Researched, composed, and written by Dr. Dave A. Schoch, Th.D., NT Theology
1/10/2024
So, I heard on the radio today while listening to the “To Every Man an Answer” show again, someone call in asking a very basic question that the two ‘pastors’ hosting the show did not answer correctly (which is nothing new). The question was from a woman who asked what God will do with those indigenous peoples like in South American, Indian (in India), or African jungles who have never heard about Jesus or the gospel.
The main host answered with Romans 1:19-20, which says…
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Romans 1:19-20 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 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.
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The problem with this, is that in context this passage has absolutely nothing to do with the question that was asked. Verse 18 sets the contextual subject – those who suppress the truth through the unrighteous things that they do; this does not address unbelievers, because verse 21 says that these people “knew God.” If Paul speaks about OT people, then he speaks about the Jews; but in this context he is speaking of people who were once Christians who “exchanged the truth of God for lies” and are no longer Christians.
Many under the false teachings of calvinism reject this clear meaning because calvinism says that once a person gets saved they can never fall away from Christ (which is not what Scripture teaches in the least bit). However, Scripture affirms throughout the NT that a believer can still end up in eternal fire (and this is just one verse on the subject):
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John 3:36* Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever does not obey the Son will never know life, because the wrath of God remains abiding upon him.
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No, the answer to this woman’s question is found in the next chapter…
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Romans 2:13-16 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 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 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.
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Remember that God is righteous, He will judge those who have never heard the gospel according to their own consciences. For example, even the aborigine in the deepest, darkest jungle knows that it is wrong to rape his own daughter (or any woman for that matter)…he knows that it is wrong to steal his neighbor’s pig, goat, or whatever. Because God is righteous, He will always judge people according to righteousness – that means He will be fair in His judgments; He does not judge and condemn the way people do one another. The unreached (wherever they might be) will be judged according to what they knew, what God had revealed to them (if anything), and according to what they did – regarding them doing things that their consciences told them was wrong.
Although this is a short article because this is the only passage of Scripture (that I recall) that has to do with what God will do with those die never hearing the gospel, it does answer the question fully.
Until next time, Blessings!
New Covenant Understanding 