One common question a truth statement like, ‘Jesus is the only way to heaven’ often evokes is the question, ‘What about people who never hear about Jesus?’
I’ve learnt a good ‘throw them off’ counter question to ask is, ‘Why, you want to be an evangelist?’
And this is because I have come to learn that most people who ask this question don’t ask out of concern for those who have never heard about Jesus, they just want to fault God.
They want to try to show just how unfair He is.
But one thing that sticks out like a sore thumb about God in the Bible is His fairness.
He is absolutely fair.
It is not uncommon for people to speak about God as though He has dealt unfairly with them or other people or in certain situations, but the Bible claims emphatically that ‘the Judge of all the earth always does what is right’. (see Genesis 18:25; Daniel 4:37)
One thing that is biblically certain is when the curtains fall on this world, no one will have any grounds for accusing God of injustice.
You may not know the answer to ‘What about those who die without having heard about Jesus?’, but you can rest assured that whatever God does with them will be absolutely fair.
Luckily for us, the Bible doesn’t leave us hanging about this question.
Paul is clear in Romans Chapter 1 and 2 that no one will be inexcusable on the day of judgement.
According to the Bible, never hearing about Jesus does not absolve anyone from accountability.
The only difference between a person who hears the gospel and rejects it and the one who never hears the gospel at all is, the former will be doubly accountable.
You see, according to Scripture, every single person during the course of their life, receives light in some way, shape or form.
This light can be in the form of the gospel, the knowledge of good and evil, the law of Moses, their own conscience inside or creation outside.
Let’s look at each briefly, shall we?
1) The Gospel
As of April 2023, 64.6 percent of the global population had access to the internet.
Of this total, 4.8 billion, or 59.9 percent of the world's population, were social media users, a number that is growing with each passing day.
It is estimated that just over a billion people in the world today have little to no knowledge of Jesus, little to no knowledge of the gospel, and little to no chance of hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ before they die.
With the word’s population estimated at just over 8 billion people, that means 7 billion people have been reached with the message of the gospel in one way or the other.
What this means is that those who can genuinely stand before God and say they never heard about Jesus are in the minority.
Most of us will not be able to use this as an excuse.
But let's assume for argument sake, for whatever reason, someone has never heard about Jesus and His gospel, so what then? Well, let’s see…
2) The conscience inside (witness within)
The Bible teaches that within each and every one of us is an instinctive knowledge of God. (see Romans 1:19)
God has basically placed a homing device in each and every one of us that tells us there is a God and constantly draws us to Him.
Your conscience inside bears witness that there is a God.
Even the so-called atheists know deep down in their hearts that there is a God.
They are only fooling themselves. (see Psalms 53:1)
I can bet you no one is an atheist when their life is on the line.
When the bullets start flying and the planes come crashing down everyone calls on the name of Jesus like clockwork…It’s instinctive.
I think it takes tremendous faith to be an atheist.
Bottom line, no one will stand before God and say, ‘But God, I didn’t know you existed’.
NO ONE!
‘God, I never heard about Jesus’, now, that He can buy.
I heard a story of this guy who confronted his pastor after the service for sharing this truth and argued he never knew there was a God until he got saved.
So to avoid any back and forth with the guy, the pastor asked him to go home and raise his objection with God.
On doing so, God reminded him of an instant when he was about 12 years old when He had revealed Himself to him and on sharing his experience with his atheist parents back then, they had dismissed him as delusional which forced him to drop the whole thing.
Somehow, he had suppressed this memory and come to the false conclusion that the moment He got born again, was the first time God had drawn him. But clearly that was not true. It is actually more accurate to say it was the first time he responded positively to God’s drawing.
God, at one point or another, draws each of us to Himself. Most of us just resist and reject His drawing.
In truth, it’s not that people don’t know there is a God, but rather, they just don’t want anything to do with Him. (see Romans 1:21)
They don’t want to be accountable to anyone and want to live their lives on their own terms.
In other words, they want to be lord over their own lives without 'Big brother' telling them how to live their lives. So they reject Him with the guise of ‘there is no God...i'm not ready to get born again...it's not my time...God knows my heart’.
3) The knowledge of good and evil
The Bible teaches there is an instinctive knowledge of good and evil in all of us.
Before the law of Moses was given for example, God still held people accountable for their sins.
In fact, He wiped out the entire human race at one point (save for 8 guys) for their sins years before the law was given.
Why?
