The question is pretty simple.
Has an equal opportunity for salvation been given to all people in all time periods?
My conviction is NO. No one receives salvation outside of Christ, and many have never heard his name nor been told about a coming Redeemer.
Those who are saved are presented with a gospel message about Christ (or a coming sacrifice for sin), and the Holy Spirit quickens them, causing them to respond in faith and repentance. Faith in what? Faith in Jesus.
Acts 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
Romans 10:8-13 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
What about Old Testament saints?
My position is that 1) many knew a future redeemer was coming and 2) those that didn't knew God would make a provision for them in some manner.
They may not have understood all the details, but they were not in denial about their sinfulness and their need for salvation.
Job 19:25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
Why is this an issue? Free-willers, who believe in a universal salvation opportunity, claim that everyone has received an opportunity for salvation. Some even claim that salvation was about works for them, and about faith for others.
Why? Because of their entitlement mentality, which is a Western presupposition.
Often, they cite Romans 1, 2 in this regard.
Romans 1, 2 is discussing general revelation. All have received a witness to God's existence. Romans 3 indicates that all are under sin, though..in other words, despite this general revelation (or even specific revelation that the Jews had), they continued to sin and rebel against God.
Romans 3:9-20
9 What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. 10 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”[b] 13 “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on their lips. 14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 ruin and misery mark their ways, 17 and the way of peace they do not know.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” 19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.
The Gentiles, who did not know the law, "knew" God, in a sense, through the revelation of nature and their messed-up consciences, yet still disobeyed. The Jews, who knew God through the law rebelled against him despite their advanced special revelation.
That is why justification by grace through faith is needed, and has always been needed (read Romans 4, which says that both Abraham and David received imputed righteousness through faith in Jesus).
Additionally, can anyone be saved by works? NO. No one has been perfectly obedient, even by their own standards, so they cannot be justified by works. The Gentile who knew about Christ, no matter what civic virtue he exercised, was still a sinful human being, therefore could not be justified by works.
Yet, universal salvation opportunity people claim that all mankind has received sufficient (and sometimes equal) knowledge of Jesus or a coming sacrifice for sin in order to place their faith in Him, or the coming redeemer.
Do I think this is true? NO. The problem is that Acts states that AT THAT TIME a door was opened to Gentiles for salvation:
Acts 14:27 And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.
The door was opened at that time, not before. There were some scattered Gentiles saved in the OT, including Rahab, as a type of what would happen in the future, but Gentiles as a whole were not offered salvation.
Now, we need to be careful to re-cast Scripture (and God) into how we think things MUST be rather than how they are, and to minimize the greatness of what Jesus did at the Cross, because of our equal opportunity presupposition. Remember that God drown all but eight people in the Flood.
So, here's the basic question: has everyone in all time periods received an equal opportunity for salvation?
Support your response with Scripture, if you disagree and are able to prove your view, in context.
If you think I'm wrong, explain to me how I am wrong, IN CONTEXT. I welcome serious challenges.
Has an equal opportunity for salvation been given to all people in all time periods?
My conviction is NO. No one receives salvation outside of Christ, and many have never heard his name nor been told about a coming Redeemer.
Those who are saved are presented with a gospel message about Christ (or a coming sacrifice for sin), and the Holy Spirit quickens them, causing them to respond in faith and repentance. Faith in what? Faith in Jesus.
Acts 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
Romans 10:8-13 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
What about Old Testament saints?
My position is that 1) many knew a future redeemer was coming and 2) those that didn't knew God would make a provision for them in some manner.
They may not have understood all the details, but they were not in denial about their sinfulness and their need for salvation.
Job 19:25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
Why is this an issue? Free-willers, who believe in a universal salvation opportunity, claim that everyone has received an opportunity for salvation. Some even claim that salvation was about works for them, and about faith for others.
Why? Because of their entitlement mentality, which is a Western presupposition.
Often, they cite Romans 1, 2 in this regard.
Romans 1, 2 is discussing general revelation. All have received a witness to God's existence. Romans 3 indicates that all are under sin, though..in other words, despite this general revelation (or even specific revelation that the Jews had), they continued to sin and rebel against God.
Romans 3:9-20
9 What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. 10 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”[b] 13 “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on their lips. 14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 ruin and misery mark their ways, 17 and the way of peace they do not know.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” 19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.
The Gentiles, who did not know the law, "knew" God, in a sense, through the revelation of nature and their messed-up consciences, yet still disobeyed. The Jews, who knew God through the law rebelled against him despite their advanced special revelation.
That is why justification by grace through faith is needed, and has always been needed (read Romans 4, which says that both Abraham and David received imputed righteousness through faith in Jesus).
Additionally, can anyone be saved by works? NO. No one has been perfectly obedient, even by their own standards, so they cannot be justified by works. The Gentile who knew about Christ, no matter what civic virtue he exercised, was still a sinful human being, therefore could not be justified by works.
Yet, universal salvation opportunity people claim that all mankind has received sufficient (and sometimes equal) knowledge of Jesus or a coming sacrifice for sin in order to place their faith in Him, or the coming redeemer.
Do I think this is true? NO. The problem is that Acts states that AT THAT TIME a door was opened to Gentiles for salvation:
Acts 14:27 And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.
The door was opened at that time, not before. There were some scattered Gentiles saved in the OT, including Rahab, as a type of what would happen in the future, but Gentiles as a whole were not offered salvation.
Now, we need to be careful to re-cast Scripture (and God) into how we think things MUST be rather than how they are, and to minimize the greatness of what Jesus did at the Cross, because of our equal opportunity presupposition. Remember that God drown all but eight people in the Flood.
So, here's the basic question: has everyone in all time periods received an equal opportunity for salvation?
Support your response with Scripture, if you disagree and are able to prove your view, in context.
If you think I'm wrong, explain to me how I am wrong, IN CONTEXT. I welcome serious challenges.
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