Question to be asked: This has always bothered me. The Bible says that people need Jesus to be saved. But there are a lot of people in the world, and in history, who have never heard about Jesus. Do you mean to tell me that they won’t be allowed into Heaven just because they didn’t hear?
Intro: I’m glad you asked that. I really am! This question deals with some of the most basic truths of the gospel and how we apply them to life. I’m also glad because not 2 years ago, we dove into this very question, which tells me it must be fairly important.
The big question we’re dealing with today is “What about the people who haven’t heard?”
If I could do it today, I’d just walk us through Romans 1,2 and 3. But we don’t have enough time, so we’ll have to take a quicker approach. But let me tell you ahead, the answer to this question that you’re going to hear today is going to bother you. It should. It may even make you unhappy with me. That’s OK. I’m a big boy. I can take it. I’m more concerned with what God has to say on this subject and how you deal with that. So, after all of this happens like I just said it will, please, go home, read through Romans 1-3, and listen to what God has said on the subject. Then, thank God for His word, repent of your attitude toward me, and we can be friends again! But more importantly, listen to God and decide what you ought to do in light of what He says. I’d rather see a soul won to Jesus than just win a disagreement.
Please get Romans 1 in front of you. We’re going to summarize the 1st 3 chapters in 3 words: Them, You, and All.
Ch 1 - “Them”
“Them” and “they” are always easier to talk about, aren’t they? That’s true of you and me, who are sitting here in a church building, in the 21st century N. American Church, and it’s true of 1st century people who were raised as Jews, surrounded by a very Pagan Roman empire. It’s easier to talk about “them.” The HS knew that as He inspired Paul to write these words:
Romans 1:18-23 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
The people described there - the “theys” - are people who don’t have God’s written Law. They’re non-Jews. They’re Joe Pagan, living in Corinth, Ephesus, Laodicea, brought up in a world full of idols, taught from infancy that there are many gods. Yet, go back through these verses and notice that Paul says these people, without God’s written Law, are without excuse - that God has made his presence and His awesomeness “plain to them” and “clearly perceived” and that they “knew God.”
How? Just by “the things that have been made.” It takes more faith to believe that this creation all got here by random accident, uncaused, than it does to believe that it was created by an All-Powerful Designer.
So, for people to look at this and reject God leads to what Paul describes here - a whole list of sins that make people v32 “worthy of death.” It leads to God “giving them over” to do those things. That’s “them.” That’s not so far removed. That pretty well describes billions of people around the world today. Let’s go on to the next group.
This one’s a bit harder to talk about it. No apologies, though. It’s “you.” Not plural “you” - not “yous”; just plain “you.” In this chapter, Paul’s directing his words to people with a Jewish background - people who had God’s Law, and who generally prided themselves in the way that they never lived like all the people described in ch 1. After all, they knew God’s Laws.
Ch 2 - “You”
It isn’t enough just to know what’s right. Are you listening? It isn’t enough just to have all the right answers. The Jews had that.
Romans 2:13
For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.
And how well did they do with that? Better yet, how well are YOU doing at that? Let’s do what Kirk Cameron does. Let’s just start with the most basic and simple summary of God’s law - the big 10! There are 613 commandments in the OT Law. Do you think you can keep at least 10? OK.
#5 - Honor your father and mother. Think back. Was there ever a time in all your years of growing up that you failed to treat either one of your parents with honor? Ever a time when you talked back, disobeyed, disregarded them? Did you keep command #5 at that point?
#7 - You shall not commit adultery. Jesus said in Mt 5 that if you look at a woman with the idea of lusting after her, you’ve already committed adultery with her. In other words, if you have lusted after another person that makes you an _______.
#8 - You shall not steal. Have you ever, in your life, taken something that didn’t belong to you? A cookie, a paper clip, money? Anything? Anything at all? In other words, when you stole that, that makes you a ______.
#9 - You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. This has to do with lying. Have you ever, in your lifetime, purposely said something that wasn’t true? Anything? When you lied like that, that makes you a _____.
Now,
Romans 2:13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.
On the basis of how well you’ve kept God’s Law, what are your chances of being declared righteous in God’s sight? If just the 10 Commandments are used as the standard on Judgment Day, how good are your chances if you’re a liar, thief, adulterer, and someone who has dishonored your parents?
“That’s OT.” Yes, it is, and it’s why no one who relies on Law as a way to be right in God’s sight is going to be declared righteous. That Law shows us that we need help. “You” need help.
