Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me ~John 14:6
While Geneida's post was wonderful, it was a comment—a question, actually—posted there that caught my attention even more. It was one that many ask of Christians as well as one that Christians ponder and argue. "Do you believe Jews can ascend to heaven?"
My answer was this:
This is addressed in the Book of Hebrews, after it establishes the priesthood of Jesus in the order of Melchizedek (He was not of the tribe of Levi), but particularly in Hebrews 11.
It begins with:
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
2 For by it the men of old gained approval.
I share this in mindset with Dallas Willard, a Christian author and Professor of Philosophy. Referencing Romans 2:6-10 Dallas wrote:
"What Paul is clearly saying is that if anyone is worthy of being saved, they will be saved. At that point many Christians get very anxious, saying that absolutely no one is worthy of being saved. The implication of that is that a person can be almost totally good, but miss the message about Jesus, and be sent to hell. What kind of a God would do that? I am not going to stand in the way of anyone whom God wants to save. I am not going to say "he can't save them." I am happy for God to save anyone he wants in any way he can. It is possible for someone who does not know Jesus to be saved. **But anyone who is going to be saved is going to be saved by Jesus: "There is no other name given under heaven by which men can be saved."**
(Dallas Willard has been criticized heavily for this statement which is on his website, but often the last line [between the asterisks] is purposely left off when they quote him.)
One of the most obvious incidences that a person pleased the Lord so much that he did not even experience death was Elijah, who was taken up to the Lord by a chariot of fire in 2 Kings 2, as witnessed by Elisha.
Due to this and many other references, it is unlikely that not one was saved before the sacrifice Jesus made and, likewise, I question that none are saved who have never heard of Jesus. I get a bit fuzzy on the matter of salvation once a person has been offered the gift of His sacrifice *with full understanding* and yet rejects it, but that is God's domain and I too am happy for God to save anyone He wants in any way he can.
On the other side of that, too many times I have seen Christians think they have an "in" with God because they believe in Jesus, but then they do not cultivate their relationship with God much beyond that. I believe that God prefers a person to seek to please Him always than a person to think they have pleased Him enough to be saved.
I have given this some more thought and prayer so I would like to further add some thoughts. One is that God is not limited by time. In fact, I wonder if eternity, as we call it, is really time without end or a realm outside of time. If it is the latter, then Jesus' sacrifice is not an event limited to our historical time line, but it just is, has always been, and will always be to save those who came before and after. Could it be that men could be saved by the Savior before the sacrifice was made in our time line? (Of course, I deeply enjoy such thoughts that mess with the mind and bring different perspectives to consider.) Perhaps this concept of time being irrelevant to the Lord was, in part, what Jesus was trying to get people to understand when he told the parable of the workers in the vineyard in Matthew 20:1-16.
I believe that God can and will favor those of His choosing regardless of how worthy anyone might think them to be. I also do believe, as it is written, that no one comes to the Father except through the Jesus, but I question the mainstream Christian credence that one must accept Jesus in just a certain way for this to be possible—I mean, who knows the mind of God and what He sees as acceptance in the heart of another? Like Dallas Willard, I am not going to be like the prodigal son's bother—I should hope I will not, at least—and say I did it all the right way, I prayed asking Jesus into my heart, I have the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, indwelling in me, I have worked hard trying to please You, and You are going to let this person be "saved" who did not know Your Son in the here and now or in the past before He was even born? Both times are the same when time is not a factor, right? (I did warn you that I have a thing for messing with the mind.) But, then what is it to be in God's favor other than to be one who has surrendered himself to God, even if he does not have the advantage of a Bible to explain Who God or Jesus is?
However, there is another side of this, one for which I have no answer, only questions. Is it possible to truly commune with God without the indwelling of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit? I think in this respect, if one has not this wonderful gift of the Living Law, this connection with God always guiding us according to His will, that the person would likely rely heavily on the written law as the only reference in how to find favor with God. While the person may seek God in prayer and God may make His will known to whomever He chooses, without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, there is a soul sickening incompleteness, a lonesome remoteness, an abysmal inapproachability to the Divine that was meant only for the Holy Spirit to consummate in us. If I had never had this, I would not know what I would be missing, but having had it, I would feel abandoned without it. I don't know that I could ever explain that in a way that another person, never having the experience, could understand.
~ Thank you, my Lord, for providing us all a way to be close to You and for our salvation. ~
