Salvation Apart from Doctrine, Faith In Christ Without Knowing It

Salvation Apart from Doctrine, Faith In Christ Without Knowing It

Many people dismiss the gospel simply because they cannot fathom God would throw a vast portion of humanity into the lake of fire on the techinicality of not knowing the correct name to address God.  Christians mostly reinforce this idea thereby driving a wedge between the gospel and those who simply will not take it seriously because they sense this first Christian premise to be obviously wrong.  I intend to present an argument showing that this premise may actually contradict the bible. 

Let me begin:  Jesus before he incarnated as Jesus, always existed.  There was never a time when he did not exist.  He is the Person of the Godhead who created heaven and earth. 

John 1:1-3World English Bible (WEB) 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him. Without him was not anything made that has been made.

John 1:14World English Bible (WEB) 14 The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.                                       

So there you have it.  Jesus is the Creator!  Does it follow that whoever believes in the Creator believes in Jesus?  That is the billion dollar question.  But lets see if we can qualify things a little more.  After all, people can believe in all sorts of creators that may range from benevolent to malicious.  So you believe in a creator but slaughter babies; I don’t believe that qualifies as believing in Jesus. 

John 14:6 World English Bible (WEB) 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me. 

Many people interpret the above verse as proof that you have to have doctrinal knowledge about Jesus, His Name, and the gospel.  I tend to see the possible meaning as an opposite.  Perhaps the meaning is closer to if you believe in the way (living right), the truth (you love and hunger for the truth even if you don’t know all the details), and the life (you value the sacredness of life – both your own and others’), you are effectively believing in Jesus whether you know it or not because he declared he is all those things.  Here is an interesting overlooked verse:

Matthew 25:24World English Bible (WEB) 24 “He also who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter.

  Though this verse occurs in a parable and I would be accused of taking it out of context by some, there are many amazing hidden truths inundating the bible, and I don’t believe my example is setting a precedent for the following kind of usage.  My possible understanding here is that God is revealing that He is saving people who have never been preached the gospel, given prophets, or received the holy scriptures.  It is noteworthy that God sometimes refers to His redeemed and saved people as a harvest.  The fact that He harvests where he has not sown is fascinating and comforting.  Sown can mean the planting of God’s Word, or His missionaries having worked a mission field.  Now lets continue with some more qualifiers and identifiers:

1 John 4:8 World English Bible (WEB) 8 He who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, for God is love. 

So wait a minute.  If you believe in Love and do love, do you believe in God?  Galatians 5:1-6World English Bible (WEB) 5 Stand firm therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and don’t be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. 2 Behold, I, Paul, tell you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing. 3 Yes, I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. 4 You are alienated from Christ, you who desire to be justified by the law. You have fallen away from grace. 5 For we, through the Spirit, by faith wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision amounts to anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith working through love.

Galatians 5:22-23World English Bible (WEB) 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith,[a] 23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 

Now some may object and claim that if you haven’t been exposed to the gospel you cannot be filled with the Holy Spirit.  I won’t argue about that directly or try to parse the differences between being under the influence of the Spirit and being indwelt and sealed by the Spirit.  Rather I’ll point out that the above mentioned fruit can be observed in non Christians and arguably all people to lesser and greater degrees.  I suppose one could argue, that not all love, joy, and peace, etc, etc is fruit of the Spirit but that some is from the Spirit and some from other sources more mundane.  But that is an unsavory argument I choose to leave to others for now.  Just maybe, the Spirit of God touches and inundates the lives of all people even if some enjoy more fruit than others. 

Matthew 5:1-12World English Bible (WEB) 5 Seeing the multitudes, he went up onto the mountain. When he had sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 He opened his mouth and taught them, saying, 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.[a] 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.[b] 5 Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.[c][d] 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 

The above indicates more qualifiers: Poor in spirit (you know your a sinful wretch), those who mourn, the meek, hunger and thirst for righteousness (hunger and thirst because though you desire righteousness you are painfully aware of your shortcomings { and Jesus gives that righteousness}), pure in heart (sincere), peacemakers children of God (only the saved and redeemed are called children of God), and persecuted because of righteousness.  All these things can be true of those whom have never heard the gospel.

