Essay
57 (1-24-05)
ARE SOME PAGANS JUSTIFIED BY
FAITH?
This essay could be titled "Some Unbelievers Believe" - and to explain
what I mean by that may help you see where I am going with this. If I used
this title, it would be important to distinguish between an unbeliever and
a disbeliever. Disbelievers - those who reject the light God gives them,
in whatever form it comes - will not of course believe so long as they
have a rejecting heart.
Some unbelievers - those who have not yet heard the gospel and therefore
have not rejected it - may be "believers" in that they faithfully respond
to such light as they have, even when it is not yet the light of Christ.
This calls for a definition of faith. In the larger scope of Scripture
faith is to be seen, not as belief in certain doctrines or propositions or
a system of religion, but as a sincere disposition of the heart toward
God. It means to have a heart for God, and to respond to whatever light
(knowledge of God) one has.
As Christians we think of faith as trust in a Person, Jesus Christ, and in
such propositions as his death, burial, and resurrection. But I am saying
in this essay that there is a faith that anticipates and under girds
Christian faith. It is what Paul calls "the spirit of faith" in 2 Cor.
4:13 and "the law of faith" in Rom. 3:27. It is the essence of faith that
is defined in Isa. 66:2: "On this one will I look, on him who has a humble
and contrite spirit, and trembles at my word."
There are those with "the spirit of faith" - those with a heart for God,
of humble and contrite hearts who reverence God to the extent that they
know him - who are "believers" while they are yet "unbelievers."
So, I return to the title I chose for this essay and ask if there are not
some pagans - outsiders, strangers to any Judeo-Christian revelation - who
are justified by faith? Are there not those out there who have a heart for
God - a heart faith or the spirit of faith - and who are walking by such
light as they have, even if it is not yet gospel light?
All justification (salvation) in the Bible - both Old and New Testaments -
is by faith. If the thief on the Cross was justified, it was by the same
faith by which Abraham was justified. No one has ever been made right with
God - which is what justification means - by his own goodness, merit, or
works. And yet all those justified by faith expressed that faith in
obedience and good works.
Cornelius, whose story is told in Acts 10, is a classic example of a pagan
justified by faith. He was a Gentile, a pagan, and not yet a believer in
Christ. And yet he was a "believer" in that he was a devout man who prayed
to God (Acts 10:2), and in verse 22 he is called a righteous (just) man,
which means he was justified before God - or had a right relationship with
God. And this was before he believed in Christ, and before he was baptized
and became a disciple of Jesus. And his life was filled with good works
-"he gave alms generously to the people."
At least one prophet anticipated that there might be many Cornelius's:
"From the rising of the sun, even to its going down, my name shall be
great among the Gentiles" (Mal. 1:11). The prophet makes it clear that God
has revealed himself to all the nations, not only to Israel. I recall 66
years ago when I was a student at Freed-Hardeman College we had something
of a problem with Cornelius in N. B. Herdsman's class. The problem was
that the Bible clearly teaches that Cornelius was a righteous man before
he ever heard of Christ or was baptized!
Some students - and I may have been one of them! - insisted that he was
lost until he believed in Christ and was baptized. That is why he was told
to send for the apostle Peter who would tell him words whereby he might be
SAVED (Acts 11:14). If he wasn't yet saved, then he was lost! A few dared
to point out that we can hardly say that a righteous man was lost.
Brother Hardeman put it a different way, saying that Cornelius was neither
lost nor saved, but "safe." He gave an ingenious illustration. Cornelius
belonged to the Patriarchal Age - like Moses or David - and being on the
Patriarchal ship and faithful to such light as he had he was right or safe
with God. But when the Christian ship pulled up beside him, bringing him
more revelation, he had to change ships, and in that sense he was "saved"
by Peter's preaching. Brother Hardeman made it clear that if Cornelius had
died before the Christian ship got to him he would have died a saved man,
and without faith in Christ or baptism. But it was necessary for him, once
he heard the gospel, to believe and obey it, which he did. This will
always be the case with those with a heart for God - they will accept
further light as it breaks into their lives. This explains why the Lord
urged Paul to remain in a pagan city and preach the gospel, saying "I have
many people in this city" (Acts 18:10). Those who were "his" were those
like Cornelius who would believe and obey once they heard. These can be
called the elect.
Any suggestion that there are pagans who are justified by faith always
elicits the question of why preach the gospel to them. If they are already
saved, why preach to them and risk their rejecting it and being lost? My
answer:
First, it is to misunderstand the gospel to suppose that its only purpose
is to save souls from the wrath to come. Paul labored in the gospel so
that "Christ might be formed in you" (Gal. 4:19), and that believers might
enjoy "the unsearchable riches of Christ" (Eph, 3:8). Even if we knew one
would escape condemnation, we should want him to know Christ and the power
of his resurrection. It is like being on a luxurious ship at sea. A
brother barely subsisting in the boiler room might reach his destination,
but we want him to enjoy all the blessings in the banquet room while on
the journey.
Second, no one is ever worse off for hearing the gospel. Those like
Cornelius, who believe and respond to such knowledge as they have, will
accept further knowledge once they are exposed to it. Those with obedient
hearts, who already sin against such knowledge as they have, will likely
continue to reject. But maybe not, for the power of the gospel can soften
even a heart of stone. That is why we must keep preaching to them and
never give up.
The Scriptures teach us that it is only those who knowingly and willingly
persist to the end in rejecting God - sinning against whatever measure of
light they have received - will be lost. We can safely deduce that all
others will be saved, as Titus 2:11 teaches, "The grace of God has
appeared that brings salvation to all men."
I repeat a proposition that I have often placed before the reading public:
God rejects only those who (persistently to the end) reject him. We may
conclude that God has saved all humankind - every person that has ever
lived - through the sacrifice of Christ, as 2 Cor. 5:19 affirms: "God was
in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses
to them" - except those who persist in disbelief (to be distinguished from
unbelief). The Scriptures never condemn an unbeliever, only the
disbeliever.
The way we see these things reflects our view of the nature of God. Does
God condemn a blind man for not seeing or a deaf man for not hearing? Does
God condemn people for not believing or not doing what they have no way of
believing or doing, having never heard through no fault of their own? Is
not God just? Is he not eager to show mercy? "The Lord is gracious and
full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy" (Ps. 145:8).
Personal
At 86 and 80 Ouida and I enjoy good health and the good
life, in spite of my vision problem - at home and in travel, at our
congregation, with friends (including delightful house guests), and in
hearing from folk like you. We thank you for your concern for our
wellbeing, and for your prayers. We'll keep you posted on how things go
with us. Presently we are planning for an exciting 2005, which I am
persuaded will be a great year for peace and freedom, all around the
world. This will be the last call for the pre-publication offer of $46 for
The Stone-Campbell Encyclopedia, soon to be published. Counting postage we
save you about $7.00. Make out check to me and mail to 1300 Woodlake Dr.,
Denton, TX 76210. Back in 1993 I gave the Restoration Lectures for the
Westwood Christian Foundation in Los Angeles. There was a limited number
published under the title The Reformation of the Church. I have obtained a
number of these and will share them for what they cost me. $6.00 including
postage.
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