1.    Are all religions the same? How is Christianity unique?

a.    Many believe that the objective of all religions is to persuade people to do good works. [Some new religions such as Bahai regard all religions the same.] Thus believing in any one religion will end up in the same destination. But this is wrong (Ac 4:12). All religions do not teach the same thing but differ at key points.

b.    Christianity is unique in perspective:

• While all other religions are human attempts to reach God by good works, Christianity is God's act to reach humans by His grace. We believe that man has no ability to be perfect to please God so good works cannot save man from sin. [However, to do good is the moral responsibility of man and is an indication that the person is saved.]

c.    Christianity is unique in fact:

(1)    focal point of Christian experience is Jesus Christ (who claimed Himself God, Jn 14:6, Mt 7:13)
(2)    objective reality (e.g. resurrection of Christ) behind subjective experience
(3)    universality of experience of rebirth and assurance of salvation

d.    Religious tolerance does not mean equal validity of truth.

a.    Biblical truth concerning salvation:

(1)    No one is innocent:

(a)    All men know God since He has revealed Himself through nature (Ro 1:18-20). No one can plead ignorance as an excuse for denying God.
(b)    Since all men commit sin, they are not innocent. They deliberately distort or reject the knowledge of God.

(2)    Salvation only through Jesus:

• No one can come to God except through Jesus Christ (Jn 14:6).

(3)    Everyone has opportunity to repent (Jn 7:17):

• Examples of non-Jews who knew God and were accepted by God: Rahab (Jos 2:9, Heb 11:31), Naaman (2Ki 5:15-19), Ethiopian eunuch (Ac 8), Cornelius (Ac 10).

(4)    Fair judgment of God:

• God never condemns innocent people and will judge fairly (Ac 17:31). God is love (1Jn 4:8). God is just (Job 34:12).

(5)    People who receive salvation include OT saints (who did not know about Jesus) and NT saints (who accepted Jesus)

b.    How was it possible to receive salvation without knowing Jesus, such as OT saints?

(1)    One possibility: OT saints looked forward to the Messiah (manifested in the act of animal sacrifices) while NT saints look back at the Messiah.
(2)    Another possibility: All OT saints believed God (took God at His word) and obeyed God (exercise faith in the provision for salvation which God revealed), eg. offer animal sacrifices.
(3)    For them, the sacrifice of Jesus was the ground of their salvation even before the event took place because time is not a constraint in God's perspective. God would regard them as righteous in view of the death of Jesus which occurred later in history.

c.    Saving faith probably involves 3 elements:

(1)    Seek God: The Bible says that all who seek God will find Him (Dt 4:29, Pr 8:17, Jer 29:13, Mt 7:7)
(2)    Repent own sins (Is 55:6-7, Ro 2)
(3)    Believe God and exercise faith in whatever God reveals. [In OT, offer sacrifices; in NT, accept Jesus.] For those who never heard the gospel, this may be the knowledge of what is right on the basis of their conscience.

d.    It is possible that people who never heard the gospel will all be condemned because no one is innocent and everyone is responsibility for his/her own sins. But it is also possible that some of them (including infants who died, see David's saying in 2Sa 12:23) may be saved.

e.    One suggestion is that they may be judged according to their God-given conscience or moral standard (Ro 2:12-16). Another suggestion is that God may give them extraordinary conscience (including dying infants) just before death to decide whether they would accept Jesus. In all cases, salvation is still grounded in the sacrifice of Jesus.

f.    Who then is saved? Answer: Only God knows. While this question has no definitive answer, it is important for each person to have assurance of one's own salvation. To speculate about others is worthless, even harmful. Jesus says that only a few would be saved (Mt 7:13-14). But when the disciples asked Jesus about comparative numbers, His answer was "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door," (Lk 13:23-24) implying: "Mind your own business!"

a.    Jews are an elected race. The election is based on the covenant between God and Abraham.

