbs 20:27

I didn't understand this verse so I looked it up in the commentaries. They said that God puts light into every person. With this light we can understand what is good and what is evil. We can search inside ourselves and see what our motives are. This is what we call our conscience.


Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord,.... The rational soul of man is a light set up in him; this is what is commonly called the light of nature; it was a bright and burning light at first, but through sin is become a very feeble one; by which men have only a glimmering view of divine things, of God and his worship, and of what he would have done, or not done; by this light men do but grope after him, if happily they may find him and know his will; it is but like a candle light at best, in comparison of divine revelation, or the Gospel of the grace of God, which has shone out like the sun in its meridian glory; and especially in comparison of the sun of righteousness, Christ Jesus, and the light of the divine Spirit; yet this is a light set up by the Lord, a candle of his; it comes from the Father of lights, he is the author and maintainer of it; it is a spirit and understanding which is by the inspiration of the Almighty; see Genesis 2:7;

searching all the inward parts of the belly; or heart; the thoughts, intents, and purposes of it; which are the things of a man that only the spirit of man knows; by this candle, or light, he can look into his own heart, the inmost recesses of it, and reflect upon his thoughts and schemes, and judge in some measure whether right or wrong; there is a conscience in man, which, unless seared, passes sentence on what is in man, or done by him, and either excuses or accuses; see 1 Corinthians 2:10, Romans 2:14.

http://bible.cc/proverbs/20-27.htm

Many times I have had my conscience bother me about something I've done. When I was a teenager, I used to steal make-up. After I became a Christian, my conscience bothered me about it so I sent the stores money. I lived in a different country by then, but I am so glad God gave me the chance to pay those people back.

About twenty years ago, I got angry at a store manager about some clothing I bought from her store that had fallen apart. She refused to give me a refund. I threw the jeans at her and huffed out of the store. When I got home, the Lord used my conscience to tell me I had done wrong. Well. THAT's for sure!! I felt awful so I went back to the store to apologize. That wasn't easy, but I knew I had to do it and I had done a terrible thing to be angry and mean to a person Jesus had died to save.

Thank you God for the conscience you have given us!