Matthew 25:31-46World English Bible (WEB) 31 “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32 Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35 for I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in. 36 I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you; or thirsty, and give you a drink? 38 When did we see you as a stranger, and take you in; or naked, and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you?’ 40 “The King will answer them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers[a] , you did it to me.’ 41 Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry, and you didn’t give me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink; 43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t take me in; naked, and you didn’t clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’ 44 “Then they will also answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn’t help you?’ 45 “Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you didn’t do it to one of the least of these, you didn’t do it to me.’ 46 These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” 

The above illustrates something about faith that is more profound than is normally granted.  It also reveals how closely the Savior identifies Himself with people and how their suffering really really bothers Him.  Also interesting is how taken by surprise both the saved and condemned are at this time of Judgement, and neither group was saved nor condemned based on recognizing or failing to recognize Jesus in the conventional sense.  Please note this is not a parable but a matter- of- fact statement by Jesus Himself.  Some theologians may argue that this judgement is for a different dispensation outside of the age of grace before the church, or after the church is removed in the rapture.  Without openingly contradicting them I will merely ask which Gospel will be preached by which man can be saved after the rapture?  Will it differ from today’s Gospel?  Perhaps the Apostle James bridged the seeming contradiction between faith and works best when he said in..

James 2:14-19World English Bible (WEB) 14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man says he has faith, but has no works? Can faith save him? 15 And if a brother or sister is naked and in lack of daily food, 16 and one of you tells them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled”; and yet you didn’t give them the things the body needs, what good is it? 17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself. 18 Yes, a man will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I by my works will show you my faith. 19 You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe, and shudder. 

Luke 10:25-37World English Bible (WEB) 25 Behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” 27 He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind;[a] and your neighbor as yourself.”[b] 28 He said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.” 29 But he, desiring to justify himself, asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus answered, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 By chance a certain priest was going down that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 In the same way a Levite also, when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he traveled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion, 34 came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, and gave them to the host, and said to him, ‘Take care of him. Whatever you spend beyond that, I will repay you when I return.’ 36 Now which of these three do you think seemed to be a neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

The above is another example that bypasses the whole religious thing. 

Luke 13:22-30 World English Bible (WEB) 22 He went on his way through cities and villages, teaching, and traveling on to Jerusalem. 23 One said to him, “Lord, are they few who are saved?” He said to them, 24 “Strive to enter in by the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will seek to enter in, and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen up, and has shut the door, and you begin to stand outside, and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ then he will answer and tell you, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 He will say, ‘I tell you, I don’t know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.’ 28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets, in God’s Kingdom, and yourselves being thrown outside. 29 They will come from the east, west, north, and south, and will sit down in God’s Kingdom. 30 Behold, there are some who are last who will be first, and there are some who are first who will be last.”

The above seems to defy that just having head knowledge of who Jesus is has any value by itself.  People evidently will recognize Him even though they are called “evildoers,” and excluded from the Kingdom.  Seems best to approach this subject with the utmost sincerity and gravity.  Those excluded obviously had no relationship with Jesus because He did not recognize them.  Maybe it’s a good idea to regularly pray and pour your heart out to God in sincerity.  It’s hard not to recognize someone who has been sincere and intimate with you. 

Luke 14:15-24 World English Bible (WEB) 15 When one of those who sat at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is he who will feast in God’s Kingdom!” 16 But he said to him, “A certain man made a great supper, and he invited many people. 17 He sent out his servant at supper time to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, for everything is ready now.’ 18 They all as one began to make excuses. “The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please have me excused.’ 19 “Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I must go try them out. Please have me excused.’ 20 “Another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I can’t come.’ 21 “That servant came, and told his lord these things. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.’ 22 “The servant said, ‘Lord, it is done as you commanded, and there is still room.’ 23 “The lord said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you that none of those men who were invited will taste of my supper.’”

