I recently came into possession of a book by C. S. Lewis that contains, among many of his great works, Mere Christianity. I read several of his books a long time ago and felt it was time to revisit what he had to say. (I have a great memory except that it's short.) Happening upon the following passage, it occurred to me that many people have communicated the essence of this message in the past but few have done so as eloquently as Lewis does so I thought it worth while to post here.
Here is another thing that used to puzzle me. Is it not frightfully unfair that this new life should be confined to people who have heard of Christ and been able to believe in Him? But the truth is God has not told us what His arrangements about the other people are. We do know that no man can be saved except through Christ; we do not know that only those who know Him can be saved through Him.
With all due respect to this great Christian believer, (and to brother Dick who, I believe, may be inclined to the same position), it seems to me that sufficient evidence is provided in the Word to show that, in fact, Lewis errs in his last statement. See my notes at the end of the article.
But in the meantime, if you are worried about the people outside, the most unreasonable thing you can do is to remain outside yourself. Christians are Christ's body; the organism through which He works. Ever addition to that body enables Him to do more. If you want to help those outside you must add your own little cell to the body of Christ who alone can help them. Cutting off a man's fingers would be an odd way of getting him to do more work.
Another possible object is this. Why is God landing in this enemy-occupied world in disguise and starting a sort of secret society to undermine the devil? Why is He not landing in force, invading it? Is it that He is not strong enough? Well, Christians think He is going to land in force; we do not know when. But we can guess why He is delaying. He wants to give us the chance of joining His side freely. I don not suppose you and I would have thought much of a Frenchman who waited till the Allies were marching into Germany and then announce the was on our side. God will invade. But I wonder whether people who ask God to interfere openly and directly in our world quite realize what it will be like when He does. When that happens, it is the end of the world. When the author walks on to the stage the play is over. God is going to invade, all right: but what is the good of saying your are on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else - something it never entered your head to conceive - comes crashing in; something so beautiful to some of us and so terrible to others that none of us will have any choice left? For this time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down when it has become impossible to stand up. That will not be the time for choosing: it will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realized it or not. Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It will not last for ever. We must take it or leave it.
Now I'd like to offer a disclaimer of sorts. I'm not formally trained to expound on the Word of God and I don't believe it's something that one should undertake lightly. I can only offer what seems to me to be the truth of the matter as I perceive it from reading of His Word. Therefore, I pray that either because of me or in spite of me, the Word of God would be faithfully proclaimed here.
I'll start with some general thoughts and attempt to narrow it down to the specific:
Act iv. 12 12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
I Timothy ii. 5-6 5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6 who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
Given these two passages (of which there are many more with a similar message) one could argue that the work of Christ has made it possible for all to have salvation. No matter what one does or what kind of life they lead, they have received a "get out of jail" card and are headed to heaven because Jesus has made it possible through his saving work on the cross.
While I personally know people who believe this, I don't because there is more to the story:
I Corinthians viii. 3 3 But if any man love God, the same is known of Him.
James i. 12 12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord had promised to them that love Him.
And of course:
John iii. 16-18 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
While the work of Jesus made reconciliation with God a possibility it appears to be contingent on us believing in Him and, consequently loving Him. How does someone love God without a personal relationship with Him? And is a personal relationship actually required?
Matthew vii. 21-23 21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
This seems to be telling us that the main, if not only criteria for salvation, is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. While it appears in verse 22 that many will know Him, or perhaps more accurately, know of Him and even be able to perform "wonderful works", Jesus didn't know them possibly because there was no personal relationship with Him. An interesting observation is that if this is the case, then the works of those outside of a personal realationship with Jesus, no matter how wonderful they may appear to be, will be considered works of iniquity.
The only other group of people to be considered are, perhaps, those poor souls who have never heard of the gospel of salvation through Jesus. Here, they are referred to as "the Gentiles":
Romans ii. 12-16 12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law; and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; 13 (for not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. 14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15 which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) 16 in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
If it is true that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" Romans iii. 23, then His judgment will be just and we must simply accept that. Perhaps this explains the reason for the great proclamation to preach the gospel to the world, so that those that hear it might be saved.
Finally, we read:
Matthew vii. 13-14 13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
There simply doesn't appear to be any other way to salvation. While God desires that all be saved, it doesn't appear that all will be saved. Those that deny His existence will get what they want, an eternity without Him. Those that acknowledge His existence but do nothing more, may very well suffer the same fate. Only those who 'enter the strait gate" and "narrow way" by, I believe, entering into a personal relationship with Him will see His salvation.
This brings us full-circle back to what C. S. Lewis stated above: "God is holding back to give us that chance. It will not last for ever. We must take it or leave it."