Even though there are people who never heard the gospel, God is fair to all mankind. Let’s explore what God does for those who never heard and for Old Testament saints, and how we should respond to God’s revelations.
Basic revelation: Creator
It is not true that a person has never heard of anything about God at all, but the basic revelation of God is known to all mankind.
“That which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:19-20)
“The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of His hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.” (Psalm 19:1-4)
By observing the heavens and the earth, we know there is Someone who created us. If you have doubts about this, please see Evidence for Creation.
So all people have had some type of revelation. And depending on how we react to it, we either accept or reject God’s message.
We are judged on how we react to what we know. “For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for ‘Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.'” (Romans 10:11-13)
Can a non-Christian who has not heard the gospel call on the name of the Lord and be saved? Yes he can!
“Some went out on the sea in ships;
they were merchants on the mighty waters.
They saw the works of the Lord,
His wonderful deeds in the deep.
For He spoke and stirred up a tempest
that lifted high the waves.
They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths;
in their peril their courage melted away.
They reeled and staggered like drunkards;
they were at their wits’ end.
Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
and He brought them out of their distress.
He stilled the storm to a whisper;
the waves of the sea were hushed.
They were glad when it grew calm,
and He guided them to their desired haven.
Let them give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love
and His wonderful deeds for mankind.” (Psalm 107:23-31)
So God’s deeds are shown to all mankind, whether they are Christian or non-Christian, Jew or Gentile.
Therefore, we are to worship God based on all that we have known and heard, even if it is minimal revelation. For those who do, even if they have never heard the gospel, they are on the right track and will one day be able to hear and understand the whole message.
Gospel preached to the dead
“They will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For the gospel has for this purpose been preached even to those who are dead, that though they are judged in the flesh as men, they may live in the spirit according to the will of God.” (1 Peter 4:5-6)
Those who have never heard the gospel will hear the gospel, even if they have already died physically. That is why the gospel has been preached to those who are dead so that they also get a chance to respond to it. (Perhaps angels are the ones who preach the gospel to them?)
This is fair, because it takes time for the gospel to reach the whole world. And if people die before they get a chance, God will give them another chance.
“Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” (Genesis 18:25)
For people who lived before Jesus came to earth 2000 years ago (especially people outside Israel who didn’t even know there would be a Messiah), they also received a chance for salvation. The Bible says, “When He (Jesus) ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men” (Ephesians 4:8). When Jesus resurrected, the gospel was preached to those who previously had not heard. When they believed, they were led to heaven.
Jesus said, “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.” (John 15:22).
People are not responsible for what they have not heard. But they are responsible for what they do hear.
Credit system for Old Testament saints
What about the saints who lived during Old Testament times? Even though some of them wrote about the Messiah, most of them didn’t really hear or understand the gospel. However, God credited them with righteousness through His Son Jesus. He did that with Abraham and all the believers who came before Christ. He did that with Abel, Enoch, Noah, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Samson, David and many more (see Hebrews 11).
“Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” (Romans 4:3)
“This was to show God’s righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins.” (Romans 3:25)
This means God did not count people’s sins against them. “He passed over former sins” so that He can “credit” righteousness to those who believed God who lived before Christ came to earth.
But it is still through Jesus that people were saved. This is because God credited them with righteousness and Jesus paid the debt by dying on the cross. For people who came before Christ, God credited them when they had faith in God and Jesus paid later on. In a way, faith is kind of like God’s credit card. And Jesus’ blood paid the debt.
Jesus told a parable about a man named Lazarus who was comforted in Abraham’s bosom in heaven (Luke 16:19-31). So by this, we know that Abraham was already in heaven before Jesus died on the cross. The credit system was at work. And from heaven, all the saints were able to see the gospel unfold when Jesus came to earth and died for mankind.
Jesus did not view Abraham as a dead person, but as living in heaven when He said, “…Moses showed, in the passage about the burning bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now He is not the God of the dead but of the living; for all live to Him” (Luke 20:37-38).
How we respond to revelation matters
So whether a person came before Christ or after, and whether they heard the gospel or not, they are responsible for how they respond to the level of revelation they had. If their revelation was Creator, or God of Abraham, or Jesus, their response in faith credits them. For by faith, we are saved and Jesus paid the price once and for all.
So how one responds to God matters.
It is interesting that the Bible says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1-2). The Word is Jesus. So people need to respond positively to God’s message, because God’s message is ultimately Christ.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
And this is also true: “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me… [and did] not enter My rest” (Hebrews 3:7-8,11). So if you hear the gospel, do not harden your heart. Once you hear the gospel, you are responsible for how you react to it. Find Him on a day when He can be found, which is today.
“For He says,
‘At the acceptable time I listened to you,
And on the day of salvation I helped you.’
Behold, now is ‘the acceptable time’, behold, now is ‘the day of salvation'”. (2 Corinthians 6:2)
If anyone rejects the gospel, then he has rejected God, and God cannot credit him with faith. Jesus says: “The one who rejects Me and does not receive My words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day” (John 12:48).
We must preach the gospel
Then someone might say, why preach the gospel at all? If those who have never heard might reject it if they hear it? If they don’t hear it, it is not sin.
It is the commandment of God to spread the gospel. If you have really good news, don’t you want other people to know? If you see your brother or sister struggling, do you not help them? Or is it alright to betray God by sinning against Him, and not tell others the good news?
Every time someone hears the gospel, it is a chance for him to turn away from all past transgressions and have eternal life. Even if he did everything wrong so far in his life or rejected God previously, he has a chance to be forgiven of all that and to start a new life with God.
Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6). The message is ultimately Christ. People will need to respond to this message eventually. Since the message is Christ, how shall they be saved if they don’t hear it?
We have a stewardship entrusted to us (1 Corinthians 9:17), and “woe is me if I do not preach the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:16).
Summary
In conclusion, we all have the basic revelation of God the Creator. Old Testament saints were saved by faith through a credit system, just as Abraham believed God and God credited him with righteousness. Jesus paid for everyone’s sins, whether a person lived before Christ came to earth or after. The gospel is preached even to the dead, to those who never got a chance to hear while they lived on earth.
Everyone is responsible for how he reacts to what he hears. If you hear the good news, do not harden your heart.