Originally posted by Robtard
If the only way into heaven is accepting Jesus as your own personal savior, how do "good" people who never had the chance to, gain entry; is there a back-door to heaven?What if you're someone born on an Island (or other), where Christianity never reached, but you happen to be a decent person. You don't covet your tribesmen's wives, you respect your parents, you never murdered or have stolen anything; you and your tribe happen to live in complete peace.
What's this person to do in Jesus-God's infinate kindness and wisdom?
"And God, who knoweth the heart, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Spirit, even as he did unto us;"
Acts 15:8
* God knows the heart of every person, even if Christianity never reached you, if you are a good person, you will be saved... 😉
Originally posted by peejaydSo you are saying if you are a good person you don't need to believe in Christ even if you know who and what he is?
"And God, who knoweth the heart, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Spirit, even as he did unto us;"
Acts 15:8* God knows the heart of every person, even if Christianity never reached you, if you are a good person, you will be saved... 😉
Originally posted by Da Pittman
So you are saying if you are a good person you don't need to believe in Christ even if you know who and what he is?
Are you implying that knowing his name or what churches say about him is equivalent to knowing who he is? There are plenty of people who don't know who Christ is but they think they do.
If you REALLY DO know who he is, I must say you have no excuse. But that can only happen by spiritual confirmation.
Originally posted by peejayd
"And God, who knoweth the heart, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Spirit, even as he did unto us;"
Acts 15:8* God knows the heart of every person, even if Christianity never reached you, if you are a good person, you will be saved... 😉
Some have suggested your post demonstrates a contradiction in Scripture. However, as I have pointed out many times, there are no real contradictions in the Bible. Such seeming inconsistencies are invariably the product of poor hermeneutics. You have taken the cited passage out of context.
The context of Acts 15:1-29 has to do with the Jerusalem Council -- a gathering of early Christian leaders. At the core of their discussion was the issue of circumcision. Certain Jewish Christians had traveled from Judea to Antioch telling Gentile converts that they could not be true disciples of Jesus unless they were first circumcised, like the Jews. During the council, Peter stood up and made the following statement regarding his evangelistic experiences among the Gentiles:
"Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that He accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as He did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for He purified their hearts by faith." [Acts 15:7b-9/NIV]
As you can plainly see, the Apostle Peter was NOT suggesting people can be saved apart from faith in Christ. On the contrary; he said that Gentiles must be saved by the very same means as Jews. If God had already given the Gentile believers His Holy Spirit, then they were already saved and did not need to be circumcised. Everybody gets saved the same way. This statement is similar to the one made by the Apostle Paul:
"You are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ, for all of you were baptized into Christ, having clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." [Galatians 3:26-29.NIV]
Again, this passage is often abused by those who want to provide some biblical foundation for their rejection of gender; but Paul's point is the same as Peter's. Everyone gets saved the same way -- through faith in Jesus Christ alone. This is evident in the King James Version you referenced, if only you had quoted the passage in context.
"And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us; and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts BY FAITH." [Acts 15:8-9/KJV]
So I guess that both of you are saying that God only cares about the people in modern cities with open lines of communication, so if you are on a small island and never heard of Christ then you are F’ed up and doom to go to hell. Sounds like a so very loving god to me. So what about all the people that were born before Christ and all the people that the word of him haven’t reached during his life which was about 99% of the worlds population.
Originally posted by Da Pittman
So I guess that both of you are saying that God only cares about the people in modern cities with open lines of communication, so if you are on a small island and never heard of Christ then you are F’ed up and doom to go to hell. Sounds like a so very loving god to me. So what about all the people that were born before Christ and all the people that the word of him haven’t reached during his life which was about 99% of the worlds population.
That sounds about right.
Originally posted by Da Pittman
So I guess that both of you are saying that God only cares about the people in modern cities with open lines of communication, so if you are on a small island and never heard of Christ then you are F’ed up and doom to go to hell. Sounds like a so very loving god to me. So what about all the people that were born before Christ and all the people that the word of him haven’t reached during his life which was about 99% of the worlds population.
I believe he "attempted" to explain that a few pages back.