Because in each and every one of us is an instinctive knowledge of good and evil such that no one is excusable. (see Romans 2:15)
We instinctively know what is right and wrong without someone having to spell it out for us.
Joseph responding to Potiphar’s wife’s sexual advances said, ‘how then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?’ and this was hundreds of years before the law was given.
So how did he know sleeping with someone else's wife was a sin against God?
Well, simple, he had an instinctive knowledge of good and evil.
And we all do once we reach the age of accountability when we are old enough to intentionally sin. (see Romans 7:9)
This age varies from person to person and it is also the age a person can make a conscious decision to get born again.
For a Jewish child for example, that age is 12 or 13 years. After they’ve had their Bat Mitzvah, it is said of the child that they have come of age and therefore are now fully liable for their actions and mistakes.
4) The law of Moses
The primary reason God gave the 10 commandments to the Israelites was to break their pride and draw them to Himself in Christ..
But God also gave them the law to keep them in check until the coming of Jesus (see Galatians 3:23-25).
You see, the line between good and evil tends to get blurry pretty fast without any governing laws, so God basically had to lay down the law to deter lawlessness (see Galatians 3:19).
Moses however went ahead and added 603 by-laws to God’s 10 commandments which brought the total to 613 laws.
This basically became their light until Jesus, the light of the world, came.
That means that any Jew who died before the gospel as we know it is still accountable to God based on the light they had (the law of Moses).
This includes any Gentile (non-Jew) who subjects his/herself to the law of Moses and tries to keep it in an attempt to be right with God, something that is very common with a lot of people, even today. (see Romans 2:14)
5) Creation outside (the witness outside)
Paul says that even creation testifies that there is a God.
In Romans 1:20 he says, ‘through the things He has made God’s power and deity can be clearly seen… so that people are without excuse.'
In other words, the existence of creation is proof of God’s existence.
You see, you don’t need to open the Bible to know there is a God, you just need to open your window.
Every tree is a flame with God.
Abraham Kuyper once said:
‘There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, MINE!’
According to the Bible, even rain and the different seasons are proof of God.
In Acts 14:17 Paul says:
'but He never left them without evidence of Himself and His goodness. For instance, He sends you rain and good crops and gives you food and joyful hearts.'
So judging by all these, everyone has received some form of light in their life such that no one is excusable or absolved from accountability.
One thing about God’s judgment that speaks of His fairness is the fact that everyone will be judged by the light they had and not the light they didn't have or to put it simply, by what they knew and not by what they didn't know (see Romans 2:12).
That means...
Those who knew the gospel and rejected it will be judged by that.
Those who only knew good and evil and did the latter will be judged by that.
Those who only knew the law and broke it, will be judged by that.
Those who only knew (even worshiped) creation and ignored the Creator will be judged by that.
Bottom line, when people stand before Jesus, whom God the Father has delegated judgement to (see Romans 2:16; Acts 10:42, 17:13), no one will receive an unfair trial.
And why before Jesus you may ask?
Because He is a Man (fully God, fully Man) therefore He is best suited to judge His fellow men.
I heard another story of a man who had this vision, and in his vision, he saw a great plain full of people and a great white throne. He immediately realized he was having a vision of the day of judgement.
Then he noticed the people on the plain were shouting all sorts of accusations towards the throne…
'He has no right to judge us.'
'He doesn’t know what it’s like to be born illegitimate.'
'He doesn’t know what it’s like to be born poor..'
'He doesn’t know what it’s like to be wrongly accused'
'He doesn’t know what it’s like to be tempted.'
'He doesn’t know what it's like to be murdered in cold blood.'
'He doesn’t know what it’s like to lose someone.'
'He doesn’t know what it’s like to suffer.'
'He doesn’t know what it’s like to be treated unfairly and abused.'
'He doesn’t know what it’s like to be rejected.'
'He doesn’t know what it’s like to be hated.'
Then Jesus walked in and mounted on the throne and the whole crowd went dead silent because they realized the Judge had known all those things.
People may argue and say it would be unfair for God the Father to judge us because He hasn't walked a mile in our shoes but the same can't be said of God the Son, Jesus.
Jesus has walked a mile and then some (see Hebrews 4:15) and I bet you no one will open their mouth in opposition when they stand before Him.
Everyone will be silent before Him on the day of judgement, and He will be just and fair to each and every one of us, judging us according to the light we had received and rendering to each one according to his/her deeds. (see Romans 2:6)
God bless you.
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