xdisciplex said:
What happens if a person wants to get saved and accept Jesus but the person doesn't have enough knowledge about God and the gospel? Can everything fail because of a lack of knowledge or because of misconceptions or misunderstandings? Let's say somebody is sincere and wants to get saved but he has misconceptions and thinks that works matter or that Jesus only died for the sins which you do until you repent and after that you have to pay a penalty every time you sin then could such a person not be born again because the misconceptions are simply too big? I mean if somebody really doesn't know it any better then does God sit up there and simply deny that the person gets born again?
Maybe you can only get saved when you heard the full gospel before and when somebody explained everything to you before. But what about those which had no access to the full gospel or those which only have a limited knowledge about Jesus and which still want to get saved?
Well lets reasonably analyse this situation. If a person believes strongly enough in Jesus to change their behavior and try to 'follow the law', I would say that would be evidence of a heart-felt belief in Jesus. Belief in Jesus is the ONLY prerequisite for salvation. The only real knowledge about the Gospel a person should need is WHO Jesus is, and WHAT Jesus did.
The Bible describes Abraham as the very first Christian. Look at what he believed:
Gen 15:5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
:6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
If we let Scripture interpret Scirpture, we can see that "Thy Seed" specifically and expressly means Jesus Christ:
Gal 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.
As to Abraham being the first Christian, one must only read Galatians 3 to realize this:
Gal 3:6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith,
preached before the gospel unto Abraham, [saying], In thee shall all nations be blessed.
9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
Keep in mind that without faith, it is impossible to please God. Works cannot save. But here we see that Abraham was saved by his faith. His Faith was counted unto him as righteousness.
Hbr 11:6 But without faith [it is] impossible to please [him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
But what kind of Faith... or Faith in what? From scripture we see that God told Abraham something about Jesus Christ. When Abraham believed God regarding Jesus Christ, the Bible says THIS was counted as righteousness. My feeling is that if your friend believes in Jesus strongly enough to change their behavior and lifestyle to try to enter heaven through works... then they probably meet the minimum 'belief' requirement for salvation. However, the Bible does say that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Abraham believed God's word to him and this was counted as righteousness. For your friend to be saved, they must believe SOMETHING from the Word of God regarding Jesus Christ. If they simply believe blindly in their works, without faith in some Word about Christ, it may be pretty iffy. However, if they have heard Word from scripture regarding Jesus Christ, and a belief in that scripture is what prompts their works, then they probably meet the minimum faith salvation requirement.
