In this blog, we make the assertion that salvation is not through belief in Jesus and his death and resurrection for our sins but rather by changing our soul so it becomes like God. In my discussion with Christians, they raise the following three objections.
God is sovereign and can do whatever he wants which includes making salvation only through belief in Jesus (e.g. Paul, in Romans 9:14-21, states that God will have mercy on whomever he wants). However, II Peter 3:9 states that God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Once again Christians must read and interpret the entire Bible and not just pick out verses that suit their theology. That God is sovereign and can do whatever he wants is without question. That God is a God of love and justice is also without question. God will not act contrary to his character. If that is true how can God condemn people to hell for eternity even though they have never heard of Jesus or they do not have sufficient information to convince them of Jesus’ reality? He cannot and therefore our theology of salvation must change to match the character of God.
Ignorance is no excuse. Romans 1:18-20 states that all men are without excuse because God’s eternal power and divine nature can be clearly seen and understood though nature. Ignorance of the law is no excuse in our society because there are ways we can find out what the law states—we can search the web, go to a library or talk to a police officer, judge, or elected official. We do not have that option in regards to Jesus and his death and resurrection for our sins. God made us finite and knowing the reality of an event that has occurred only once in human history is difficult. One other point: The Romans 1 passage refers to belief in God, not belief in Jesus and his death and resurrection for our sins.
People are not condemned to hell because they do not believe in Jesus but because they have a sin problem. While this might be the case, it still does not speak highly of God. God has a solution to this sin problem through the person of Jesus. The question is: Why does he only inform a minority of the people on earth of the solution? We humans will take extraordinary actions to save someone from physical harm. So why would God not do the same for our eternal fate?
These three objections raise one question we Christians must answer: Will we make God fit our theology or do we make our theology match the character of God?
