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Wednesday, June 5, 2024

Is Salvation by Faith in Jesus Unfair to Those Who Never Hear of Him? - by Amy K. Hall

Found here. Our comments in bold.
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The author is confused about what grace, mercy, and justice mean. The confusion arises from her Calvinistic beliefs, which include the idea that God has already selected those who will be saved (the Elect). As we have noted in other posts, Calvinism creates doctrinal and Scriptural difficulties that need to be worked around or explained away.  And that is what the author grapples with here.

There is no Bible verse that tells us that God does not offer salvation to all men. In fact, just the opposite:

Ro. 11:32 For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

1Ti. 2:3-6 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and
men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all men — the testimony given in its proper time.

1Ti. 4:10 ...we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.

Tit. 2:11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.

So He offers mercy and grace to everyone, not just the Elect. 

Also, we should note that the author does manage to quote a single Bible verse, a relevant one, but quotes Spurgeon multiple times.

In any case, because of the author's confusion, we must deem this Bad Bible Teaching.
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What about those who never hear of Jesus? This is one of the most common questions I receive, and as with most of those common questions, it has to do with a challenge to the character of God. Is God acting unfairly if his salvation depends on trusting in Jesus and some never hear of him? Does justice require that God reveal himself to everyone?

In God’s Love, R.C. Sproul responds to the even stronger objection leveled at Calvinists that God would be unjust if he chose some for salvation but not others, but you don’t have to be a Calvinist to appreciate the quote. His concise explanation of why election by grace is consistent with the character of a good and just God applies equally to the objection about those who never hear of Jesus:

Somehow it is widely assumed that God owes all people either the gift of salvation or at least a chance of salvation. Since they cannot be saved apart from His grace, He owes it to everyone to grant them that grace.

This kind of thinking results from a fundamental confusion between God’s justice and His mercy or grace. Grace, by definition, is something that God is not required to grant. (No, this is not the definition of grace. Grace is charisGod freely extending Himself (His favor, grace), reaching (inclining) to people because He is disposed to bless (be near) them. Notice that there is no part of this definition that speaks to any requirement of God. Deservedness or undeservedness is not a part of grace. Grace does not consider these factors at all, but for some reason the meaning of grace has been corrupted over the centuries.)
 
He owes a fallen world no mercy. If we cried out for justice at His hands, we could all receive the just condemnation we deserve.  Justice is what we deserve. Grace is always and ever undeserved. If we deserved it, it would not be grace. (No, the lost are not faced with the prospect of receiving condemnation: 
 
Jn. 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already...

This judgment has already been rendered. The judgment is lifted when we believe: 

Ro. 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus...

So far we have seen grace misdefined and misrepresented, which means the author's entire presentation is suspect.)

As Sproul also points out, in the end, some will receive grace from God, and some will receive justice. But no one ever will ever receive injustice. (No, everyone experiences God's grace and everyone has already experienced God's justice.)

The key to grasping this is 1) understanding the difference between justice and grace and 2) an awareness of what our sinfulness actually deserves from a righteous and holy God.

If you’ve struggled with this objection, you’re not alone. In fact, in Romans 9:14–15, Paul anticipates the objection that grace not given to all equally is unjust:

What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! For He says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’

There is nothing unjust about giving mercy to some, (Waaait. The author was explaining the difference between justice and grace, but now has switched to mercy.)

and giving mercy to some in no way diminishes the justice deserved by others, as Sproul explains:

If God decides to pardon one guilty person, that does not mean that those He does not pardon somehow become any less guilty.

God’s grace is freely given—(Hmm. Back to grace...)

not to those who are owed it, but to those who aren’t. No one can say that justice demands they be given something they didn’t earn; and if someone gives an undeserved gift to one, in no way is he required to give the same gift to all. 

(Tit. 2:11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.

He. 2:9 ...he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.)

As Sproul concludes, this is the beauty and wonder of grace. This is the source of our awe, our gratefulness, our adoration of a God whose gracious, undeserved love saved his enemies at great cost to himself.

(The justice of God is not a legal process. There is no witnesses or testimony, there is no "innocent until proven guilty." There is no jury or prosecutor. The justice of God is simply the already existent condemnation to death of the entire race because of Adam's sin. They are already sentenced.)

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