Mighty to Save

“I will say to those called ‘Not My people,’
‘You are My people’;
and they will say, ‘You are my God.’”

- Hosea 2:23

"Many of you, My people, have worried and grieved because your loved ones have not confessed My name, and so you believed they were certainly lost. This is because you were taught that only those who confessed My name could be saved.

"But assuredly I tell you, I am He before whom every knee shall bow, and I am He whose name every tongue shall confess in the end. I am He who judges hearts, and I am He who gives light to every person who comes into the world.

"Many who did not confess My name during their lives nonetheless knew that they had no other way but to depend on the mercy of God. Many who did not confess My name nonetheless came to Me and loved Me when I was hungry and thirsty, when I was a stranger, when I was naked, when I was sick and when I was in prison. Therefore I tell you that on the last day many who are saved will confess My name for the first time, and many who had confessed My name during their lives will discover as they are lost that they did not know Me or love Me.

"For I tell you that My name was not revealed to enable you to judge who was lost, but so that you could share in My love for the world. My name was not revealed to limit My love, but to magnify it."

*****

See also: "The Wideness of God's Mercy" (by Hazel Holland)