"Those Who Never Heard"

The question has been asked by many a sincere believer. "How can God condemn people to an eternity of punishment when they have never heard the gospel?" You may have heard the question in one form or another. We know God is faithful and His commitment to try to save is His very heart. Jesus demonstrated God's loving heart on behalf of lost man. But if one never hears of this love, this commitment on behalf of God, is it just too bad they live in the wrong place at the wrong time?

If one is a Calvinist in their belief, (God appoints some to damnation and some to salvation), they answer that by saying that such people were "ordained" to that damnation and that's why they never will hear the gospel. Can you imagine God creating people for no other purpose to condemn them to the fires of hell? Take out the Scriptures, "Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (I Tim. 2:4) For one to believe in this Calvinist idea is to completely make a liar out of God!

Others tell us it is the fault of lazy Christian's who do not spread the message! There might be some truth to that as over the years I have seen a lack of desire to reach the lost. But it goes a step further. Some of these who claim this is the reason some never will hear the gospel also tell us that God probably knows these that never heard wouldn't respond anyway, even if they heard the gospel, so God doesn't bother getting it to them.

How do we conclude about those who never heard? It is true, that those who die without the gospel will burn eternally. Let's see if we can find some solid ground. Jesus commissioned His apostles to "go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation." (Mark 16:15-16) As the apostles went, more and more people heard this gospel message. In Acts 19:10, while Paul was at Ephesus, he preached in their synagogue and the school of Tyrannus. The Scriptures tell us that "all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks." This took place from about 55-57 AD. By 62 AD, the writing of the book of Colossians, the inspired apostle Paul encourages the brethren to "continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven.." (Col. 1:23) The gospel had reached all creation under heaven by 62 AD! He also reminds them that this gospel that came to them had come into all the world bearing fruit. (Col. 1:6) What do we learn? There was a time and point in the history of man that God had this saving gospel message sent into the ears of every person! If man didn't respond and keep this gospel alive, was that God's fault? Does man, even though today they never heard of the gospel, find themselves without? Through the creation, God made His invisible attributes, eternal power and divine nature clearly seen so that God sees man without excuse (Rom. 1:20). It's not man does not know about God. It is man is not concerned about reaching out to God. Read carefully Acts 17 and see what Paul teaches to the idolatrous Athenians that they should be reaching for the true God, even if they had not previously heard!

There will always be questions, some difficult to answer. But I know this, that there was a time and point that man heard and did not continue passing that message on. As the world became more and more populated, man drifted so far that the message was lost in the ears of many. Is God at fault? Not hardly. Does He still want people saved, even those who never heard? Yes! We need never forget our purpose and mission on this earth. It's not about being the largest church, the most active church, to provide entertainment for our children but the spreading of the gospel of God to a lost world. That starts in our own communities and helping those willing to go into a country that they were not born, just to get God to them. Let's support such men as these!