Jesus was a Jew. I don’t know how many times I’ve reminded myself of that since I’ve been here in Israel. As Christians, we like to think we have all the right answers, we know all the right things, but what if we don’t? I should make a little disclaimer here and say I by no means intend on switching religions or abandoning the truth I’ve come to know in Christ; quite the contrary, I’ve actually become a lot more secure in what I believe since coming on the Race. I’m just providing you an opportunity to sit back and think for a moment.
The past two weeks I have been privileged enough to be staying in the home of an Orthodox Jew. Within minutes of our arrival we were broken in-praying for his healing (he had a broken foot…emphasis on the had) and challenged with our ways of thinking. David had no problems with us praying for him-in fact he loved and encouraged it-nor did he have a problem with us mentioning Jesus all the time. What he did challenge us on was why. He presented a series of questions to us, all within about 5 minutes, and wouldn’t settle for the standard 5 minute Christian answer we all were dying to give. He asked us What does it mean to believe in Jesus? To reject Jesus? What are you accepting or rejecting in Jesus? Do you have faith in God or faith in your faith? Can Jews truly go to hell? Are Jews rejecting Jesus or the baggage that comes with him? and then the doozy At what point does a person need right answers to be saved? We all had answers in our heads but it was precisely those answers he didn’t want.
At what point does a person need right answers to be saved?
I lingered on that. And I wasn’t the only one as we’ve discussed it time and time again while we’ve been here. Could it be that there’s more to it than just the John 3:16 answer we’re so used to? I mean, I bet most of us can remember Jesus saying, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me” (Jn 14:6), but how many of us remember passages like this, “The most important is, Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mk 12:29-31)? If this truly is the most important commandment, can you really say that an Orthodox Jew who has devoted his entire life to living out these commandments is not going to achieve salvation? I mean, Christ is the one who taught this and he did say that he and the Father are one (Jn 10:38) and like we’ve established, Christ was a Jew.
Or take the story of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Lk 18). By simply calling out the prayer, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner” Jesus says the man went home justified. This tax collector never spoke Jesus’ name. He merely called out to God in humility, yet Jesus himself said he was justified. But wait, is that possible? To be justified without Christ?
James 1:27 puts it this way, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” This is further amplified in Matthew 25 when we hear of the final judgment. It is not the ones who declared Jesus as Lord who seem to get saved (as Mt 7:21-23 points out), but the ones who met the needs of the people.
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? And the King will answer them, Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me. (Mt 25: 35-40)
If someone spends their entire life loving God and loving his people, but never once declares Jesus as their Savior, never once even speaks the name of Christ, can they achieve salvation?
Honestly, I toss this out as a rhetorical question more so than one I look for you to answer because I don’t feel that any of us have the answers nor could we answer it from the heart without any judging or condemnation. The more I reflect on it, the more I pray about it, and the more I search Scripture about it, the more I realize this is something for God and God alone to decide. Will I see the Muslim teacher-who loved Allah with his whole heart and practiced hospitality to the extreme-in eternity? Will I see David-who wakes up at 4:30 to go pray, with out a doubt loves the Lord, has graciously opened his home up to us, and even runs a nonprofit for orphans-in eternity? Or will neither one of them get to spend eternity with our loving, merciful Father because they didn’t have the right answers?
