What is the eternal fate of those who never hear the Gospel?

“There are still 25% of the world’s population who have never heard of Christ,” writes William Lane Craig, Bible Scholar and Apologist at Talbot School of Theology (Reasonable Faith. Doctrine of General Revelation Part 2: (http://www.reasonablefaith.org/defenders). Can these be saved if they never receive the Gospel of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ? Will they die in their sin if they never hear through no fault of their own? Is ignorance an excuse?

Some people struggle with this question. It is disturbing that people will never hear the gospel and yet plunge into eternal conscience suffering in Hell. “It is noteworthy that many people decide whether they can believe in God’s justice or fairness on the basis of their answer to this question: Will a just God eternally doom human beings who have never heard the name of Jesus?” (Carl F. H. Henry, “Is It Fair,” in Through No Fault of Their Own, editors. William Crockett and James Sigountos. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1991, 247)

There are two views in this controversy. Inclusivism is the view that those who never hear the gospel can be saved through the general knowledge of God seen in nature. Exclusivism is the contrasting view that only those who hear the gospel and receive Christ as their Savior can be saved. 

Inclusivism

Those who hold to inclusivism instead of exclusivism believe every sinner who properly responds to general revelation through creation and conscience will experience salvation without receiving Christ as his/her Savior. This is William Lane Craig’s view as expressed in this quote:

It does seem to me that through general revelation those who have never heard of Christ can have access to the salvation that Christ has won on the cross. Look at what Romans 2:6-7 says, “For he will render to every man according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.” I take that to be a bona fide offer that is extended to all persons everywhere. If someone will follow the guiding of general revelation and seek for glory and honor and immortality, God will give him eternal life.

Paul in Romans 2:6-7 is not talking about general revelation but the future day of God’s wrath (2:5, 16). The basis of the future Great White Judgment is works. To make 2:6-7 a justification for salvation through general revelation is to totally take these verses out of context and base salvation “according to his works” (2:6) which contradicts the entire message of Paul in Romans.    

Craig continues: Now does that mean that these people can be saved apart from Christ? No, not at all! It would simply mean that the benefits of Christ’s atoning death could be applied to these people without their having a conscious knowledge of Christ. This happened all the time in the Old Testament. Look at Old Testament figures like Job, Melchizedek, and Abimelech in Genesis 20. Here you have what are sometimes called “holy pagans” of the Old Testament.    

Craig continues: These people, when you read the stories about them, evidently had personal relationships with God. Job clearly was a man in whom God delighted. Job was a righteous man. Similarly, Melchizedek was called the priest of the Most High. Abimelech received communication from God, as God would disclose himself to him. And yet these persons had not only never heard of Christ, but they weren’t even Israelites! They weren’t even members of the old covenant, much less the new covenant! Job was from Ur in Chaldea; Melchizedek wasn’t a descendant of Abraham; Abimelech was a Philistine. And yet they seem to have responded to the information that they had. What that suggests is that if a person responds to general revelation by recognizing that he is sinful and culpable before the Creator God of the universe and he casts himself upon the mercy of this God, confessing his sin, recognizing that he has no claim to righteousness through his own good works or holy living but casts himself wholly upon the mercy of this God of creation, that God can be counted on to respond to that person by applying to him the benefits of Christ’s death (Reasonable Faith. Doctrine of General Revelation Part 2: (http://www.reasonablefaith.org/defenders).

 Craig said, “Abimelech received communication from God.” That means Abimelech is not simply responding to general revelation in nature or his conscience but to special revelation from God. The same was true for Abraham in Genesis 15 when God specially communicated to Abraham in Genesis 15:1-5 and then Abraham “believed in the Lord and he counted it to him for righteousness” in 15:6. Job was responding to special revelation when he confessed, “I know my redeemer lives.” With progressive revelation, the content of special revelation increased to eventually include the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. But Job, Abimelech, and Abraham responded to special revelation not just general revelation.  

