Dear Friends,

We’ve talked about how babies, the mentally handicapped, and unbelievers who show kindness to persecuted Christians can all go to heaven. It’s the same way that the most learned and zealous gospel preacher goes to heaven: by the blood of Christ. All of God’s children go to heaven the same way.

Today, we move on to two other groups. And, yes: my loving, all-powerful God saves His children out of those groups in the exact same way as His other children!

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And the OP goes to…

When it comes to eternal salvation from the lake of fire, when it comes to our ticket into heaven, God is not the Most Valuable Player. It is more accurate to say that God is the Only Player. No one else helped him. No one else was a factor:

[Heb 1:3 KJV] 3 Who being the brightness of [his] glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had BY HIMSELF purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

With this understanding, it is quite simple to explain how people from all time periods, of all levels of mental ability, of all levels of Scriptural knowledge, could be saved from hell. Since it is by Jesus’s work alone, their country of origin is not a factor. The time period they live in is not a factor. How much they know about God is not a factor. Again: God does it all….so it’s quite logical to believe that he saves them all the same way. And it’s not just logical, it’s also Scriptural:

[Jhn 3:8 KJV] 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: SO IS EVERY ONE that is born of the Spirit.

So, today, we will not present any additional ways that people get saved. There is only one way. What we will present in 2d4 is the outworking of his salvation among Old Testament saints and the unevangelized of all time periods. I will be making basically the same points I have been making for months and months on this blog….but I will be using different Bible stories to make those points.

Don’t you love to see the Master at work?

God beat you there

Once upon a time, two spies were on a dangerous mission to a wicked, heavily fortified city…

[Jos 2:1 KJV] 1 And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there.

They ended up staying at, of all places, a prostitute’s house. Now, everyone in the city was terrified of Joshua’s army; but Rahab was different. She wasn’t merely terrified of the army. She was certain that God’s army was in fact going to conquer Jericho. She apprehended that truth by faith. So, what did she do?

[Jos 2:2-21 KJV] 2 And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country. 3 And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country. 4 And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they [were]: 5 And it came to pass [about the time] of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them. 6 But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof. 7 And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan unto the fords: and as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate. 8 And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof; 9 And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. 10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that [were] on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. 11 And as soon as we had heard [these things], our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he [is] God in heaven above, and in earth beneath. 12 Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father’s house, and give me a true token: 13 And [that] ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death. 14 And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the LORD hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee. 15 Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house [was] upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall. 16 And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way. 17 And the men said unto her, We [will be] blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear. 18 Behold, [when] we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household, home unto thee. 19 And it shall be, [that] whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood [shall be] upon his head, and we [will be] guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood [shall be] on our head, if [any] hand be upon him. 20 And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear. 21 And she said, According unto your words, so [be] it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window.

Rahab was different. Notice the difference between Rahab and the rest of the Jericho people:

I KNOW that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you

Did you see it? Everyone in the city was scared. But Rahab KNEW something. How did she know? Because God had beaten the spies to Jericho. Surprise, surprise. Or not:

[Jhn 3:8 KJV] 8 THE WIND BLOWETH WHERE IT LISTETH, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

[Heb 12:2 KJV] 2 Looking unto Jesus the AUTHOR and finisher OF [OUR] FAITH; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

“No, Rahab was just a regular fleshly woman who was merely following her survival instinct”, you say? Well, this is what the Bible says about her:

[Heb 11:31 KJV] 31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.

See what I mean? Everyone was scared. But not everyone believed.

If you are still not convinced:

[Jas 2:25 KJV] 25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent [them] out another way?

Whoa, whoa, whoa, is this works-based salvation? No, a thousand times no! It is works-based justification….which is an entirely different concept. The point is, we have plenty of Biblical evidence that Rahab was saved. She was already legally saved before the spies arrived. She was regenerated before the spies arrived. And her response to the spies merely showed the work that God had already done on her. He did the same work on her that He does on all of His elect at some point in their lives.

God beat you there!

God beat you there again

Is it just me or does God have a love that does not quit?

[Act 28:1-7 KJV] 1 And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita. 2 And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold. 3 And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid [them] on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand. 4 And when the barbarians saw the [venomous] beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live. 5 And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm. 6 Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god. 7 In the same quarters were possessions of the chief man of the island, whose name was Publius; who received us, and lodged us three days courteously.

Fast forward many centuries from Rahab. Paul is shipwrecked on an island of barbarians. Instead of cooking him for dinner, they are extremely kind to him. And why is that? Is it because they were disciples of Christ who also happened to be barbarians? No. It should be obvious they were not Christians from this verse:

6 Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and SAID THAT HE WAS A GOD.

My dear Christian readers, if a man of God came preaching to you, and he survived a venomous snake bite in front of your eyes, you wouldn’t think he was a god, would you? Cool, I didn’t think so 🙂

So, these barbarous people were not Christians. And yet…they showed great kindness to Paul. But then the head chief dude showed up. Uh oh. Did the chieftain demand Paul’s head be impaled on a spike outside the chief’s hut?

7 In the same quarters were possessions of the chief man of the island, whose name was Publius; who received us, and lodged us three days courteously.

No, quite the opposite. The chief was also very courteous to Paul. Why, I ask you. Why are all these non-Christian barbarians nice to Paul? Aren’t people supposed to be depraved by nature until they hear and believe the gospel?

No, not at all.

Regeneration is what changes people from depraved miscreants into charitable children of God:

[Tit 3:3-6 KJV] 3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, HATEFUL, [and] HATING one another. 4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, 5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of REGENERATION, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;

Please look again at the passage….I capitalized some key words. Let’s think about these Melita barbarians that took Paul in some more. Do they fit the description above (“hateful and hating one another”), or do they fit these descriptions better?

[1Jo 4:7 KJV] 7 Beloved, let us LOVE ONE ANOTHER: for love is of God; and EVERY ONE THAT LOVETH IS BORN OF GOD, and knoweth God.

[Mat 25:34-36 KJV] 34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

[Rom 2:14-15 KJV] 14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15 Which SHEW THE WORK OF THE LAW WRITTEN IN THEIR HEARTS, their conscience also bearing witness, and [their] thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)

Yup. God beats the missionary (in this case Paul) again. I think I am seeing a pattern here 🙂

Don’t get me wrong…it was awesome that Paul showed up. He did some healing. The barbarians learned about Jesus. They received light. I myself am trying to shine a light with this blog. But, neither Paul’s visit, nor the visit of ANY other preacher, nor any Bible or tract, is how these people got born again. They were born again, and saved from hell, the same way as all of God’s other children: by the work of God alone.

So God wins

Like I said, God saves all His people the same way. Today, I gave two Biblical examples of people who showed that God had already done a work in their hearts, though they had not yet been evangelized. True, they did not know the name of Jesus Christ. Some of them might never have heard the names Yahweh or Moses. They may not have had a conscious realization that only the death of God could solve their sin problem. But they showed kindness to God’s people, didn’t they? They showed faith, didn’t they? Yes, God beats the missionary to the jungle every time.

I.E.: John 3:16 cannot mean that God has 4 ways of saving people. If you think John 3:16 means you have to pray the sinner’s prayer in order to be saved, then you have to come up with special ways for unevangelized people and babies to go to heaven, or you have to damn them all to hell, or you have to just plead ignorance. Pleading ignorance is fine for issues that the Bible is silent on, but this isn’t one of them….and I have tried to show that throughout section 2d.

Next time: Less is more.

God bless…