The bible is not silent on this matter. Frankly, it says that all men, whether they have heard or have not, are
without excuse:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
Romans 1:18-23
There are many who are claiming wisdom on this board of late. Their wisdom is steeped in the philosophy of man, not the theology of God. Such "wisdom" is anything but. What does God think of that kind of wisdom? He calls it foolish. Why? Because at the heart of every philosophy they create is the denial of the God Who created them - a God they
know to exist. The atheist will deny such knowledge, ardently, repeatedly, and may even spend more time denying God than the believer does acknowledging Him. Odd isn't it? That God often means more to those who consider Him less, than to those who claim Him as their own?
When men steep to this level of denial what happens next? God tells us as the passage goes on:
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
Romans 1:24-32
This isn't to say that all who deny God are homosexual, or murders, or otherwise, but that all such people deny God. This is the company they keep, and will keep for an eternity, if God, through His mercy and grace, and our obedient witness does not bring them to Him in repentance. Repentance, not for these acts alone, but for the hearts behind them. Hearts that deny God will not receive Him, will die without Him, and suffer eternally away from Him. Brothers and sisters in Christ ought to pray for and witness to such people, rather than debate with them.
Folks, God isn't playing a game of what He'll let you do and what He won't. It isn't a matter of your personal rights. It's a matter of eternity in a God-less Hell. Yet the God Who you so readily dismiss, even disdain at times,
loves you,
died for you amid everything you now say and do to oppose Him:
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8
Why? Because as God, He will not accept sin. As the loving God, He paid the price of sin for us and offers it to all, freely - but on His terms:
1. Belief - in Him, in our sin and His judgment of that sin, in His payment for that sin with the death of His Son, Jesus Christ on the cross, with the raising of His Son that we may also have life and that "more abundantly"
2. Agreement - with Him concerning our sin, His judgment and payment, and our need for Him and that payment to have life
3. Repentance - changing our minds and hearts about Him and our sin, and changing our will, no longer holding on to our beliefs, desires, or ideas, but willfully turning to Him for our salvation.
That is the salvation God has to offer. Will you accept Him or deny Him?
