I’ve been listening to a lot of Mike Winger lately. I like him, I do. But I kind of don’t. He reminds me a lot of Matt Walsh—they look alike, and both are very harsh and dogmatic in their approach and in their perspective toward those who differ from them.
I like that sort of thing, but only so much.
Being dogmatic, prideful, and self-righteous is the sin I’ve left behind in my Mormonism. I have no intention of leaving one dogma for another. I’m getting away from that.
I want to stay open minded and have a soft heart toward those who think differently from me. I want to stay open to nuance.
So anyway, Mike Winger was teaching about how good works don’t save us. You can do all the good in the world, but if you don’t accept Jesus then you can’t be saved.
So Ghandi, being a non-Christian, did not receive his salvation.
It sounds logical and Biblical.
Except it’s not.
Now, I admit I’m new to this. But I can read. I can think. I can logic with the best of them.
We will look at what the Bible teaches on this.
But first, let’s just take a moment to consider what Mahatma Gandhi’s experience and exposure to this whole concept of Christianity was. What did he know of Christians?
Oh, that’s right—
THEY WERE THE PEOPLE WHO SLAUGHTERED HIS INNOCENT FRIENDS.
They refused to allow them freedom. They ruthlessly oppressed the indigenous Hindus and Muslims.
The Christian British imperialists were the bad guys in this story!
I wonder, why didn’t he want to pick up a Bible? 🤔
Was he really given a chance to understand who Jesus was?
But wait.
Of course he knew Jesus. He embodied His key teaching—peace. Gandhi taught his (Hindu) people not to retaliate.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well.” (Matt 5:38-40)
This was Gandhi’s mission statement. His entire purpose!! He taught this to his people!
Gandhi was far more Christlike than the “Christians” were.
“Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.” 1 John 4:7
“For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: Love your neighbor as yourself.” Gal 5:14
Gandhi loved. He exemplified God’s love and united all people, promoting peace and love.
Maybe he didn’t refer to Jesus by name, but Oh, he knew Him.
Now, what does the Bible say?
Romans 1:20 is the verse evangelicals love to quote, to show that everybody knows enough about God to be held accountable in the day of judgment.
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”
So, we are judged by how well we follow the Divine, by what is clearly seen.
The message of Jesus’s atonement is not clearly seen. That is not what this is talking about. So you can’t say they are judged by whether or not they accepted Jesus as their Savior, when they didn’t have that understanding.
You and I will be judged by that because we do have that understanding. In fact, every time an apostle wrote that you need to accept Jesus to be saved, they were talking to people who understood Jesus. They had been taught about the law, the mediator, and redemption.
Gandhi wasn’t.
Furthermore, let’s look at the next chapter, Romans 2.
“God ‘will repay each person according to what they have done.’ To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.” (Romans 2:6-8)
Was Gandhi persistent in doing good and seeking honor? Yes.
And notice that “reject the truth” and “follow evil” go hand in hand. They are synonymous.
So, in a parallel vein, we can reason that following righteousness is synonymous with accepting the truth.
Then Gandhi accepted the truth.
Let’s read on though.
“Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness” (verse 14).
Gandhi was a law for himself, even though he did not have the law. It was written on his heart. He followed his conscience, and this bore fruit of his faith.
“A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.” (verses 28-29)
Gandhi was not an outward Christian (meaning he didn’t walk around with that label, though his works indeed demonstrated that he was Christian), but he most definitely was a Christian at heart. He had his “circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit.”
Don’t Christians always say that your good works are a fruit of your salvation? Then Gandhi bore the fruit. He was saved.
And I think many Mormons are as well, for all these same reasons.
***
Luke 10:25-28 tells us we are saved by loving others:
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
***
Read more of my thoughts on the salvation of people who didn’t get a chance to accept Jesus here and here.
All I Possess 