Category: Bible Q&A

What about those who have never heard of Jesus?

What about those who have never heard of Jesus? This is a very difficult question to address, and one whose answer we may not fully comprehend in this life. However, there are some important biblical truths to ponder as we share our faith:

  1. Christ is the only Savior (John 14:6; Acts 4:12).
  2. God loves all people and desires their salvation (John 3:16; 1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9).
  3. God is just and will judge all people justly (Job. 34:10-12; Ps. 9:8; 98:9; Jer. 11:20; Acts 17:31; Rom. 2:5-11).
  4. All people are aware of God’s existence (Rom. 1:18-23). They have failed to act responsibly on what God has already revealed to them, whether through the light of creation (Rom. 1), the light of conscience (Rom. 2), or the light of Christ (Rom. 3).
  5. All people are sinners and know it. God has written His law in their hearts and all people are aware that they have violated the law of God (Rom. 2:1-16). No one will be able to stand before God in judgment and claim that he or she never willfully did wrong.
  6. Men and women are not sentenced to hell based upon whether they heard of Jesus Christ. Rather, they are justly and fittingly condemned based upon the fact that they are sinners (Rom. 3:10, 23; 6:23).
  7. It appears that if people respond to the light they do have, God will send them the light of the gospel (the Ethiopian eunuch, for example, in Acts 8:26ff, and Cornelius in Acts 10:25ff). Because no one has been kept in the dark about God’s existence, no one is excused from giving an account to God (Luke 12:47-48).
  8. Evidently, God will judge people based on their response to the light He has given them as expressed in their deeds (Rom. 2:6), words (Matt. 12:36-37) and thoughts (Heb. 4:12). This does not mean people are saved by good works; rather it means their response to God in faith, or lack thereof, is evident in their thoughts, words and actions.
  9. It appears there will be stricter judgment for those who have rejected the gospel than for those who have never heard (John 3:36; 12:48). Jesus also told the Jewish leaders – who had greater degrees of knowledge of the Scriptures – they would receive “greater damnation,” and He pronounced many “woes” on them (Matt. 23).
  10. Christian evangelism is essential for three primary reasons: 1) God commands us to go and make disciples (Matt. 28:19-20); 2) the preaching of the gospel is the means by which people hear and are saved (Rom. 10:13-17); and 3) all people should share in the blessings of eternal life, not only in eternity, but now (John 10:10).

Some other considerations:

  • People in Old Testament times were saved even though they didn’t know the name of Jesus (Heb. 11). Consider, for example, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Rahab and others, who are considered “heroes of the faith.”
  • Christ’s substitutionary and sacrificial death on the cross works forward and backward in time to pay humanity’s sin debt.
  • Finally, for those who may use the question, “What about those who have never heard of Jesus?” as an excuse to justify their unbelief, a reasonable response is, “Well, you have heard of Jesus. What will you do about Him?”

Can a good tree produce bad fruit?

Tenth in a series of short answers to questions about the New Testament.

Consider Matt. 7:17-19 – [E]very good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit…. Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

So, isn’t it at least possible for a good tree to produce bad fruit once in a while? Or a bad tree good fruit? What about trees that are not fruit-bearing? Does every tree with an off season deserve the fire? What does Jesus mean by all this talk about husbandry?

Jesus, of course, is using hyperbole to illustrate a biblical truth. He is contrasting His faithful witnesses with false prophets, whose fruit — that is, their doctrine or teaching — is bad. Just as a wise husbandman destroys bad trees to make room for good trees, and to keep the bad trees from stealing sunlight and soil from the good ones, the Lord will deal personnaly with false prophets.

All Christians should be able to identify false prophets by their teachings, which typically deny:

  • The full deity and humanity of Christ.
  • His sacrificial and substitutionary death on the cross.
  • His physical resurrection from the dead.
  • His future physical and visible return to earth.
  • Salvation by grace through faith.
  • Security in Christ, by whose power we are kept.
  • The exclusivity of Christ for salvation.
  • The reality of heaven and hell as eternal states.