God promised:
(1)    to make him great (Gen 12:2)
(2)    to make his descendants a great nation (Gen 12:2)
(3)    to dispense God's blessings to the whole world through him (Gen 12:3)

b.    Jews are chosen to be a tool of God to fulfil His eternal plan and kingdom. The wish of God is to save everyone (2Pe 3:9).

c.    God does not favour one race and the gospel is for the whole world (Ac 10:34-35).

d.    Jews endure more sufferings in history than most other races.

a.    Slogan of humanism: "Man is the measure of all things." (Greek philosopher Protagoras)

b.    Religion: There is no God and no salvation.

• Humanists denied the need of man's reliance on the supernatural God.

c.    Philosophy: Moral values originate from human experience; emphasize reason and intelligence, not faith.

• We cannot be perfect because we do not have the moral ability to be perfect.

d.    Mankind: Value the preciousness and dignity of the individual and the freedom of choice.

• Although humanism affirms human goodness such as honesty, justice, love yet they do not believe in an absolute standard (originated from God) and thus fall back on a relative morality.

e.    Society: Emphasize targets of civil liberties, open and democratic society, separation of church and state, economic well-being for all individuals, moral equality without discrimination.

• These are valuable suggestions but overemphasize human rights and freedom without responsibility.

f.    Science (technology): Science is the key to human progress and the ultimate solution to all human problems -- a science religion.

• Although man achieves technological improvements, human heart is still void. Many problems such as the family and juvenile delinquency cannot be solved.

g.    Modern humanism and Satanism have similar definition of man. Both attempt the divination of man in order to escape from human finitude. Both deny the Creator-creature distinction.

• Van Til uses the analogy of a secret treaty between the humanist's two worlds: the realm of science and the realm of mystery.

h.    New Age Movement (a mixture of humanism and eastern mysticism) is the modern representative of such an attempt.
 
 

Reference: Jerry H. Gill (1985): Faith in dialogue, a Christian apologetic.

There are 4 positions on who can be saved.

(1)    exclusivism - traditional posture:

• Christianity is the only true religion; all the others, no matter how inspiring and/or influential, are either misleading or diabolical because non-Christian religions are human attempts to reach God while Christianity is God's act to reach humanity
• Difficulties:
• difficult to explain how the true believers of OT are to be counted among the redeemed. (usually handled by saying that they looked forward to the Messiah, while we look back at him) Heb 11: redemption of OT saints is by their faith, ie. their capacity to trust God amidst their contemporary circumstances.
• those never heard the gospel (extreme Calvinistic view of election, wherein God's grace is essentially arbitrary) Ro 2: Gentiles know what is right on the basis of their conscience and are justified or not, accordingly
• difficult for the notion of what constitutes actually hearing the Christian message. Certainly simply being exposed to certain "facts", as pieces of information about Jesus' life is not sufficient.

(2)    inclusivism or syncretism:

• All religions are essentially equal in value, each representing a different way of reaching God; many paths, one goal. Another form of this posture maintains that deep within each of the (major) religions lies a common core that constitutes the real truth about God, the world, and humanity.
• Difficulties:
• ignores important differences among religions

(3)    pluralism or cultural relativism:

• accepting the reality and viability of each (major) religions while at the same time maintaining the unique irreducibility of each
• All who live in meaningful and faithful relationship with God do so on the basis of this "Christ principle" (the principle of God's sacrificial love, as expressed in Jesus Christ)
• There are persons who actually practise different religions with a deep spiritual commitment to divine truth.
• possibility of true faith existing outside of the Christian religion while at the same time maintaining the universality and uniqueness of the Christ principle.

(4)    universalism: everyone will be saved (not in Gill's book)

Reference: John S. Feinberg (1981): "Salvation in the OT," in John S. Feinberg and Paul D. Feinberg, eds. (1981): Tradition and testament.

(Note: Dispensationalism)

• OT saints were saved by faith: the plan of salvation has been the same from the beginning until now: by grace through faith
• Christ's work is the ground of redemption for all ages.
• No one comes to God except by Jesus (Jn 14:6), including OT saints
• 2Pe 1:11-12, Heb 11:13 OT believers knew about a coming suffering Saviour and the promise but not about Jesus of Nazareth
• Abraham saw Jesus' day (Jn 8:56)
• Heb 11 OT saints saved by faith
• God demands absolute righteousness of any creature who would be saved but no one has the ability to live a perfectly righteous life (Ro 7:18,24, 8:7-8, 2Co 3:5, Eph 2:1,8-10). Thus God's method of salvation is always a grace method, never a works method.

