Who Cares If You’re Lost?
Jeremy Northrop
In August of 1994, I was studying the Bible with a young lady named Felicia. The study had reached a point where Felicia knew what she needed to do in order to be saved. She knew the gospel plan of salvation. She knew the need she had to be baptized for the remission of sins. Yet, she hesitated. She then asked an intriguing question. She asked, “Who cares if I’m lost?” Then she clarified by asking, “What difference does it make if I go to Hell?” While it is true many who ask questions such as these could be asked with ill motives, the question is a legitimate one which deserves an answer. Paul said, “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one” (Colossians 4:6). On that occasion in 1994, I chose to share with Felicia the basic outline of a track written by Jim O’Connor published by International Bible Studies. There are a lot of people who care about the salvation of man.
First, God cares. How much does God care? John 3:16 tells us how much: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” If we love someone, then we will give to them. Acts 20:28 tells the salvation of man cost the very blood of Christ. God had to give His Son and Christ had to willingly go to the cross so that we could be saved. Before time began, God worked out a scheme of redemption to save the souls of man (see Ephesians 2). Why has God done all of this? Because He cares. He does not want anyone to be lost but desires “all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth” (1Timothy 2:4). God cares about our salvation.
Second, the saints care about the salvation of man. Those who have chosen to be saved care that others will make the same choice. In part, the reasons Christians are spreading the good news is to fulfill a command given in Matthew 28:18-20,
“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.”
As I told Felicia, another reason we spread the gospel is because we, like God, do not want to see anyone lost. It is our genuine desire to help others to come to know God so that they can be saved. It would be selfish if we were to keep salvation to ourselves. The saints care about the lost souls of mankind.
Then, as I told Felicia, the angels care. The passage of choice for this point is Luke 15:10, “Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” The Bible teaches that with just one conversion, with just one person choosing to be added to the body of Christ, there is joy in Heaven. Consider this point for just a moment. If you are a Christian, when you were baptized, those in Heaven rejoiced over you. They rejoiced over me. This is all because the angels care. I remember witnessing the baptism of a young lady into Christ during my teenage years. After the baptism, many gathered around to hug her and greet her into the body of Christ. Then, one lady commented that the angels were celebrating for her. God cares. Those who have been saved care. The inhabitants of Heaven care.
Then, those who are destined for Hell care. In Luke 16, there is recorded the account of the rich man and Lazarus. There are many things which can be learned from the passage, one of the most notable of which might be that we will indeed know one another in Heaven. The passage also teaches just how bad Hell is. The rich man begged to have just a drop of water to soothe his tongue. His torment was so severe that he only wanted Lazarus to dip his finger into water to cool his tongue (Luke 16:24). Then, he begged for Lazarus to be able to go back to the physical world in order to save his brothers. Notice, he was not fighting for his own soul to be spared. He was fighting for the souls of his brothers. There is a very interesting implication from all of this. Hell is so bad that those who are there do not want anyone else to be there. If our loved ones who have passed on have lost their souls, they do not ever want to see us again. Those who are in Hell care about us and our salvation. They want us to be saved.
Finally, Satan cares. Since the dawn of time, since the world was created in Genesis 1, Satan has been doing everything in his power to prevent people — including you and me — from going to Heaven. Some would say this means that he does not care at all but he does. He makes an effort to stop us. He has been doing this since the beginning of time. He prevented Adam and Eve from doing what they were commanded of God. He tried to prevent Jesus from working the plan of God. He works to prevent you and me from doing what God would have us to do. He cares. He cares enough to work — indeed, to fight — to make sure we do not go to Heaven. He goes to great lengths to make sin look so enticing. He can make sin look so good.
So, let’s review. As I told Felicia in 1994, God cares. The saints care. The angels care. Those who are already eternally lost care. Satan cares. All these people care about our salvation. Some care because they want us to be saved. Satan cares because he wants us to be lost. The interesting thing is, however, none of them make any difference. It does not make any difference that God cares, the saints care, Heaven’s inhabitants care, Hell’s inhabitants care, or that Satan cares unless — unless — you care. Salvation becomes very, very personal. An individual’s salvation comes down to whether or not that particular individual cares.
So, the question is: Do you care? Do you care enough to hear the word of God? (Romans 10:17). Do you care enough to believe it? (Hebrews 11:6). Do you care enough to repent of your sins (Acts 17:30), confess Jesus (Acts 8:24), and be baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38)? Do you care?
