Questions To Ponder

Where do the people who never knew about Jesus, but believe in God go when they die?

A quick answer is simply Hell. I know this sounds harsh at first, but please allow me to elaborate a little. We must understand something that is the key to my answer. People do not go to Hell nor does God send them there because they did not believe in something. People will spend eternity in Hell because of sin, failure to repent and not placing their faith in the sacrifice of Jesus as the payment for their sin. It is that simple.


What about those who have never heard of Jesus? It would not be fair for them to spend eternity in Hell when they didn’t know.

We have to remember Romans 3:23 – “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”. If that verse is true, then all people are guilty of sin and will suffer eternity in Hell unless their debt for sin was paid. That is why we need Jesus. The fair and just thing for God to do is to require that they pay their debt.


What happens to the people who know nothing of Him?

Romans 1:18-20 tells us that all men are without excuse and that they should know there is a creator by the things He has made. People that know nothing of Him will suffer the same fate as the person who knows all about Him yet does not repent and place their faith in Him. These are really hard things to grasp because we want a God that just forgives and overlooks all of our faults. However, He is JUST. This means that He WILL punish sin. Just like a judge that hears a case and renders a verdict. We all want that judge to bring justice to the law that was violated. So why would it be any different when it comes to our sin. Why should God overlook our sin and not require full vindication?


Is it their fault that they do not know Him?

I would have to say, “Yes” and “No”. Like Romans points out, they should know. Now I am not naïve enough to think that the most remote tribe knows about Jesus and that they should know. This is why we have missionaries. They are the ones to bring the “Good News” to “all the ends of the earth”. The “Good News” is that Jesus died for the penalty of ALL sin. This is something that has to be taught to people. Romans 10:14-17 – “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? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’ But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?’ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”


Is it our fault?

The Word of Christ must be preached. There is no way around that fact. As Romans 10 pointed out (above), Faith comes by hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. I love this ever so frightening verse, Ezekiel 3:18 – “If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.” Ouch! Clearly we will be held accountable for not warning the wicked to turn from their wicked ways. Therefore, we must preach the Gospel.


The harshest reality of all:

I pray that I can explain this well and not butcher it. No one is saved by preaching. Though we must be about preaching the word for it is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16), we must understand that it is Jesus that saves. Jesus determines who will be saved and who will not. The Bible is chocked full of this reality. Consider these verses:

Matthew 11:27 - All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

Romans 9:15 - For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
John 15:16 - You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

John 15:19 - If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

James 2:5 - Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?

1 Peter 2:9 - But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

These are just a few verses that show that those who are saved are chosen. There is nothing a person can do to either save themselves or save someone else. It is solely in the hands of Jesus. With that in mind, the furthest tribal member can be save if Jesus so chooses. I don’t think I fully grasp exactly everything that takes place in a person’s salvation. However, Scripture is clear that it is only by Jesus that a person can be saved and that we, as true Christians, must share the Gospel with everyone we meet. I hope this clears some things up and as always, feel free to send me some comments on this blog. Take care.