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Bible Question:
Can people such as the early American Indians, who lived before
the missionaries came to America, or people who are living
in some remote tribe in the world who have never heard of
Jesus still be saved? I believe and understand that God has
put into their hearts some knowledge about Himself. Many
people did not know about the “Good News” until
the missionaries came. I have heard Christian leaders explain
that God has shown His "Light" by the amazing wonders
in His creation of the planets and the human body; if anyone
will recognize and acknowledge this “Light,” then
God will reveal His Son to them. How can this be true since
the purpose of the apostles and missionaries of today is
to tell others about Jesus? Is it possible that they can
be saved by only believing in God the Creator? It seems that
one must believe in the complete Trinity of God to be saved.
Bible Answer:
We have summarized your concerns into three questions: 1) Were
people saved before the apostles? 2) Must one believe in
the complete Trinity to be saved? 3) Can people be saved
by just believing in God the Father or Creator?
You may be interested in a previous
question and answer
that is related to your concerns.
Before The Apostles.
God has saved people who lived before the apostles. God has
used many people including the Jewish prophets to tell others
about Himself and the coming Messiah. Jonah is one such Old
Testament prophet. The people who lived in the city of Nineveh
were wicked men and women and God wanted to save them. So
He told Jonah to go to the city and warn them to repent.
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“Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation
which I am going to tell you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according
to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days'
walk. Then Jonah began to go through the city one day's walk; and he cried out
and said, "Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown." Then the
people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth
from the greatest to the least of them. (NASB) Jonah 3:2-5
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Many listened to Jonah and believed God. God responded
by not punishing them. Now we need to ask, "What did they
believe?" We are told that they believed in God. That
was the turning point. They had to turn away from their numerous
Babylonian gods. Today, more and more people believe that it
does not matter which god a person worships as long as he or
she is sincere. But this is not true, since the God of the
Bible says there is no other god.
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. . . And there is no other God besides Me, A righteous
God and a Savior; There is none except Me. Turn to
Me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I
am God, and there is no other. (NASB) Isaiah 45:21-22
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He says that one must believe in Jesus and only in Jesus.
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. . . the name of Jesus Christ . . . there is salvation
in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven
that has been given among men, by which we must be
saved. (NASB) Acts 4:10-12
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Did they believe in Jesus? We are not given enough information,
but it appears that God has saved people in the past as long
as they lived up to the “Light” that they had.
That is the message of the apostle Paul to some Greek men
at the Areopagus in Athens, Greece.
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Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God
is now declaring to men that all people everywhere
should repent, because He has fixed a day in which
He will judge the world in righteousness through a
Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to
all men by raising Him from the dead." (NASB)
Acts 17:30-31
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