Does being a member of God's Kingdom = Being a Christian?

Those who hold to the traditional view that Hell, rather than Heaven, is the default position for sinners (also known as human beings) would equate being a member of God's Kingdom with being a Christian. How could one possibly be in Jesus' "fold" without having first committed to him?

But this is not such an easy argument to make. It would eliminate Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, all the Jews who passed through the Red Sea, Rehab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets. What is so special about these folks? They constitute the faithful of the Old Testament listed in Hebrews chap. 11 who are viewed as followers of God every bit as much as any New Testament character. My goodness, of Moses it is said, "He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt (v. 26).

Keep very much in mind that Moses never heard of Christ. Isaac was a coward. Jacob was, well, Jacob, a very mixed bag indeed. Rahab was a prostitute (but also an ancestor of Jesus), David an adulterer and murderer, and Noah a drunkard (at least once, and look what happened). Gideon made an idol that led his countrymen astray, and what can we say about Samson? Hebrews chap. 7 refers to Melchizadek, a Canaanite not a Jew, as the priest of God Most High and a prototype of Christ.

Even if we were to take the most conservative and traditional approach to the writing of the Bible and suggest that Moses produced the Pentateuch, a number of those listed above would not have had access to it as it would not have yet been written. For many there was no Temple in Jerusalem or its forerunner the Tabernacle, as they proceeded those centers of worship by centuries. For some there were not yet priests of God. It would be difficult to make the case that all of them had a concept of monotheism.

Yet all were members of God's Kingdom, as were New Testament characters whose death proceeded that of Jesus, such as his father Joseph, Simeon and Anna.

What about those who have not reached the age of accountability? I don't necessarily buy this concept, but let's say for the sake of argument that it is true. No one who falls into this category could be called a Christian in the sense of making a decision to turn their backs on sinfulness and to accept Christ as Saviour, for by definition they are not yet able to make a moral choice.

And those who are judged by the light they have? I guess I don't need to spell out that one.

Now if you truly believe that only those who hear Christ preached and accept him are candidates for salvation and for Kingdom membership, then I really have nothing to say to you. You have consigned to Hell every human who dies in infancy, every severely mentally delayed person, and every one who has never heard of Jesus. Presumably you have another way of dealing with those who proceeded Jesus, unless you've committed Abraham, Moses, Ezra, Nehemiah and all the prophets to eternal fire as well. At any rate, your vision of salvation is so narrow as to make God the least just and gracious of deities that one could imagine. Fill your boots.

But for those who are trying to understand salvation in light of God's ardent wish that all should be saved, and who would not place arbitrary blockages in people's way, at least accept that Christ's atonement allows God's love, justice, mercy, and grace to beam throughout his creation, and gives him the opportunity to accept those who couldn't possibly know about him for reasons that include that none of us Christians have taken the opportunity, or made the necessary sacrifices, to tell them.