What Happens to Those Who Have Never Heard the Gospel?

If you have to respond to the Gospel message to be saved, what happens to those who have never heard the Gospel?

How can God be just if salvation is denied to those who have never heard about Jesus Christ? You can call us right now with your question at 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673.

You can also post your question on our Facebook or Instagram accounts, and you can email us with your question at questions-at-core-christianity.com. First up today, we have a good news story to share with you. Cavanaugh Bell is not your ordinary second grader. While most of his friends spent their summers relaxing, the seven-year-old from Maryland was hard at work with his parents and friends, delivering a trailer full of COVID-19 supplies to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

That reservation is considered to be one of the poorest places in America. Cavanaugh and his family continued their efforts last week by loading up a 53-foot truck full of supplies and delivering them to the reservation just in time for winter. Wow, what a cool story, huh? Yeah, I love that little kid helping his parents out do a good deed. I think he actually came up with the idea himself.

He was studying about Indians and reservations and decided to get his parents to help him out with this project. Wow. Yeah, very cool. Awesome. Well, let's get to our first question of the day.

This is a call we received at 833-THE-CORE. Hi, Adrian Bell. My name is Christian.

I'm from St. Louis, Missouri. I had a question about John 9, when Jesus healed a blind man. Particularly, I'm going to read it here, and his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Well, how can the man sin before he was born? It says that he was born blind and said, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Thank you.

God bless you. Hey, thanks for that question, Christian. What an interesting passage this is, too, and I think a really important one when we think about suffering and, I mean, even something like blindness. And here the question from the disciples is, who sinned?

Whose fault was it, Lord? And I think when they were referring to him, I mean, I'm not sure that they meant to suggest that maybe while he was in the womb, he had done something wrong or sinned in some way, and that's why he was born blind. I think probably it was just the idea that he would go to do something sinful, and so God had cursed him even before he had sinned.

I have kids. I have four kids, and I can tell you that they start sinning pretty early, but what about in the womb? I'm not sure that that's what John 9, verse 2 is focusing on. The question is, and as I said, it's a really important question, was the man blind from birth because of something he did? Was it his fault, or was it his parents' fault? Just another thing, I know as a father of young kids, I mean, what a heavy burden to bear, and I think that there are parents who think, my sin is why my children suffer in this way or the other. And I think we have to be really careful here, because Jesus in his response says, oh, it's not his fault, and it's not his parents' fault. He says in verse 3, Jesus answered, it was not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.

And then, as you know, Jesus goes on to heal this man, and the works of God were put on display through his blindness. And so there's a lot here at play when we think about suffering, when we think about illness, blindness, things like that, and how it relates to God, God's will, God's glory, but I don't think there's anything in this passage specifically that would teach us that children in the womb sin. Now, we do say, and can say on the basis of our understanding of original sin, that all of us are sinners from birth. Paul makes that very clear in Romans 5, verse 12. He talks about how all of us in Adam sinned. Adam is the representative of mankind, or was the representative of mankind, and everybody who's born is born in Adam in sin. Romans 5, verse 12, therefore, Paul said, just as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. And I take Paul there to mean that all sinned in Adam. Now, what that means is we inherit Adam's guilt, the guilt of Adam's sin, and also the corruption associated with that guilt.

We have this from our very birth. It's one of the reasons why many Christians, myself included, believe in the doctrine of what's called total depravity. What this means is that our entire person, if you will, has been tainted by sin. There isn't a part of me that sin has not corrupted in some way, mind, body, soul, the whole thing. Sin has corrupted us. We're not as bad as we could be, but the fact of the matter is we can't save ourselves because from birth we have this problem, the problem of sin. And so the amazing thing that we get here is, I mean, it just highlights the beauty of the gospel because there's nothing in me. There's nothing in us that warrants God's redemption. I can't save myself.

We can't pull ourselves up by the bootstraps. It's a work of God's grace, God's mercy, God's forgiveness in Jesus Christ. And so a lot going on in this passage.

