Articles
The Ecumenical Movement (Part 4)
The fruits of the ecumenical movement can be seen when a celebrity or statesman dies. No matter how vile such people's lives were, regardless of the policies championed that gutted the law of moral impact, the eulogies and tributes flow declaring them “safe in the arms of Jesus.” We find comfort in the notion that salvation is easy, and just about anyone short of Genghis Khan will enter the pearly gates upon death.
So, who will be saved and who will be lost? While our own salvation should be of the utmost importance to us, we must proceed with extreme caution when it comes to making eternal judgments about others. In most cases, there are far too many factors to be weighed, and the truth about them is often beyond our understanding. If we struggle to understand ourselves at times, are we able to accurately read the hearts of others? “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, and ... the fruit of his doings” (Jer. 17:9-10).
It troubles us to think about some potential believer behind the closed borders of an Islamic nation or a godless dictatorship. We wonder, “Is it fair if they are lost having never heard the gospel?” And what about our denominational neighbor or family member? “They are so sincere. Will they be lost simply because they belonged to the wrong church?”
First, I believe our attitude should be one of gladness and desire for God to extend mercy and grace as far as He possibly can – without sacrificing justice. But we also must accept that God’s grace comes with conditions and limits. God is the one who has the right to set the parameters of His graciousness, and He has said that Jesus will be “revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (II Thess. 1:7-9).
Secondly, I take comfort in such stories as the Ethiopian treasurer (Acts 8), Cornelius (Acts 10), even Paul’s conversion (Acts 9). These and other Biblical accounts show the provisions God can make in extending truth to searching souls. The true issue here is: Does the person in question truly have a hunger to know God and obey Him? If so, God has no problem in getting the truth to that person, wherever he or she might be.
Third, I also understand that God’s patience provides ample opportunity for salvation. The Old Testament account of the slaughter of the Canaanites by Israel is troubling to many. It may be denounced as rank “genocide,” and the potential seeker may turn away in disgust. But when the promises to Abraham were being “fleshed out,” God said to the great patriarch: “Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace. ... But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete” (Gen. 15:15-16). In other words, God was bearing with these idolatrous, immoral people for centuries in hope that they would repent. But they did not, and God’s creatorship gave Him the right to punish them. And so it is even today.
Fourth, it would be wise to avoid speculative discussions on the eternal whereabouts of others. It is not germane to any other decision that we must make to please God. God will do what is right and just, and we must submit to His judgment. Yes, God says unequivocally, “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexu-als, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God” (I Cor. 6:9-10). We can teach what God says and allow others to draw their own conclusions. False hope doesn’t change anything but perhaps our own feelings, but is there any virtue in relying on something untrue just to feel better?
No matter what anyone else does or where anyone else is, my unwavering focus must be to make it to heaven and help anyone else who desires to go. Leave the souls of others in God’s hands, and be careful not to compromise the truth in order to ease its pain. God will do what is right.
