God seeks to save only a chosen few.

     I have to disagree with the idea that God’s ultimate goal is one of interacting with and redeeming only a portion of humanity. Timothy states in 1 Timothy3-5” 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,…” To make the statement that God is interacting with and redeeming a portion of humanity sounds to me as though God is showing partiality. This is in contradiction with the Bible. Acts 10:34-35 Peter is preaching to the household of Cornelius “34 Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. 35 But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.” (NKJV) In the second chapter of James, James addresses the issue of favoritism.” 1 My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality… 8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; 9 but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.” ( James2:1,8-9 NKJV)  Peter states in 2 Peter 3:9 “2 Peter 3:9New King James Version (NKJV)   9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.(NKJV)

     The question arises: How can those who never heard about Christ be saved? The question puts limitations on God. If humans are saved only after hearing about him, the multitudes, which never had this chance during their lifetime, would necessarily be damned to eternal suffering in hell. Such a cruelty would not be consistent with His love for us, which sent Christ to die on the cross for our sins. If God is all-loving, all-knowing and all-powerful, he must have a solution for those who have never heard about his final revelation in Jesus Christ.

      If all other religions were valid ways to God, the Christian claim that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is the only possibility for human salvation should be rejected. If humans could have worked out their salvation by carefully following any available known religion, God would not have acknowledged the crucifixion of Christ. Christianity would have been a mere alternative religion along with all the others to reach Him.  This makes Jesus only one religious teacher among others. However, Jesus himself claimed to be the only possibility for our salvation and reconciliation with God. He said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14, 6 NKJV).  As stated above He commanded his disciples to go and proclaim this truth in the whole world (Matthew 28, 18-20; Mark 16, 15-16) Hence, we cannot sacrifice the uniqueness of Jesus’ atonement.

      According to Christianity, salvation is provided only because of the specific historical deeds of Jesus Christ in his life, death on the cross, resurrection and ascension. What he did is essential for the salvation of any human being who has ever lived, whether thousands of years BC or currently. The fact is that no human being is excluded from God's plan of salvation. The element that solves this dilemma is the criteria according to which God will judge those who never heard about Christ and grant them salvation. The Bible states that God is holy and will judge humans with justice (Acts 17, 31), according to the available measure of revelation they had and their response to it, expressed through their deeds (Romans 2, 6), words (Matthew 12, 36-37) and thoughts (Hebrews 4, 12). The amount of revelation one has determines a consequent measure of responsibility on his behalf (Luke 12, 47-48).  For those who never had the chance to hear the Christian message or have heard a perverted version of it, it is obvious that their judgment will require other criteria than responding to the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. In Hebrews 11 we can find a whole list of people who never heard about Christ but still are saved :Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, David and others, are all considered heroes of faith, despite the fact that none of them heard about Christ. Faith is the key not knowledge. As we respond in faith to His revelation, no matter how limited it might be. Faith means trusting the promises of God and responding to Him through action (Hebrews 11, 1-3). It is not a mere understanding of the doctrine of salvation. Not only people belonging to the chosen people of Israel are said to be saved, but also Gentiles. None of these people of the Old Testament was saved through their merits, but through the grace of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, grace is retroactive. The object of faith has always been the same - God himself, and the basis of his forgiveness was always Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Whether one lived before or after Jesus’ crucifixion, God’s forgiveness was always granted through grace and not by one’s own merits, and the proper way of accepting grace was always faith.

       Salvation for those who never heard about Christ but accept the importance of grace. The above considerations do not imply that God rejects all those who do not know anything other than their native religion. There have been many spiritual masters who recognized the necessity of grace and the impossibility of attaining salvation by one's own efforts. For example Hindu and Buddhism. The spiritual trend called Prapatti in Hinduism and the Pure Land school of Buddhism focus on grace as the only solution for attaining liberation. According to them, the whole merit for being saved belongs to the god they worship. There are also many tribal religions in which grace plays a key role in salvation. The God who reveals himself in the Bible knows one’s inner attitude and motivation for performing certain religious duties. Any efforts, which aim at self-justification, are of no value, no matter how impressive they might be. The appropriate attitude is one of humility and openness towards God's grace, which he offers unconditionally. These spiritual trends in other religions demonstrate that the Holy Spirit is at work in the world, convincing people of their sin and limitations and turning their hearts toward God's grace. The character displayed by the God of the Bible, we can expect that he will save such people, by the grace available for all in Jesus Christ. They will be saved not through their native religions, but despite them, not because they did not hear about Christ, but despite the fact that they did not hear about him. It will be for their humility and recognition of the need for grace. It is not Vishnu or Amida who saves them, but Christ through his grace, because of their need for grace expressed towards Vishnu or Amida. God can use unorthodox methods to reveal himself to those who are foreign to his revelation in the Bible. He has sufficient means to do it all over the earth.  The most important factor in defining faith is human response to his revelation. Most of Jesus’ contemporaries rejected him because they refused to believe despite all fulfilled prophecies, miracles, and healings and even despite his resurrection. People are given everything they need in order to be saved, but if they refuse the available revelation, they are fully responsible for it and cannot be justified at God’s judgment. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ tells us that humans cannot please God by their own efforts and that God’s grace is an outright necessity for us.  Another question than arises: If people can be saved without hearing about Christ, does it mean that Christian missions are futile? There are two important reasons for Christian missions in the world. First, Jesus himself commanded it (Matthew 28, 18-20). He is the final revelation of God and his message of salvation has to be proclaimed. That people can be saved without hearing about Christ is only a temporary solution, which operates only until his message will reach all people. Jesus came to redeem our earthly life as well, so that we could start to experience his love now, in a personal relationship with him and in the Christian community.

      If the salvation of tribes living in remote areas depended entirely on missionaries’ preaching, many people would suffer eternal damnation in hell only because Christian missionaries did not manage to reach their part of the world in time. In many cases, the disobedience of Christians to go into remote parts of the world would be responsible for that. There are the cases of missionaries that have reached remote parts of the world but did not preach the "right" Jesus. Unfortunately, Christian missions have not always been inspired by love. Therefore, God could not condemn people to hell because followers perverted His message. This would not be at all consistent with God’s perfect justice and love for the lost. If there, so no grace in God and if His grace is not sufficient then all of Christianity is futile, the cross is meaningless.