Can you get to heaven without Jesus
Can you get to heaven without Jesus
In talking to many people about their eternal destiny, a common question of people on the bubble of heaven and hell is: What about people who never heard about Jesus, will they go to heaven or hell?
Let’s talk about this question in this week’s blog.
What about the person who lived their whole life in a remote place on our vast planet and never heard of the saving grace offered through Jesus Christ. There are two witnesses that will either condemn or sanctify each man, woman, and child who lived and never heard the Gospel. Those two witnesses are Creation and Conscience. We find these two witnesses in chapters 1 and 2 of the book of Romans.
Whether a person who is living at the far ends of the earth has or has not heard of the Gospel saving message of Jesus Christ as man’s Redeemer, they cannot escape the two witnesses of Creation and Conscience as there judge.
Creation confirms the fact that there is a creator. Stand by an ocean, at the base of a mountain, or under the starry sky. One has to wonder where this magnificent beauty and awe came from and why is it here? Why am I here? What is the meaning of life? Deep questions for sure, questions we need to ask, and questions we should seek the answers to. As an engineer I’m fascinated by how things go together and how they work. Have you ever looked at the intricacies of the human body? I recently hurt my back and took a few trips to my Chiropractor. During my last visit he was showing me a nerve diagram of the human body. We have a super highway of nerves running through our body. We have ~ 37 miles of nerves running through our body. Our brain has approximately 86 Billion neurons! These are amazing numbers! What make this even more fascinating is how the nerves cross over our body. Half our nerves go to the right side of our body and the other half go to the left side to protect the body if something bad where to happen (like a stroke). This type of advanced design only occurs prior to creation. It cannot be happenstance like evolution. We are far too complex of a design! It’s a futile argument – evolution. All of God’s glorious creation is a witness testifying of a Creator. God’s Word confirms this thought and logic in Romans chapter 1 and verse 20. God’s Word reads – For since the creation of the world His (God’s) invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.
As an engineer writes the rules for a design, the instruction manual. He determines the maintenance intervals, the limits and terms of use, and the product lifecycle. If the end user does not follow the instructions he is not able to claim damage under warranty. So it is also with God’s creation. He designed us in such a way that we (the things he made) understand His invisible attributes, even His eternal power and Godhead, so we are without excuse. At the end of our life when we meet God face to face, whether we heard of Jesus or not, we need to answer to witness #1 – creation. We were created to understand God and His eternal power and Godhead. Did we and did we live our life accordingly? There will be no room for excuse making if we did not.
Our God is a gracious God. He provides a second chance at redemption. Even as little children we have the still small voice telling us whether the act we are about to do is good or bad. There is that warning of our conscience telling us it is wrong to sneak a piece of chocolate out of our brother’s Easter basket. Do we succumb to the temptation and steal our brother’s chocolate, or do we heed the voice of reason and do the right thing? The Bible tells of the second witness – Conscience. In Romans chapter 2 we learn more about this witness. In the second part of verse 15 of chapter 2 we read, ‘their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them. God has designed us with an advanced warning system so we would know right from wrong. This warning system is called our conscience. Since we serve a loving God who wants us to live with Him in eternity, He created us with this warning system called conscience to protect us.
In the Old Testament in the book of Deuteronomy the 19th chapter verse 15 states, One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established. So whether a person has heard of Jesus or not they will be judged by the minimum of two witnesses God requires for a valid judgement – Creation and Conscience. Did they heed God’s invisible attributes – His eternal power and Godhead or did they ignore God? And likewise with their inner thoughts, did they obey their conscience? Eternity is calling every man, woman, and child. How are you doing with these two witnesses? If you’re like me, not very good.
I find it very important to live a holy life. It’s next to impossible for us to do so. We need to trust in, cling to, and rely on Jesus for our salvation. Let’s focus on how we can draw closer to our Creator and Savior, the LORD Jesus Christ. Let’s be sure we are sharing His Story with our family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers so those we know will understand God’s plan of salvation through His Son Jesus.
Can you get to heaven without Jesus? It’s a chance not worth taking.
-Ron Jones
Director of Men’s Ministry
