From ancient times it was God's plan that Jesus the Messiah should suffer and rise from the dead (Psalm 2, 16), and that salvation through him should be proclaimed to all nations (Lk. 24:46-47; see Isa. 11:10; Amos 9:11-12). Before ascending to the Father, Jesus commissioned his chosen apostles that "having gone" (literally) into the whole world, they were to herald the gospel message to all creation, thus making disciples of all nations (Mk. 16:15; Matt. 28:19). The apostles were to baptize believers then teach them in turn all that Jesus had commanded themselves (Matt. 28:20; Mk. … [Read more...]
DIVERSITY & FAITHFULNESS
The sky was pouring rain as I drove up to the Park-and-Ride bus shelter, where a line of commuters regularly chooses to ride to downtown jobs with strangers in automobiles rather than taking the city bus. We car-drivers like the plan, because it allows us to use the enclosed and fast moving high-occupancy lane instead of turtle-crawling down 25 miles of Katy Freeway from our homes on Houston's west side. My rider today was a Vietnamese lady, whose nationality I easily guessed from her accent and her appearance. We quickly struck up a friendly conversation. After I dropped a comment or two … [Read more...]
THE PROPHET OF THE MAGI
It's a veritable United Nations, the "228 Park & Ride," where thousands of Houston westsiders catch daily buses. A place also where scores of solo drivers like myself occasionally or regularly pick up some trusting stranger so we can zoom down the barricaded high-speed lane into the city rather than poke along in stop-and-go traffic on the freeway. Over the years I have chauffeured passengers from Africa and Asia, Barbados and Bolivia, Singapore and Scandinavia, Russia and Rwanda, China and Croatia. This particular day my passenger comes from Greece. His name is Farook, he tells me, … [Read more...]
THOSE WHO NEVER HEARD (2)
A gracEmail reader writes, "Our Bible class had a discussion concerning individuals who were not able to hear the gospel before they died. Several stated that all those people would be lost. What do you believe will happen to such according to the Bible?" * * * God's judgment will be completely righteous, for he will judge all people by the light they actually possessed rather than by some standard of which they had no knowledge (Rom. 2:12). Not everyone received the Ten Commandments, or the Golden Rule -- but every human being with moral consciousness has God's revelation in creation (Rom. … [Read more...]
THOSE WHO NEVER HEARD (1)
"What about those," asks a reader, "who, through no fault of their own, never hear the gospel during this life? Must we assume that all such people will finally perish?" * * * It is absolutely true that no one will be saved except through the atonement which Jesus has accomplished (Acts 4:12; 1 Tim. 2:5-6). It is also true that many people will be saved by Jesus' atonement who, in this life, never understood that Jesus' atonement had taken place. Christians historically place in that category all faithful people who lived before Jesus, both Jew and Gentile (Rom. 3:23-30). Many Christians … [Read more...]