Others believe that the person who never heard the gospel and responded to general revelation while the person was alive, God will give that person a second chance after death. This form of inclusivism (sometimes called accessibility) states that ultimate salvation is through nature or general revelation.

Accessibility

This is the view of Terrance L. Tiessen who is Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology and Ethics at Providence Theological Seminary, in Manitoba, Canada.

Tiessen writes: All who have ever been saved, who are now being saved, or whoever will be saved, are saved because Jesus Christ died and rose again for them .... Nevertheless, God does not require a faith that would be impossible for anyone by virtue of their ignorance. On the Day of Judgment, God will hold all people accountable for their response to the revelation that was made available to them, and only for that revelation. God may graciously save some who do not believe in Jesus as Savior if they are ignorant of him through no fault of their own."

Tiessen continues, "All people meet Jesus Christ personally at the moment of death, and they respond to him in a manner consistent with the response they had been giving to God and His revelation during their lifetime. At that moment, those who had received forms of revelation less complete than the gospel but who had responded in faith, by a work of the Holy Spirit, will joyfully find in Christ the fulfillment of all their hopes and longings" (Terrance L. Tiessen, Who Can Be Saved? Reassessing Salvation in Christ and World Religious, Downers Grove, IVP. 2004, 478).

Can people be saved after death? In Luke 16:26, Jesus told the story of the rich man in Hell. The rich man in Hell asked Abraham to send Lazarus to dip his finger in water and just put one drop of water on his tongue. Abraham responded: “Between me and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from here to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from there.” There is no purgatory, postmortem-like second chance.

Agnosticism

Still others are agnostic about the fate of those who die never having heard the special revelation of the gospel but were only exposed to nature or general revelation. The late John R. W. Stott, the famous British pastor, and widely read author, expressed this agnosticism: "The fact is that God, alongside the most solemn warnings about our responsibility to respond to the gospel, has not revealed how he will deal with those who have never heard it" (David Edwards and John Stott, Evangelical Essentials: A Liberal-Evangelical DialogueDowners Grove, IVP, 1988, 327).

Our final authority in difficult issues has to be God’s Word. What does Scripture teach about the fate of those who die never having heard the special revelation of the gospel and having only been exposed to general revelation or the truth about God in nature and in conscience?

1. What is General Revelation?

General revelation means that God has revealed some of His attributes to all people of all ages everywhere through nature (Psalm 19:1-7) and human conscience (Romans 2:14-15). General revelation is in contrast to special revelation. In special revelation, God has revealed not just general truths about Himself to all people everywhere, but through God’s Word, God has revealed specially salvation through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ to some people in some locations (Hebrews 1:1, 2).

The two types of revelation are defined in Article 2 of the Belgic Confession (on the means by which we know God):

First (in General Revelation) by the creation, preservation, and government of the universe; which is before our eyes as a most elegant book, wherein all creatures, great and small, are as so many characters leading us to see clearly the invisible things of God, even his everlasting power and divinity, as the apostle Paul says in Romans 1:20. All which things are sufficient to convince men and leave them without excuse. Second (In Special Revelation) He makes Himself more clearly and fully known to us by His holy and divine Word, that is to say, as far as is necessary for us to know in this life, to His glory and our salvation.

This distinction between general and special revelation focuses more on the extent and purpose of revelation (Louis Berkhof, Introduction to Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1932, 128). The extent of general revelation is to all people in all ages and in all locations. The purpose of general revelation is to expose all people to God their Creator. Like the Psalmist, we should burst forth in praise for God’s masterpiece all around us daily: “The heavens declare the glory of God and the sky shows his handiwork” (Psalms 19:1).

2. How Has God Generally Revealed Himself?

God has generally revealed Himself to each person internally in that person and externally in that person’s world. God has put up signs everywhere pointing to Himself. This internal and external revelation.

