Saturday, February 2, 2013

No Bible, No Heaven?

A question I had never really had a reason to ask while being polygamist or Mormon. Where do those people go who have never heard of Jesus Christ or had the opportunity to read (Or have read to them) the Bible?

Being a Polygamist, you're taught that they are living "The Higher Laws" and are so focused on what they need to be doing they really don't want to think about others or where they will be going. They are also taught that the Mormon Church will take care of those who didn't have the opportunity, in this life, to receive their ordinances. The Polygamists are part of the "Father" Church and the LDS are part of the "Mother" Church.

Being LDS the question is answered in them doing the "Work for the Dead" in their Temples. You don't worry about it because 'everyone' will get their work done sooner or later and everyone will go to heaven.

What is the truth?

David was born before the Savior and knew he was "saved".
 Psalm 32:1-5
How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit! When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”; and You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.

David was fully aware of the nature of God’s free gift of salvation, and Paul makes this clear to us when he describes the knowledge that David had in this regard:
 Romans 4:6-8
"Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin."

"Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account." Also goes Hand in hand with what Jesus said in Luke 12:48 "But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required: and to whom men have committed much of him they will ask the more."

David clearly understood that all of us are sinners who must be saved by the Grace of God (as Paul says, “apart from works”). David wasn’t the only ancient believer who knew that they were going to be saved by their faith, even though the Savior had not yet arrived. The New Testament tells us that all our heroes of faith understood the role that faith played in their salvation: 
Hebrews 11:13 
"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth."

These ancient believers certainly knew that their good works couldn’t save them; like Isaiah, they knew that their ‘goodness’ wasn’t ‘good enough’: 
Isaiah 64:6
"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."
( All of us ·are dirty with sin [became like an unclean/defiled thing].
    All ·the right things we have done [our righteous deeds] are like ·filthy pieces of cloth [filthy garments/rags; or a menstrual cloth; 30:22].
All of us ·are [fade; shrivel] like dead leaves,
    and our ·sins [iniquities], like the wind, have carried us away)

Ancient believers also knew that God’s standard was impossibly high. They knew that when compared to God, they fell far short of the mark, and like David, they knew that even animal sacrifices weren’t going to ultimately please a Holy God:
Psalm 40:6"Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required."

For Unto Whomsoever Much Is Given, Of Him Shall Much Be Required:

Picture the tribes living in 3rd word countries. In most cases even they give thanks and praise to a higher power then themselves. It's engrained into each of us to distinctively know we have a Creator.

 Romans 1:20
"For 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:"

 No one has an excuse for not knowing God. That knowledge comes to us naturally—much like the way we instinctively reach for water when we're thirsty. It's not something we have to learn.
And it's not just instinct that draws people to God. God uses visual aids too—his creation. We can see God through the divine design of nature.

They may not have a knowledge of Jesus Christ or a Bible but they know and accept that they have a Creator and a higher power then themselves. They don't give themselves credit for making it rain. They give the glory to the higher power they praise.  They will be righteously judged by a just, merciful, loving and perfect God. We can have people and things enter our lives that change that view. We can choose to reject it by putting more credibility on what "men" say and teach rather then Gods Holy Word.

We have been given so much, thereby much will be required from us. Do we have access to Gods Word, yet choose to listen to the teachings of men who discredit it and say it's not reliable? How will we be judged if we also lead others from the truth following the teachings of "men" and not God? Where do you stand?

My question was answered through Gods Word....again.

A Sufficient Faith Alone in the Messiah Alone

The Old Testament saints understood the role and importance of faith, and they expected a coming Redeemer and Messiah who would save them. That really shouldn’t surprise us, because according to the Bible, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross was planned by God from the beginning of time.

Revelation 13:8
"And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain."

Those who loved God and lived before Jesus knew that their sins would be atoned by the sacrifice of this Savior.

Isaiah 53:6 
 "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."
Romans 3:25  
"...Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;"

Just like us, these early believers were saved by grace alone, through the Savior alone, even if their understanding of the Savior may not have been as complete as ours is today. Now some might argue that their faith was incomplete; they did not understand the exact identity of the Messiah, and they did not know exactly how God would accomplish the sacrifice necessary to save them. But think about it for a minute. Who among us has a truly ‘complete’ faith? If you are a Christian, are you ‘completely’ knowledgeable regarding everything that could be known about God, his Savior and the plan of Salvation? How much of a theologian do you have to be to be saved? Must your faith be ‘complete’ or is there some level of ‘sufficiency’ required? How much do you need to ‘know’ to ‘know’ if you are saved?

Can you answer every question about the Trinity, for example? Do you completely understand how it is that Jesus could be completely human yet completely God at the same time? Does your lack of ‘complete’ understanding disqualify you from Salvation? Each of us is expected to do the most we can with the information that we have. Someday, each of us will be held accountable for the information that we have received from God. We will be asked, “What did you do with what I revealed to you?” Just like us, the Old Testament saints did the most they could with what was revealed to them. They placed all their faith in all that God had given them. And this faith in God and His promise of a future Savior was sufficient for them to be included in the family of God.



(2 web sites have helped bring the words to my thoughts and I will give credit to. 
http://pleaseconvinceme.com/2012/how-were-people-saved-before-christ/ and 
http://www.christianitytoday.com/iyf/advice/faithdoubt/8c1046.html)

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