As I said, we can't conclude from this text that children in the womb are sinning in some way, but we do know on the basis of other passages of Scripture that we all have sinned from birth, that we inherit Adam's guilt and sin. And we're dead in trespasses and sin, as Paul says elsewhere in Ephesians, and that's why we need the gospel. So Christian, thanks for that question, and hopefully that helps you out. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez.

Adriel, here's a question that came in through our Facebook page. Amber says, do denominations matter? I'm a Christian that trusts in Jesus alone, but I can't decide on a church because of so many different beliefs, which scares me because I'm worried about being misled.

Amber, I can just totally sympathize with you. I know this concern, this fear, especially if you want to faithfully follow Jesus, if you want to think about all of the different kinds of churches out there, and you're asking yourself this question, where do I go? Who teaches the truth? And everyone says, I'm just basing what we believe on what the Scripture teaches. How do you choose? And I know that there are a lot of people that are overwhelmed by that question and people who actually never even end up going to a church because they just think, well, there's so much division, so much contradiction that I can't just sort of throw a dart at the board and just say, oh, I'm going to land here and hope that it's all good.

I understand the frustration that you have and the tension and even the fear. And there are two passages of Scripture that I think can be really encouraging to you. The first one is in John chapter 10, and this is the voice of the Lord Jesus. I'll just start in verse 22. At that time, the feast of dedication took place at Jerusalem.

It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father's name bear witness about Me, but you do not believe because you are not among My sheep. My sheep hear My voice. I know them, and they follow Me, and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.

I am the Father are one. When I wrestle with that and have wrestled with that question that you have, I take comfort in the words of Jesus. My sheep hear My voice, and I give them eternal life in amber. You've heard the voice of Jesus.

You believe in Him. No one can snatch you out of Jesus's hand. Now, the other passage that I wanted to bring up by John, this is in 1 John 2, and I'm actually right now preaching through 1 John for our church, and actually going to be preaching on this passage here shortly in a couple of weeks, probably. But 1 John 2, verse 18, Children, John said, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come.

Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out that it might be complained that they all are not of us. Right there, just sort of setting the stage a little bit for you, John is talking about how in the world right now, the antichrist is active. I mean, there's false teaching, corrupt doctrines that we have to watch out for, we have to be discerning. But listen to what John says to the church, how he encourages these Christians. He says in verse 20, But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.

No one who denies the Son has the Father, and whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Two verses there, right? The first one in John chapter 10, Jesus says, My sheep hear my voice, and I hold on to them.

No one can snatch them out of my hand. And where do we hear the voice of Jesus, Amber? It's through the Holy Scriptures as the word of God is faithfully taught. And then in 1 John, when John is talking about all these different doctrines that are out there, the antichrist and the spirit of the antichrist that's at work in the world today, he comforts the church, believers in Jesus, by saying, You have the Holy Spirit. And you remember what Jesus said about the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room Discourse in John 13 through 16?

He said that the Spirit was going to lead his people, the disciples, into all truth. And so one comfort you have is that you hear and know the voice of Jesus through the Scriptures and that the Spirit of God, Amber, lives in you. Now, beliefs do matter, and organizational structure matters. One of the other things I think that you can be comforted by is that the core doctrines of the Christian faith are really held by a lot of these denominations. Yes, there are a lot of denominations, but they hold to the doctrine of the Trinity, the Incarnation, salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

There is a lot of agreement, and that should comfort you, Amber. I'm going to encourage you, get plugged in to a church that has a high view of Scripture, that believes that the Bible is God's Word, and where God's Word is faithfully taught, and where there's accountability. And that's where denominations can be helpful.

There's church structure, accountability that helps to protect the church and the ministers, the pastors that are there. And make sure that Jesus is the center, that Christ is being proclaimed, that he's being preached. That's what John was saying in 1 John.

