Salvation

20. Here is my question: if a person has not heard of Jesus - or rather if he has not had the opportunity of accepting Jesus Christ - will he be condemned?

According to what the Scripture teaches, he will be condemned because through the sin of the first man judgement came to all men resulting in condemnation (Romans 5:18), and condemnation is removed only by faith in Jesus Christ. In other words, only those who are in Christ Jesus, only those who have believed in Him, are no longer under condemnation. For Paul says that “there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1 – NKJV), and if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).

All the other people, whether they have heard of Jesus Christ or not, will be condemned. Did Jesus not say that “he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16 – NKJV)? And since a person cannot believe in Jesus Christ unless he hears of Jesus Christ first, as it is written: “How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard” (Romans 10:14 – NKJV) because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17), those who don’t hear of Him cannot believe in Him and thus they cannot be saved.

I know that many don’t like this answer because they think that God, in condemning someone without giving him the opportunity of hearing the Gospel of God’s grace, acts unjustly. However, I would like to point out to these people that God is free to have mercy on whom He wills and to send to perdition whom He wills, and nobody can reply against God. Therefore, the fact that someone did not hear the Gospel and went to perdition shows that he was among the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, on whom God had determined not to have mercy. Therefore God did him no wrong, He just kept him from hearing the Good News. God prevented him from hearing the Gospel so that he might not be saved, being a vessel of wrath prepared for destruction. Nevertheless, it must be said that God allows some vessels prepared for destruction to hear the Gospel, these also don’t believe and go to perdition. God knows that they will not accept the Gospel, yet He allows them to hear the Gospel.

In answering this question, therefore, I cannot help speaking of the purpose of God according to election, which depends completely on God. Why? Because the reason why many go to perdition (after they heard the Gospel or even without hearing it) is that they are not among the vessels of mercy which God prepared beforehand for glory. In other words, there are vessels of wrath prepared by God for destruction, and those who go to perdition without hearing of Christ are among the vessels of wrath. Instead, those who were chosen by God for salvation before the foundation of the world, no matter where they live, no matter what their social and cultural condition is, whether they have already heard of Jesus Christ or not, one day they will believe in Jesus Christ. If they have not yet heard of Jesus, God somehow will allow them to hear of Jesus so that they may believe and be saved. Whereas if they have already heard of Him but they still resist God, the day is coming when God will open their heart so that they may receive the love of the truth and thus be saved.

Therefore we want to be used by God to bring the Gospel to the lost, among whom we know there are some who will accept the Gospel. Far be it from us to be lazy, far it be from us to think that it is useless to evangelize, because such a thought is not true, for God will open the heart of some of those who will hear the Gospel from our mouth so that they may be saved. Therefore, as sons of God and of light, let us not neglect this responsibility of ours.

Back