Saturday, June 3, 2017
What God Wants for Us
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.—2 Peter 3:9
Sometimes the question is asked, “Will God send people who have never heard the gospel to Hell?”
This is based on the biblical teaching that Jesus Christ is the only way to God. To proclaim that Jesus Christ is the only way to God will offend some people. But we proclaim it because the Bible clearly teaches it. This is what we call an essential, a nonnegotiable.
Jesus stated it as succinctly as it could be stated when He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Acts 4:12 tells us, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
But we wonder, “What about the people who have never heard this at all? Would God send them to Hell?” This, to me, shows an incorrect view of God, because the idea is that God somehow would want to send someone to Hell. But that is not the God of the Bible. If we learn nothing else in the Bible, we learn that God loves humanity and longs for fellowship and friendship with us. God doesn’t want any person to go to Hell.
God loves us so much that He put His judgment on His Son, who had never committed a single sin, so that we could be pardoned. We will be judged according to the light we have received. We will not be held accountable for what we do not know. That does not excuse us from all responsibility, however. Otherwise we might say that ignorance is bliss.
God will reveal Himself to the true seeker. God searches for us. He cares for us. And He wants us to know Him.
Dig Deeper:
Greg’s Radio Program
“A New Beginning”
This Week’s TV Program
“The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Part 1”
Weekend Bible Reading
Proverbs 25-27; Romans 15; Proverbs 28-29; Psalm 60; Romans 16
Used by permission from Harvest Ministries with Greg Laurie, PO Box 4000.
