Won’t God just accept the ‘good’ souls anyway?

After briefly reviewing my webpages a friend asked:

Why is is necessary to preach to the damned who never heard about Jesus? Doesn’t God see our hearts and know the ones who are acceptable even if they died before deciding about Jesus?

If that is the case then nobody needs to decide about accepting Jesus’ offer to reconcile us with God. If we are all to be evaluated by God as to our acceptability then we have no part to play in salvation, it becomes solely God’s choice. Karma or the will of Allah, destiny would decide for us. But that is not the God who speaks to us in the Bible.

Accepted or Rejected

One scripture tells us “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) Another tells us “We (all) have been made accepted in the beloved.” (Ephesians 1:6)

They do not contradict each other. They reveal to us that no one can be accepted by God without some intervention. God has found a way to change our sin-contaminated nature, salvation in the Blood of Jesus. To enter into that way requires a choice. It cannot be forced upon us.

God is a Just God. (see Job 3:10-12, Romans 3:25-26, Psalm 45:67,9:6,11:7, Thessalonians 1:6-7)

He works by law and justice. His dealings with us are not arbitrary or unpredictable.

God has defined justice in the Bible, by the words He has spoken to us.

He is holy and cannot accept what is evil or the very justice of His being would be destroyed

so He had to find a way to make us holy too. Jesus is the way.

He is the Beloved that we enter into in order to become holy and acceptable to God.

Why Did God Accept Abraham?

Some people think that God accepted Abraham and called him righteous because Abraham was good. Romans 4:22 says that Abraham was ‘credited with righteousness’.

Can’t the damned get that credit too? But Abram was not given that honour without just cause. Abraham decided to believe the offer of salvation and blessing that God made to him.

This faith in God’s Word was the mechanism of his salvation. It was not his own goodness or faith in an idea of his own that saved him. He accepted God’s plan. A decision of his will was needed.

Judged by Words – Our Words

Unless the will of God is known, there is no standard by which our faith can be judged. God judges us by our words. (Matthew 12:36)

God Himself must also be judged/ruled by His words. God is bound to His words and cannot break them even to save us. He cannot reject sin and accept sinners. He needed a way to take sin out of sinners.

Jesus is the way that separates us from sin. We have no ability to escape sin but we do have the power to decide. We are the masters of our own will.

We Need Saving

In order to be made acceptable to God we must first remove sin and unholiness from us. We cannot do that by ourselves so we need the help of a savior. All that is needed to receive that help is to hear about the possibility and then to choose to accept the offer.

Can you see why the damned must be given the opportunity to hear this offer? There is no other way for God to accept them. But to condemn souls who never were given their legal right to decide on the offer of salvation (2 Peter 3:9) would be unjust and a breaking of God’s own Words and will. This cannot be or else God would cease to be God. There must be a way to preach to the un-preached-to.

Salvation in Hell is a revelation of that way.