You know, the spirit of the Antichrist, here's how you can recognize it. It gets Jesus wrong. It teaches false things, untrue things about who Jesus is and was. It denies, there in 1 John, the issue was the genuine incarnation of the Word, denying that Jesus had a true body, that he truly suffered for our sins. Today, there are many people, Amber, who think that Jesus was just a great sort of teacher, you know, sort of a spiritual guru. Well, no, we believe that Jesus was God incarnate who died for our sins.

And it's his life and death, his resurrection from the dead that grant us eternal life. And so, Amber, those core truths are what you cling to, and it is so important for you to be in a good church that holds to those things, and rest in knowing that Jesus' sheep hear his voice, and that you can hear his voice through the Scriptures. So go where the Scriptures are faithfully taught. May the Lord bless you as you seek to get plugged into a good and faithful church.

Boy, that was some great advice, Adriel. My wife and I chose our church based on the coffee bar, so that was probably not the best thing to do. Yeah, well, I mean, good coffee too is, I mean, that is an important thing, but you can have great coffee and bad theology, and I'm going to say, just stick with the good theology. All right, well, this is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Many of the questions we receive here tend to focus around a central issue, how do I find myself in God's story? Well, today we are offering a resource that answers that question.

Yeah, it's an audio resource over at corechristianity.com called Finding Yourself in God's Story. We get a lot of questions that essentially come down to this. What does the Bible story mean for me today?

Where do I fit in? And there is a lot of confusion about this, because there are some people that think that the Bible is all about them. I'm the center of the story.

Well, that's not necessarily the case. The Bible is the story of God and what He's done for us in Christ to redeem us, and we're woven into that story, and it's important that we understand how. So in this teaching series, you'll join our good friends, Michael Horton and Nancy Guthrie, as they help you explore God's great plan and grand design that includes all of creation, including you and me. Head over to corechristianity.com forward slash offers to download Finding Yourself in God's Story. And you can also call us for that offer or any one of our offers at 833-843-2673. That's 833, the core. Well, let's go to another question, Adriel.

This one was posted on our Instagram account. James says, is it a sin to enjoy alcohol? An important question, and there is obviously, as I'm sure you know, James, disagreement among Christians on this issue. And in all honesty, we need to let the Bible guide us here again. We can create manmade rules that aren't set out in scripture and bind other people on the basis of what our personal rules are instead of what the Bible teaches. And so I think one thing that we should all be able to agree on is what does the scripture say that's what I want to follow? And on this issue, the Bible teaches that wine in and of itself, alcohol in and of itself, isn't necessarily sinful. I think, for example, of Psalm 104 verses 13 through 15, it sort of treats wine as a gift given to God's people by God himself.

Here's what the text says. From your lofty abode, you water the mountains. The earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work. You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man. Oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man's heart.

You see that there? It's treated as this good gift that God provides for his people, and you see this throughout the scriptures. I think also of the fact that Jesus, the very first miracle that he performed, recorded in the Gospel of John, was turning water into wine at a wedding. It's pretty wild when you think about it, and there are all sorts of things happening in that passage. I think Jesus is highlighting the fact that he's the Lord of the feast, as some people have said.

He's also pointing forward to his sacrificial death for his people. But nevertheless, it's very clear that Jesus brought wine to the wedding. Now, does that mean that Jesus condoned drunkenness?

No. No, the Bible teaches that wine is a gift, but that it can also be abused, and so you have all these warnings associated with this gift of wine, if you will. Proverbs 23 31, do not look at wine when it is red.

When it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly, in the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder. I think the question we need to ask when we're asking the question, is this okay to enjoy whatever this might be, is does this alcohol, here in your question, does this control you? There's a difference, James, between enjoying wine and maintaining control over yourself, having self-control, and being led away into drunkenness. There are a lot of people who are controlled by alcohol. Frankly, there are a lot of people who are controlled by food, who have turned that into an idol as well. We have to be really careful with that, because even that can be sinful.

