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We Are Made in God’s Image (Gen. 1:26–27). This fact is true of every human being, regardless of how low he may have sunk. God has not only given us physical life (first through creation, then through procreation), but He has also made us rational, conscience-possessing beings with an immortal spirit/soul that will survive death and exist in eternity, either with or apart from our Creator.
In the house of the Gentile, Cornelius, the apostle Peter arrived at a dramatic conclusion for a biased Jew: “God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness is acceptable to him” (Acts 10:34–35). He then did the unthinkable for a Jew, offering salvation to his Gentile audience through the Gospel. From a cryptic—at the time—heavenly vision Peter received earlier (vv. 9–16), he correctly concluded that Jesus was concerned for all mankind, not just for Jews—as all Jews believed. He learned that the saving Gospel was for Gentiles, even as it was for Jews.
Men are still prone to judge others superficially, but Peter learned that God does not do so. In this fact is the Bible’s lofty view of man. God is an “equal opportunity” Creator, and the Christ is an “equal opportunity” Savior. Note some implications of this fact:
- Christ died for every person: He did not die only for a few, for many, or even for most men, but for all mankind (1 Tim. 2:6; Heb. 2:9; 1 John 2:2). Calvinism’s “limited atonement” only for the “elect” is a fatal error. This error was basically that under which so many first century believing Jews labored. Peter learned better in the events relating to Cornelius. Jesus died for all mankind because “God is no respecter….”
- Everyone is a potential servant of God: Matthew was a despised tax collector. Paul was a radical persecutor of Christians. What spiritual potential did professional anglers have? No one has the right to decide for any other whether or not he/she will hear the Gospel or serve the Savior. We are to sow the seed of the kingdom so that it may produce good fruit wherever men embrace it (Mat. 13:18–23). We are to take His saving Gospel to “the whole creation” in “all the world” so that those who choose to believe it and are baptized may be saved (Mark 16:15–16). Everyone has spiritual potential because “God is no respecter….”
- Everyone can go to Heaven: Not all will be in Heaven at last, but all could/can be. God’s ideal Will is that none “should perish” (2 Pet. 3:9), for He “would have all men to be saved” (1 Tim. 2:4). Through God’s grace and mercy, rooted in the shed blood of His Son, He offers Heaven to all who will obey Him (Mat. 7:21; Rom. 5:9; Tit. 2: 11–12; 3:5; Heb. 5:9). “God is no respecter….”
[Note:I wrote this article for and it appeared in the Denton Record-Chronicle, Denton, TX, May 30, 2014.]
Attribution: From TheScripturecache.com, owned and administered by Dub McClish.