The above is fascinating parable.  It seems those whom were rejected did not value God’s gift and lightly blew it off.  This reminds me of those who hesitate to accept Christ, not necessarily calling the gospel false, but who avoid making a decision with the rationale that the verdict on the truth is still out, and it’s less burdensome not to make a choice.  However, what I find interesting is how the poor, crippled, lame, and blind were admitted with no other qualification.  This can also be observed in the story of Lazarus which, by the way, is not a parable.  I can’t definitively say that this group of poor destitute people automatically go to heaven irrespective of all other factors (such as knowledge and faith in the gospel), but there at least seems to be no such requirement in the above example.  Indeed the words, “compel them to come in,” suggests that they are saved whether they like it or not, or if they even have any clue what is going on! 

Luke 16:19-31 World English Bible (WEB) 19 “Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day. 20 A certain beggar, named Lazarus, was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21 and desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Yes, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried. 23 In Hades,[a] he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom. 24 He cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue! For I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 “But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you, in your lifetime, received your good things, and Lazarus, in the same way, bad things. But now here he is comforted and you are in anguish. 26 Besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that those who want to pass from here to you are not able, and that no one may cross over from there to us.’ 27 “He said, ‘I ask you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house; 28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, so they won’t also come into this place of torment.’ 29 “But Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’ 30 “He said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 “He said to him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead.’”

Again, here is a poor man saved without any other qualifying description of why he should or would be saved.  All we know is he’s poor and destitute and then saved.  No hail Mary’s, Torah lessons, or religion.  If someone argues with Jesus about saving him in the absence of declarations of faith, what might His response be?  Perhaps…”I shed my blood and paid the price.  I can save whomever I choose.  Who are you to tell me what I can and can’t do?”  Some people may confess Jesus for the purpose of obtaining a license to sin as though they are guaranteed salvation.  Kind of like the attitude of playing the system and exploiting God.  Perhaps salvation comes not because someone can wrest it from God by reciting,  ” I accept Jesus as my Savior,” but rather because God is able and willing to freely give salvation to whomever He chooses.  Jesus paid the price in full on the cross, and now walks about like a rich man handing out blessings and salvation to whomever He will.  And the good news is that He doesn’t reject the sincere who come to Him with bowed head and humble heart.  He is not obligated to save anyone.  You can’t force Him to save you just because you recite an incantation.  He does so because that is His good and loving will.  Well, why doesn’t He save everyone then?  I don’t know, He may have His own reasons.  Those who don’t repent of their rebellion and sincerely ask to be cured of it may simply receive their wish of being left alone by God.  But that description fits us all at some point in time.  Why does God the Father draw some people to His Son and not others?  Some of the saved were murderers and some of the damned ordinary people with no outstanding crimes from a human perspective.  God is not technically nor mathematically wrong so long as sin is not left unpunished and unavenged.  The question for us is whether we will take that punishment or Christ on our behalf.  You can say unfair, I was born into sin.  But it doesn’t matter.  What matters is that the equation is balanced.  If God created sinners, they are sinners and objects of wrath worthy of punishment, so He would do right by punishing them.  It’s grace that He chose to punish Himself in our place. 

Now none of what I have written is in any way meant to lesson the importance of Jesus, the Gospel, or the importance of using the Name Of Jesus.  There are hosts of scripture upholding their importance.  Neither is any of this meant to lesson the importance of missionary work and testifying to the name and truth of Jesus and the Gospel.  Scripture is the authority of God’s Word, and anything which contradicts it is necessarily wrong.  People died and will die simply for refusing to deny that Jesus and the Gospel are true, and that is a very worthy death with a tremendous blessing for those martyred.  I uphold the name of Jesus, the Gospel, and all of canonized scripture as being 100% authored by God through His human vessals.  If I am wrong on any point, may God forgive me.  I’ve been very hesitant to bring this argument out as it smacks orthodoxy really hard and I’ve not wanted to fall into or spread heresy.  I don’t care what anyone thinks so long as I’m correct and obeying God’s will in this, but I would have deep regret if not.  So what I’m sharing with you is a rough draft of a heavy subject that I would literally need a thick book to fully explain and explore all the side issues, arguments and implications that arise. 

