12 Apr '14 18:11>1 edit
This is the best page that I have read ever on this topic:
What about those who died before hearing the Gospel?
Q: What about those who died before hearing the Gospel?
A: This seems like one of the most frequently asked questions. Are there other ways to God as some say, contrary to what Jesus taught? If not, then is there no way for those who never heard? What about people who died before Christ was born, and babies?
Remember seven words: Only Jesus justly judges and graciously saves. It would be very difficult to imagine a genuine Christian saying Jesus' great agony and suffering were not necessary to anyone to be saved. Yet God is just, and Christ only judges people based on the knowledge for which they are responsible. All who die rejecting Jesus are separated from God forever. Everyone that God saves goes to heaven through Jesus. This is true even if, like Abraham, Job, and many Old Testament believers, they first hear of the Gospel after they die. So we have an urgency to obey God in sharing the Gospel, not to empower God, or make Him just, but to express His love by asking all to accept the gospel, confident that God works out everything according to His plan.
While this summarizes what we need to know about those who have not heard, the next question shows how this relates to preaching the Gospel.
Q: How does the death of people who never heard of Jesus on earth relate to the Gospel?
A: Let's explore five points that relate to the Gospel message.
1. God's justice: Four attributes about God the Bible emphasizes are His holiness, justice, love, and wrath. Jesus justly judges all (2 Thessalonians 1:6; John 5:22,23; Matthew 12:36; Romans 2:16; 2 Timothy 4:1). God holds everyone responsible for the choices they are able to make and the truth they are given. (Acts 17:30; Romans 4:15; 5:13; 2:11-16; 3:20)
2. Man's sin: Even as to what they know, everyone falls short of the perfect standard for God's Heaven. (Romans 3:9-23; 5:12-19; 1 John 1:8; 5:19; Ephesians 2:3; John 3:36; Psalm 143:2). Even infants who died before they sinned still need sanctification before they could go to Heaven. (John 3:3-8; Romans 8:29-30)
3. The cross of Christ is the only way: So all desperately need a Savior, and Jesus is the only hope for the whole world. (Titus 2:13-14; 1 John 2:2; 3:8; Hebrews 2:9; 1 Timothy 2:4-6; 4:10; Acts 4:12; John 1:29; 3:17; 8:24; 10:7-8,14-16; 14:6; 6:45; Galatians 1:6-9). Because Jesus loves us so much, upon the cross He gave His life as an atoning sacrifice for the whole world (1 John 2:2). If you want to go to God’s house, you cannot just go any way, you have to go God’s way.
4. There has always been opportunity: Since the Fall to Abraham, from Job to now, whenever and wherever anyone has lived, God has given people the opportunity to call out to God to save them (Titus 2:11; Acts 10:34-35). While God overlooked times of people's ignorance (Acts 17:30), all are commanded to repent and obey the gospel of Jesus. Those who never heard are responsible to obey the Gospel of Jesus (2 Thessalonians 1:8), but people can connect with God's grace according to God's arrangements. (John 1:9,16,29; Hebrews 10:1-10,19; 1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23). What is common to God's arrangements is combining what they heard with faith (Hebrews 4:2; Romans 4:3-4).
5. There is only one way (through Jesus), but God has had more than one means. How can the Sovereign Lord give eternal life to those without the gospel, or even without God's law, who still sought glory, honor, and immortality in Romans 2:7,12-16? Under the Mosaic Law people put their life in God, hoped for the Messiah, and lived their faith through observing the law. This was not a different way to salvation, but a different means for them to connect with the salvation through Christ, sacrificing animals to cover over their sin until the perfect sacrifice came. For people like Abraham and Noah, God could move the heavens and the earth to make a means for them to find the One Way. What about those since Christ who died before hearing the Gospel? God says He is just, and has mercy, but we do not know, except that we are given the task of reaching as many people as we can. God can give all the opportunities He chooses, and when He chooses. Beyond this, Christians hold to one or more of the following views.
5a. We have not been told. Christ commanded us to preach so that everyone would here the gospel. For those who die unreached, that is God’s department, not ours. We simply labor and strive to make that group as small as possible.