A. Internal General Revelation

John Calvin described internal general revelation in his Institutes of the Christian Religion: There is within the human mind, and indeed by natural instinct, an awareness of divinity. This we take to be beyond controversy. To prevent anyone from taking refuge in the pretense of ignorance, God himself has implanted in all men a certain understanding of his divine majesty (I.3.1). God has put up two internal signs in each person that point to Himself.

The first internal sign of the general knowledge of God is an inner sense of God.

Paul describes this intuitive knowledge of God in Romans 1:18-19: For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.

The existence of God “is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.” The unsaved have an inner awareness of God but repress it or exchange it for a lie. Augustine is said to have first stated that there is a God shaped vacuum in every person. If the person does not allow God to fill that emptiness, idols with fill the void (Romans 1:21-23). This God shaped vacuum is part of the image of God in each person. God created man and woman in His image so that we could fellowship with Him. This divinely built in need for God is always present.

Wayne Grudem told of an incident when he was a passenger in a car with several friends, including a young woman who in conversation was firmly denying that she had any inner awareness of God’s existence. Shortly thereafter the car hit a patch of ice and spun around in a complete circle at high speed. Before the car came to rest in a large snow bank this woman could be heard distinctly calling out, “Lord Jesus, please help us!” Grudem said, The rest of us looked at her in amazement when we realized that her agnosticism had been disproved by words from her own mouth” (Systematic Theology, 142).

The second internal sign of the general knowledge of God is each person’s inner conscience.

Paul wrote of this general knowledge in Romans 2:14-15: “For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them.”

Stephen Davey finds an illustration of this intuitive sense of right and wrong in the book of Acts. Paul has just been shipwrecked. He, and the other victims, swim for the island of Malta (Acts 28:1-4).

Here are superstitious unbelievers who have never heard the gospel, without any record of Scripture or the gospel to reveal their intuitive belief that murder is wrong and should be punished. They thought Paul had killed someone and that justice was after him. He had escaped from the sea, but justice still caught up with him, in the form of a deadly snakebite. So, they thought, “This guy’s gonna get what he deserves!” Where did they get that sense of justice; that sense of right and wrong? It is self-evident truth. When Paul does not die in 28:5-6, the same pagans, fall down to worship him. Poor Paul! First, he is a condemned murderer and then, he is a god. They do not know whether to bring out the handcuffs or roll out the red carpet. What I find interesting, for our study, is that these people knew right from wrong. In fact, they knew that wrongdoers should be punished. They, and everyone else on planet earth, have always known that lying is wrong and murder is wrong and cheating is wrong. You can watch even the most liberal thinker, who denies the existence of absolute moral truth, go into action when he is deceived by a financial advisor, or when he is treated rudely, or when his car is hit by another driver, or when his neighbor’s dog rips up his flower bed. He will say, “How dare that man rip me off,” “How dare she lie to me,” “I can’t believe they did that to me,” “They should have known better and they ought to pay!” (Stephen Davey’s Sermon).

God has put in everyone’s heart the moral law of God or conscience. Consciences are not infallible, however, and can be conditioned either for good or bad.

Wayne Grudem supplies some examples: A cannibalistic society, for example, will have many members whose consciences are hardened and insensitive with regard to the evil of murder, while modern American society, for example, exhibits very little sensitivity of conscience with regard to the evil of falsehood in speech, or disrespect for parental authority, or sexual immorality (Systematic Theology, 122).

In addition to the internal signs of an inner sense of God and conscience pointing to God, there are external signs.

B. External General Revelation

In a later chapter, Calvin described the external general revelation that God accomplishes through His created works: The final goal of the blessed life, moreover, rests in the knowledge of God. Lest anyone, then, be excluded from access to happiness, he not only sowed in men’s minds that seed of religion of which we have spoken, but revealed himself and daily discloses himself in the whole workmanship of the universe. As a consequence, men cannot open their eyes without being compelled to see him (Institutes, I.5.1).

