Exclusivism and Predestination
From a Christian perspective, there are about three ways to look at the relationship between Christ and other world religions.
1. Exclusivism - Jesus is the only way to heaven, period. If you do not respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, you cannot be saved.
2. Inclusivism - Jesus is the only way to heaven. But, all roads lead to Jesus. If you are a sincere believer of any religion, you will ultimately be saved--through Jesus. As C.S. Lewis explained it, God will credit your service to your particular god as though it were service to Jesus.
3. Pluralism - All roads are equally right. Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and every other religion you can think of is an adequate route to heaven.
The Bible firmly supports exclusivism, the first option. Many Christians feel this is inadequate for a loving God. God is all good. But he is not only good. (I'll save that for another post.)
Many would raise the question, "What about a man on a desert island who has never heard the gospel but truly wants to believe in God? He just hasn't heard. Can a loving God send him to hell for being born in the wrong time and place?"
Three Considerations:
1 - Wanting to believe in God, or being a seeker, is not sufficient grounds for salvation.
2 - The man is not innocent. He is a sinner like the rest and does not deserve a "second" chance to follow God. Neither did we.
3 - The man does deserve to go to hell because of his sinfulness, not because of his lack of knowledge. We are not gnostic.
These things being said, the Bible answers this question for us in Romans. Paul writes in chapter ten verse 17, "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from by the word of Christ." If you don't hear the gospel, you cannot have faith in it. So what is the fate of our deserted-island man?
Romans 8:29 reads, "For those whom he foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son" (NASB). This has been understood in two basic ways in baptist circles. 1) God saw into the future and predestined those He would save, and 2) God saw into the future those who would believe and predestined them. Either way, God predestined those who are going to be saved.
If (1) is true:
The man on the desert island is either predestined to be saved or not. If so, the gospel will indeed reach him, and he will respond. If he is not, the gospel may or may not reach him and he wouldn't respond anyway. Nevertheless, it is our responsibility to get it to him.
If (2) is true:
God looked into the future already and determined who would choose Him. If the man on the desert island was going to choose God, then God would have predestined him to "be conformed to the image of His Son." Romans also says that you cannot have faith without the gospel. So, God would also have to direct the gospel to reach that man if he had been predestined because of foreseen faith. If he did not have foreseen faith, he would not be saved anyway. Nevertheless, it is our responsibility to get the gospel to him.
It doesn't matter what view of predestination you hold to, those who are elect will be saved. The question about the man on the desert island really doesn't matter.
P.S. I'm an exclusivist, and I hold to the first option on predestination.
1. Exclusivism - Jesus is the only way to heaven, period. If you do not respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, you cannot be saved.
2. Inclusivism - Jesus is the only way to heaven. But, all roads lead to Jesus. If you are a sincere believer of any religion, you will ultimately be saved--through Jesus. As C.S. Lewis explained it, God will credit your service to your particular god as though it were service to Jesus.
3. Pluralism - All roads are equally right. Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and every other religion you can think of is an adequate route to heaven.
The Bible firmly supports exclusivism, the first option. Many Christians feel this is inadequate for a loving God. God is all good. But he is not only good. (I'll save that for another post.)
Many would raise the question, "What about a man on a desert island who has never heard the gospel but truly wants to believe in God? He just hasn't heard. Can a loving God send him to hell for being born in the wrong time and place?"
Three Considerations:
1 - Wanting to believe in God, or being a seeker, is not sufficient grounds for salvation.
2 - The man is not innocent. He is a sinner like the rest and does not deserve a "second" chance to follow God. Neither did we.
3 - The man does deserve to go to hell because of his sinfulness, not because of his lack of knowledge. We are not gnostic.
These things being said, the Bible answers this question for us in Romans. Paul writes in chapter ten verse 17, "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from by the word of Christ." If you don't hear the gospel, you cannot have faith in it. So what is the fate of our deserted-island man?
Romans 8:29 reads, "For those whom he foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son" (NASB). This has been understood in two basic ways in baptist circles. 1) God saw into the future and predestined those He would save, and 2) God saw into the future those who would believe and predestined them. Either way, God predestined those who are going to be saved.
If (1) is true:
The man on the desert island is either predestined to be saved or not. If so, the gospel will indeed reach him, and he will respond. If he is not, the gospel may or may not reach him and he wouldn't respond anyway. Nevertheless, it is our responsibility to get it to him.
If (2) is true:
God looked into the future already and determined who would choose Him. If the man on the desert island was going to choose God, then God would have predestined him to "be conformed to the image of His Son." Romans also says that you cannot have faith without the gospel. So, God would also have to direct the gospel to reach that man if he had been predestined because of foreseen faith. If he did not have foreseen faith, he would not be saved anyway. Nevertheless, it is our responsibility to get the gospel to him.
It doesn't matter what view of predestination you hold to, those who are elect will be saved. The question about the man on the desert island really doesn't matter.
P.S. I'm an exclusivist, and I hold to the first option on predestination.
posted by Bryan Cirlot at
10:32 AM
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