Knowing God’s Law doesn’t make us righteous. The fact is, knowing it helps us see what a mess we are. Let’s go on to…
Ch 3 - “All”
In the first 2 chapters of this letter, Paul has spoken about 2 groups of people: Gentiles (that’s non-Jews) and Jews. He’s shown how both those groups of people are a bad situation when it comes to how we relate to God. 2 groups of people. There’s another word for these 2 groups: everyone! And, ch 3 is about - like they say in the South - all y’all. That’s what Ch 3 sums up:
Romans 3:9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,
God has spelled it out here. What’s wrong, with humanity, is that we all have sinned. We reach a point in our lives where we know right from wrong, and we choose wrong. Anyone who tells you different is either delusional or trying to sell you something.
Humanity shares this condition: we all need a savior.
I’ve had us do this before - Say it with me: “We all need a Savior!”
2 Thessalonians 1:9
They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,
That’s why we have as one of our core values to make disciples. We understand God’s word to be saying that all people who don’t have Jesus as their Savior are on a collision course with the wrath of God! Don’t excuse it or ignore it! All people without Jesus need a Savior!
That’s what makes the gospel good news! It wouldn’t make much sense to call it good news unless the lack of it was bad news, and that’s why Paul starts the whole letter called Romans with these chapters talking about everyone’s need for a savior.
Ill - I’m intrigued by these commercials that sell a prescription that’s going to cure you, but they don’t even tell you what the problem is, just the potential side-effects. So, “Ask your doctor if you need Cure-o-magin.” Ask your doctor. The cure really doesn’t mean anything unless you have the disease, right?
Philippians 3:19
Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.
“All,” by the way, includes you and me. As someone has said, “We’re all in the same boat, and it’s sinking!” But there’s good news, too, if you read on…
Romans 3:21-24
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
God’s grace is another way offered to all who believe! Both groups can be saved by grace through belief in Jesus Christ.
I figured I could get some people to say “amen” to that good news this morning. We believe it!
Or do we? Because a part of the Gospel message is still missing: It has to be shared with people.
There’s a certain group of people - a very large group of people - in fact, it’s most people - people who’ve never heard the gospel once, have never read the Bible in their own language, have never even heard of someone named Jesus. What about them? Do they need a savior?
It’s that glaring question again - What about the people who haven’t heard?
Let’s review…
Romans 2:12 For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.
2 groups of people, right? There are those who don’t have the Law, and those who do have the Law. But there’s something they have in common: both have sinned, and both are in big trouble.
Do we believe it not? Over 4 billion people on the planet don’t even claim to follow Jesus. How are we OK with that?
I would suggest to you that that average church-goer today has a certain set of non-biblical beliefs, whether we speak them or not, that we hold inside. Once in a while, we might even speak about them, but we don’t need to. We show what we really believe by our failure to reach lost people.
I’m not OK with that! So, I want to make us uncomfortable today by exposing some common misconceptions some believers hold about lost humanity, including the people who haven’t heard:
1. God is a loving and fair, so He won’t punish anyone.
Ill - If you want to know what it’s like to be in a quandary, imagine for a moment being a parent to an adult son who’s guilty of pointless 1st degree murder, attempted murder, and assault. What do you say at his trial, sitting in front of the family members of his victims? They want a death sentence, and, honestly, you have to agree that would be just. Ponder that for just a moment, and you can begin to think about the situation our sins introduce concerning the God Who created us and loves us when we rebel against Him and His holiness.
If someone is found guilty, and the judge says, “Well, you’re guilty, but I feel sorry for you and I’m setting you free,” would you say he was a great judge, or a farse? How would the victims and their family react? Would you call him a loving guy? More likely, you’d call him foolish. More likely you’d wonder how he could be so uncaring for those who’ve been harmed. We wouldn’t call him just.
We talked about this just last week. God is love. God is, at the same time, holy and just. If He didn’t condemn sin, that wouldn’t be a holy action at all. But saying that God is holy doesn’t mean He isn’t loving. He isn’t either one or the other. He’s the perfect union of both.
God’s word is clear at this point. The payment for sin is death. We’ve all earned it just as much as we earn a paycheck at the end of the week. God’s love doesn’t nullify His justice.
God offers us His grace, not fairness. How glad I am! He isn’t “loving and fair” - He’s beyond fair. People aren’t guilty because they haven’t heard. We’re guilty because we’ve sinned.
