What Happens To Those Who Have Never Heard About Jesus?

INTRODUCTION

The Bible tells us that no human being is basically good and willingly seeks after God and His holiness because of the sinful nature passed down through the DNA of Adam and Eve after the Fall (See Genesis 3 – also Romans 5:12,18-19). As a result, all of humanity is dead in their trespasses and sin (Ephesians 2:1). There are no exceptions - salvation comes only through Jesus Christ and not by any work or religious ordinance (Romans 10:17, Acts 4:12).

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 ESV)

"None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips. “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.’ (Romans 3:10-20 ESV)

The question that arises is, ‘Since Jesus is the only way to salvation, then what does that mean for those who have never heard about Him or the Gospel message that only through Him can a person find salvation?’ How can a person be guilty of the only unforgivable sin of rejecting Jesus if they have never heard the Gospel message?

“If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin” (John 15:22 ESV)

“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?” (Romans 10:14 ESV)

It is one thing to hear and reject the Gospel truth, but to be condemned for rejecting a message you never heard does not seem fair. It seems unfair that God would hold someone responsible for something to which they are unable to respond. Why would He do that to those He loves and created in His image?

The Bible does not say anywhere that God holds people responsible for things they were never directly given the moral ability to respond to.

“The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.’ (Psalm 145:8-9 ESV)

At the heart of Christianity are the beliefs that God is love, omniscient, sovereign, merciful, righteous, patient, good, and kind. He only does what is just, right, impartial, and fair.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8 ESV)

OMNISCIENCE

Because God is omniscient,He has complete free knowledge of all logical truth in every situation, whether before the beginning, at the end, or in between, under all possible interpretations of any component. He has chosen to know all things, including all the potential effects of any choice made, whether it is actually made, and retains His divine providence without hindering the libertarian freedom of humanity (Genesis 50:20). He has infinite and perfect knowledge of the past, present, and future because He lives outside of the time-space continuum.

"By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything." (1 John 3:19-20 ESV)

God accomplishes His will perfectly in the lives of human beings through the use of His omniscience. Because God knows all things, He knew before He spoke Creation into existence the outcome of every possible creation scenario and also created human beings perfectly free with moral responsibility and individual liberty of thought and action to make whatever choices they desire and then foreordained the world according to His perfect sovereignty and foreknowledge. God also knows the outcome of every seemingly random event to bring about His ultimate will.

God can elect Born-Again Christians to salvation. Human beings can still have a choice to freely accept or reject His love without Him having already determined that a person cannot choose otherwise or resist His grace (See Deuteronomy 30:19; Luke 13:34; Acts 4:28; Ephesians 1:11). God knows, on multi-dimensional levels, everything that does or will happen and what a human being would freely choose if placed in any circumstance.