5b. God understands and can take into account the ignorance of babies, children, and / or those who never heard and still save them through Christ. On the other hand, God is not compelled to give people more truth if they already rejected the truth about Him they have.
5c. God actively seeks: God directs missionaries to all who by God's grace seek Him.
5d. Post-mortem for little children: In addition, scripture suggests that infants and little children who die can go to Heaven (2 Samuel 12:23; Luke 18:16), even though they never put their faith in Christ or believed the Gospel while on earth. So those with the understanding of little children have hope of Heaven through Christ, while adults who reject the truth they have do not.
5e. Post-mortem until …: How old does a little person have to be before the previous no longer applies? Christians have given different views. On one hand, Augustine and Ambrose said only baptized infants would go to Heaven. On the other hand, Clement of Alexandria (193-217 A.D.) in Stromata book 6 chapter 6 taught that 1 Peter 3:19 and 1 Peter 4:6 imply even adults who never heard have an opportunity after they die to make the same choice they would make when alive. Others say there is an "age of Accountability" which can be different for different people. One thing we can say for sure though, it is God who draws the line.
5f. Millennium choices: Another complementary view is that some have choices to make during or after the Millennium.
5g. No opportunity: Some other Christians disagree with these opinions. Some, starting with Ambrose of Milan (340-397 A.D.) and Augustine of Hippo (370-400 A.D.) taught that God gives many (including all unbaptized infants) no opportunity to escape Hell. 5-point Calvinists today believe there is no opportunity for many people.
All Christians ought to agree though, that
a) Nobody has any salvation, except through Christ
b) Nothing in scripture proves that aborting or otherwise killing a baby automatically sends the baby to Hell, or to Heaven.
c) Nothing in scripture gives any hope of anybody having a "second chance" after they die.
d) No scripture says anyone would be more likely to accept the gospel they first heard after they die than if they heard it while they were alive on earth.
e) We have been given an urgent task, of preaching the gospel to the whole world.
f) A person’s salvation does not depend on their works of obedience, or our works of preaching, but ultimately on God.
Let's examine this issue in depth by answering some questions that arise about the details.
Q: In Rom 1:18-20, how does a just God condemn someone for not having enough knowledge about Christ to save them, even though they have enough knowledge about God to condemn them?
A: God is just to do so based on five points.
a) People are responsible for the truth that they have, as Romans 1:20-24 shows.
b) All people have some truth, from nature (Romans 1:20) and their own conscience. (Romans 2:13-15)
c) God is just. He does not hold people responsible for the truth they do not have, as Romans 4:15; 5:13 says (Sin is not counted where there is no law). Acts 17:30 says that God overlooks times of ignorance.
d) However, all ignorance is not necessarily innocent ignorance. Romans 1:18-20 shows that people can suppress the knowledge that they have. While God is understanding of someone who only had very little light, people are still condemned if they are in darkness because they themselves "blew out the candle".
e) For people who reject the truth that they do have, God is not obligated to give them additional truth. (Romans 11:20; Matthew 13:14-15; 23:29) In fact, for those who reject the way of truth, the less they know the better off they are. (2 Peter 2:20-22; John 15:22-24)
An illustration might help. You are lost in a dark forest at night, full of wild animals, and you do not know how to get out. You see a light ahead, and it appears to be a parked car with a man outside. You choose not to go near the man. Would you be right to blame the man anyway for not giving you directions?
When you move toward the light, doesn't the light get brighter? In a similar way, if someone is searching for the truth about God but doesn’t know about Jesus, God desires to give them more light when they respond to the light that they have received. Ultimately God will do whatever it takes to try to reach us because He loves us so dearly and desires a relationship with us, as 2 Peter 3:9 shows.
While the previous illustration is OK, for some there is a more appropriate illustration. A person is lost in a dark forest at night, full of wild animals. He sees a light ahead, which is a parked car with a man outside. He sneaks up on the man, kills him, burns the map, and then says he is doing the best he can because he knows no other way. He is telling the truth, since he burned the map. Today, about 2 billion people, and perhaps the majority of non-Christians, live in countries and cultures that have killed countless Christian witnesses. If someone approves of killing of Christians, how many more missionaries do you think God is obligated to send them?
But the good news for them is that God still keeps sending some missionaries, because He loves those lost people, even enough to sacrifice the lives of some of His missionaries.
