Some of us distrust God because we question the fairness of his salvation plan.
If the only way to heaven is through Jesus, it seems grossly unjust for God to condemn to hell those who live and die without ever hearing about him in their earthly life.
Fortunately, this is not the case.
God’s salvation plan is universally equitable. He offers everyone the same opportunity to live eternally with him in heaven.
God’s Fairness
God made us in his image. Our sense of fairness reflects an aspect of his character.
Unlike us, however, God is perfect. His sense of fairness is more acute than ours, and his judgments are always righteous.
Consequently, God is more concerned with the fairness of his salvation plan than we could ever be, and his determinations about what is and is not fair are more accurate than ours.
God’s Goal
The Bible explicitly states that God does not wish to condemn anyone to hell. Instead, he wants everyone to comply with his salvation plan so they can live with him in heaven forever.
The primacy of God’s goal, coupled with his supreme fairness, compels him to make it equally easy for everyone to qualify for heaven, including those who never have the opportunity to read the Bible or hear about Jesus.
General Standard
God applies the same general standard to each of us to determine our eternal destiny.
He holds us accountable only for what we know and could readily learn about his salvation plan. He does not hold us responsible for what we do not know and could never learn.
The more we understand about his salvation plan in this life, the more we must answer for in the next life.
Everyone who complies with what they know about God’s salvation plan qualifies for heaven.
Those who casually disregard or overtly reject this knowledge disqualify themselves from heaven.
Salvation Plan Basics
Here are the essential elements of God’s salvation plan.
- God is our creator. He is morally superior to us and sovereign over us, i.e., he is holy.
- We are sinful by nature and by choice. Our sins alienate us from God. He considers us spiritually dead in this state.
- God loves us despite our sinfulness. He wants a personal relationship with us, now and forever.
- But God’s justice requires him to hold us accountable for our sins. His mandatory penalty for them begins in the next life.
- This penalty is permanent separation from God and the good things he provides. Thus, our sins render us ineligible to live with him in heaven.
- We cannot escape this punishment because we have nothing of sufficient value to offer God as penance for our sins. We cannot remedy our unfitness for heaven because we are powerless to change our inherently sinful nature and become righteous.
- Fortunately, God makes it easy for us to qualify for heaven, despite our innate ineligibility. He offers us eternal salvation as a gift, not an earned reward.
- To qualify for heaven, all we must do is humbly acknowledge God’s holiness, contritely confess our sinfulness, gratefully accept his forgiveness, and walk in harmony with him as consistently as we can; i.e., we must repent.
- We repent because we trust that God will extend mercy and grace to us based on who he is, not according to who we are; that is, we place our faith in him.
- In response to our repentance and faith, God forgives all our sins—past, present, and future; intentional and unintentional; egregious and innocuous. He also grants us access to true contentment on earth and gives us a free, irrevocable pass to heaven.
- We are spiritually reborn through our repentance and faith, made possible by his mercy and grace.
God’s Atonement
What about the penalty for our sins? If it is mandatory, how does God absolve us of this punishment while still upholding his justice?
This is the stunning part of God’s salvation plan. To spare us from our rightful punishment, he satisfied his justice himself.
The death of Jesus paid the penalty for all humanity’s sins, from Adam and Eve to those yet unborn.
This universal atonement enables God to extend the same mercy and grace to everyone who complies with his salvation plan.
Fundamental Truths
To comply with and benefit from God’s salvation plan, we do not need to understand that Jesus’ death atoned for our sins. If we did, this prerequisite would keep many people from entering heaven through no fault of their own.
Instead, we must simply acknowledge that God is holy, humbly agree that we are inherently sinful, contritely ask him to forgive our sins, and begin walking in harmony with him as best we can.
Complying with these requirements—plus faith in God’s mercy and grace—qualifies us for heaven, even if we are unaware of how the death of Jesus made it all possible.
The fundamental truths of God’s existence, his holiness, and our inherent sinfulness are self-evident. At critical junctures, he individually enlightens us about our moral accountability to him and his offer of forgiveness.
Because these truths are known to everyone, including those who never have the opportunity to read the Bible or hear about Jesus in this life, we all have the same opportunity to determine our eternal destiny.
So, how does this unfold?
God’s Holiness
We infer God’s existence from his natural revelation.
We see the intricate beauty and sophisticated functionality of our bodies, other living things, and the universe at both macro and micro levels.
From these observations, we conclude that nature reveals the power and creativity of an intelligent creator, i.e., God.
We then realize that if God created the world and everything in it, we are his handiwork, and if he created us, he is morally superior to us and sovereign over us.
He is indeed holy.
Our Sinfulness
We are all aware of our inherent sinfulness.
