What does the Bible say about this?

[Calvary]

A better question might be, If I respond to this light, will the Lord give me more light?

If he does give me more light, will I be able to find my way to Christ?


Example,

John the Baptist had some followers. They learned from him , they listened to him and they no doubt matured because of him, yet John said plainly, I am not that light.

Then Jesus came and John's followers went with Him, the Light of the world.

Point.

The Pharisees had that same light that the followers of John had. Yet they chose not to walk in that light. Did God give them more light? No. He did not. Did God give the followers of John more light? yes, he did.

I'll post point 3 and 4 respectfully of this message. You'll have your answer.

God bless,

Calvary

[Alen]

I'm not sure why you would say that, was there any hint in this post that there was salvation available to men because they deserved it? Not sure where you're coming from with that comment.

He was talking about God being fair. Hence that statement. He said:

Anyway for me it was a scary thing to not be able to see how God was fair

He constituted God being fair, with us hearing the gospel. I constitute God being fair, by Christ never dying for our sins. He may not of meant we deserve salvation, but I believe it is clear in his post that he believes we deserve to hear the gospel, otherwise it is not fair. I am not attacking the guy at all, just pointing that out.

-Alen

[Calvary]

Oh.

Ok. :smile

[Jerry]

Do you believe that there are people in this world who have never heard of Christ who are saved because they responded to this inner light?

People can die and go to Hell without ever hearing about the Lord Jesus Christ and the perfect salvation He offers, but no one can ever be saved apart from that knowledge.

As has been stated, all of mankind has the twofold witness of creation (Romans 1) and their conscience (Romans 2) that tells them there is a God who created them and who has imprinted His laws on their conscience. According to God's Word, if they respond positively to this light and sincerely search out the truth/True God, He promises to reveal Himself to them.

[JJJ4given]

Here are my thoughts on this subject.

I believe if someone desires truth and turns from all that their conscience tells them is wrong, God will send someone to share the gospel with them. Now for a biblical example:

26 ¶ And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.
27 And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,
28 Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.
29 Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.
30 And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?
31 And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.
32 The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:
33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.
34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?
35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.
36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?
37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.
39 And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.


Here we see a man desiring truth and God directed someone to go to him.

Here's another example:

Back in the 1800s there was a group of islands called the Sandwich Islands. There were two tribes that were at war and one of the tribes overcame the other tribe. Both tribes were thoroughly involved in idol worship. However, the prince of the tribe that was in rule for some reason got fed up with all the idolatry and had every idol torn down and every priest who wouldn't stop worshipping idols, he had killed. They then waited for truth without worshipping any idols and within less than a year a missionary came and shared the gospel with them.

I'm sure there are plenty more examples but just because we don't have documented history of every single one doesn't mean they don't exist.

If a person or group of people don't desire anything real and aren't willing to give up their idolatry, then God knows there is no point in sending a preacher. But if there is just one who is willing, God will be certain to have someone share the gospel with them. He knows the hearts.

It is very possible that the gospel may have been presented to North America as early as 1100 A.D. when Christianity came to Scandinavia during the Viking conquests which reached to North America. It may even be possible that the gospel was presented even before that. We don't know. But be it far from us to say that our lack of knowledge means God didn't give them an opportunity. This is God we're talking about. The God of the impossible. :lol I'm certain that if someone was willing, God found a way.

God bless!

[Calvary]

Hmm...

My post seems to have vanished.

[Calvary]

Thirdly, let

[Madeline]

Amen Bro Mitchell!

[JJJ4given]

An interesting point to be made: many who crucified Christ later put their faith on him.

36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
37 ¶ Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

I'm glad God is a God of second chances. He was in the case of Paul. He was in my life. I'm glad that who gets saved and who doesn't is a matter God has left us with the individual choice to make.

God bless!

[Jerry]

Good posts here, Calvary. (I know, something must be wrong... I am agreeing with you. :saint ) I fully believe what you have presented here - God looks at our response to what light He has already given each of us, and then goes from there.

[Calvary]

Was that Jerry?

:peek:

[heartstrings]

18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

19Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

20For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

21Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

22Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

23And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

[firstlove]

I think the gospel has been preached unto all the world. It was first preached in the countries that are now Muslim.Right after the destruction of Jerusalem. In our own country, how long before no one will remember when we were a Christian nation?
It is our responsibility to live so that Christ will be honored in future generations. We like other peoples have fallen far short, and our children and children's children will suffer for a knowledge of God because we have walked closer to the world than our Lord. God did not say that every generation would be told the gospel over and over. I think we will find that the lack of some people hearing the gospel rests with us, not with God. God has provided. Look how long the Jewish people have kept their religion and feast days. They have had no one come and retell them the story. We have that same responsibility.

[bibletotingunslinger]

:dig:

[Guest Guest]

First let me say that i believe we serve a fair and just God' date=' so there must be a legitimate answer to my question. My question is "What of the Indians, people from tribes in Africa and other places that have never heard of Jesus?" Im talking mostly about when America was first being settled etc... What about the Indians that were here and died before the message of Christ was brought over? Im know they are connected all the way back to Adam and Eve, but that doesn't address people who died while practicing whatever their tribe was into? IOW does the Bible address what happens to people who live, die, and never hear the Gospel?[/quote']

I don't think that it does. However with good faith we can hope that after their death, because they never heard the Gospel, Christ would give them an opportunity to accept God.