You know, with the Noah movie
and everything that's been controversial about it, one of the questions
that continues to come up is, you know, what's wrong with it?
What's wrong with looking at the Bible and learning about
God in that way? The question that you've submitted
is no different in that, you know, was Noah saved because
it was righteous? Was Noah saved because God had
mercy on him? Was Noah saved? Where's the gospel
in that? Where's Jesus Christ in the Noah
account? And, you know, God gave Noah
favor and Noah's salvation was secured in the death and life
and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. whether no one
knew explicitly or not. And so now the specific question
that you have is necessary based on all of this that's in the
media today. Your question is, what are your
thoughts on gospel means? Is it good to teach that no one
can be saved unless they hear the gospel? And to that end,
let's ask ourselves a couple of questions. First, we understand
that the scripture teaches that God is immutable. And the decrees
of God are absolute and divinely immutable as well. So that which
takes place and that which God has decreed, for example, redemption,
as we see Paul teaching justification by faith and election in the
New Testament, we see that it is something that God has ordained. And whether, excuse me, despite
how you would view the doctrine of election, We know that it
is, that it rests in the decrees of God eternally. And so whether
it is a free will issue or a divine salvation issue, which really
can't be pitted against each other, it's almost it's a fallacy
to do so. But in that we know that God has an eternal decree
and that that decree is divinely orchestrated. And so Because
it is from God and through the character of God and the nature
of God, it in itself is immutable. So when we see the creation account
of man and woman. human beings, and we see the
commands of God given to Adam and Eve, and we see the fall
of humanity on Genesis chapter 3, we then come to conclude and
understand that as God reveals the fall through the writings
of Moses, then we also see that God reveals the plan of redemption,
which was the purpose of creation to begin with. So we know that
God created human beings with the intent on redeeming them. So that leads us down to a lot
of other questions that we can answer. But for your specific
questions, then, we move all the way through the narrative
of the Old Testament, which points to the culmination of redemption,
which happens effectively historically at the cross. But there again,
we understand then how God works in saving those of the Old Testament
as well as those who are in the New Covenant. It's one and the
same salvation. There is no other salvation except
through Jesus Christ, the Messiah. So Noah was saved through Christ
and Noah was not righteous. The world was wicked. All have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God. That is a very,
very vast chasm of fall. And we are commanded to be holy
like God. So the fall of our original parents
imputed a sinful nature, which we call a depraved nature or
a radical corrupt nature. The human nature is sinful. Therefore,
human beings sin. And because of that, the glorious
holiness of God, which is a display of His intrinsic worth, requires
and demands justice. So God is just. And now we get
into some of the Lutheran theology, Martin Luther, and some of the
things that he struggled with. But then when he read in chapter
one of Romans that the righteous outlive by fate and we see the
justice of God or the righteousness of God being displayed and being
upheld in the killing of the son who is the holy one of God,
then we understand that only salvation Salvation is only effective
and available through the person of Jesus Christ. So, now to your
question. Paul teaches in Romans 1 that
all men are without excuse, for God has made himself known, and
his divine power is known, and his creative works is known.
And because they suppress the truth with unbelief and unrighteousness,
he turns them over to reprobate minds. So we ask the question
is the gospel is the means of salvation in effectiveness through
history as well as through the decrees of God. But then we start
to see in the New Testament that the gospel is effective in salvation
alone. through the preaching of the
Word of God. Now, let me take a step back and say this. The
gospel is not the message of how one is saved. For example,
you do this and say this and believe this and act this way,
then you're saved. The message of the gospel is
the person of Jesus Christ, his essence, his beauty, his character,
his nature, his glory, the decrees of the Father, the obedience.
All of it wrapped into one is the good news and the gospel
is always good news. That's what it means. So, if
the gospel is Jesus Christ, then Jesus Christ and the words of
Christ, Paul says in Romans 10, is how one comes to faith. The
special revelation of Jesus Christ is salvific. The general revelation
of the divinity of God is not salvific. It is condemning because
no one can stand before God one day and say, hey, I didn't know
that you existed. I didn't know I was supposed
to be holy. I didn't know I was supposed to be righteous because
the scripture teaches that God has written the laws on the fabric
of our hearts and on of our minds. And so all human beings have
a moral established code in their own consciousness and we know
right from wrong. And so therefore we're without
excuse. We also understand what it means
to see something that's complex and divinely created or at least
intricately created. We cannot say there is no power
above chance and and evolution, if you will, in a creative sense. And so general revelation is
condemning all men without excuse. Special revelation is the gospel
of Jesus Christ. Then we see the example of the
apostles. The apostles gave their lives unto martyrdom in order
to proclaim the excellencies and the mercies of Jesus Christ,
the gospel message, the gospel person, to proclaim that God
in heaven sent his son, God the son, to come to earth to be born
of a virgin through the womb that he created and then live
in this world and live in this life fully and wholly and obediently
and subjecting himself to the cross at Calvary and then being
raised to life and therefore by Christ's work and finished
atonement. Then all who believe by faith
in Him and rest in Him and trust in Him and are secure in Christ's
righteousness have eternal life and will be also raised to life,
not just in the spiritual sense, but then also in the immutable
physical sense. depending on what you believe
about eschatology. So there must be a special revelation. The
gospel must be preached. How are they to be saved if they
don't hear the gospel? How are they to hear if no one
goes? Blessed are the feet of those
who bring the gospel of peace, as Romans 10 teaches. And then,
you know, some people would say, well, what about those who are
mentally ill or babies or infants? Well, there's a couple of rules
that really should apply when we're looking for difficult things.