What about those who died before hearing the Gospel?
Q: What about those who died before hearing the Gospel?
A: This seems like one of the most frequently asked questions. Are there other ways to God as some say, contrary to what Jesus taught? If not, then is there no way for those who never heard? What about people who died before Christ was born, and babies?
Remember seven words: Only Jesus justly judges and graciously saves. It would be very difficult to imagine a genuine Christian saying Jesus' great agony and suffering were not necessary to anyone to be saved. Yet God is just, and Christ only judges people based on the knowledge for which they are responsible. All who die rejecting Jesus are separated from God forever. Everyone that God saves goes to heaven through Jesus. This is true even if, like Abraham, Job, and many Old Testament believers, they first hear of the Gospel after they die. So we have an urgency to obey God in sharing the Gospel, not to empower God, or make Him just, but to express His love by asking all to accept the gospel, confident that God works out everything according to His plan.
While this summarizes what we need to know about those who have not heard, the next question shows how this relates to preaching the Gospel.
Q: How does the death of people who never heard of Jesus on earth relate to the Gospel?
A: Let's explore five points that relate to the Gospel message.
1. God's justice: Four attributes about God the Bible emphasizes are His holiness, justice, love, and wrath. Jesus justly judges all (2 Thessalonians 1:6; John 5:22,23; Matthew 12:36; Romans 2:16; 2 Timothy 4:1). God holds everyone responsible for the choices they are able to make and the truth they are given. (Acts 17:30; Romans 4:15; 5:13; 2:11-16; 3:20)
2. Man's sin: Even as to what they know, everyone falls short of the perfect standard for God's Heaven. (Romans 3:9-23; 5:12-19; 1 John 1:8; 5:19; Ephesians 2:3; John 3:36; Psalm 143:2). Even infants who died before they sinned still need sanctification before they could go to Heaven. (John 3:3-8; Romans 8:29-30)
3. The cross of Christ is the only way: So all desperately need a Savior, and Jesus is the only hope for the whole world. (Titus 2:13-14; 1 John 2:2; 3:8; Hebrews 2:9; 1 Timothy 2:4-6; 4:10; Acts 4:12; John 1:29; 3:17; 8:24; 10:7-8,14-16; 14:6; 6:45; Galatians 1:6-9). Because Jesus loves us so much, upon the cross He gave His life as an atoning sacrifice for the whole world (1 John 2:2). If you want to go to God’s house, you cannot just go any way, you have to go God’s way.
4. There has always been opportunity: Since the Fall to Abraham, from Job to now, whenever and wherever anyone has lived, God has given people the opportunity to call out to God to save them (Titus 2:11; Acts 10:34-35). While God overlooked times of people's ignorance (Acts 17:30), all are commanded to repent and obey the gospel of Jesus. Those who never heard are responsible to obey the Gospel of Jesus (2 Thessalonians 1:8), but people can connect with God's grace according to God's arrangements. (John 1:9,16,29; Hebrews 10:1-10,19; 1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23). What is common to God's arrangements is combining what they heard with faith (Hebrews 4:2; Romans 4:3-4).
5. There is only one way (through Jesus), but God has had more than one means. How can the Sovereign Lord give eternal life to those without the gospel, or even without God's law, who still sought glory, honor, and immortality in Romans 2:7,12-16? Under the Mosaic Law people put their life in God, hoped for the Messiah, and lived their faith through observing the law. This was not a different way to salvation, but a different means for them to connect with the salvation through Christ, sacrificing animals to cover over their sin until the perfect sacrifice came. For people like Abraham and Noah, God could move the heavens and the earth to make a means for them to find the One Way. What about those since Christ who died before hearing the Gospel? God says He is just, and has mercy, but we do not know, except that we are given the task of reaching as many people as we can. God can give all the opportunities He chooses, and when He chooses. Beyond this, Christians hold to one or more of the following views.
5a. We have not been told. Christ commanded us to preach so that everyone would here the gospel. For those who die unreached, that is God’s department, not ours. We simply labor and strive to make that group as small as possible.
5b. God understands and can take into account the ignorance of babies, children, and / or those who never heard and still save them through Christ. On the other hand, God is not compelled to give people more truth if they already rejected the truth about Him they have.
