One Pastor was preaching on a radio station this morning and he said so many interesting things about salvation but I will like to know what other people think. Faith without works is dead but can we say works without faith are also dead? Jesus is the way, the truth, and the light and no one goes to the Father except through Jesus. Does that mean Muslims, Jews and other religions cannot go to the father? Is the father a Christian?
I don't think some of my great great grandfathers heard about Jesus before they died but according to history some of my ancestors were very very good people and some made great ultimate sacrifices to save our people. Although some of them never heard about Jesus before they died, they were very good people who feared the Almighty God and the lesser gods. Most of my ancestors worshiped the Almighty God through the lesser gods because they thought the Almighty God is too powerful to approach directly. In other words, instead of using Jesus as the way to the Almighty God, my ancestors used the lesser gods as the way to the Almighty. They never heard about Jesus but they feared and worshiped the Almighty God and some were very good people. My question is, will God save these my ancestors who never heard about Jesus before they died?.
I know Judaism and Islam don't recognize Jesus as the son of God and because of that most Jews and Muslims worship the Almighty God directly without using Jesus as the way. Although Jews don't use lesser gods as the way to the Almighty God like some of my ancestors did, Jews still ignore Jesus so can Jews gain salvation without Jesus? Muslims too worship Allah directly without Jesus as the way so can Muslims gain salvation without Jesus?
From stories I have read, most Buddhists are very good people although there is no God in Buddhism. These people are very good people but they do not believe in a personal God and they do not believe in Jesus so my question is, can their good works alone save them?
Atheists don't believe in God but not all Atheists are bad people. Infact there are very good atheists amongst us who engage in good works. They engage in good works but they don't believe in God so can they be saved by their good works alone?