Having given some scripture with my annotations, I would like to briefly make some logical arguments.  If confessing the name of Jesus as Savior or hearing the Gospel were strictly necessary for salvation, then we run into a problem.  Lets suppose that confessing Jesus and adhering to the gospel became necessary at His resurrection, or Pentecost, or some other arbitrary time of your choosing for the sake of argument.  Then all those Jews in good standing with God who had not yet been informed of the news would suddenly be condemned.  After all, some of the Jews would likely be in some other part of the world living or conducting business and wouldn’t know anything about the new covenant.  It is a very unsavory position to hold that they would be unknowingly condemned after being in good standing.  If you say okay maybe they’re not condemned; on what basis do you do so?  It has to be on the basis of their faith because even though they were under the covenant of law, Paul tells us the law is powerless to save because no one can obey it perfectly.  I posit that their attempt and desire to obey the law is the expression of their faith which saves by God’s mercy.  And again, remember Jesus is the Creator.  Furthermore,

Genesis 15:6 (WEB) He believed in Yahweh, who credited it to him for righteousness. 

But what about Paul’s explanation?: 

Romans 10:1-3World English Bible (WEB) Brothers, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God is for Israel, that they may be saved. 2 For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they didn’t subject themselves to the righteousness of God.

Romans 9:30-32 (WEB) 30 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, who didn’t follow after righteousness, attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith; 31 but Israel, following after a law of righteousness, didn’t arrive at the law of righteousness. 32 Why? Because they didn’t seek it by faith, but as it were by works of the law. They stumbled over the stumbling stone;

I would say the problem here is that the Jews who were not saved were depending on themselves instead of God.  They may have had the attitude that so long as they obeyed the law as spelled out, they were in a sense independent from God and not relying on His grace and mercy.  In reality, what they should have learned from the law was how impossible it is to be justified by it and how dependent they are on undeserved mercy.  Jesus indirectly expounded on this when he closed all the legal loopholes in Matt 5: 17-48 where he said among other similar things that even looking at a woman lustfully is adultery.  And to any of my Jewish friends reading this:  do you seriously believe the blood of animal sacrifice is sufficient to cleanse your sins and redeem your soul?  Animal sacrifice was a temporary measure to illustrate that death comes through sin and to prepare man to receive and understand the necessary sacrifice that the Messiah would make.  Obedience in animal sacrifice resulted from faith in God.  The actual cleansing of sin resulted later when the Messiah fulfilled His role as Sacrificial Lamb therebye cleansing, even backward in time, the old testament saints.  Later when the Gospel had fully reached the Jews, they should have known from their own scriptures that Jesus is the promised Messiah.  The apostles would surely have pointed these things out to them in the scriptures, and it was with hardened heart and disobedience with which they rejected God.  But those Jews who truly had a heart for God would have examined the evidence both in scripture and by eyewitness testimony, and seen the truth.  You can’t separate God from His Word.  If you don’t believe His Word, then you don’t believe in Him.  Those Jews, who rejected Jesus, rejected God’s Word in the old testament concerning the promised Messiah as well as all of the new testament which is the fulfilled and complete revelation of the main theme in the old testament. 

Now what about the fate of isolated tribes, Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs, Hindus, etc, etc…  In many cases people throughout history have had little or no exposure to the gospel.  If you are born in a Muslim family and have never heard anything beyond a cursory explanation of the gospel which you didn’t fully comprehend, are you doomed?  A time will come when every knee will bow and confess Jesus as Lord.  Even the damned will do this.  I believe this will also be an acknowledgement that God is righteous and has dealt with each individual justly.  I can’t imagine a young Muslim lady who died confess,” You are indeed righteous and most holy oh Lord.  I praise You and marvel at You.  I regret that I’m now going to be tossed in the lake of fire for all eternity because I didn’t know the gospel was real.  I only partially heard it once by some guy who tortured my family during the crusades.”  Or a Buddhist man exclaim, “Oh how wonderful You are. I regret that I’m now going to be tossed into the lake of fire because I never once heard of You or the gospel.”  The Idea that God would throw such a vast portion of humanity into the lake of fire under such conditions is not realistic to me based on what I have experienced with the Holy Spirit and Jesus’ own words.  But make no mistake people will go there.  I think God holds us accountable for the information and amount of truth we are given.  He gives each person an invitation in the form of whatever quantity of the truth is available to them, and they either believe and respond, or reject and deny.  He may appear to them in great detail through good bible study, or only very dimly through whatever window is open in their life circumstances.  But the more truth a person receives the more they are accountable to believe it.  The Jews who rejected Jesus will be judged much more severely than an isolated tribesman in the amazon who never heard the gospel, since the Jews had eyewitness accounts and Spirit-filled apostles to explain the scriptures and Jesus’ place in them in great clear and lucid detail. 

