This is a very intriguing question because everyone one of us, whether we know it or not, probably have or have had unbiblical views on something. Maybe it was believing that you had to do more good deeds than bad deeds to be saved. Maybe it was believing that you needed to be water baptized to be saved. Maybe it was believing that once you prayed the sinner’s prayer you can live however you please. You can probably think of other examples.
You see, our views change over time. We replace what we think is unbiblical with what we think is. That’s not to say that you might not revert back to the original view. What we believe is at the mercy of what we think we know best at that time.
But how unbiblical can we be and still be saved? I mean what if you were a Mormon and you believed in the Bible as long as it agrees with the Book of Mormon? I mean what if you were a Jehovah’s Witness and believed that Jesus was a bit less than God? Or what if you’re a Baptist and reject the gift of tongues and prophecy? What if you view the Bible as a good story that teaches morals, but nothing anymore special than Aesop’s fables?
At the end of the day, unless God has given to you some special revelation, you and I really don’t know who is saved and who isn’t. The best we can do is guess, but if/when we get to heaven we might be surprised who we see there and who we don’t. This just goes to say that the last time I checked I’m not aware of anyone who got a peek into the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Therefore, you really can’t say that so and so is saved, but so and so who kind of believes whatever he wants to believe isn’t. You can’t even say that someone who flat out denies God is not saved (case in point: Peter’s denial of Christ). We know that Peter is reinstated later on, but we would have been less sure of his salvation had he died right after his denial. Ultimately, you really don’t know, so much so that you can’t even say that Hitler wasn’t saved, but Mother Theresa was.
The Bible gives very little indication about who was saved. It mentions Enoch and Elijah being carried by God to heaven and Lazarus being in Abraham’s bosom, which seems to indicate heaven and that Abraham was there, too. There might be other examples, but I can’t think of anything off the top of my head. Hebrews 11 talks about people who were commended for their faith, but it doesn’t say anything about their salvation. Their salvation is assumed by us, the readers.
The evangelical Christian view is what I’m most familiar with growing up. This view, generally speaking, would say that all Christians (particularly those who regularly help out at church) are saved. They would say that Catholics possibly might be saved although they have some unusual beliefs (in actuality, it’s similar to evangelicals’ beliefs if you think about it. We call it the “Lord’s Supper” they call it the “eucharist”. We call the guy a “pastor”. They call him “father”.). And then the people in the cults like Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses and the other religions (i.e. Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism) are basically going to hell.
Nope. You really can’t be too sure of who’s saved and who isn’t. If someone is an open polytheist and worshipped multiple God (I guess it can be kinda like Hinduism), you would say that person isn’t saved. But this would describe Abraham, who the Bible indicates is saved. Joshua 24:2-3 says:
Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your ancestors, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River and worshiped other gods. But I took your father Abraham from the land beyond the Euphrates and led him throughout Canaan and gave him many descendants.
This clearly indicates that God was aware of polytheism. But God never outlawed polytheism until the 10 commandments at Mt. Sinai, which was later on. So just because someone is polytheistic doesn’t necessarily mean they are not saved. We would have assumed Abraham wasn’t, but that’s not true.
Just to clarify… I’m not advocating polytheism. Although if you really think about it Christians to varying degrees are polytheists. There are other gods that compete with our affections for God. Sex, money, power, status, just to name a few. That’s a discussion for another time. I’m also not saying that you shouldn’t speak out against polytheism. In fact, you should in the proper time and context.
And also just to clarify… I’m not saying that you shouldn’t point out why the book of Mormon shouldn’t be trusted to your Mormon friends. Of course, you should. If they don’t know better perhaps they will be excused. But they will also be held responsible if they should know better, but choose not to. The same would be true for me and you.
All this to say that this is a complex question with much ambiguity.