Gluttony. Scripture talks about that. Sadly, I think sometimes people can turn to alcohol as a way of numbing their pain, trying to escape reality. Well, that's a misuse of alcohol that's sinful. Paul told the Ephesians, do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit. Ephesians 5, verse 18.

And so, James, no, alcohol in and of itself, wine in and of itself, is not sinful. But like so many of God's gifts to the people of God, to the world, we abuse them. We're sinful. Our hearts take them and use them in ways that are not healthy. And so that's where you have to be really, really careful. And for all of us as Christians, the exhortation is don't get drunk with wine.

That's debauchery. Be filled with the Spirit. And so that's the question you need to ask yourself. And we all should ask ourselves, am I filled with the Spirit?

How does that happen? Well, we're filled with the Spirit as we meditate upon the Word of Christ. God bless you. This is CORE Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. And let's get back to another call, Adriel. This came in at 833-THE-CORE.

Hi, my name is Allie and I'm from Maine. I'm a brand new believer. And one thing that I'm really struggling with is, if God was truly just, why is it only people that come to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior who get to be saved? Because not everybody gets the chance to really hear and understand the gospel.

So I guess that just doesn't seem fair to me and it's hard for me to understand how God could be just, if that's the case. So thank you so much. Your podcast is really helping me to learn.

And I'm excited for the next episode. Man, Allie, I'm so happy you reached out to us. Just hearing your question brings me great joy and hearing that you're a newer believer.

I want to just take a moment to pray for you first before I answer this question. Father, I lift Allie up to you. I thank you, Lord, for drawing her to yourself. I thank you, Lord, for her faith in your son, Jesus. And I pray, Lord, that you would protect her from the evil one, that you would encourage her as she continues to seek you, as she continues to grow in her understanding of your word, Lord, that she would fall more in love with you, that you would cause her to be just a great light shining for the people around her, pointing them to Jesus, to his love, to his goodness, and that she would continually rest in that love and goodness. I thank you again for her and, Lord, for the work you've done in her life. Be with her today, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Well, Allie, first, let me just recognize the seriousness of this question. We believe, as Christians, that Jesus is the way. Jesus made that absolutely clear in John, chapter 14, verse 6.

He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said in Acts, chapter 4, verse 12, There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. So you have a very clear statement there, which immediately leads to the question, your question, what about the people who have never heard the name of Jesus? Well, first, in terms of God's justice, what condemns us before God isn't simply that we hear about Jesus and we reject him. It's that God has already revealed so much to us about who he is, and we reject that. Now, the passage of scripture, and there are a few, but the one that I always go to is in Romans, chapter 1. It makes this point, verses 20 through 23.

Listen to what Paul said. For his, that is God's, 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, that is mankind, are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. See, Paul is talking there about idolatry and how essentially we engage in idolatry even though the created world around us reveals that God is good and that he created these good things for us. Instead of embracing that reality, we turn from it.

We worship the creature rather than the creator. So we're justly condemned because we reject what we might refer to as the revelation God has given to us in the very creation around us. We also need to remember that God is good, and I think for those who heard about Jesus and rejected him, there's a more severe judgment than for those who didn't.

Jesus seems to indicate in the gospels that we're judged to the degree that we know and reject the truth. You know, when people in far-off lands who don't know God are searching, groping after him, God doesn't just leave them per se. I think of the soldier Cornelius in Acts chapter 10. He didn't know the name of Jesus, but he was praying and crying out to God, and what did God do? He sent Peter to him. And this is why missions are so important. God is advancing his word, his gospel, through faithful missionaries, through people who go out and preach, and God is sending them to places where the name of Jesus has not yet been heard. God is just, and he's good, and he's calling all people everywhere to turn to him and to his Son, Jesus. When you contact us, please let us know how you've been encouraged by this podcast, and be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's Word together.