How Inclusive Is God?

In the comments of my post on Jeremiah Wright (which has been a great discussion, by the way), this statement was made:

The common Christian idea that non-Christians are all damned just strikes me as incompatible with the mercy and justice of God.

The speaker is asserting that the "other sheep" that Jesus mentions in John 10:16 are people who aren't creedal, confessional Christians, but instead are people who are simply good enough, and are trying to follow the "social gospel." I'm probably oversimplifying things a bit; read the comments on that post for a complete picture.

So the question is this: just how inclusive is the God of the Bible, anyway? After all, it says that He's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, right? God is love, right? So He'll let everybody in, right?

That's what we want to believe. That's what is most comfortable to believe. A God who lets everyone in.

But then we've got a Jesus who says, "I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness" to people who have done "mighty deeds" in His name. People who have the reputation and the following. People who are doing all the "right things." And they miss out. Why?

Because Jesus never knew them. They weren't His sheep. We become His sheep by faith. Don't believe me? Ask Jesus. John 6

26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

Before we can actually do anything that pleases God, we have to believe on the One whom God has sent. Short of that, nothing we can do pleases God (Hebrews 11:6).

So God excludes those who do not come to Him on His terms. John 3:16 says it clearly -- "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." Belief is a condition, according to John.

This isn't a new thing for God, though. Cain tried to come to God on his own terms, and God rejected his sacrifice. The rich man tried to come to Jesus on his own terms, and he went away disappointed. Matthew 7:13-14 "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."

Not many people are on the right path. God's justice demands that people come to Him by the path He has ordained. God's mercy makes that path available to all who believe. But it's not an easy path, and the people who actually find it are few.

Posted by Warren Kelly at May 4, 2008 07:42 PM | TrackBack