God has revealed Himself to all through nature in Psalm 19:1-6; Acts 14:15-17; Romans 1:20. The Psalmist in Psalm 19:1-6 praises God as the powerful Creator and Sustainer of His universe. From Psalm 19:1, David praises God for revealing Himself in nature. David at night under the open sky while tending sheep with the naked eye could see about 8000 stars and was awestruck with God’s greatness. What would he say now if with the astronomer’s powerful telescope, he could view the billions of stars that exist? Everything in nature points to the Cause of this amazing Effect.

Next, David declares that God reveals Himself continually day and night (19:2). Not only does God reveal Himself continually but universally. God reveals Himself “throughout the earth” (19:3-4). The dominant means of general revelation is “the sun” (19:4). Every person, even the blind, dumb, and mute, can feel the warmth of the sun. Spurgeon said, “Nature is an outstretched hand pointing to God.”

On the church’s first missionary journey in Acts 14:15-17, Paul bore witness to pagans to God’s gracious “witness” given to all people in all ages and in all locations. How does God “witness?” God graciously gives rain and fruitful seasons and fills people with food and gladness.

Notice Paul’s apologetics in this encounter with those who had never heard of the gospel. He first preached the gospel to them (Acts 14:7) and then used Christian evidence or theistic arguments for the existence of God in 14:15-17. Paul used the teleological argument of Design/Designer. We usually reverse the process. Paul did not think natural theology (purely secular arguments without any reference to God’s Word) were necessary to prepare the skeptic for the gospel. Paul knew that the gospel “is the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).

To these pagans who had never heard the gospel through no fault of their own Paul declared the gospel. Did they respond positively to the gospel? No. They stoned Paul. Now, consequentially, they are accountable. If sinners can be saved through general revelation alone, it would have been better if Paul had not preached the gospel and made them culpable. Paul, however, knew ignorance of the gospel is no excuse.

If the purpose of general revelation is show us God’s goodness and graciousness as seen in God giving us rain, fruitful seasons, and filling our stomachs with food, what about natural disasters such as the floods in Virginia, which swept away a preschool boy to his death, and the mass shooting in Orlando? Are these examples of God’s goodness and graciousness? Why does a good God who is all-powerful not stop these events? Natural disasters happen because Adam sinned against God and the earth as an innocent bystander was cursed (Romans 8:20-22). The shooting in Orlando is not a reflection on God but a reality that fallen, depraved man has the ability to rebel against God.

We Christians are to imitate our gracious and good God as Jesus taught in Matthew 5:43-48. Just as God is good both to the just and unjust so should we love our enemies, bless them who curse you, do good to them who despitefully use you, and persecute you.” “God’s goodness extended toward us has practical importance. It calls us to mirror God’s character by caring for others and for creation” (Stanley J. Grenz. Theology for the Community of God. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994, 138).

The apostle Paul argues in Romans 1:20, that there are serious consequences to rejecting the giant billboard in nature announcing God: “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”

Nature is so clear in its message, “There is a God” that every sinner will stand before inexcusable. Robert Reymond concludes from verses: All this means that there is no such thing among mankind as an actual atheist. There are only theists, some of whom claim to be atheists.” There is both overwhelming internal and external evidence that God exists. “These ‘practicing atheists’ insist that the burden of proof lies with the theist to prove God’s existence to them. But the burden of proof actually is theirs to prove that the physical world is the only reality and that no supernatural spiritual being anywhere exists. This, of course, they cannot do. Thus their ‘atheism’ is their unproven ‘grand assumption’ an assumption, by the way, with which they cannot consistently live” (Systematic Theology, Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1998, 143).

3. Why Can General Revelation Not Save the Sinner?

General revelation, whether internal or external, is directed to all men. It is, however, “not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of His will, which is necessary unto salvation” (Westminster Confession of Faith, I.1).

