Commonly it is said that people who hear the Gospel and reject it will be damned to hell. At what point do people become responsible for "hearing" the Gospel and being held accountable for their eternity? If someone gives a non-believer a 30 second elevator speech Gospel, is the nonbeliever having heard the words of the Gospel but being confused/not understanding the Gospel then held accountable for hearing the Gospel and then rejecting it? Or, similarly, if someone/pastor prays for the non-believer to accept Christ at a Christian mission trip, and non-believer does not accept being confused, is the non-believer held accountable for hearing the Gospel? Personally, for me, "hearing" the Gospel was a bit of a journey. It took me a while to understand the meaning of Jesus' death and resurrection.
That is a good question for what if people do not hear the Gospel sufficiently for it is not explained to them properly but someone says accept Jesus and leaves it at that.
But the Bible explains to us why Jesus had to come, and why He is the Savior of the world, and why He is our Mediator to have a relationship with God.
Which the Bible says the Jews had the advantage over the Gentiles for the words of God were given to them, and we have the Bible that explains everything.
I think it would have to be explained to them why Jesus is the Savior so they know what the Bible says concerning Him and if they reject it then it would be on them.
But if people say Jesus is the Savior and accept Him and leave it at that then what can they do with that to understand that it is true.
All other religions basically say that accept it, but Christianity gives you a reason why you have to accept Jesus, and God said let us reason together as to how it makes sense, and prove all things.
Which saying Jesus is the Savior and accept Him leaves out a lot for them to determine if Jesus and the Bible are true.
For God says produce your cause, bring forth your strong reasons, and prove that your religion and god is true by showing the end from the beginning which God told us the whole history of mankind and said no other person or religion would be able to do that identifying Him as the one true God even telling us what is going on now and warning us of it before Jesus comes back.
And many people have read the Bible for a while, talked with people, attended Church, delved in to it, before they made the decision that they thought it was true that Jesus is the Savior, and the Bible is the word of God.
So how can people be expected to believe if a person says Jesus is the Savior and accept Him and leave it at that and go their merry way.
And if they are accountable then it would mean that they did not check it out for themselves after someone said Jesus is the Savior and accept Him and left it at that.
But saying Jesus is the Savior and accept Him does not seem like sufficient enough information for they have to know the why concerning it.
When Peter gave the first message to get the Church going He said accept Jesus but he had other words to accompany it, and Jesus said accept Him but He had other words to accompany it, and when Philip met the Ethiopian man he explained the Bible to him that Jesus is the Savior and the way to have a relationship with God.
It would be like people saying accept Buddha, or Allah, or any other religious figure or god that they worship, and you would think why.
It is like someone saying would you like to join our club but you do not know anything about them, so your response would be what is it about before I determine to join you.
So we have to give them sufficient information concerning Jesus and the Bible so they will know why He is the Savior and that He is the way to have a relationship with God and they can decide for themselves without any shortcomings of information.
And for people that have never heard of the word of God or Jesus still can be saved but cannot be with Jesus until after the millennial reign of Christ for God is a fair God.
Creation testifies of a higher power that created all things, and of His attributes which one of them is love, for He provided food and the means to make clothing and shelter, so the world is without excuse, and testifies of the 2 greatest laws, love God, and love people, the universal law for all of history.
And their conscience bears witness to what is right and wrong.
So if they believed in a higher power and loved people which the Bible says love works no ill towards their neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law, and asked God for forgiveness if anything is amiss they should be able to be saved for they are abiding by the 2 greatest laws love God, and love people, which is what a Christian goes by.
But those with the word of God have the advantage over those without the word of God.
If you give them sufficient information then they are responsible to check it out for themselves and to accept.
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