"To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.."(Romans 2:7-8 NIV)
Selie Visa
Paul is saying that eternal life is available for those who seed goodness, glory and honor.The manner in which God will, in the great day, dispense punishments and rewards is that he will give eternal life to those who, in all the trials and difficulties of the present state, have persevered in doing well, seeking for and expecting glory, honor, and immortality.
He will manifest his indignation, and inflict wrath or punishment, on all who are contentious, those who obstinately dispute against the truth, and obey unrighteousness or who act under the influence of the principle of sin, and not under the influence of the Spirit of God.
Hebrews chapter 11 mentions great heroes of faith like Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, etc. These men never heard of Jesus nor were baptized. But we know Enoch walked with God, by faith Noah was found righteous in the sight of God, and so on. What we see here is that God will judge everyone by their righteousness.
"Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness (righteousness) no one will see the Lord."(Hebrews:12.14 NIV)
The Bible proclaims that people are without excuse for not believing in God:
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities– His eternal power and divine nature– have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” (Romans 1:20 NIV).
His invisible perfections are manifested by his visible works, and may be apprehended by what he has made; their immensity showing his omnipotence, their vast variety and contrivance, his omniscience; and their adaptation to the most beneficent purposes, his infinite goodness and philanthropy.
His eternal power, that all-powerful energy that ever was, and ever will exist so that, ever since there was a creation to be surveyed, there have been intelligent beings to make that survey.
God governsand supports the universe. His works prove his being. His government and support of these works prove it equally. Creation and providence form a twofold demonstration of God, firstly, in the perfections of his nature; and, secondly, in the exercise of those perfections.
Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.” (Acts17:22-24 NIV)
Paul was passing through Athens when he saw altars “to the unknown God”. People may not have heard about Jesus but they all have limited knowledge of God. Paul explained that what he was preaching is the God yet unknown to the Athenians and four people were converted that day. We are different and fortunate. God has revealed himself to us through Jesus Christ. Nature, the creation of God reveals God. The Bible reveals God. But Jesus was a living, walking and talking revelation of God. He is fully God and became fully God in order to reach down to us because as sinners we cannot reach up to where he is.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God has set eternity in the heart of everyman.
"He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end."(Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV)
Here’s is my simplified translation of this verse to make it easier to understand:"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, without which man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end."
Eternity is embedded in every heart. Whether someone has heard the gospel or not, he or she has a sense of the presence of a supernatural and powerful God. Everyone of every race and nation seeks God. There will be a vacuum in our hearts until we find God.
But let's consider one evident thing, who are we mere mortals compared to the eternal Almighty God? Our Solar System is like a single grain of sand in all the combined beaches of the world. Scientists and Astronomers said there are 1 billion trillion stars (that's 1 with 21 zeros). But now with better technology, they are saying that there is much more than previously thought. Now forget about the outer limitless space, we have explored less than 10% of our oceans. We still have limited knowledge of the complex, delicate and complicated human body, be it the unique DNA of each person or how tiny cells communicate and function with each other. So it is best to trust God's wisdom about things which we have limited or no knowledge at all.
God has revealed himself to us in different ways, especially through nature, his written words and through his Son who once walked on this Earth. But we are weak physical beings and the holy, eternal and spiritual Almighty God is a divine being whose most mysterious ways will remain a secret to us.
The bottom line of this question is that we cannot afford to leave the unreached to chance or to uncertain eternal destiny. We must realize the desperate need for evangelism, to obey the commandment of Christ to preach the Gospel to every cornerof the world.
