Follow Me Bonus Feature: People Who Never Hear

In every message or series there are always things that cannot be covered in great detail.  One subject that I am hearing a lot of "chatter" about is the issue of people who never hear about Jesus.  We have taught in this series that people who do not hear about Jesus are not innocent and thus will experience eternity apart from God.  Here is a detailed explanation of this biblical fact.

All people have knowledge of God and still reject God.

This means that there are NO INNOCENT people in the world.  Whether we have knowledge of Jesus' existence or not, we are ALL still eternally sick with sin.  Therefore, the person who has never heard about Jesus is STILL guilty for his/her sins. Romans 3:10 clearly states that no one is righteous.  But the Bible also states that people do have knowledge of God and that they reject this knowledge. Romans 1:18-20 is the key verse explaining this and ends with the very clear statement that "men are without excuse."  Not hearing about Jesus does not make a sinner innocent.  We are without excuse and in need of salvation -- all of us.

God has made a way of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ.

The Bible is clear that only because of God's merciful provision of His Son Jesus do any of us have any hope.  There are 2 important considerations here and both should drive us to our knees in humble worship:

1)  God did not have to save anyone and that would have been fair and just and right.  Why? We are ALL hopelessly sinful.  I think it is dishonoring to God to question the method or exclusivity of Jesus Christ as if God owes us salvation or should let us determine how salvation should be offered. Salvation cost Jesus His life!  God is more than fair and His mercy is incomprehensible.  We should worship Him, not question Him.  And if we are really concerned about justice and salvation for people, we should give our time, our money, and our efforts to spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ locally and globally as God commands.

2) God's ways are higher and better than our ways.  In discussing the "Jesus is the only way" topic, many people start saying that is not fair or not right.  That means we are putting ourselves above God and allowing our limited, finite, and fallible perspectives to trump God.  Who is the highest authority in our lives -- us or God? Our viewpoint or the Scriptures?  Do we not believe that God is the ultimate definition and decider of what is "right"? Do we not believe that God is God?  When God has provided His Son to make a way for salvation, do we really want to have a "fairness" debate with God?!?

Sometimes I fear this entire discussion reveals that we do not take God's right to be God seriously and/or we lessen the urgency and importance of sharing Christ with people.  Interestingly, these 2 things are mentioned in Romans. Romans 1:23 says we will reject the true God for false images that look like us or like created things.  In other words, we make ourselves our God!!  Romans 10:14 states that if we do not preach Jesus then people will not hear and thus not be saved.  Therefore, we must resist any temptation to make ourselves into the final authority about matters of salvation and to make the Great Commission optional.

What about young children who die?

I think the Bible is actually pretty clear on this point as well.

First, according to Romans 1 people must have the capacity for God to be "known" and to be made "plain" so that the existence of God can be "understood" (see Romans 1:19-20).  Therefore, this implies that young children and people with certain mental handicaps would be excluded from God's wrath and somehow covered by Christ's atonement.

Second, when King David's son died shortly after he was born, David's words tell us that that child went to be with the Lord:  "...now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me." {2 Samuel 12:23}.  David believes that when he dies, he "will go to" be with his son who now is with God.