These are questions that come up a lot: "What about the person on an island somewhere, or in the middle of the jungle, who has never heard the Gospel? Will they go to Heaven when they die?"
How many of us have wondered about that ourselves before we matured in our faith? How many of us could answer those questions Biblically if asked? How many of us are truly comfortable with the answers that God gives to us?
Here's an excellent quote that touches upon this issue.
That settles it (at least, it should).
However, I know that such a discussion will always cause people to make one or more of the following follow-up statements at some point.
Let's take a moment to briefly address each one.
I hope that this Bible study has been helpful to you.
Grace and peace unto you and yours!
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How many of us have wondered about that ourselves before we matured in our faith? How many of us could answer those questions Biblically if asked? How many of us are truly comfortable with the answers that God gives to us?
Here's an excellent quote that touches upon this issue.
If the man on the island who has never heard the gospel recognizes the general revelation of God in creation and throws himself down under the mercy of God and calls out for salvation, will he be saved? A better question may be, “Does this ever occur or has this ever occurred?”
The fact is, that is a hypothetical situation that does not exist. The individual who never hears the gospel will never desire to repent because it is through the special revelation of God’s Word that mankind is given the revelation of God in Jesus Christ and comes to the realization of his own sinfulness.
In other words, what Paul asked to his readers remains true today – “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? (Romans 10:14)”
Certainly Jim Elliot understood this truth as he devoted his life to reach the unreached Auca Indians in the South American jungle. We can likewise be certain that Lottie Moon understood the urgency of this truth as she gave her life reaching the people of China with the gospel.
If ignorance leads to Heaven, why would people be called to such great sacrifices? Those who are emotionally driven to a conclusion of Grace without Christ in this debate should reconsider based on the Word of God.
Furthermore, it should be pointed out that Sodom and Gomorrah likely never heard the gospel, and they all perished under the judgment of God and remain in Hell today. Is that fair? On another note, Nineveh should have received the same judgment, but under the rich mercy of God, they received a warning from a disobedient prophet named Jonah and they repented. Rather than perishing under the judgment of God, they received mercy and forgiveness. Is that fair? Jonah certainly didn’t think so.
At the end of this debate is the stark reality of our own salvation. We were saved by the rich mercy of our great God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:18-20). That simply isn’t fair. That’s amazing Grace – how sweet the sound.
-- Pastor Josh Buice / Delivered By Grace
That settles it (at least, it should).
However, I know that such a discussion will always cause people to make one or more of the following follow-up statements at some point.
"If people who never hear the Gospel die and go to Hell, then that's not fair, and God would never do that to anyone."
"If a person never hears the Gospel, then they are spared from the wrath of God because they never rejected Jesus."
"God loves the sinner and hates the sin."
Let's take a moment to briefly address each one.
1. "If people who never hear the Gospel die and go to Hell, then that's not fair, and God would never do that to anyone."
The Scripture has clearly revealed that all people have sinned against God (Romans 3:23). If everyone received from God what was fair, we would all go to Hell (Romans 6:23). The fact is, Grace is not fair -- it’s Grace. Judgment and wrath is fair because it is what we all deserve. Furthermore, God is not responsible for our sin. Therefore, He did not merely send undeserving people to Hell. Anyone who goes to Hell deserves it.
2. "If a person never hears the Gospel, then they are spared from the wrath of God because they never rejected Jesus."
People do not go to Hell on the basis of rejecting Jesus alone, they go to Hell because they are a sinner who has broken the righteous Law of God. It is their transgression against God that requires the wrath of God.
3. "God loves the sinner and hates the sin."
Does God judge sinners or just their sin? The rich man from Luke 16:19-31 was experiencing the wrath of God personally. Jesus experienced the wrath of God for our sins. The Father didn’t pour out His wrath on the sin, He poured out His wrath on the Son who became sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). Therefore, we must conclude that God both loves and hates at the same time, but He is committed to judging the sinner.
I hope that this Bible study has been helpful to you.
Grace and peace unto you and yours!
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4 Comments:
However, God created us and Satan right? He created us to be the way we are. So how is He not responsible for our sin? Why should this hypothetical island man/woman pay now for a sin committed by Eve and Adam, however long ago. Why create us at all when so many will be condemned to Hell for ETERNITY? Which He knew from the beginning. He loves us each individually so how could He stand creating us when He knew our ends.... :(
It's a common question, and one we've all struggled with at one time or another before coming to faith in Jesus Christ (myself included), and so I thank you for bringing it up here.
This is the BEST Biblical explanation that gets to the point from CARM...
Did God Create Sin?