And that's a difficult thing. I can't say that it's not. But
one thing that needs to be addressed is that the nature of God is
that he's always right. He's always just. He's always
loving. He's always holy, etc. So what we need to see in Scripture
is there are things that God has clearly shown us through
explicit teaching, through example, through, and I have to be careful
here, through inference in some sense that we can infer based
on the narrative. And then we can also see some
different things that are being taught that aren't necessarily
quite explicit, but we can see a transcending theological principle
that can apply for us today. But one of those areas that the
Bible does not teach about is what happens to children, what
happens to the mentally ill, what happens to those who die.
in infancy, etc. But let me give you some food
for thought. Now this isn't something that we want to create a doctrine
on. It's just more of a philosophical thinking that should be screened by good
theological positions. But let me ask you this question.
In the context of abortion, abortion is the murdering of unborn children
in the womb. And we understand that the life
of all human beings are precious. And I know there's a lot of debate
in the world, but for believers, we understand what the Spirit
of God has taught us through the scriptures. And so if we
come to the conclusion that all infants go to heaven, then abortion
would be the number one evangelistic tool in the world. Now, don't
throw me out. I'm saying this as a philosophical
statement. Not that I agree with that, I'm
just saying. So then if that's the truth, then is it really
that evil? Of course it's evil, because
the scripture does teach us that life is precious. Scripture teaches
us by example that those who used to take the infants from
their womb and babies and throw them into the fire and murder
them and sacrifice them to idols were wicked. And then we also
understand that the heart of man is wicked, which is the real
selfishness and fear and doubt and unbelief is the root of actions
such as murder and abortion and greed and sexual depravity and
other things of that nature. And so when we come to the idea
of wondering what happens to babies, what happens to people
who cannot comprehend the preached word, well, then we have to put
ourselves in this position that we do know. We know that the
Bible teaches that God is always just and right, as I've already
stated. So therefore, what we do is we trust not in the actions
of man, not in what we see publicly in the professing of men, but
what we see purposefully and specifically taught to us about
God in the scripture. And so what that means is, is
that wherever the eternal state of infants are and wherever the
eternal state of the mentally ill are, it's right. It's good,
it's holy, it's just. And so we as Christians, because
we are the children of God, we know our Father and we know His
heart. And so whether we can paint with a broad brush what
the mind of God is, we can say, well, God's this way. We can't
do that because God doesn't specifically tell us that. But God does tell
us that He's always true and right and just and loving. So
if God saves those who are unborn and if God saves those who are
mentally ill, And then we trust in that. But that is a very,
very, very, very small absent teaching in the New Testament.
And so we can't really formulate a theological position on that.
But what we can formulate is that we know without a shadow
of a doubt that if people do not hear the gospel and we're
going to exclude infants in the mentally ill, But I would suppose
to you that we preach the gospel to all people. And what is the
gospel in teaching people? What does it say in the Great
Commission? That we go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, teaching them to obey all I've commanded you, and behold,
I will be with you until the very end of age. And so Jesus
is teaching that evangelism is through teaching of Scripture,
the words of Christ, which give hearing in order to have life. So the rebirth that we see in
John 3 is done by the Spirit, and according to Romans 10, it
only comes through the hearing of the preached word. So it's
not a gospel presentation, which is the preaching of the gospel,
it's the teaching of Scripture, which includes the gospel at
every turn. And so that is something that has to be taught. It is
an explicit gospel. If not, then universalism does
abound, and atonement is universal, and Jesus has already paid for
the sins of every living human being. And so therefore there's
no reason to preach the gospel. We just thank God for all of
His great salvation. and just stay around in our holy
huddles and work on sanctifying ourselves and the people around
us. But we know that's not true because the scripture teaches
us to go and tell, go and preach. Jesus himself said, I must go
preach the good news to other villages, to other cities, to
other synagogues in Luke's gospel. And so when when we see that,
what about those who you would say on an island who never hear
it? Well, according to the scripture,
if they do not hear, they cannot be saved. So there must be a
preaching of the gospel. And the gospel is so much more
than just repent and believe. The gospel is the glory of God. The gospel is what Paul teaches
at Thessalonians, that you were not destined for wrath, but as
objects of mercy, objects of hope, objects of glory. You have been saved through the
Son of God who gave Himself for you. And then the response to
that is that when one is born again, He or she responds in
faith and repentance forever, not just then, but forever. For
many believed in the name of Jesus that day, it says in the
latter few verses of John chapter two. But Jesus himself did not
believe them. He did not entrust himself to
them, for he knew what was in man. No one had to tell him what
was in the heart of man. And then he meets with Nicodemus,
a man of the Pharisees. And Nicodemus makes a profound
profession of faith that Jesus is indeed the divine one come
from God. And Jesus says, you can't see
me, nor can you enter the kingdom unless you're born again.