THE CURIOUS BELIEVERS

All believers know that salvation comes only through Jesus. He clearly declared, “No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Christianity rests on the truth that “everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). But what about people living in remote regions, isolated tribes, or communities with no exposure to Christianity—those who have never even heard the name of Jesus? Does that mean there is no salvation for them? Two major theological perspectives address this question: Inclusivism and Exclusivism . The key difference is that Exclusivism maintains that a person must place conscious faith in Jesus Christ in order to be saved, while Inclusivism allows for the possibility that God’s grace can reach those who have not heard the gospel in explicit terms. ON THE SIDE OF INCLUSIVISM According to this position, God judges people on the basis of the information that they have. Therefore, if a person has never heard about Christ, God wil...

In Rev. 20:15 , we read a very sobering statement:  “Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.”  On Judgment Day, when everyone stands before God to be judged, those whose names are not in the book of life will be punished. It’s terrifying to think that your name might not be registered in that book! You can lose your spot on a government aid list—but not on the list of the book of life!  But what exactly is the book of life ? And how did people in biblical times understand it? Book of Life in the Old Testament First, we should note that during biblical times, books were actually scrolls . The codex—the book format we use today—came much later. So, technically speaking, the “book of life” is a “scroll of life.” The Old Testament already presents ideas related to the book of life. In Exodus 32:32 , when Moses pleaded for the Israelites, he said to God: “If you will not forgive their sin, then erase me from the book yo...