Three Strikes
If confessing Jesus is the only way, what about those before him?
Pulled from Commentary (halfway down).
Does that mean there is only one way that excludes all other ways? No not at all. Isn't it possible that there are proportionate ways that are subordinate to a primary way? How can I say this? All Christians believe that Christ is the path to heaven (and they are correct), but their application considers only part of the equation, and that causes more confusion than wisdom. Of course Christ is the way, but their math (based on confessing Christ while alive) eliminates billions of souls. Does that sound like something God would do? How fair is that to those on the other side of the world before Christ was born? How fair is that to say, Adam? Did he confess Christ? The fact is this is not the only time you can qualify.
First I ask you to consider those who fought on God's side against Satan's overthrow. What did God say about them?
Jeremiah 1: 5
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
He was sanctified before he was born. These are the souls God has sprinkled throughout time that he can interfere with to ensure the scriptures come to pass. They are here for an assignment. That breaks the rules of free will, which God can't interfere with. This opens some very interesting points... like how God hardened Pharoah's heart?
Exodus 10: 20
But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go.
That's interference. How about when evil was allowed to enter Judas? He was really trying to bring prophesy to fruition, because everyone thought Jesus would bring the kindom in their lifetime when there was still more than 2,000 years on the schedule (bringing us to now).
Luke 22: 3
Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.
That too is interference. Satan was driving, not Judas. The ones God can intervene with are the souls that stood for God at the Katable who have already passed their test. The others have free will.
During this earth age when Christ was in the tomb he went back to heaven and preached to the others who came and returned before him.
1 Peter 3: 18
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
1 Peter 3: 19
By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
So that's two chances, and there's one more. When Christ returns all souls will instantly transition to spiritual bodies.
1 Corinthians 15: 52
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
This begins the Lord's Day. We will be here with full knowledge, and it will be a time of discipline and reconciliation. Souls from other cultures will be held accountable for their heart's positions and body's actions while here in the flesh, and they will be tested at the end of the Millennium when Satan is released for a bit.
Revelation 20: 3
And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
So there are three opportunities for each soul to accept Christ, and since the world follows the beast I doubt this is the time for most. This is the time when you record your true self for deeper review later. The primary point is that because God is the one in charge of enforcing the eternity (that includes all three earth ages), and since Christians believe Jesus was God in the flesh it, should be very clear that anyone who makes it through the first and second earth age, and graduates at the end of the Millennium to reside in the eternity will have done so through Christ. There will be billions that get saved during that time, and in the end there will be some who get filtered out. Each soul may have a proportionate test, but there's more than one "time" to qualify.
Christ knows the heart.
Other nations are based upon religions and cultures that have historical figures who've done tremendous works for their heritage. Nations that will be in heaven. They were critical to their time, and played their part in this age, and many have a solid position in the eternity.
Revelation 21
And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it
Their test is proportionate just as the many denominations under the Christian banner have their same challenges and results. God is fair and just. You can't get any better than that. He is the heart knower. He isn't going to dump all the souls that didn't have a chance to hear the real truth. And He's not going to burn one of his children that were tricked into some cult by their ignorant parents. Yet we live this existence to have a tangible example of what happens when we stop letting Him drive. His plan includes and is very applicable to those that lived outside the scope of biblical knowledge. Still there are others that do know who Christ is and hate him naturally. They will earn their blot just as they would no matter where or when they lived. This diversity in timeline and location placement includes all of us. Me. You. Everyone. Do you have any idea how empty heaven would be if a person that didn't know, or denied Christ for any reason was kept out of the eternity?
The coming great apostasy is a time when people follow Satan because they think he is Jesus coming back, and they will be actively worshiping and supporting and living for him when Christ does return. Of course they don't think he is Satan at the time. They think he is Christ coming to rapture them away, and being caught off guard the churches will endorse him. Ouch! So are all those that thought they were living according to God's will damned in the same manner as a serial killer? I mean if they really believed they were worshiping God and doing the right thing verses the person who hates God and chooses evil? What about as the kid who grew up in a town where generations taught rapture as the hope and purpose of their existence? How about in a town where the ones claiming to know this “God” are the ones training their own kids to strap on bombs and slaughter places of public assembly. This is why we have to focus on our own race and reach out to those we love in hopes they get it. But we can't expect or do much beyond that. It's not our job.
The person on the cross next to Christ who confessed him within the final hours of his many years of crime... Would anyone that knew this man up to the conclusion of his trial ever expect to see him in heaven? What if that person was an elect going through his role because Christ knew he was the one that could be trusted as such an example under crucifying circumstances? We never know when God has one of His own in places we would never associate with a heavenly brother. How many of you would have loved to strike down Pharaoh if you were in the captivity, yet since God hardened his heart doesn't that kind of make him an elect in a very specific role? In Pharaoh's case he worked for the Father in a role that would prepare God's people for their appointed course. The same is happening all around us today. I'm telling all of you that you have no idea who you are looking at? Ever. That is why we trust the Father, and do our best to play our own positions.
Point One: Christ is the reigning King, and His kingdom rules eternally.
Point Two: The plan of Salvation was known to God prior to the establishment of any of the three earth dispensations. Your salvation could have been in the first earth age, in this second earth age, or even in the upcoming 1,000 year Lord's Day… or maybe not at all.