No, God did not create sin. God is holy and He would not create that which is contrary to His nature. Sinfulness is the opposite of holiness. It is lawlessness (1 John 3:4). God is the author of the Law which is a reflection of His holy character (Exodus 20). Therefore, God cannot create that which is in direct violation of the Law any more than a person can wish himself to be bigger than the sun. It just isn’t possible.
But, if God didn’t create sin, then where did it come from? This is a question that has been debated by theologians and philosophers for many years. I cannot say that I have any better answers than they. Nevertheless, let me venture a guess.
Adam and Eve, having been made by God without sin, listened to the devil and chose to sin against God (Gen. 3).
But God did not cause them to sin (James 1:13). In the freedom of their wills, each decided to rebel against God and sin entered the world (Rom. 5:12). God simply allowed the condition to exist where sin was possible.
An analogy can be found in the relationship between a parent and a child. A parent can create the condition that makes disobedience possible yet the parent remains innocent if the child sins. For example, if a parent tells his child to clean up his room and the child does not, he has rebelled. But, the parent is not responsible for the child’s sin, nor did he cause the child to sin. The child had a choice to obey or not to obey.
Likewise, God has created the condition in the world where the ability to rebel against Him was possible. Yet, he is not responsible for that rebellion once it has been committed.
Hope that helps some.
In Christ,
Jeff
John MacArthur has said this...
If God is sovereign, is He responsible for evil?
No. Scripture says that when God finished His creation, He saw everything and declared it "very good" (Genesis 1:31). Many Scriptures affirm that God is not the author of evil: "God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone" (James 1:13). "God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5). "God is not the author of confusion" (1 Corinthians 14:33)-and if that is true, He cannot in any way be the author of evil.
Occasionally someone will quote Isaiah 45:7 (KJV) and claim it proves God made evil as a part of His creation: "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things" (emphasis added).
But the New American Standard Bible gives the sense of Isaiah 45:6-7 more clearly: "There is no one besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other, the One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these." In other words, God devises calamity as a judgment for the wicked. But in no sense is He the author of evil.
Evil originates not from God but from the fallen creature. I agree with John Calvin, who wrote,
. . . the Lord had declared that "everything that he had made . . . was exceedingly good" [Gen. 1:31]. Whence, then comes this wickedness to man, that he should fall away from his God? Lest we should think it comes from creation, God had put His stamp of approval on what had come forth from himself. By his own evil intention, then, man corrupted the pure nature he had received from the Lord; and by his fall drew all his posterity with him into destruction. Accordingly, we should contemplate the evident cause of condemnation in the corrupt nature of humanity-which is closer to us-rather than seek a hidden and utterly incomprehensible cause in God's predestination. [Institutes, 3:23:8]
It is helpful, I think, to understand that sin is not itself a thing created. Sin is neither substance, being, spirit, nor matter. So it is technically not proper to think of sin as something that was created. Sin is simply a lack of moral perfection in a fallen creature. Fallen creatures themselves bear full responsibility for their sin. And all evil in the universe emanates from the sins of fallen creatures.
For example, Romans 5:12 says that death entered the world because of sin. Death, pain, disease, stress, exhaustion, calamity, and all the bad things that happen came as a result of the entrance of sin into the universe (see Genesis 3:14-24). All those evil effects of sin continue to work in the world and will be with us as long as sin is.
First Corinthians 10:13 promises us that God will not permit a greater trial than we can bear. And James 1:13 tells us that God will not tempt us with evil.
God is certainly sovereign over evil. There's a sense in which it is proper even to say that evil is part of His eternal decree. He planned for it. It did not take Him by surprise. It is not an interruption of His eternal plan. He declared the end from the beginning, and He is still working all things for His good pleasure (Isaiah 46:9-10).
But God's role with regard to evil is never as its author. He simply permits evil agents to work, then overrules evil for His own wise and holy ends. Ultimately He is able to make all things-including all the fruits of all the evil of all time-work together for a greater good (Romans 8:28).
Hope that helps too.
In Christ,
Jeff
Actually, as good as both of those answers are, I totally forgot about one that is much more direct.
It comes from The Evidence Bible, which I highly recommend for any new believer let alone those believers wanting to get answers to all these common objections/questions.
In fact, it was the first Bible I owned myself. Anyway, it has the following helpful material, which I like because it puts it into context.
"God made me like this! Sin is His fault!"
If this won’t work in a civil court, it certainly won’t work on Judgment Day. Even with an expert defense lawyer, it would take a pretty inept judge to fall for the old "God made me do it" defense. We are responsible moral agents. The "buck" stopped at Adam. He tried to blame both God and Eve for his sin; Eve blamed the serpent. It is human nature to try, but it doesn’t work with God.
Amen!
Hope that was helpful too.
In Christ,
Jeff
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