This is the new thread that Jar and I had agreed on from the ‘Is God cruel’ discussion.
On that thread, Jar claims that people can be saved even if they do not believe in the Resurrection of Jesus. All that need be done is to love God and love your neighbour as you love yourself.
To me this suggests that if there is a way to be saved without believing in the Resurrection then there was no need for Jesus to die. I think that God requiring His son to be beaten and executed in order to open the gate to salvation is extremely barbaric, but to plan this out when it appears unnecessarily is beyond evil, IMO.
I believe that the Bible makes it pretty clear that if you do not believe in the Resurrection, then it doesn’t matter how nice a person you are, you are going to Hell.
1 Corinthians 15:12-19:
But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
Paul is quite clear that the resurrection is central to Christianity, if Jesus didn’t conquer death, then you are still in sin and thus you cannot get into heaven.
John 14:6-24:
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."
Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us."
Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another counsellor to be with you forever the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.
He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, "But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?"
Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
It looks from this extract that the only way to God is through Jesus, so it is difficult to believe that anyone who doesn’t believe in Jesus will be going to heaven.
Romans 6:23:
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
From what I remember when I was a Christian, when sin entered the world through Adam and Eve’s disobedience we all became tainted with sin. This act put a barrier between God and Mankind because when Adam and Eve turned their back on God it apparently meant that we all turned our back on God.
The only person born without this sin was Jesus Himself, so it could only be the shedding of His pure blood that would bring down the barrier that Adam and Eve had built between God and us. It is only the blood of Jesus that cleanses all from sin. So, it looks as if those who do not accept this sacrifice as real will still be in sin, the blood cannot cleanse your heart unless you believe in its cleansing power.
If you do not believe Jesus rose from the dead, then how can you believe that anyone can rise from the dead? His blood is the cure for sin, if you don’t believe in the cure for sin, then when you die you will still have the infection, and after you die it is too late for for the antidote.
Can we be saved from just being nice to each other? Personally, I don’t think so because according to God’s Word we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23 ). And the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 6:23).
So, how can we be saved without believing in Jesus victory over death?
If one person can be saved without believing in Jesus’ victory, then His death was unnecessary, and this makes God an evil being.
Brian.
™ Version 4.2