A question that comes up fairly often, for those who share their faith regularly, is something like, “What happens to all those people who never get to hear the gospel, are they damned forever just because they never heard it?” These people could fall into four different camps (that I can come up with):
- Lived before the time of Jesus
- Lived in an area where the gospel never went during their lifetime
- The unborn, infants, or very young (too young to understand)
- People who will live in the millennium (after the glorification of the other believers)
#1 is the easiest because it is addressed by an apostle.
So he [Jesus] went and preached to the spirits in prison— those who disobeyed God long ago when God waited patiently while Noah was building his boat. Only eight people were saved from drowning in that terrible flood.
(1 Peter 3:19-20, NLT)
That happened while His body was in the tomb, between his death and resurrection. The assumption here is that they received the gospel message directly from the Savior. To me, this shows that God is fair and does not leave anyone out of hearing what they need to hear to make a decision.
In fact, I tend to take this and wonder, since God did this for those people will he do the same for everyone else who didn’t get the chance to hear the good news about Jesus? I am hopeful that this will be the case. This is not a hard and fast doctrine that I espouse, and it surely isn’t dogma. It’s more of a hope that I have. In fact, I apply this hope to pretty much everyone who did not get a clear message of the cross.
Specifically, my hope is that at (or before) the final judgment the Lord will make sure that everyone understands the requirements for becoming right with God and surviving the judgment.
Now, let’s not make this into a catch-all, get-out-of-hell-free-card. It’s a tenuous position at best. And I am not advocating that we forego sharing the gospel, in hopes that everyone will hear it when they die anyway. Clearly, we are called to make disciples (followers) out of everyone that we can in this life. Why else would I be doing this blog? And if you think that this is a good way to avoid making a decision here on earth, you might want to rethink that plan. There are good reasons why believers have been saying that you can only make a decision for Christ while in this life. All I’m saying is that I have a hope that those who never heard that message will get to hear it and hopefully make the right choice before their final judgment.
We can never forget the words of Jesus. And it was He Who said,
“Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.”
(Matthew 10:32-33, NLT)
So if you’re looking for that loophole to keep from committing to Jesus without more proof (or whatever), this isn’t it. This is because since you are reading this blog you have heard the gospel and this topic doesn’t apply to you. Also keep in mind that the gospel will be given to every people group on earth at some point (Revelation 5:9, Matthew 24:14).
Also, the Bible makes it very plain that “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” (Peter speaking of Jesus, in Acts 4:12, NLT) And as I have pointed out again and again in this blog, only faith in the cross of Christ will save you.
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
(Ephesians 2:8-9, NLT)
So we can’t say that the people in the 4-item list above are going to be okay because they are innocent. Even unborn babies are not innocent in God’s eyes. I know that such a statement may seem ridiculous to some of you, but this is what is meant when we say that all people have inherited a corrupt nature from their parents. Just the very fact that you are a human means that you are unacceptable to God. You MUST depend on the atonement of Jesus for your salvation. (See my post on the DNA of Imperfection for more on this.)
Is my hope substantiated by scripture? I really don’t know at this point. But such a hope is probably not relevant to anyone I’ve ever met. I can only hope that it applies to my murdered child who never saw the light of day, and the others who are on the list.
Be well,
Gary
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