Although general revelation is not enough to save it is enough to condemn

Charles Ryrie clearly makes this point: “The rejection of what is revealed in general revelation is sufficient to condemn justly. But this does not imply that the acceptance of general revelation is sufficient to effect eternal salvation. It is not, simply because there is no revelation of the atoning death of God’s Son” (Basic Theology, 38).

Jack Cottrell, in his book What the Bible Says about God the Creator, teaches that the sinner who has never heard is condemned not because of what he did not know but because of what he did know through general revelation:

The Bible nowhere teaches that a person can be saved from sin and condemnation through his response to the light of creation alone. General revelation simply does not give us any knowledge of redemption or of the redeemer …. Does this mean [people] are condemned on account of their ignorance? Not at all. This would be very unjust. True, they do not know the Gospel, but they are not condemned for not knowing the Gospel. Why then are they condemned? Because they do know general revelation and have not lived up to it. They do know God, and they do know that they should honor him as God and give him thanks, but they do not do this. This is why they are condemned. Not because of what they are ignorant of, but because of what they know. That they have not heard the Gospel is beside the point. When a person is condemned for his abuse of general revelation, the condemnation is just …. General revelation grows solely out of the work of creation. It is a revelation of God as Creator, not God as Redeemer. It speaks to man as creature, not to man as sinner. This is how it was intended to function from the beginning, and this is how it still functions (Joplin, Mo.: College Press, 1983), pp. 341-346. Read more: http://www.reasonablefaith.org/defenders-2-podcast/transcript/s2-2#ixzz4ClwSPTOi

F. F. Bruce put it this way, “God will judge non-Christians by the light that was available, not by the light that was unavailable.” Why cannot general revelation save? Because nature and our conscience do not teach us about the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Paul informs us what is necessary for salvation in Romans 10:9: “If you believe that God raised Him (Christ) from the dead you shall be saved.”

What about infants who die?

Those who disagree and believe that sinners who never heard the gospel can be saved through general revelation raise questions about infants who died and obviously never believed in Jesus. Tiessen argues: “We should consider infants and the incompetent no differently than we do competent adults, insisting on the necessity of God’s grace work of regeneration and on personal faith” (Tiessen, Who Can Be Saved, 213).

First, Infants cannot respond. Infants reject no light. Adults exposed to general revelation can respond to the light of general revelation and when this is done, God will send them more light.

Next, Infants have not willfully sinned against God. What are sinners going to be condemned for at the Great White Throne? For their sinful works in Revelation 20:11-15. Infants have no sinful works. Adult sinners who never heard the gospel sin against the moral law written in their hearts. Cain is an example. Cain was held responsible for the murder of his brother in Genesis 4, not because God’s special revelation in God’s Word had condemned murder. The 6th commandment had not yet been written in Exodus 20. Cain was guilty because he violated the moral law written in his heart. So has every adult broken the moral law in his heart whether he has heard the gospel or not.

Kevin DeYoung at The Gospel Coalition makes this point: I am not saying that unbelievers are punished because they did not put faith in a Jesus they never heard of. This may sound like the opposite of exclusivism, but it’s not. This is actually a crucial point that exclusivists and their opponents often miss. Those who never hear the gospel are not punished for not knowing Jesus. Not knowing Jesus results in punishment, but sin is the grounds for punishment. Those who do not put faith in Christ are punished for being sinners. They are punished in the next life for turning the truth of general revelation into a lie (Rom. 1:18-25). They have broken God’s law, and anyone guilty of even one violation is accountable for the whole law (James 2:10). Those with no knowledge of Christ will be judged less severely because they had less light, though that judgment will still be far from painless (Matt. 11:20-24). Our only hope in life and in death is that we are not our own but belong body and soul to our faithful Savior Jesus Christ.

4. Does the Sinner Who Only Has General Revelation Have Any Hope?

Are those who have never heard the gospel without hope? No! For those who respond to the light that God gives, because God is just, will receive more light as seen with Cornelius in Acts 10. Cornelius, the Roman centurion, was originally stationed in polytheistic Rome. Apparently, as Cornelius responded to the light he had, God in His providence had Cornelius transferred to monotheistic Judah. Still, Cornelius, however, needed more light. God dispatched Peter with the Gospel. God is just. He will not allow any soul seeking to know Him to go unsatisfied.