1.    basis or ground of salvation

• God's gracious provision of the death of Christ
• The blood of bulls and goats could not take away sin, only the blood of Christ could do that (Heb 10:4ff).
• From God's perspective, the sacrifice of Christ is the objective act on the grounds of which God offers salvation in any age.
• God can grant man salvation, even before the sacrifice is performed in history.

2.    requirement of salvation

• No one on his own is capable of an act that is righteous in God's eyes (Ps 14:3, Ro 3:10-12).
• The sole requirement for salvation is that man exercises faith in the provision that God has revealed. Even faith is God's gift to man (Eph 2:8, Ro 6:23, 2Ti 2:9).

3.    ultimate content of salvation

• The ultimate object of faith in any and every age is God Himself. The ultimate issue at any time in history is whether a man will take God at His word and exercise faith in the provision for salvation which God reveals.
• Heb 11 repeatedly emphasizes that each hero of faith did what he did because of his faith in God.
• The repentant sinner was ultimately turning or returning to God. In all times, God is the ultimate object of faith, even today.
• A rejection of Christ constitutes a refusal to believe God's word about Christ; it is a rejection of God Himself.

4.    specific revealed content of salvation

• responds positively to God's truth: believing in the promises (age of promise, before Moses), agreeing that God will forgive and cleanse the sin of the one who in faith offers sacrifice (age of law), or placing his faith and trust in Jesus as Saviour (age of grace, after Christ).
• Ro 4:3 Abraham believed God, in reality believed the promise of God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.
• OT: blood sacrifice is of utmost importance in order for man to maintain a right standing before God.
• In addition to the theme of sacrifice, there is the theme of promises.

5.    believer's expression of salvation

• 3 kinds of elements:
• a.    elements that are constant, such as the moral law. Thus, at all times, a believer is to express the fact that he is saved by adhering to the moral law. Such adherence will not save him, but it will provide evidence that he already has met the requirement of salvation.
• b.    elements that conclude with a given age, eg. animal sacrifices. With the advent of the age of grace, the believer no longer expresses his devotion to God through bringing animal sacrifices.
• c.    elements that commence in a given age. In the age of grace, the believer can express his obedience to the Saviour through observance of the Lord's supper and baptism.

• Differences:
• a.    the content of faith presented to the believer and the expression of his faith differ.
• b.    the believer's relation to the law has changed. God's standards of morality do not change, but NT believer no longer under the ceremonial law.
• c.    NT believer receives a much greater enablement for obedience to God in virtue of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
• d.    union of the believer with Christ is part and parcel of the NT believer's salvation.
• e.    though there was forgiveness for sin in both OT & NT, sin was only fully and finally paid for when Christ made His sacrifice.

Reference: Kreeft & Tarcelli: Handbook of Christian apologetics.

Principles:

1.    Is the standard the same for all times? yes
2.    Is the explicit knowledge of Jesus necessary for salvation? no, e.g. OT saints

Requirement:

1.    Seek God: all who seek God will find Him (Dt 4:29, Pr 8:17, Jer 29:13, Mt 7:7)
2.    Repent: (Is 55:6-7, Ro 2)
3.    Believe (faith): We all know God (Ro 1:20)

How much knowledge of God must we have to have faith and be saved?

The amount cannot be quantified. However, we know (Ro 1-2) that we all have enough knowledge of God to make us responsible before him.

If so, why do mission work? Because we don't know who is going to hell?

Who then is saved?

• God only knows. We only know that only a few would be saved (Mt 7:13-14).
• When the disciples asked Jesus about comparatively heavenly and hellish population statistics, His answer was "Strive to enter through the narrow door." (Lk 13:23-24). In other words, "Mind your own business!" Speculating about others is as worthless, even harmful, as speculating about the exact date of the end of the world (Mt 24:36).

Objections:

• Pagans will then be saved without becoming Christians.