As a Christian, we must always remember the truth in regards to salvation lies within the pages of God’s Word, the Bible, and not in the wisdom or imagination or perception or interpretation of man, no matter how godly or upright they may appear. When a Christian speaks to others of salvation, it should never be perceived from the hearer that it’s the speaker’s words defining salvation, but we must communicate very clearly it is God who has defined, in His Word, what brings about salvation. The Bible is very clear as to the standing of the saved and the unsaved (the lost) before God, and only in His word, will we find God’s view (estimate) of the lost.
The Bible clearing communicates the unsaved includes all who have not been accepted by God through a personal trust in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for salvation. Is it then possible to consider all moral and religious people as not being, according to God’s Word, counted among the saved? If their salvation is not rooted in a personal trust in the crucified and risen Savior, Jesus Christ, then yes.
Lewis Chafer writes, “Man is prone to disregard the plain boundary lines of distinction between the saved and the unsaved as indicated in the Bible. He is naturally occupied with the temporal things that are seen, and is by nature blind to the eternal things which are not seen. He is inclined to conceive of salvation as resulting from a manner of daily life, both moral and religious, rather than a state wrought by the creative power of God. An appeal for a reformed manner of life is to him "practical" and "reasonable," and he sees little value in the Biblical appeal for personal faith in the saving power and grace of God.”
In addressing the nation of Israel, Paul writes in Romans 10:1-4, “Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” In these verses Paul addresses the zeal Israel had for God. The Bible indicates in their zeal they fasted, and prayed, and gave tithes and in doing so they thought it would bring about their salvation. But Paul clearly states, they were seeking to establish their own righteousness and “they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.” And despite all this zeal what was Paul’s “heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them”. It was “for their salvation”. Chafer concludes from these verses, “To be saved was evidently, in the Apostle’s mind, more than the diligent effort along the lines of moral and religious practices.”
We can look around the world today and see how people and various religions seek to establish their own righteousness, rejecting what God has declared about salvation in His Word, in an effort to bring about a salvation for themselves and their followers. The Bible clearly distinguishes between the save and the unsaved and in doing so wholly ignores what may seem reasonable or unreasonable in the sphere of human life. Chafer writes, “Here the important issues of conduct and service are not first to be considered. The deeper reality of an entire new nature is rather the primary objective, and no good works can take its place.”
In the following verses the unsaved are described by the words “lost”, “perish”, “judged”, “under the wrath of God”, “blinded”, “in the power (domain) of darkness”, “dead in trespasses and sins” and until the unsaved see themselves as God sees them, lost and in need of salvation, they cannot be saved.
The unsaved are lost:
Luke 19:10 – “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
The unsaved will perish:
John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
The unsaved are judged:
John 3:17-19 – “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.”
The unsaved are under the wrath of God:
John 3:36 – “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
The unsaved are blinded:
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 – “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
The unsaved are in the power (domain) of darkness:
Colossians 2:13-14 - “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Until one accepts Jesus an individual must be considered in the power (domain) of darkness.
The unsaved are dead in trespasses and sin:
Ephesians 2:1 – “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.” Paul describing the believer’s life prior to their salvation.
Paul further states of the unsaved in Romans 3:10-18, “As it is written, there is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one. Their throat is an open grave, with their tongues they keep deceiving, the poison of asps is under their lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their paths, and the path of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Chafer writes, “Men are not said to be lost in the eyes of their fellow-men, or as measured by the standards of the institutions of the world. They are lost in the sight of a Holy God…” He continues by stating, “In like manner, men are not saved by an adjustment to the estimates and conclusions of the limited world of fallen humanity, or by what may seem to them to be reasonable or unreasonable. Salvation is not a human undertaking. It did not originate in this sin-cursed world. It is of God and unto God, and hence moves along lines and under conditions and necessities which are of a higher realm.”
Lewis Chafer writes, “Man is prone to disregard the plain boundary lines of distinction between the saved and the unsaved as indicated in the Bible. He is naturally occupied with the temporal things that are seen, and is by nature blind to the eternal things which are not seen. He is inclined to conceive of salvation as resulting from a manner of daily life, both moral and religious, rather than a state wrought by the creative power of God. An appeal for a reformed manner of life is to him "practical" and "reasonable," and he sees little value in the Biblical appeal for personal faith in the saving power and grace of God.”
In addressing the nation of Israel, Paul writes in Romans 10:1-4, “Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” In these verses Paul addresses the zeal Israel had for God. The Bible indicates in their zeal they fasted, and prayed, and gave tithes and in doing so they thought it would bring about their salvation. But Paul clearly states, they were seeking to establish their own righteousness and “they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.” And despite all this zeal what was Paul’s “heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them”. It was “for their salvation”. Chafer concludes from these verses, “To be saved was evidently, in the Apostle’s mind, more than the diligent effort along the lines of moral and religious practices.”
We can look around the world today and see how people and various religions seek to establish their own righteousness, rejecting what God has declared about salvation in His Word, in an effort to bring about a salvation for themselves and their followers. The Bible clearly distinguishes between the save and the unsaved and in doing so wholly ignores what may seem reasonable or unreasonable in the sphere of human life. Chafer writes, “Here the important issues of conduct and service are not first to be considered. The deeper reality of an entire new nature is rather the primary objective, and no good works can take its place.”
In the following verses the unsaved are described by the words “lost”, “perish”, “judged”, “under the wrath of God”, “blinded”, “in the power (domain) of darkness”, “dead in trespasses and sins” and until the unsaved see themselves as God sees them, lost and in need of salvation, they cannot be saved.
The unsaved are lost:
Luke 19:10 – “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
The unsaved will perish:
John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
The unsaved are judged:
John 3:17-19 – “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.”
The unsaved are under the wrath of God:
John 3:36 – “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
The unsaved are blinded:
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 – “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
The unsaved are in the power (domain) of darkness:
Colossians 2:13-14 - “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Until one accepts Jesus an individual must be considered in the power (domain) of darkness.
The unsaved are dead in trespasses and sin:
Ephesians 2:1 – “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.” Paul describing the believer’s life prior to their salvation.
Paul further states of the unsaved in Romans 3:10-18, “As it is written, there is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one. Their throat is an open grave, with their tongues they keep deceiving, the poison of asps is under their lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their paths, and the path of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Chafer writes, “Men are not said to be lost in the eyes of their fellow-men, or as measured by the standards of the institutions of the world. They are lost in the sight of a Holy God…” He continues by stating, “In like manner, men are not saved by an adjustment to the estimates and conclusions of the limited world of fallen humanity, or by what may seem to them to be reasonable or unreasonable. Salvation is not a human undertaking. It did not originate in this sin-cursed world. It is of God and unto God, and hence moves along lines and under conditions and necessities which are of a higher realm.”