Many ways to one God? (part 2)

Having committed myself to heresy in the eyes of my evangelical friends (see previous post), I'd like now to look at some of Jesus' words and other biblical passages that shed light on the subject.

Insiders and outsiders?

The Old Testament is full of people who were apparently blessed by God and counted as righteous despite not being part of the mainline Judaic faith: Melchizedek (Gen 14), Moses' father-in-law Jethro, Rahab (Joshua 2), probably Job, possibly Naaman, arguably Ruth...

Isaiah 19:25 contains a startling prophecy concerning Israel's enemies Egypt and Assyria: 'The LORD Almighty will bless them, saying, "Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance."' Of course this may mean that they will be blessed by coming to faith in Christ, but it does show that God works outside the box of who his people think are the insiders and outsiders.

The will of God and the law of love

Moving to the gospels, Jesus clearly says "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven" (Matt 7:21). So not all professing Christians will necessarily enter the kingdom, but all those who obey God will.

Okay, but how does one obey God's will? Jesus' story of the Sheep and the Goats in Matthew 25 gives one pretty clear answer:

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?...'
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' (Matt 25:34-40)

In this account, it's not whether or not someone called themselves a Christian that matters, but whether they truly lived as one - quite probably without realising - by loving Christ through loving other people.

Similarly Jesus says 'anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward' (Mark 9:41) and 'anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward' (Matt 10:41).

Jesus' story of the Rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16 also underscores the point that entry to the kingdom is linked with our treatment of our fellow man - i.e. our love. The rich man (who in that society is likely to be religious) lives in luxury yet doesn't lift a finger to help the poor beggar Lazarus at his gate; when they both die he's taken to hell and Lazarus, who's made no profession of faith as far as we know, is taken to heaven.

The Beatitudes of Matthew 5 also give a surprising perspective on who belongs in God's kingdom: the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the pure in heart, the peacemakers. Again, there's nothing to say here that these are particularly religious people, ones who have prayed a particular prayer or accepted a particular belief. It is about their hearts, their attitudes, their whole lives.

'Sheep that are not of this sheep pen'

Backing up the Old Testament stories of non-Jews who God counted as righteous, there is the Roman centurion whose faith Jesus commends above any he's found in Israel (Luke 7), the Canaanite woman whose daughter Jesus heals because of her faith (Matt 15), the Samaritan woman at the well to whom Jesus reveals that he is the Messiah (John 4), and Cornelius the God-fearing gentile centurion in Acts 10. Jesus says in John 10:16, 'I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.'

Paul writes in Romans 2:13-15 'it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law... they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts'. This is not an easy passage, but it suggests that those who do not know the Bible or the Christian faith still know in their hearts what is right and wrong, and therefore can be oriented to God without yet knowing the full truth of Christ.

Saviour of all?

Finally, there are two passages in 1 Timothy that suggest that salvation is wider open than we often imagine (emphasis added): 'God our Saviour... wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men.' (1 Tim 2:3-6). And even more provocatively, 'we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, and especially of those who believe' (1 Tim 4:10). Read that last sentence again if you didn't get the full impact.

Of course, all this does not make a compelling, watertight biblical case that non-Christians 'go to heaven' (in popular parlance)... but it does at least suggest that our accustomed criteria for judging who's in and who's out may be too narrow. In any case, we'd do well to leave such judging to someone better placed to make it: to quote Abraham, 'Will not the Judge of all the Earth do right?' (Gen 18).