But what about all the indigenous people, even on other continents. They had no way of knowing about Jesus or the God that we are referring to.
That is what the second part is about. It is very clear in scripture that salvation comes through faith in Christ. The first commandment is also very clear that belief in false idols is a sin too. It is also clear that God saves who He chooses to save. God has already preordained who will be saved - eg who will be in heaven - which also means who won't be in heaven are essentially predestined to go to hell. For whatever reason the catholics call this double predestination and its not really clear why.
Yeah, I know that sounds harsh to modern ears and I struggled with this once too, but then I realized I was judging God, who is perfectly just and is still perfectly loving, and I also kind of realized it was kind of dumb. The issue wasn't with what God does, it was with my understanding of God. People who judge God and think they could do better than Him kind of prove that they don't belong in heaven anyways. That type of pride is ultimately what got satan thrown from heaven anyways.
Consider the following. Imagine Person A walks up and punches Person B then apologizes to Person C for the punch. That wouldn't make any sense would it? Forgiveness and restitution for any wrongful action cannot come through a third party. Imagine an extremely wealthy man who is extremely generous with his money. Gives 10s of billions to charity or something a year. Then that man r*pes a woman. That rich man could donate a trillion dollars to charity and it wouldn't erase that r*pe. He could give a trillion to the woman he r*ped, and it wouldn't unr*pe her. He could follow the to the T the letter of the laws for restitution and sacrifice outlined in the Old Testament and even they wouldn't perfectly cover for his sin. The only means for perfect restitution and perfect forgiveness of sin comes through the death and resurrection of Christ. The God of the universe stepped down into creation to take the place of sinners for the punishment of sin, fulfilling promises He made to Abraham in Genesis. Without Christ, there is no salvation. Without Christ, there is no forgiveness or restitution.
So if I understand you, you will go to heaven if you live a good life? In other words, you don't need to personally accept Jesus as your saviour.
This is the correct way to interpret what Bob wrote and its why I keep saying he's not a Christian. lol. The very core essence of what it means to be a Christian is to wholly cling to Christ and His promises. You actually have to believe that the Triune Christian God is the one and only True God.
What does it mean to be a "good person"? Presumably following the teachings of Jesus, like he's implying right? What are the teachings of Jesus? Is it reading all of what He said in the Gospels and the surrounding context and reading the Books of Scripture Jesus quoted to further understand what Jesus's teachings mean with prayers and supplications to the Holy Spirit to help understand to the best of your ability that God has given you? No, that's "legalism". lol
So what does Bob think the teachings of Jesus are? Who knows? Its always vague appeals to non-concrete things or terms like "good" that don't really mean anything without context - you know, explaining what he thinks the teachings of Jesus are. This discussion has happened off and on for years and Bob has never DMed me and said "Hey kid, you seem mildly autistic, I don't actually believe this nonsense, its just an internet persona for fun." So, this leads me to conclude he actually believes, well,
something that doesn't align with scripture or even make sense. If this all ended up being a troll, total gold star. Wouldn't even be mad.
If you go and look at the front page of the "church" he claims to attend, the first ting you see is a creed for progressive politics. Most of which directly violate what Jesus taught. lol
