Doomed!

John 3:16-21

          This passage raises some questions in my mind. Along with another passage from John            that states 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me', I have wondered about the salvation of so called non believers. I find it difficult to believe that Jesus revealed truth only available to those in that section of the planet and at that time. God clearly reveals him or her self in the myriad religions of the world as well as by direct observation of the creations that surround us.  For as  far back as I can recall, I have believed that no one person or group has the entire truth but that we all have pieces of the truth. We all hold our own different perspective of the truth. In this way, we all have something to contribute to the conversation and praise of God, our creator.

          But these statements have troubled me because they seem to indicate otherwise.  I have found some hope in the fact that Jesus did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. Jews were not being told they would not be saved. In fact the Hebrew nation had a lock on it so to speak if the obeyed God's laws with the lens of love. Jesus clearly would tell his followers that mere adherence to laws will not save you. IF you followed the laws of God (not necessarily man) and lived in the light of his love, the Hebrew nation  (in theory) would not have needed Jesus to come to attain our salvation. But God in his infinite love sent His son who willingly died for each and every one of us.  I am sure however there were righteous people who would have already been saved in scriptural views by the fact that they were Jewish, obeyed the law and loved as God has always wished us to.

          I would suggest that  the statement that those who do not believe are condemned already is a true statement that either by out rightly rejecting Jesus or by not living by the principles of God (as witnessed by Jesus' life), yes, one would be condemned. The truths Jesus lived and preached are universal truths that I believe can be found in many religions. The dogmas and rules that followed Jesus  in 'his church' are not necessarily universal truths. Not eating meat on Fridays is not a universal truth. The Assumption is not a universal truth. Primacy of the Roman Bishop is not a universal truth. So many of the man made laws and canons are not universal truths no matter what a church may wish you to believe, no matter how strongly they profess them or  they use them to condemn you. Salvation in my estimation is attainable outside of Jesus (is that a bolt of lightening coming down??) as long as you live by the principles Jesus set forth. In this way, a Buddhist could be saved because even though his good actions may not have come from Jesus specifically, they may be the essence of what Jesus said and lived; it may be by some other name but it may in fact be living the light of Christ, the universal truths of God. After all, Jesus was able to condense down the universal truths to the two great commandments.

            Perhaps what condemns us even more than bad living is arrogance, hypocrisy and fundamental lack of respect for others.

‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgement, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.’