Free Will and Good Friday

Hmm..interesting.

I had heard of the interpretation of Christ's death once from a friend that went something like this...

"If the sin of a mere human being, Adam, cause EVERYONE to be condemned and die, shouldn't the death of Jesus, the son of God, cause EVERYONE to live? This should be so even for unbelievers, since Adam's death holds true for unbelievers as well."

This was an intriguing thought, and one that resonated with me at that point of time. It had appealed to me that Jesus, in his eternal and unfathomable love, would want everyone to be saved, regardless of whether they believed in him or otherwise. It would also mean that all my loved ones, friends and family, who did not believe in the gospel did not have to perish! [For easy reference, we'll term this Ideology 2]


Ok, it would be prudent to start with the question: How did the Protestant church come up with the idea that you'd need to believe in the salvation of Jesus' death before you're saved? [This we'll term Ideology 1 since it's the default protestant position]

There are many verses that describe this but I'll just pick up a few.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. - Jn 14:6

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live - Jn 11:25

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. - Jn 3:16

Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. - Romans 10:9

These verses explicitly state that a believer needs to affirm, believe and make a conscious decision that Jesus had risen and is Lord before he/she is saved. This is the basis of Ideology 1.

I had stated specifically the "Protestant Church" for good reason since our brethren Catholics think otherwise.

In fact, Pope Francis had recently stated that "all people, not just Catholics, are redeemed through Jesus, even atheists." --- He makes a fair point. Paul had, in his first letter to Timothy, stated that Jesus gave himself as 'a ransom for all'. Therefore, Catholics have this view that your entry to heaven is based on the amount of good works that you do and the motivation behind it. The Catholic view therefore is a slight modification to Ideology 2, with the addition of the clause that good needs to be effected first.

In my previous postings, I had talked at length about the idea of choice and how it's central to the protestant faith. This idea is important as it will serve as the fulcrum of  my argument in the later parts.

[To be continued when I'm free]