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[Could Be Me]

Do only Christians get to go to heaven, and are you OK with this?

[jimwalton]

In the Bible, heaven is not a place where good people get to enjoy eternal bliss, but an eternity of sharing life in a love relationship with Jesus. In direct answer to your question, only people who want to spend eternity with Jesus will spend eternity with Jesus. He won't force people there against their will.

You're likely familiar with John 14.6 where Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." By that we understand that the God is the Bible is claimed to be the only true God, and that Christ claims to be the only access door to him. As much as people would like to believe that all reasonable roads lead to God and heaven, there's madness in that method. According to the law of non-contradiction, it's just not possible that all belief systems are equally valid. If that were the case, the person who thinks they're all equally valid is just as right as the person who thinks they're not, which is just nonsense. The religions of the world contradict each other in significant ways. If we have integrity in our definition of truth, it's just not possible that all religions are equally true and are different roads to the same divine state.

But what about people from other religions, maybe people who have never heard? As far as worshipers of other religions that have not heard of Christianity, that's a different matter. We should establish that justice requires that people be treated fairly, taking into account all the surrounding circumstances of their situation (motives, resources, decisions, etc.) We learn from Romans 5.13 that "sin is not taken into account when there is not law." Although God sees that it's sin, and it is sin, there is no moral or spiritual accountability where there was no spiritual input. They will be judged according to the information they had, what they did with it, and their motives behind it. Every judgment will be fair based on what information people had, what they knew, what their motives were, and how they behaved given what they had access to. Otherwise, it wouldn't be fair. So if someone hasn't heard of Christianity, they can't be held accountable for Christianity. But they will be held accountable for what they do know. As C.S. Lewis said, "We do know that no person can be saved except through Christ; we do not know that only those who know Him can be saved by Him."

Am I OK with it? That's like asking if I'm OK with Chicago being a city, or with a banana being yellow. Truth isn't subject to a vote or my opinions of it. If it's true, it's true, and if it's true, the object is to get people to see the truth and accept it, rather than make up another truth that I may be more comfortable with.

[Could Be Me]

I appreciate your well thought-out reply. Thanks!

A few follow-up thoughts... I think your post contradicts itself. You say that the only people who spend an eternity with Jesus are those who want to. Then you say that Jesus is the only way to the Father. But then you talk about the judgment of those ignorant of Christianity, and suggest that they will be judged fairly given their own motivations and actions.

So which is it? Do we have to accept Jesus during our lifetime to be granted access to Heaven, or not? Do we get some posthumous chance to see the error in our ways?

Thanks again

[jimwalton]

The teaching of the Bible goes like this:

The people who sinned before the Law was given were not held accountable for obeying the Law (Rom. 5.13). People are only held accountable for what they're responsible for. If they didn't know anything about the Law, they will still be judged, but not by the Law (that wouldn't be fair). They still sinned (Rom. 5.14), but their sin wasn't breaking the commands of the law. They are judged according to the things they did in this life (2 Cor. 5.10). Presumably the standard that will be used is (1) How much information about God did they discern from creation and their conscience? (2) What did they do with that information?

Now along comes Jesus. He says the whole law points to him and is about him. He says that his death and resurrection, and your repentance, belief, and love for God are the only way to get to God. It's not about being a good person, but about death and resurrection, repentance, belief, and love for God.

Based on Romans 5.13, I think it's fair to say that people who died before Christ was on the scene will not be judged on whether they believed in Christ or not. That doesn't make any sense. But the Old Testament points to Christ in many ways (every way), and anybody really seeking God would be a person of faith in the same way before Christ and after him (Abraham is a notable and often referred to example).

What about people who lived on Papua New Guinea, or South Africa, or Alaska, who never heard of Jesus but lived and died? They will be judged fairly given their own motivations and actions.

What about people who HAVE heard of Jesus, which, frankly, includes most of the people in the world now? Then their only path to God is Jesus. They have heard; they have had opportunity; they can make a rational decision. All who have heard "have to accept Jesus during our lifetime to be granted access to Heaven." That is the teaching of the Bible.

C.S. Lewis's quote is intriguing: "We do know that no person can be saved except through Christ; we do not know that only those who know Him can be saved by Him." It comes from his book called *Mere Christianity* (p. 65 in the old Macmillan copy, in case you want to read it). Here's the "whole" thing:

"Here is another thing that used to to puzzle me. Is it not frightfully unfair that this should be confined to people who have heard of Christ and have been able to believe in him? But the truth is God has not told us what his arrangements about the other people are. We do know that no man can be saved except through Christ; we do not know that only those who know Him can be saved through Him. But in the meantimes, if you are worried about the people outside, the most unreasonable thing you can do is to remain outside yourself. ... If you want to help those outside you must add your own little cell to the body of Christ who alone can help them. Cutting off a man's fingers would be an odd way of getting him to do more work. ...

"Another possible objection is this. Why is God landing in this enemy-occupied world in disguise and starting a sort of secret society to undermine the devil? Why is He not landing in force, invading it? Is it that He is not strong enough? Well, Christians think He is going to land in force; we do not know when. But we can guess why He is delaying. He wants to give us the chance of joining his side freely. I do not suppose you and I would have though much of a Frenchman who waited till the Allies were marching into Germany and then announced he was on our side..."