So it was mildly amusing when, while I was at dinner with her, my friend Beth texted me a theological question, completely out of the blue. She asked "When Jesus comes back, will those who were alive before Jesus was born (and thus had no opportunity for salvation through Him) be raised from the dead along with those who were/are saved? Would it depend on their righteousness during their lifetime?"
That's a big awesome question. There are many who say that Jesus did reveal Himself in OT times, that He was the cloud/pillar in Exodus and He rescued Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego (yeah, I just spelled those without looking them up. Boom) from the furnace, etc. But the more I thought through this, I don't see how this would make them righteous in God's sight, which is what Jesus accomplishes on the cross (2 Corinthians 5:21). And it's hard to imagine heaven without Abraham, David, Moses and the likes; actually it's Biblically impossible, for Matthew 8:11 says that Abraham, Jacob and Isaac will be at the feast in the kingdom of heaven. So, is it possible that God Himself declared His followers righteous somehow? Abraham was declared righteous by God in Genesis 15:6, years before he passed the test of whether or not Isaac was his idol before God (Genesis 22). With Abraham, God established a covenant, and the Old Testament law was given only after the context of this covenant. This further demonstrates that salvation is not and cannot be through works, but only through faith. And for how this works for those before Christ, we turn to Romans 3, verses 21-26
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift,through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
This says that God had "divine forbearance", in that He passed over sins in order to allow for the justification of those in Christ. It's all complicated, and it was great to have to think through these things.
Beth then said Beth, "Thanks! I knew you would have something to say. It just popped into my head while I was reading. So another connected question: do you think that God predestines people first, or that he knows who will choose Him so then He predestines those people?"
This is a classic question. Perhaps THE question: does God choose us or do we choose Him? I have to say that from what I've read and learned of God and of man, it is impossible for us to choose God. We are too full of sin; we are completely and totally depraved. We do not know what's best for us. As John Newton said, "I am not what I ought to be". I know that without the Holy Spirit, I would not have chosen God. Why would I? Without being awakened to the need for a Savior, why would I seek one? Writes Charles Spurgeon, "'But,' says someone, 'He foresaw that you would have faith; and, therefore, He loved you.' What did He forsee about my faith? Did He foresee that I should get faith myself, and that I should believe on Him of myself? No; Christ could not forsee that, because no Christian man will ever say that faith came of itself with the gift and without the working of the Holy Spirit" Further, "but if God enters into covenant with sinful man, he is then so offensive a creature that it must be, on God's part, and act of pure, free, rich, sovereign grace"
So then Beth said, "But how is that fair to people who He doesn't choose? And why didn't He choose them? Btw if I'm bothering you, we can talk about this some other time. And thank you! This is so cool to learn about. I am reading about Calvinism now :) "
This is funny, because this deals exactly with the last point of Killing Calvinism, scoffing at non-Calvinists. Greg Dutcher writes of his Arminian friend asking him to just acknowledge that some of this stuff is messy and emotionally uncomfortable. Because it is. To believe that there are people who were created but who will not be called into salvation is something I do not claim to understand. I don't think that's fun. I don't like that I believe I have friends who will go to hell. That's devastating. And we should be devastated by that. But ultimately, I don't think we can know the answer to these questions. As Isaiah writes,
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts. 55:8-9
Tozer says it like this, "The believing man does not claim to understand. He simply falls to his knees and whispers, 'God'"
I think the best answers to the hard questions are not necessarily looking for God to answer our every tough issue, but instead to immerse ourself in His character. Even if you do nothing but look through the Psalms, you will learn a great deal about who God is, according to the praise that was written to Him. We learn in the Gospels about Jesus, and who He is.
The more that we concern ourselves with the truth that Jesus, sinless and holy before God, took our place on the cross, and now ushers us forth into the courts of heavens by His grace alone, the easier it becomes to accept everything about the Lord, and to trust that His ways really are higher.
Dear Beth, I hope this is a bit better than the lame scrambled texts I sent you while I was more concerned with eating sweet potato fries and eavesdropping on the hilarious old ladies sitting next to Jess and I than talking theology. I'm for real about checking out Spurgeon's book, In Defense of Calvinism. He dedicated a lot more time to study than I have, and explains things far better than I could.
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