The following "Question" was asked by a member of the congregation at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, and "Answered" by their pastor, John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed by Kathy Shortridge of Billings, Montana from the tape, GC 1301-P, titled "Bible Questions and Answers Part 18."  A copy of the tape can be obtained by writing, Word of Grace, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412 or by dialing toll free 1-800-55-GRACE. ©1981. All Rights Reserved.

Question

Say you have older relatives that were illiterate and were raised in a church where they didn’t really encourage people to read the Bible, its just what they said--the gospel that
they may read for about 15 minutes, and if they were illiterate and just followed the teachings of the church they went to, is it possible for them to be saved?

Answer

There is no salvation in any other name than in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. They’ve got to come to know the Lord Jesus Christ. And that’s our responsibility. You know when Jesus said go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, that was based on the assumption that every creature would be lost if they didn’t hear the gospel, otherwise that command is meaningless. In other words if people could be saved without hearing the gospel then the best thing to do is not tell them right, because then they don’t have the choice. Do you understand what I’m saying?

So, I think that even in a situation where you have a pagan person. I believe if they live up to the light that God gives them, and they desire to know the truth, that God will bring into their life the truth of Christ. Now maybe in that church the truth of Christ came through. I don’t know, but they would have to believe I think, In the Lord Jesus Christ. In Acts 17 Paul says, "In the time of this ignorance the Lord overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because he has sent Christ to judge the world."

Question (continued)

Well, if they believe that being baptized as a baby, and making their first communion and going to confession, and receiving communion is receiving Christ and they believe this, but they were illiterate and they lived out away from a large town or something?

Answer (continued)

Only the Lord knows the answer to that. Because if they were trusting in their baptism for salvation, if they were trusting in their communion for salvation, if they were trusting in the church for salvation: there’s no salvation there. But if through that they saw that Christ was salvation, then they are saved. But only God knows that, perhaps. That’s a hard one isn’t it, you know everybody has that problem. We all have relatives that we would deeply want to believe are with the Lord in heaven and not in eternal hell. But we cannot alter the doctrines of the Word of God to accommodate our feeling. That is why, and I said this on Sunday night, doctrines like soul sleep and universalism, which says everyone ultimately gets saved, are so popular because they appeal to the emotions. But we can’t build our theology on emotion. And if you understand the significance of Romans 1, you know that if any man goes into eternity without Christ, he is without what? He’s without excuse--because he had that
opportunity and that is why that is such and important section of scripture.

Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "MacArthur’s Questions and Answers" by:

Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
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