The World Has Heard
We read in Acts 4: 12,
12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
A previous lesson stated:
"The words of the Scripture here are very clear: salvation is found only in Jesus Christ and in no other name under heaven. It's important, however, not to read into these words more than they specifically say."
Imagine a man in a building that is on fire; before being able to escape, the smoke overcomes him and collapses unconscious. A firefighter finds him on the floor, grabs him, and brings him outside, where the medics take over. The medics rush the man to the hospital, and a few hours later he regained consciousness.
The point is that this person, who was saved, had no idea who had saved him. In the same way, anyone who is saved—either before Jesus came in the flesh or after—will be saved only through Jesus, whether or not that person had heard of His name or the plan of salvation.
Many will be saved that did not know the Gospel. But, somehow knew the law and kept it. Paul speaks of them in Romans 2: 14 – 15,
14 for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves,
15 who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them)
Ellen White says of these,
Among the heathen are those who worship God ignorantly, those to whom the light is never brought by human instrumentality, yet they will not perish. Though ignorant of the written law of God, they have heard His voice speaking to them in nature, and have done the things that the law required. Their works are evidence that the Holy Spirit has touched their hearts, and they are recognized as the children of God.—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 638.
Paul here declared that there are some outside of Christianity who will receive eternal life as a result of an obedience-unto-life principle (cf. Lev. 18:5). For those Gentiles who show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts because their consciences also bearing witness (Rom. 2:15 NIV), it will make a difference on Judgment Day because these people have responded to the work of the Spirit in their hearts.
This verse – Romans 2: 14 – 15 - says that it is possible to do the law, without knowing the law. For the Bible student, this should not come as a surprise. As we read in Galatians 3:6, "Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." The word used for righteousness in Greek is the same word for justice. So, the righteous are just. The "just" are doers of the law, and they live by faith (Romans 1: 17; 2: 13). Now, faith comes through the hearing of the Word (Romans 10: 17). Abraham heard God's word, Abraham believed it, therefore, was reckoned a doer of the law. Did Abraham know the Ten Commandments? No, he did not. Abraham knew the Gospel, but not the Ten Commandments. These were not given more than 400 years after. It begs the question, what Law did Abraham keep?
Even angels did not know there was a Law until they learned it from God. Ellen White says,
But in heaven, service is not rendered in the spirit of legality. When Satan rebelled against the law of Jehovah, the thought that there was a law came to the angels almost as an awakening to something unthought of. In their ministry the angels are not as servants, but as sons. There is perfect unity between them and their Creator. Obedience is to them no drudgery. Love for God makes their service a joy. So in every soul wherein Christ, the hope of glory, dwells, His words are re-echoed, "I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yea, Thy law is within My heart." Psalm 40:8. {MB 109.2}
No one will deny that the angels are doers of the Law. But they were also doers of the Law even when they did not know there was a law. So then why was the Law given? Paul says in Galatians,
Gal 3:19 Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, …
Here the word added has a connotation of being spoken, declared. The word transgression in Greek has a connotation of stepping aside from the path. So, the Law is declared because of our stepping aside from the way of Christ. The quote above is evident in the following Ellen White's quote,
"If man had kept the law of God, as given to Adam after his fall, preserved by Noah, and observed by Abraham, there would have been no necessity for the ordinance of circumcision. And if the descendants of Abraham had kept the covenant, of which circumcision was a sign, they would never have been seduced into idolatry, nor would it have been necessary for them to suffer a life of bondage in Egypt; they would have kept God's law in mind, and there would have been no necessity for it to be proclaimed from Sinai or engraved upon the tables of stone. And had the people practiced the principles of the Ten Commandments, there would have been no need of the additional directions given to Moses. {PP 364.2}"
The Ten Commandments were given - declared = because the people failed to cherish God's covenant. Anytime the Ten Commandments are lifted up is a reminder that the belief in the Covenant has been abandoned. Should we then keep the Ten Commandments or the rest of the law hidden?
Romans 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
When I was growing up, a 15-year-old had to wait until he was 16 to take the driver's license test. Should he hate the law because he is 15? Or, should he wait a few more months until he turns 16? Even those who are displeased with the law will likely wait until they fulfill the requirements. What does the Law require?
"The law requires righteousness,—a righteous life, a perfect character; and this man has not to give. He cannot meet the claims of God's holy law. But Christ, coming to the earth as man, lived a holy life, and developed a perfect character. These He offers as a free gift to all who will receive them. His life stands for the life of men. Thus they have remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God. More than this, Christ imbues men with the attributes of God. He builds up the human character after the similitude of the divine character, a goodly fabric of spiritual strength and beauty. Thus the very righteousness of the law is fulfilled in the believer in Christ. God can 'be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.' Rom. 3:26."—The Desire of Ages (1940), p. 762
Since the righteous are doers of the Law and love is the fulfilling of the law (Romans 13: 10), then it follows that the righteous are loving. Even if these righteous are Gentiles, who have never heard of Christ.
| RR |
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