one common question that I hear a lot is
what happens to people who have never
heard about Jesus and the gospel and
it's a reasonable question because the
world's big place so it happens to
people who live in a remote area or a
small village that hasn't had any
exposure to the Bible if the only way
people can go to heaven is by having
faith in Jesus then it raises the
question on what happens to people
who've never heard of him do they go
straight to hell or can they go to
heaven based on a different standard I
believe this question doesn't just have
a straight yes or no answer so to answer
it I'll list some thoughts that I have
thought number one all people are given
Revelation about God and will be
responsible for that knowledge Romans
1:2 for since the creation of the world
his invisible attributes are clearly
seen being understood by the things that
are made even his eternal power and
godhead so that they are without excuse
In this passage Paul is explaining that
even though God is invisible and unseen
he has attributes or characteristics
that are are clearly seen Paul says that
God can be understood by the things that
are made like the stars the Sun Moon
mountains Seas animals and people and
because people have seen all these
things that he created through those
created things God has shown people who
he is because these things couldn't have
just popped up out of nowhere and then
the passage says that because people
have seen these things they can't just
make excuses like I've never seen God
because God has shown them his power and
proof of his existence through his
creation so all of that to say according
to the Bible God says that people don't
have any excuse for not believing in God
so yes people may not have heard about
the name Jesus but those people know in
their hearts that there must be a god
behind the creation of the universe and
Paul says that God's invisible
attributes are clearly seen and that
people can't make excuses so I would
assume here that at some point in every
person's life there was a hidden
conversation that God has with them
regarding him and his existence and this
conversation would probably be God
telling them that all of this couldn't
have come from nothing to continue this
thought look at Romans 2: 14 to6 even
Gentiles who do not have God's written
law show that they know his law when
they instinctively obey it even without
having heard it they demonstrate that
God's law is written in their hearts for
their own conscience and thoughts either
accuse them or tell them they are doing
right and this is the message I Proclaim
that the day is coming when God through
Christ Jesus Will judge everyone's
Secret Life In this passage Paul tells
us that people have a conscience or law
that tells them what's right and wrong
and that this law is written on their
hearts and then this passage says that
these thoughts will serve as proof and
will accuse people and tell them you
knew what was right and you didn't do it
or they'll say yes what you did was
correct and then Paul wraps up by saying
that the day of judgment is coming when
God will judge everyone's secret life so
my thinking is this God has revealed to
everyone that he exists through his
creation and through the law that he has
written on their hearts and it's through
these things that he has reached out and
communicated to everyone that he exists
and that he ought to be obeyed and while
people may give excuses and say we never
saw you or we never heard you God will
lay out their thoughts on the day of
judgment and will show them all the
times in their life that he revealed
himself to them and will ultimately tell
them you knew everything that you needed
to know you were not ignorant and you
can't make any excuses and then God will
judge them accordingly thought number
two some people had incomplete knowledge
but were still saved Matthew 13: 16- 17
but blessed are your eyes because they
see and your ears because they hear I
tell tell you the truth many prophets
and righteous people longed to see what
you see but they didn't see it and they
longed to hear what you hear but they
didn't hear it in this passage Jesus was
talking to his disciples and told them
that many prophets and righteous people
of the past wish that they could see the
things that Peter John and the rest of
the 12 disciples saw things like Jesus
who was the prophesied Messiah for
Israel there on Earth teaching and
healing people but they didn't see it so
here's what I think people of the past
asked more than likely did not hear the
name of Jesus but were still able to go
to heaven so really fast I do need to
say that what I'm about to tell you is
speculation and I'm not 100% sure about
it but I think that it's not impossible
for people who have never heard the name
of Jesus to be saved and the reason why
I say this is because these righteous
people in the past believed in God but
had incomplete knowledge and later found
out that that God that they they had
faith in was Jesus so my speculation is
that it's possible for people today to
live their life never hear about Jesus
or the gospel but respond in faith to
God through his creation and because of
the law that was written on their hearts
and that later on when they die those
people will learn that the god that they
had faith in was Jesus so I lean towards
the belief that they could still
possibly be saved based on what was
revealed to them
because people in the past were saved
despite their incomplete knowledge could
I be wrong yeah but that's what I'm
thinking and I'm open to hear what
others think too thought number three
people can never be sure of people's
Eternal future Psalm
50:6 let the heavens declare his
righteousness for God himself is judged
In this passage the psalmist says that
God is the judge and decides what is
right and wrong so when it comes to this
topic of find finding out if someone who
never heard of Jesus goes to heaven or
hell the truth is is that a person's
Eternal destination is God's business
God is the judge so he decides where
people go and while we can speculate and
give reasons why we believe what we
believe regarding where they go I think
it's important to note that God Alone is
the judge and we are spectators and
thought number four whatever God decides
will be completely Fair Deuteronomy 32:4
he is the rock his work is perfect for
all his ways are Justice a god of Truth
and without Injustice righteous and
upright Is
He In this passage Moses tells us that
all that God does is perfect and just
and that there is no Injustice or wrong
in anything that he does he is
completely just and completely right you
know I remember one time when I was
working as a teacher and there were two
Middle School boys that got into a fight
and and there was frustration anger and
hurt feelings on both sides I didn't see
the fight actually happen and only saw
the aftermath so for the first 5 to 10
minutes when I got there all I did was
ask questions to get both sides of the
story and I asked other students that
witnessed everything and at the end of
it all I pointed to one of the boys and
I said you started the fight and you
were wrong to provoke him and to mess
with his things and then I pointed to
the other boy and I said you were also
wrong and you could have been more calm
and talked to a te teach about what he
did to you and at the end of the whole
matter both students saw that they were
both wrong they shook hands apologized
to each other and there was no longer
any bitterness now while you may think
wow you did a good job handling that
situation the reality is that I'm
imperfect and there's probably a lot of
things that I could have done better to
resolve that conflict and what
Deuteronomy tells us is that when it
comes to God there is absolutely no
Injustice in all that he does so do you
know what this means in my situation
there could always be Improvement
because I'm a sinner and I'm prone to
make mistakes but God is completely
perfect and is infinite in his wisdom
knowledge and sense of justice so when
it comes to what happens to people who
have never heard of Jesus or the gospel
after God judges everything on Judgment
day everyone will look at how God
handled everything and we will all look
in amazement and say this is the most
perfect judgment that anyone could have
ever come up with and there is no
possible way that it could be any better
why because there's no Injustice or any
imperfection in all that God does and
that's something that we can all rest in
all right so if you've ever wondered
what happens to people who've never
heard of Jesus or the gospel I would
encourage you to remember these four
thoughts all people were given
Revelation about God and will be
responsible for that knowledge some
people had incomplete knowledge but were
still Sav people can never be sure of
people's Eternal future and whatever God
decides will be completely fair to close
I'd like to encourage everyone that's
watching to take steps to share your
faith with the people around you there's
great joy in knowing who our God is and
there's hope in knowing what happens
when we die and there's peace in knowing
that we're forgiven so let's spread
God's word today so that more people can
hear Jesus loves
you