Inclusivists, however, believe that Cornelius was a believer before Peter preached the gospel to him. They say that 10:2 describes him as "devout." Also, inclusivism is heard in 10:34-35, when Peter preached that "God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that fears him, and works righteousness, is accepted with him." According to this view, Cornelius was already a believer because of his positive response to general revelation. This is John Sanders' view: "Cornelius was already a saved believer before Peter arrived but he was not a Christian believer" (John Sanders, No Other Name: An Investigation into the Destiny of the Unevangelized, Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1992, 254).

This conclusion is incorrect for several reasons. First, in Acts 2:5, Luke describes the Dispersion Jews who were in Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost as "devout." After Peter preached, 3000 of them were saved. "Devout" as used by Luke only means a person is religious. Also, after Peter preached the gospel to Cornelius and the Gentiles were saved, Peter returned to Jerusalem and related this groundbreaking event to the Jewish leaders. He recounted how the angel told Cornelius that a man named Peter would come to his house and he "shall tell you words, whereby you and all your house shall be saved" (11:14). The angel used the future tense about Cornelius' salvation. When Peter arrived at Cornelius' house, Cornelius was not saved; when Peter left, Cornelius was. So Cornelius was not saved apart from or before he heard the gospel.

When Peter preached that God is no respecter of persons and that "in every nation" God accepts persons, Peter was referring to examples like Cornelius. Peter did not mean every person in every nation is accepted by God no matter his religion. In Acts 4:12, Peter said Jesus is the only way. Cornelius is an example of a person who responded to the light he had in general revelation and God in His justice and fairness gave him more light (the special revelation of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ). There is hope for those who have never heard. God providently leads missionaries or believers here in America to those responding to the insufficient light of general revelation to give them the sufficient light of the special revelation of the gospel.

God is not only just and fair but God is love. God's concern for the lost has been demonstrated when He gave His Son to die for the sins of all people, including those who have not heard. "It is not His will that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). The love of God and the death of Christ are inclusive of all sinners. His salvation is exclusive to only those who receive Christ as Savior.

R. C. Sproul once asked a seminary class that was a conservative group: “How many of you believe that God’s revelation in Scripture is infallible?” And they all raised their hand. And then he said, “And how many of you believe that God’s revelation in nature is infallible, and nobody raised their hand. Sproul responded it’s the same God who’s giving the revelation. God’s revelation in creation is equally as infallible as His revelation in Scripture because in both cases, it is God who is doing the revealing, and God is always infallible.

Ryrie put it this way, “Both general and special revelation are (a) from God and (b) about God” (Basic Theology, 31). The infallible message of general revelation is this: “There is a God with whom you must reckon!”

To the sinner who is racing to Hell, God has put up roadblock after roadblock. God has put up the roadblock of the cross, a mother’s prayer, a faithful pastor’s preaching the Word, or a friend’s witness over and over again.

Our family was driving to Maggie Valley on vacation in May of 1988. When we were in Lexington, N.C., we noticed the sky in front of us was growing blacker and blacker. Then a man in an old truck was speeding toward us flashing his lights, blowing his horn, and frantically waving for us to turn back. He was desperate as he drove and warned people. We immediately turned around drove to the nearest house we saw and pulled into the driveway. By that time the wind was so strong we could barely open the door, get out of the car, and remove our son from his car seat. We ran onto the porch of these total strangers and asked if we could come in and take refuge. The owners graciously let us in. A tornado then swept through that community with much damage. The powerful wind tore up trees all around the house. But we were spared because one man was willing to warn us and others of the impending danger.

God has warned us and also erected signs everywhere pointing to Himself as the Creator and Sustainer who is not willing that any should perish.