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So one question that many people wonder about is what happens to the people who have never
heard about Jesus?
What if they live in the jungles or out on some deserted island and never have the opportunity
to hear the name of Jesus or read a Bible for themselves, will God send them to Hell?
Well, If you’ve every had this question, stay tuned!
Hey everyone welcome back to the channel, my name is Justin and you are watching That
Christian Vlogger.
Special shoutout to Jurasim Daniel who wrote in with today’s question asking, “What
will happen to the people who have never heard the gospel?
Do they go to hell after they die?”
Which by the way, before I share my thoughts on this question I just wanted to encourage
you guys to keep sending in your questions!
It’s always fun to know what’s on your mind!
But let’s dive into the question.
The short answer is that I don’t think that they automatically are condemned.
I think that God has provided a way for them to be saved even if they’ve never heard
the name of Jesus.
But before I give you my reasons why, the first thing I want to say is that I realize
that there will be differing opinions on this subject.
So I want to encourage you to join the conversation in the comments and share why you may agree
or disagree with me.
But why do I believe this way.
Let me share with you a few verses to consider.
#1- Zechariah 13:6 And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands?
Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.
This verse is just one of over 150 prophecies in the Old Testament attributed to Jesus.
In fact, Jesus himself quotes this passage [Matthew 26:31] applying it to himself and
to the crucifixion event.
So here’s the implication of this verse.
The Bible is saying that there will come a time in the future where someone sees Jesus,
see’s the wounds in his hands caused by the nails and wonders what happened?
Jesus will then have to explain to this person that they were wounds that he received in
the house of his friends.
In other words, this person is both in a place where they get to have face to face communication
with Jesus and yet never heard the story of the cross.
Some very easy examples of this are any of the Old Testaments saints- people for example
mentioned in the famous hall of faith [Hebrews 11].
Great men and women of God like Abraham, David, Joseph and Sarah- None of these people have
ever heard the name of Jesus nor the story of his sacrifice on the cross and yet, they’re
in the kingdom of God.
So if it’s at least possible to be saved while never hearing the gospel or learning
of Jesus, could this not also extend to the aboriginals of “pagans” out there?
I think so.
#2- Another verse is Romans 2:14-16 which says, For when Gentiles, who do not have the
law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they
do not have the law.
They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also
bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when,
according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.
If I read this verse correctly, it sounds a lot like Paul is saying that people who
don’t explicitly know the law of God have the ability to live in a way that God honors.
Paul seems to suggest that the law is written on their hearts [Jeremiah 31:33, Ezekiel 36:26]
even if they have never read the ten commandments.
Paul is saying that their very lives- the way that they treat those around them, their
compassion, sacrifice and love testifies that the law is on their hearts.
Paul is saying that God’s spirit is still working on their hearts and convicting them
of when they’re wrong even if they don’t realize that it’s Him doing the convicting.
In fact, Paul even contrasts these “heathens” these gentiles with the quote unquote “faithful
jews” The people who have the oracles of God, who have been given the scriptures and
don’t live accordingly.
It seems like according to these passages, God is more concerned with what’s in your
heart than what is in your head.
#3- A third verse to consider is Revelation 7:9 which says, After this I looked, and behold,
a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples
and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes,
with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs
to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
This passage describes the redeemed worshipping before God in heaven.
And notice something from this verse- that the
multitude is from every single nation tribe and people.
One could infer from this verse that there are people in every corner of the world that
though they may not have yet heard of Jesus, are living lives that are pleasing to God
because they are following God’s spirit even if they don’t recognize it as such.
Apparently when James 4:17 says that whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do
it, for him it is sin, the Bible is saying that one of God’s primary concerns is wether
or not we are living up to our convictions and not do we know all the right answers.
Now let me try to bring some balance to those verses and statements before you stone me
in the comments.
I understand how the Bible says that there is no other name under heaven by which we
can be saved except through Jesus [Acts 4:12] and I agree with this verse.
What I’m saying that I see in the Bible is that anyone who is saved will only be saved
because of Jesus.
And a percentage of the people who are in fact saved because of Jesus might not even
realize that it was Jesus who was saving them to begin with.
They simply lived their lives with a tenderness to what God’s spirit was doing in their
life and while they may not get all the details correct, they did their best to follow to
the best of their ability.
Now I know this brings up all other kinds of questions about the purpose and value of
evangelism and missions.
If people can be saved without knowing Jesus’ name or story, what’s the point of going
across the world to share the gospel.
Well for starters, I hope my life example shows that I do value ministry, I do value
evangelism- heck..
I’ve been doing it for the last 10 years and have dedicated my entire life to doing
evangelism!
So clearly I believe in it.
But to respond to this hypothetical question, here’s why I am motivated to share the gospel
with others.
Because knowing Jesus matters.
A living and intimate relationship with Him does in fact make a difference.
And for me, I want to share that experience with others.
At the end of the day, wether you agree or disagree with me on the answer to this question,
I hope we can all rally around the fact that God is a God of love.
Genesis 18:25- Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with
the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked!
Far be that from you!
Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”
Ultimately, I rejoice that it’s not my decision who is saved and who is not.
God is a good and gracious judge and I put my trust
in Him.