Now I would like to present some misgivings I have about my ideas that I have thus far not resolved to my satisfaction.  Chief among them is the question of where do saved non-Christians fit into the resurrection?  It’s possible they will be raptured with the church, but I doubt it.  Perhaps they’ll be resurrected at the beginning or end of the millennial kingdom.  I need to research this further.  But here is a leading contender in the verses below which seem to indicate it may be at the beginning of the millennial kingdom. However, there could be an implied interval between when He comes in His glory and the gathering of the nations which may occur after the devil is thrown into the lake of fire at the end of the 1000 year reign and after the brief uprising when he is released from the abyss.  The reason I suspect the interval and post 1000 year time is that the people are separated and sent to their final destinations, not just those who are already dead. 

Matthew 25:31-33World English Bible (WEB) 31 “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32 Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

Another potential problem is that God has dealt with people in dispensations. This is most easily seen in how God deals with Israel and the church in separate periods and times. I don’t see any dispensation for those saved during the church age but separate from the church.  And by church, I merely mean the body of Christ, those who declare Jesus Lord, not any organization or denomination.  They may be part of the church, but I doubt this.  If they aren’t a part of it, then I have no indication of a separate dispensation for them.  But it could be they are a remnant from an earlier dispensation, perhaps from before Israel’s time.  As a similar example, once the church is removed by the rapture, there will still be tribulation saints consisting of those who later come to believe in Jesus, but they will not be part of the church.  The church will be in heaven at that time.  

Another issue is the doctrine of eternal security meaning that once you are saved you are always saved.  This is kissing cousins with the born again doctrine.  I definitely believe in the doctrine of eternal security as it is clearly stated in the bible.  What bothers me is that we have a definite point in time when a person makes a decision to accept Christ as Lord and Savior even if they don’t remember the exact time.  I’m not sure such a time can be determined for those who are saved apart from the knowledge of the gospel.  On a case by case basis maybe some people make some kind of commitment toward the limited truth they have.  But then what of someone who initially accepts truth, but later denies a greater serving of the truth received at a later date?  For example, the Jews had been living according to their understanding, but then they rejected the new and more complete knowledge of the gospel.  Perhaps its only theoretical that such an inconsistency can occur, and that someone who truly became saved with less truth will not reject greater truth when properly presented.  It’s also possible that God who sees the panorama of history all at once need not pinpoint a specific time, but rather that person’s life is like a quantum of time that cannot be divided, so it’s meaningless to say where in that indivisible quantum, an event took place.  It may also be that the doctrine of eternal security hinges on acceptance of the fullfillment, culmination, and completion of God’s Word in Jesus Christ, and that prior to Jesus, this doctrine didn’t exist, but rather, a person’s salvation was pending on their continued acceptance of God’s unfolding revelation. 

There is much more to be said on this exhaustive topic and many more issues and arguments to deal with but that’s enough for now. I’ve been very hesitant to make this case and wondered what if any good it will do even if I’m right. My best hope is that some, who don’t believe the gospel due to the idea that most people go to hell for not being Christian, might examine my argument and reconsider.  I don’t claim to be right. It’s just an argument I can’t get away from or ignore.  I have to see it through until I can confidently say it has been killed.  But I hope it stands for obvious reasons.  But as a warning to those who read this and feel comforted that they don’t need to accept Christ to be saved, I say these exceptions I have put forth almost certainly don’t apply to you.  Why?

-Because you have been exposed to the gospel

-You live in an era of information where simply using google can bring up gobs and gobs of evidence proving the veracity of the bible.

-Key prophecies of the bible have been fulfilled and are showing signs of imminent fullfillment.

-Matthew 10:32-33World English Bible (WEB) 32 Everyone therefore who confesses me before men, him I will also confess before my Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies me before men, him I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven.

Peace,

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