Each of us has a moral code by which we gauge our personal righteousness. Our values reflect the principles and parameters that define our ethical boundaries.
Each of us violates our moral code. We all think, say, and do things that conflict with our ideals, as evidenced by our regrets.
We confirm our innate sinfulness each time we fail to uphold our moral values.
Divine Enlightenment
God prompts us to contrast his holiness with our sinfulness and to consider the eternal implications of this disparity.
He informs our conscience that our sins alienate us from him, that we cannot rectify this situation ourselves, and that, as a result, we are ineligible to live with him in heaven.
But at pivotal moments, God also reveals to our hearts that he loves us, that he stands ready to forgive our sins, and that we can qualify for heaven through repentance and faith, all thanks to his mercy and grace.
Our Decision
Our fallen nature urges us to suppress this knowledge, deny our sinfulness, and live independently of God.
The dissonance between this natural propensity and God’s enlightenment presents us with three alternatives.
- We can ignore our conscience, heed our fallen nature, and defy God.
- We can acknowledge our sinfulness but disregard God’s salvation plan and presume we can appease him on our terms.
- We can repent of our sins, put our faith in God, and reconcile with him based on what we know of his salvation plan.
God condemns to eternal death those who defy him and those who believe they can appease him on their own terms.
He grants eternal life to those who reconcile with him according to their understanding of his salvation plan.
Old Testament Standard
God added a layer to his salvation plan in the Old Testament.
He established a moral code, commonly known as the Ten Commandments, which clarified and, in some cases, superseded prevailing standards of behavior.
He also prescribed a range of acceptable sacrifices that symbolically atoned for various sins until Jesus’ death paid the penalty for them.
Those who knew the Ten Commandments recognized their inherent sinfulness whenever they violated them or the civil laws derived from them.
God bestowed mercy and grace upon those who responded to this awareness by sincerely repenting of their sins and offering the proper sacrifices with contrition.
He condemned those who were aware of the Ten Commandments and sacrificial protocols but refused to repent of their sins and atone for them as he required.
God applied this specific standard only to those in Old Testament times who were aware of his moral code and sacrificial system.
His general standard remained in effect for everyone else.
Their eternal destiny was determined by their response to what they knew about God’s salvation plan through nature and their conscience.
New Testament Standard
In the New Testament, Jesus distilled the Ten Commandments into a few principles. His key followers amplified these truths in their writings.
Those familiar with the New Testament recognize our inherent sinfulness whenever we violate these principles and their related amplifications.
After Jesus died on the cross, God rescinded the sacrificial protocols prescribed in the Old Testament.
He deemed the death of Jesus the ultimate atonement for all sin, eliminating the need for any further sacrifices.
God now bestows mercy and grace upon those who repent of their sins and put their faith in the atonement of Jesus by asking him to be their personal Savior.
He condemns those who are aware of their sins and the availability of salvation through Jesus but choose to dismiss this information, either passively or overtly.
However, God’s general standard still applies to those alive today who never have the opportunity to read the Bible or hear about Jesus.
Their eternal destiny will be determined by their response to what they know about his salvation plan, as revealed through nature and their conscience.
Special Provisions
God is omniscient. He knows when we contemplate his existence, ponder his holiness in light of our sinfulness, and wonder what will happen to us after we die.
At these spiritual junctures, God ensures that we have sufficient information about his salvation plan to make an informed decision about our eternal destiny.
He makes special provisions when necessary.
In the Old Testament, God often conveyed messages to people through dreams, visions, or personal visitations.
The New Testament cites several examples of God sending reborn believers to meet sincere seekers when they were ready to hear the Gospel.
Today, God routinely uses these methods in countries where the Bible is banned and Christianity is illegal.
Many underground believers in these areas report that God initially revealed his salvation plan to them through a dream, a vision, or a personal visitation.
Or he alerted them to an upcoming encounter with a stranger he had providentially prepared to share the Gospel.
Those of us who live in areas where churches operate openly and the Bible is readily available should not expect God to enlighten us through mystical experiences.
We already have access to enough information about his salvation plan to decide whether we want Jesus to be our personal Savior.
However, when we are ready to repent, God nudges us. He makes us keenly aware of his presence and reminds us of the steps we must take to be saved.
Heavenly Diversity
God gave the apostle John a glimpse of heaven before he died.
He recorded seeing an innumerable multitude before the throne of God, from every nation, people group, tribe, and language.
This description affirms that heaven will be home to reborn believers who lived and died in ignorance of Jesus because of geography, era, or education.
We know from another Bible passage that heaven will be home to children who died too young to be accountable for their sins.
Knowing God’s character, we can presume he makes a similar accommodation for those who are mentally incapable of comprehending his salvation plan.
