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If those who rejected Christ would be allowed a place in heaven, then his sacrifice for humanity would be rendered obsolete. It is the same logic as in the case of allowing those who never heard the gospel in heaven for this reason. Then all humanity had to do was to make sure nobody knew of Jesus, as this would be the easier way to gain salvation than investing in missionary work.
It doesn't work that way though. From the very beginning, Christians have invested in missionary work precisely because they understood the importance of God's word. The Bible called them to spread the gospel throughout the nations, and the Bible makes it clear that it is Jesus who is the key to salvation. Jesus Himself said that "no one comes to the Father but through Me". (John 14:6)
"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)
Of course you will find all sorts of people, Christians and non-Christians alike, who will claim otherwise. About 2 years ago, the Vatican published a video of Pope Francis uniting the religions of the world. Pope Benedict XVI made a similar statement in a speech: "Whoever seeks peace and the good of the community with a pure conscience, and keeps alive the desire for the transcendent, will be saved even if he lacks biblical faith." And of course it's tempting to tell people that their relatives are in heaven in order to slightly alleviate their suffering. However, all this does not change the truth. Only by accepting God's grace through the sacrifice of His only Son Jesus Christ can people be saved from their sins and rescued from an eternity apart from God. What those who say otherwise have done is to made up their own god and adjusted him to correspond to their own relaities, principles and beliefs.
As far as being a good person, one may very well be according to their own standards (or society's), and compared to other people they may well be a saint; however, the standard is God's law, not other people. And God's standards are of moral perfection, he sees sin as something very serious. Here is some food for thought:
The nicest guy you've ever met, the one who opens doors, helps old ladies cross the street, saves kittens and gives to the poor and yet he has still transgressed God's law, and many times. He is a sinner, like the rest of us, and like the rest of us, he will have to account for all his sins on judgment day. "For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:14)
Now of course God could forgive him, as God is merciful and loving, but He is also a fair and just God. A fair judge would not let someone who is guilty of a crime off the hook because they are generally a good person. Justice demands that one answers for their crimes, and God is a holy, righteous judge.
Early in the Old Testament, Christians sacrificed animals as an atonement for their sins (God introduced the idea of one innocent being shedding its blood in place of the sinner's early on with Adam and Eve, when he made them clothes out of animal skins). However, the practice of sacrificing lambs, goats and bulls for each person's sin was a temporary fix. The next year, another animal would have to be sacrificed for the same person. A more permanent solution was needed, as noted in Hebrews 10:4: "For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." Hence a human life was needed to atone for another human's sins. However, since all humans are sinful, another sin-filled person dying for the rest of us wouldn't work. What was needed was a human without sin. This person was Jesus. His very name says Savior. Therefore, anyone who accepts the sacrifice of Jesus on their behalf is covered by his blood and saved. "Every one who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name" (Acts 10:43).
Jesus was God's answer to a sinful, imperfect humanity. He lived a perfect life, free from sin and sacrificed Himself so that we can have eternal life. So in the end, God found a way without lowering His standards of moral perfection so that we could justify ourselves with mediocre behaviour. Instead, He chose to meet the standard for us through Jesus. It is through His righteousness that we become worthy of heaven. One does not earn salvation, it is God's gift to everyone who will humble themselves and come to Jesus. His blood washes away our sins and we will be given a new life, with new desires. "...if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17)
And this is also what makes Christianity different from other faiths. Other religions are based on man's efforts to reach God. They teach that man must do righteous deeds or perform religious service in order to become good enough for salvation. In order to be saved, one must pray a certain number of times, in a certain manner, wear a particular type of garment or visit a certain temple or shrine. Some require sacrifice and inflicting pain, self-flagellation to show devotion. Others require pilgrimage to certain religious sites, and so on. In other words, they are works religions. A spiritual scale hangs over the head of the individual, with all of the good deeds and bad deeds on each side. They never really know where the balance hangs, and if their good deeds are enough to counter their sins; they can only hope to collect as many of the former and as few of the latter as possible until their moment of death, when they will finally find out. Christianity, on the other hand, relies on the idea that God reached out to man to save him because man was helpless to save himself.
"We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags." (Isaiah 64:6)
Many people will tell you that all religions are the same, that it's all about believing in a god, morality and love, and when one says it like this it sounds all accepting and good, but in reality ecumenism is about division and undermining of the foundations of Christian doctrine. It tries to make one church, but yet it does not truly unite, as one cannot be of the same mind with those who teach principles that are contrary to the foundations of their faith. We can only worship our God, and not other gods. And in the end, opinions will be many, but a Christian only needs one reputable source for godly information regarding salvation, and that is the Bible, which is God's instruction manual for mankind.
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Originally Posted by zhaoyun
Heathenry
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