Correspondence: 2PE 1:10; 1PE 4:8; JAM 5:20; MATT 11; Punishment of the Heathen

 •  3 min. read  •  grade level: 7
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Ans. If we follow on after God, adding to our faith as in verses 5-7, we shall make our election of God certain to all (who have to judge us by our fruits), and as to ourselves, shall avoid stumbling and straying.
Ans. These are very precious passages; somewhat, though not altogether, similar to the truth in John 13. They are quotations from Prov. 10:1212Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins. (Proverbs 10:12). As to their meanings we cannot do better than condense the valuable remarks on the subject made by another,
“Love in the Church suppresses the sins which would otherwise destroy union. They are put away by the love which they could not vanquish. This is not as to ultimate pardon, but the present notice God takes in government. If there is variance, if there is little love, if the intercourse is bad, the existing evil and the mutual wrongs, subsist before God; but if there is love which neither commits nor resents these things, but pardons them, it is then the love that God sees, and not the evil.”
In the case of positive evil, it is love that leads us to wash another's feet, and so the evil is removed and the sin covered.
Ques. What is Christ's yoke? (Matt. 11). Do we get it from Christ or go under it with Him?
Ans. The yoke is entire submission to God's will, which Christ had manifested so perfectly in this very chapter. Christ asks us to take it; so that it is His as given to us, but also His as having borne it. When we bear it, we have the consciousness that we are walking with Him in His path.
Ques. Please explain clearly about the punishment of the heathen (Hindoos, Brahmins, etc.) who have never heard the gospel?
Ans. We quote as follows from a well-known work,
“The Gentiles will be judged according to the light of nature and of conscience, neglected and resisted. Paul's sermon in Athens is no less clear as regards the condition of the heathen. As he said at Lystra (Acts 14:8-188And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked: 9The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed, 10Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked. 11And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. 12And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker. 13Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people. 14Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, 15And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein: 16Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways. 17Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. 18And with these sayings scarce restrained they the people, that they had not done sacrifice unto them. (Acts 14:8‑18)) they were not left without a witness, in that God did good and gave rain and fruitful seasons, filling their hearts with food and gladness. By such things he declares again in another place (Rom. 1:2020For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: (Romans 1:20)), God's eternal power and Godhead are clearly seen, so that they are without excuse, and so here (Acts 17:22-3122Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. 23For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. 24God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; 26And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 27That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: 28For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. 29Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. 30And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. (Acts 17:22‑31)). God left the heathen to themselves, not that they should forget Him, but that they should seek Him, even though it were in utter darkness, so that they should need to grope for Him, "to feel after Him and find Him," and though there was ignorance of God, He could wink at the ignorance, and give blessing notwithstanding, for "He is a rewarder of diligent seekers.”