Without Excuse

A question that is often asked of Christianity is this:
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“What about all those who never hear about Jesus; is God just to sentence them to hell?”

The question is usually asked because someone wonders as to the ethic of such an exclusive claim of salvation.

So let’s begin with an example of an exclusive claim to salvation, Acts 4:12, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
The objection then often arises, but what about someone in a secular community or a remote island nation who has never heard of Jesus, doesn’t have missionaries or a church or a Bible to instruct them in the way of salvation, is that person eternally damned to hell?

Yes, they are “without excuse.” Why?

To understand this one must realize what the Bible says about humans, we’re fallen, sinful beings, cut off from God and incapable of any spiritual good that might please Him and therefore earn our salvation (read more here). This is why God graciously sent Jesus, to be the rescuer of all those who’d hear the Gospel message and put their trust in Him. This is the basis for an exclusive salvation. We’re sinners, God appointed a means for salvation, we must believe in Jesus in order to be saved.

But is that fair? (Another option would have been for God not to have saved anyone, we see His grace in that He choose to save some; something to think about). Yes, because people are “without excuse.” Why are people without excuse?

If I were born on a stranded desert island with no knowledge of Jesus I would be without excuse for not believing in Him for three simple reasons from Romans 1:

• Creation: I could look at creation, the beaches, stars, waves, etc, and undeniably know that there is an all-powerful God who created the universe and is worthy of my worship (Ro 1:20).
• Conscience: Further, I would know the difference between right and wrong and that my sin condemned me. I would know this because God had placed His law within me; it’s called our conscience (Ro 2:15)
• Innate Sense: Beyond all of this, as created in God’s image, as the creatures of our Creator, we each have an innate sense of God’s existence. There is no such thing as an atheist, only those who suppress the truth so we can be gods and live as we please (Ro 1:18b).

Well, okay, but isnt’ there a difference between knowing God exists and knowing him salvifically through faith in His Son Jesus? Yes. But knowing God existed and was worthy of our worship and that we’re sinful and incomplete without Him leads us to desire to seek Him. While we wouldn’t know this Biblical promise, as we sought Him in truth, the truth of this promise would hold true, that He promises to reveal Himself to all who earnestly seek Him this (Dt 4:29, etc). So, on that island, if I cried out to Him, through interaction with the wider world through a ship, or missionaries or a dream or a vision, He would ensure that I found out about Jesus so as to believe and be saved.

For these sorts of reasons Paul says that unbelievers, everywhere, are “without excuse” (Ro 1:20b); even if they’ve never heard of Jesus. Knowing of Jesus and rejecting Him only increases our culpability; not knowing of Jesus doesn’t diminish it.