In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus provides a glimpse of the judgment day.  He makes abundantly clear that there will be those that say, “Lord, Lord” to Him but will not be allowed into heaven.  Jesus goes so far as to state that they will list all they did for Him but it will not matter.  The reason that these individuals find themselves lost is that they did not do the will of the Father (v.21).  Therefore, Christ did not know them because they practiced lawlessness (v.23).  This text shows that just because you may call yourself a Christian or say you believe in God does not guarantee that you are saved.  Only faithful obedience to God’s word (Father’s will) can insure that you have met the criteria that Jesus has set forth. 

We must also understand that not everybody can be right.  God’s truth is not a subjective issue.  In John 17:17, Jesus said, “Sanctify them in the truth, Thy word is truth.”  All those who do not know or obey this truth will be lost.  Paul told the Thessalonians that, “Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel (the truth; “the power of God unto salvation” (Romans 1:16)) of our Lord Jesus.” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-8)  Paul tells the Ephesians that there is ONE FAITH (Ephesians 4:5).  How does such faith come about?  Paul, once again, wrote in Romans 10:17, that faith comes through the word of God (the truth).  Therefore, there is ONE FAITH that comes from the word of God.  The Bible does not teach that “many faiths” are acceptable.  We have only the statement that there is one faith that comes through the truth of God’s word.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us that the scriptures are from God and that they provide us everything we need to live as God wants.  James calls it the perfect law of liberty (James 1:25).  That law must be followed and it is followed by reading, knowing, and submitting ourselves to it.   Let’s say that you are driving down the highway and are pulled over for speeding.   The police officer walks up to your car and informs you that you were doing 65 MPH in a 45 MPH zone.  Do you think that it would be okay if you told him that you believed with all your heart that 65 was okay even though the sign said 45?  I believe you would still get a ticket because the law is not changed by your preferences or your strong belief.  In like manner, the New Testament lays forth a law that is not influenced by men’s preferences or strong belief.  A person will not be able to stand on the judgment day and say “I believed that it was this way” and escape the punishment for those who do not obey the will of God (Matthew 7:21-23; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8). 

We will all be judged by one standard in the judgment day.  That standard will be the word of God (John 12:48).  Let us suppose a teacher tells you there will be chemistry test the next day from Chapter Five in your chemistry textbook.  You go home and study that Chapter Five from your English textbook.  You are not going to pass the test because you used the wrong standard to prepare.  Even though you may have been close in some ways (i.e. reading Chapter Five), you will still fail.    

I wish that everyone in all religious groups would be saved; however, I do not receive any hope of such from the scriptures.  I hear it from men, but not from God.  It is a sad thought that many are deceived and have been taken away from the truth.  Galatians 5:4 tells us that those Christians who had returned to trusting in the Law of Moses had fallen from grace (i.e. lost).  These individuals still believed in God, but had rejected the Gospel of Jesus which was now the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16; James 1:21).  Simply believing in God without obeying His word will cause people to be lost.  James said that belief alone made you no better than the demons (James 2:19).  He continues on to teach  that faith (comes by the word of God (Romans 10:17)) without works (obedience to God’s word) is dead (lifeless or useless).”  Note that Jesus was speaking of this obedience when he stated that they did not “DO” the will of the Father (Matthew 7:21).  Being saved requires that people come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:3-4) and obey that which they have learned.

Regarding religions that deny Jesus as the Savior of mankind (i.e. Judaism, Islam, etc.) it is much easier to discern.  Jesus stated, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.” (John 14:6)  Stated quite simply by our Lord Himself, if a person or a religious group tries to get to the Father by any means other than Jesus, they will fail.  Paul tells us that there is only one mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ (1Timothy 2:5).  Therefore since neither Judaism nor Islam believes that Jesus is their savior or mediator, they have no means of reaching the Father or finding salvation.  In fact, they would fall under the definition that John gave for the “antichrist” (1 John 4:1-3).  These religions like to say that Jesus was a good man, yet, if He was only a “good man” then He was a liar because He claimed to be the Son of God.  As anyone in those religions would acknowledge, a liar cannot be considered a good man.  They cannot have it both ways. 

As for those who do not know the truth, they cannot be saved without such knowledge.  If ignorance was a saving factor, then the great commission of our Lord (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16) would be an act of causing people to be lost instead of saving them.  If by teaching people they suddenly are capable of being lost, the best thing to do is to never teach anyone.  That way through ignorance they can reach heaven also.  Jesus commanded us to teach the world that they might be saved because without such teaching they would be lost (2 Thessalonians 1:7-8).  Our teaching of the Bible is not what causes a person to be lost.  Romans 1:18-23 tells us that there are aspects of God that one should be able to see and know through the creation.  These things should cause an individual to seek God.  Let us consider this, if a person came from a savage and backward country, where murder was common and unpunished, to our country and murdered someone.  Would we allow him to go free because he was ignorant of our law?  Another consideration, would it be just for God to allow people into heaven that never sought Him or lived according to His word when others were required to do such things to get to receive the reward?  Remember that God is not a respecter of persons, but He expects all men everywhere to repent (Acts 10:34-35; 17:30).

I wish that all men would be saved, but Jesus made quite clear that the vast majority would be lost because they chose the easy path instead of the hard (Matthew 7:13-14).