Missions Textbook 16
Are the Heathen Really Lost?

We Never Saw It Coming: An Introduction to Christian Missions (textbook)

The Christian world (and the non-Christian world, of course) sometimes finds it difficult to understand why God would allow people to die for their sins and go to hell, when they never had the opportunity to hear the Gospel. This usually exhibits itself in indignant questions about the fairness of God. As we often told our new friends in Austria, “God has an answer to this question; we just need to find it.”

We begin by examining why people are lost in the first place. In Romans 3:9-18, 23, the apostle Paul quoting from the Psalms, makes it very clear that we are sinners by nature, and the proof of that sin nature is our natural bent toward doing sin as soon and as often as we are able. Sin and its consequence, death, are genetic. Just as we are born with chromosomes that direct our physical lives, we are also born with the spiritual chromosome of sin and death – passed on to us by our first father, Adam (Romans 5:12).

Paul broke this down into consequences when he witnessed to King Agrippa in Acts 26. In their natural, unregenerate state, people are spiritually blind, living in spiritual darkness, under the power of Satan, without forgiveness, and without any spiritual inheritance or hope for their future after death. Paul’s job description was “’to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, and that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in [Jesus]’” (Acts 26:18).

People are lost – not because they have not heard of Christ – but because they are sinners. To be saved, however, they must hear of Christ. “This is important. Don’t let it slip by you. We are not responsible because we are sinners by nature; we are responsible if we reject the Savior. We are not responsible because we were born in darkness and because our understanding is darkened; we are responsible if we reject the light that comes to us through the Word of God.”[1]

Light plays an important part in whether or not a person comes to a knowledge of Christ. In John 1:6-13, the apostle John writes that Jesus is the Light, and that response to that Light makes it possible for people to become children of God. This is actually a key verse for unbelievers in the first evangelistic Bible study in John. Ask, “Are all people children of God?” and many will automatically say yes. If you are saying yes, then you need to read these verses – especially John 1:12 – again and look carefully at the words.

Verse 13 goes on to explain ways we do not become children of God. We cannot inherit it from our parents, like our curly hair. Our parents also cannot decide for us and give it to us like they would give us the farm. Finally, no other person, priest, or religious leader can declare us a child of God. Going back to verse 12, the only way to become a child of God is to receive Jesus Christ.

So we are back to the initial question: What about those who have never had the opportunity to hear about Jesus, who said unequivocally, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6)?

In Romans 1:20 we read that God has put into every human heart the knowledge of three things. First, every human being who lived, lives now, or will ever live knows by looking at creation that Whoever created it was loving, and beautiful and bigger than they are. They also know He is powerful and strong, and He is very different from, higher and more advanced than humans. This is enough to begin a human on the search for that Being. The theological name for these three revelations is General Revelation. Every person can know these things, and every person is responsible for how he or she responds to these first glimpses into the glories of God. The first verses of Psalm 19 elaborate on what we can learn about God from the heavens.

Floyd always uses the illustration about the ice cream cone. If he gives our grandson a lick of his ice cream cone, and the boy says, “Yum!” then Floyd will give him more. If, however, the boy says, “Yuck!” then Floyd feels no obligation to give him another lick. God operates much the same way. If a person responds favorably to the light of General Revelation, then God has obligated Himself to provide more light. He is not obligated, however, to give more light to those who have rejected what He has already given, although He usually graciously does, thus condemning themselves even more for rejecting the additional light.  Are you seeking God? God is seeking you as well (John 4:23-24), and He is seeking seekers.

Sometimes it is tempting to believe that other religions also lead to God. Perhaps Allah is just another name for Yahweh. Perhaps Nirvana is just another name for Heaven. These are not new thoughts, and we have already mentioned Jesus’ claim to be the only way to God in John 14:6. The apostle Peter in his defense to the high priest in Jerusalem also refutes this heresy by saying, “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name [Jesus Christ the Nazarene, v. 10] under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:11-12). If we believe Scripture at all, it’s hard to get around this straightforward statement. It is, indeed, a narrow road.

Eventually, a person must hear the name of Jesus and the story of the Gospel to be saved. This comes only from the Bible, God’s Word to man. And while General Revelation is given to every person, this Special Revelation is only given to those who can read or hear God’s Word. The second part of Psalm 19 describes what Special Revelation does for people who read or hear it. Once again, God even allows non-seekers to be exposed to His Word, in an effort to draw them to Himself. If, however, they still reject, He allows them to become even more blind to their need until they may not see it at all (2 Corinthians 4:3-4; Romans 1:21-32).

One of the beautiful things about the Gospel is that it meets every person right where they are. Seekers (John 4), Jews, Gentiles, morally good people, intellectuals (Philippians 3:4-6), tough people (Acts 16: 30-34), rich people (Acts 16:15), and very religious people (John 3:5) can all find the Savior if they are willing to believe the Gospel (Acts 17:30-31). There are, however, only two types of people in God’s eyes: those following Jesus and those not. Psalm 1 makes it very clear that there are only two types of people, two paths, two types of lives, and two destinations after death. John the Baptist also preached that there were only good fruit bearing trees and bad fruit bearing trees (Matthew 3:8-10). There is no third alternative. This is an unpopular message in our 21st century world, which wants truth to be relative and God – if He exists at all – to be merely benevolent and generous.

When people respond to the light given them and eventually make a decision to follow Jesus Christ, then they become children of God. Faith is the prerequisite for that decision. Abraham “believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:3; Galatians 3:6; James 2:23). The whole point of seeking God and responding to the light He gives us is to finally find a solution to our sin problem. Only faith in God and the provision He made for our sin through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ will finally put us in a right relationship to God (Ephesians 2:8-9). If we truly seek God, He will find us (Jeremiah 29:13).

So. When Jesus told His disciples – and us by extension – to go into all the world and make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20), He meant for us to find those seeking God and give them more light through the Special Revelation of the Scriptures (Romans 9:14). This was His answer to how those who have never heard the Gospel could finally hear it.

There is a popular quote attributed to St. Francis of Assisi: “Preach the Gospel at all times; use words if necessary.” While we can appreciate the idea of an evangelist living according to his or her belief, we need to recognize that the Good News is a message, and messages require words. In Acts 10, Cornelius, a Roman centurion, was on the right track when the angel told him to send for Peter, who would be an answer to his prayers. When Peter reported to the church in Jerusalem an account of his evangelism of Cornelius, he said that the angel told Cornelius to fetch Peter, “and he will speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household” (Acts 11:14).

God, of course, is not limited by how He could communicate His Gospel. Before any of it was written, He spoke to Adam and Eve, Cain, Noah and Abraham. God is not limited by any method of communication when He wants to reveal Himself to someone who is responding to the Light he or she has received. There are accounts of Muslims hearing of Jesus in dreams. Missionaries have arrived at remote villages, only to discover that the people were prepared beforehand for their arrival. It is, however, no coincidence that Jesus is called The Word (John 1:1-2, 14). “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son . . .. (Hebrews 1:1-2a).

The heathen are lost, and God has made a provision for them to hear the Gospel story of Jesus. He has asked men and women to go into the world with the Good News. If they won’t go, He will find another way.

[1] J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee, vol. 5 (Thomas Nelson, 1983), 770.

We Never Saw It Coming: An Introduction to Christian Missions (textbook)

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