Occasionally people ask my opinion on various personal or church issues. I recently received the following question which I have reprinted below, followed by my response.
QUESTION:
Bob,
I was talking to a friend about my faith and he brought up a question. He wanted to know what happens to all the people in the world that never get an opportunity to hear the word and learn about Jesus in their life before they die? Will they go to heaven or hell?
MY ANSWER:
Most Christians know John 3:16 but pay little attention to the paragraph that follows. John 3:16 reads, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
The next two verses read, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
Ever since Adam and Eve introduced sin into the world, every person has inherited the sin virus. The Bible says, “…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). No one is innocent. Even those who have not heard about Jesus and have no access to a Bible fail to live up to their own conscience. The Scripture says God’s Word is written on our hearts – we instinctively know some basics about right and wrong. But because of our carnal nature, every person chooses to sin.
That means the entire world is lost and condemned. The Bible describes us as being, “…without hope, without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12). Jesus, in His great love, came to earth to seek and save the lost. Our sinful condition was so serious He had to sacrifice His life on a cross to pay for our sins. If people could be saved by just living a good life, or by living a life better than others, there would have been no need for Jesus to die in our place.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Perhaps a helpful analogy would be to ask, “What happened to the passengers on the Titantic if they didn’t know the ship was sinking and they didn’t have a chance to get into a lifeboat?” The sad answer is they were lost. That’s why evangelism is such an important imperative for Christians. Jesus urged us to go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. “Whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16).
We can find some comfort in the fact that the Bible teaches there are degrees of punishment in hell. Jesus warned the spiritual rebels of His day that it would be more bearable for the residents of Tyre and Sidon on Judgment Day than it would be for them. (See Luke 10:14). Our God is a just God. That means the people who live more closely to the dictates of their conscience will not be punished to the degree that ruthless terrorists who intentionally kill women and children will be punished.
While the Bible makes it clear the world stands condemned in sin, let’s leave the ultimate judgment of individuals up to God. And let’s be thankful that He is merciful and His “judgment is right” (2 Thess. 1:5). Revelation 19: 1-2 assures us “Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are his judgments…”
– Bob
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