OceanSide church of Christ
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Were
All Ancient Gentiles Lost?
by:
Dalton Gilreath
The Law of Moses was given solely to the nation of Israel. In fact, the primary theme throughout the Old Testament is the redemption of Christ through the seed of the Hebrews. Some might be quick to assume the Gentiles had no chance of salvation under the Mosaical Law. While it is true that they had no written law, it is also true that God doesn’t bring souls into this world predestined to a Devil’s Hell. But how can we prove these ancient Gentiles could be right with God?
First, Gentiles were accountable for their sin. Recall that Adam and Eve were not accountable for their sin until they knew right from wrong. Where there is no sin there is no accountability. However, the Gentiles were always accountable for their immorality (Gen 15:16, Ex 20:5). Furthermore, even without a written law the Gentiles still had an inward law by which they would be judged (Rom 2:14-16). We can see this from the beginning with Adam and Eve. After they ate of the fruit, they already inwardly knew they were naked even though God had not told them (Gen 3:7-11). Lastly, we see divine intervention by God with the Gentiles. For example, Melchizedek was a priest of the most high God and a type of Christ (Gen 14:18). Perhaps the greatest example would be Jonah’s mission from God to teach the Gentile nation of Ninevah. Would God send Jonah there to tease Ninevah and deceive them? The fact is that every soul brought into this world has an opportunity to be saved through Christ. He died not for the Jews only, not for the saved, but for all mankind (1 John 2:2).