Sometimes people ask, “What about people who have never heard of Jesus Christ?”
because they think it is “unfair” that Jesus would say a person cannot go to heaven without believing in Him (John 14:6: “…no man comes to the Father but by me,” Acts 4:12: “…there is none other name…whereby we must be saved”).
“Fairness” And God’s Character
Fairness is a subjective term. On this issue, we must objectively consider God’s ways in light of His perfect character, and be careful not to apply our own human reasoning since our ways are not His ways (Isa 55:8, Rom 9:21). God issovereign and can do anything He wants with His creation. Of course He did not create human robots; He created man in His image, with a will to choose between right and wrong (Rev 22:17b). Each individual is accountable for his choices. God is just and must judge one who chooses wrong (Psalm 9:7,8; Eccl 12:14). Of course since God is Creator, He determines what is right and wrong. Since heaven is perfect, God cannot allow any sin, anyone who chooses wrong, into heaven (Habakkuk 1:13, James 2:10, Rev 21:4, 22:3). But the “good news” is that God is also compassionate, loving, and impartial (Rom 2:4, Acts 10:34, 35). He doesn’t desire that anyone perish (Eze 33:11, 1 Tim2:4, 2 Pet 3:9). He offers to all salvation in Jesus Christ to escape His just judgment (Heb 2:3).
God’s has left a Witness of Himself
First, He left a witness “in that He did good” to mankind in blessing man’s agricultural efforts. This goodness alone should lead one to repentance (Rom 2:4). Yet God didn’t stop there. He witnesses of Himself through man’s conscience. Even people who do not have God’s “law” (i.e., the Bible), have a conscience that bears witness of that law (Rom 2:15).
But the main witness God has given of Himself is through his Creation. The Bible says people can’t believe in Him “of whom they have not heard.” But right after that it says He has left a witness of Himself in all the earth (Rom 10:14-18). This is a quote of Psalm 19 which tells us the heavens declare God’s glory. “Sound” (Rom 10:18) and “line” (Ps 19:4) are used interchangeably. This pictures a message, a line or cord binding all nations together in acknowledgment of their Creator-God and hoping in His redeeming power. In fact the Hebrew word tiqvah, usually translated “hope,” is translated as “line” in Josh 2:18, referring to Rahab’s scarlet thread representing her hope for deliverance.
No excuse
Now we see in Romans 1:18-25 unbelieving men hold (down) or suppress the creative truth of God (vs. 18) even though God has showed it to them (vs. 19) and made obvious the intricacies and complex design of His “invisible creation” (e.g., the human cell or the atom) (vs. 20). They are without excusebecause they do not acknowledge and glorify God. They are simply fools (vs. 20-22). But men being spiritual beings turn from worshiping the Creator to worshiping the creation – whether tree or animal (Pantheism), deified ancestors, or their own intellect and theories (Evolutionary humanism). God then turns them over to their own wicked lusts (vs. 23-25).
Evolution is a most damning philosophy since it deludes people into thinking that our universe required no Maker to whom they are ultimately accountable (Psa 53:1, Exo 20:3, Isa 45:18, Rom 14:12, Php 2:10,11). Today, men scoff at the Gospel and the promise of Christ’s coming and judgment, being willingly ignorant of God’s past judgment by the Flood of Noah’s day. That Flood is a real historical event that should remind us of judgment (2 Pet 3:3-10). Evolution sears and deadens man’s conscience and any thoughts of divine accountability to a Creator. But who is the Creator? (To be continued).
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