2. Since they aren’t American, it really isn’t as important.
You can’t pronounce their names or the name of their village. You’ve never seen them. You have no knowledge of their culture. You’ll never set foot in their country. Does it somehow matter less when they struggle? Do their parents grieve less when their children die? Our news doesn’t report as much about them. Does that mean they aren’t as important? Do their souls not count the same?
Maybe this seems real obvious, but once again we need to honest with ourselves and ask if this is what we think deep down.
I remember the response of King Hezekiah when he Isaiah told him that tragedy would come upon Israel, but not until after he was gone…
Isaiah 39:8 “The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “There will be peace and security in my days.”
Let’s not be like Hezekiah at this point, just because someone seems distant from us by space or time. The price for those people to be saved was the same as it was for you and me. That means they have as much value as we do.
3. Everyone has some good in them, so they’ll be OK.
Is that what you’re counting on when it comes to what will happen after you die? Really? What did we just read? God’s not waiting to be impressed by something good that you do. The only way we can be saved is on our acceptance of the great good that Jesus did on the cross. The only way we ought to expect to be saved is by God’s grace.
If people can be saved on the basis of doing some good things, why did Jesus come to earth? Why the cross?
We all need a savior. We all need God’s grace. That includes everyone, everywhere, from all times.
There isn’t a different set of rules for people who live somewhere else or who speak a different language.
4. No one told them, so they can’t be held responsible.
If that’s true, then let’s keep everyone from hearing about Jesus. Because, when we share the gospel with people, only some of them accept Jesus. Many of them reject Him. That’s how it goes. Not everyone will accept the good news as true or necessary in their life. But if everyone who doesn’t hear the gospel is OK, what would be best for everyone? What if we’ve gotten this whole thing backwards and the best thing we could possibly do for people is make sure they never hear about Jesus? For one thing, that would mean that Jesus had it backwards too. Jesus’ final instructions for His followers were to make disciples of all nations.
Imagine the resources we could save! No more going overseas. All we have to do is hold back, and the gospel may never get to them. Then they wouldn’t be responsible for accepting it!
And here at home, that would mean just making sure that we don’t teach this news to people. We could take the name of Jesus out of the Church. We could just reduce ourselves to a benevolent group of people who like to do nice things. We could stop teaching about Heaven and Hell, and we could offer self-improvement programs, opportunities to do nice things, and gather together once in a while to reflect on how good we have it. But we’d have to make sure that we never breathed a word about people being lost in sin or how people could be saved through Jesus, because that would make them responsible for what they do about it. Right?
-Ill - July 24, 2015. Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen, both age 14, take a boat out late morning from Jupiter Inlet in FL to go fishing. Within a few hours, they’re miles out to sea and facing 40 mph winds and they’re in serious danger. They apparently didn’t take along a radio to signal for help. They can’t help themselves, and they’re almost certainly going to drown. What do you say about those boys?
• “Who cares? They’re not my boys. I don’t even know those boys.” Not many people are willing to say that out loud, but I would challenge you to consider first of all if that’s your attitude deep down.
• “They shouldn’t have gone out to sea like that in the first place.” That’s true. Maybe they were foolish, immature, and reckless. Do want them to die for it?
• “Someone there will help them.” Actually, no one was there to help them when it was critical.
• “They can’t be held responsible for what happened to them since no one told them.” Or…
• “If only someone would help them, maybe they wouldn’t die.”
This question today isn’t a matter of whether or not people are responsible to God for accepting Jesus. This is about people who are spiritually dead because of sin, and we have the only message that could save them.
There's a world full of people who need to hear that same good news that we heard. The good news that John records in:
John 3:18
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
“Whoever believes in Him.” What do we believe about the billions of people in the world who haven’t been reached with the gospel? What do we say about them? Here’s what Paul says in Rom 10…
Romans 10:11-14 (ESV)
For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
They can’t, they can’t, and they can’t! They’re lost, just like I was. They need to hear about Jesus, just like I did. They could possibly spend forever in Heaven, and I have a burning desire for them to be welcomed there by God’s grace.
Conclusion: These aren’t just made-up stories -- they’re the stories of most of humanity. They’re the stories of your friends at school, your co-workers, your family members, your clients, your customers, your students, your boss, your neighbors. They need a Savior, and the only special exception is the one made for those who receive the free gift of life from Jesus.