5c. God actively seeks: God directs missionaries to all who by God's grace seek Him.
5d. Post-mortem for little children: In addition, scripture suggests that infants and little children who die can go to Heaven (2 Samuel 12:23; Luke 18:16), even though they never put their faith in Christ or believed the Gospel while on earth. So those with the understanding of little children have hope of Heaven through Christ, while adults who reject the truth they have do not.
5e. Post-mortem until …: How old does a little person have to be before the previous no longer applies? Christians have given different views. On one hand, Augustine and Ambrose said only baptized infants would go to Heaven. On the other hand, Clement of Alexandria (193-217 A.D.) in Stromata book 6 chapter 6 taught that 1 Peter 3:19 and 1 Peter 4:6 imply even adults who never heard have an opportunity after they die to make the same choice they would make when alive. Others say there is an "age of Accountability" which can be different for different people. One thing we can say for sure though, it is God who draws the line.
5f. Millennium choices: Another complementary view is that some have choices to make during or after the Millennium.
5g. No opportunity: Some other Christians disagree with these opinions. Some, starting with Ambrose of Milan (340-397 A.D.) and Augustine of Hippo (370-400 A.D.) taught that God gives many (including all unbaptized infants) no opportunity to escape Hell. 5-point Calvinists today believe there is no opportunity for many people.
All Christians ought to agree though, that
a) Nobody has any salvation, except through Christ
b) Nothing in scripture proves that aborting or otherwise killing a baby automatically sends the baby to Hell, or to Heaven.
c) Nothing in scripture gives any hope of anybody having a "second chance" after they die.
d) No scripture says anyone would be more likely to accept the gospel they first heard after they die than if they heard it while they were alive on earth.
e) We have been given an urgent task, of preaching the gospel to the whole world.
f) A person’s salvation does not depend on their works of obedience, or our works of preaching, but ultimately on God.
Let's examine this issue in depth by answering some questions that arise about the details.
Q: In Rom 1:18-20, how does a just God condemn someone for not having enough knowledge about Christ to save them, even though they have enough knowledge about God to condemn them?
A: God is just to do so based on five points.
a) People are responsible for the truth that they have, as Romans 1:20-24 shows.
b) All people have some truth, from nature (Romans 1:20) and their own conscience. (Romans 2:13-15)
c) God is just. He does not hold people responsible for the truth they do not have, as Romans 4:15; 5:13 says (Sin is not counted where there is no law). Acts 17:30 says that God overlooks times of ignorance.
d) However, all ignorance is not necessarily innocent ignorance. Romans 1:18-20 shows that people can suppress the knowledge that they have. While God is understanding of someone who only had very little light, people are still condemned if they are in darkness because they themselves "blew out the candle".
e) For people who reject the truth that they do have, God is not obligated to give them additional truth. (Romans 11:20; Matthew 13:14-15; 23:29) In fact, for those who reject the way of truth, the less they know the better off they are. (2 Peter 2:20-22; John 15:22-24)
An illustration might help. You are lost in a dark forest at night, full of wild animals, and you do not know how to get out. You see a light ahead, and it appears to be a parked car with a man outside. You choose not to go near the man. Would you be right to blame the man anyway for not giving you directions?
When you move toward the light, doesn't the light get brighter? In a similar way, if someone is searching for the truth about God but doesn’t know about Jesus, God desires to give them more light when they respond to the light that they have received. Ultimately God will do whatever it takes to try to reach us because He loves us so dearly and desires a relationship with us, as 2 Peter 3:9 shows.
While the previous illustration is OK, for some there is a more appropriate illustration. A person is lost in a dark forest at night, full of wild animals. He sees a light ahead, which is a parked car with a man outside. He sneaks up on the man, kills him, burns the map, and then says he is doing the best he can because he knows no other way. He is telling the truth, since he burned the map. Today, about 2 billion people, and perhaps the majority of non-Christians, live in countries and cultures that have killed countless Christian witnesses. If someone approves of killing of Christians, how many more missionaries do you think God is obligated to send them?
But the good news for them is that God still keeps sending some missionaries, because He loves those lost people, even enough to sacrifice the lives of some of His missionaries.