If a good gardner knows how to recognize a worthless tree, shouldn’t Christ’s followers know how to spot a false prophet?

Will only a few be saved?

Ninth in a series of short answers to questions about the New Testament.

Consider Matt. 7:13-14: Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.

So, will only a few be saved? And if so, how few? Clearly, the Bible does not teach universal salvation. And Jesus takes great pains to inform us that many will spend eternity apart from Him. Just how many will receive eternal life and how many will perish is not for us to know. The claim of the Jehovah’s Witnesses that only 144,000 will reign with Jesus in heaven is based on a distortion of Scripture. Equally disturbing is the Mormon possibility of “exaltation,” or godhood, and the virtually assured life in some level of heaven for almost everyone else.

But there are some important things Jesus and the New Testament writers taught about salvation and want us to know, among them:

  • Salvation is an everlasting relationship provided by Holy God for sinful man through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus (John 3:16-18).
  • Jesus is the only way a person may receive forgiveness of sins and find eternal life (John 14:6). He is the narrow gate — the door (John 10:9).
  • All people are sinners and invite the wrath of God (Rom. 3:23, 6:23). No one deserves heaven, nor can they earn it (Rom. 4:4-5).
  • Christ died for sinners and rose from the dead to conquer sin and death for us (Rom. 5:8; 1 Cor. 15:3-4).
  • Not hearing the gospel is no excuse (Rom. 1:18-23).
  • Many will be in heaven (Rev. 5:9) and many will not (Rev. 20:11-15).
  • All people will be raised from the dead and judged one day (John 5:28-29).
  • Your eternal destiny is based on how you answer the question Jesus asked in Matt. 16:15: “Whom do you say that I am?”
  • The correct answer is: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16).
  • We should be less concerned with how many will be in heaven than we are with whether we are headed there.
  • Jesus came to give us life and offers it freely, if we will receive Him (John 10:10).

Does God give us what we ask?

Eighth in a series of short answers to questions about the New Testament.

Consider Matt. 7:7-8: Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Does everyone who asks God for something really get it? Experience would tell us otherwise, but consider the following:

  • It is characteristic Semitic style to make a point in exaggerated terms, as Jesus does here.
  • Jesus is urging His followers to engage in persistent prayer, placing their trust in Him — His wisdom, power and grace — not in things they think God should give them.
  • Jesus is not giving a magic formula for self-gratification, according to The Apologetics Study Bible. He is using absolute terms to emphasize His point. We are to pray while trusting in God’s goodness and willingness to answer. This is especially true when the object of prayer is spiritual.
  • When we ask God for what He already intends to give us — peace in the midst of circumstances, His unfailing presence, power over fear or temptation — we understand that prayer is not to move God but to makes us more like His Son.

Can anyone serve two masters?

Seventh in a series of short answers to questions about the New Testament.

Consider Matt. 6:24: No one can be a slave of two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot be slaves of God and money.

Can anyone serve two masters? Isn’t it possible to work hard, be successful and serve the Lord?

This isn’t a question of personal wealth or whether a Christian should have a strong work ethic. Many Old Testament and New Testament figures are both wealthy and devoted followers of the Lord. Besides, we are exhorted in Scripture to honor God with our labors. Ecclesiastes 9:10, for example, says: “Whatever your hands find to do, do with [all] your strength …” And the apostle Paul writes: “And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Col. 3:17).

Jesus’ focus in Matt. 6:24 is more on a person’s allegiance than his or her activities. More to the point, the Son of Man is nudging us to consider our citizenship. We are either citizens of the kingdom of heaven and committed to the King, or we are citizens of this world and enslaved to its evil system. This is not to say there are no carnal Christians, or generous unbelievers. But it is to remind us that where our treasure is — either in heaven or on earth — our heart naturally will follow.