Answer: All people
are accountable to God whether they have “heard about Him” or not. The Bible tells us that God has clearly revealed
Himself in nature (Romans 1:20) and in the hearts of people (Ecclesiastes 3:11). The problem is that the human race is sinful;
we all reject this knowledge of God and rebel against Him (Romans 1:21-23). Apart from God's grace, God would give us over
to the sinful desires of our hearts, allowing us to discover how useless and miserable life is apart from Him. This He does
for those who reject Him (Romans 1:24-32).
In reality, it is not that some people have not heard about God. Rather,
the problem is that they have rejected what they have heard and what is readily seen in nature. Deuteronomy 4:29 proclaims,
“But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all
your soul.” This verse teaches an important principle: everyone who truly seeks after God will find Him. If a person
truly desires to know God, God will make Himself known.
The problem is, “there is no one who understands, no
one who seeks God” (Romans 3:11). People reject the knowledge of God that is present in nature and in their own heart,
and instead decide to worship a “god” of their own creation. It is foolish to debate the fairness of God sending
someone to hell who never had the opportunity to hear the Gospel of Christ. People are responsible to God for what God has
already revealed to them. The Bible says that people reject this knowledge, and therefore God is just in condemning them to
hell.
Instead of debating the fate of those who have never heard, we, as Christians, should be doing our best to make
sure that they hear. We are called to spread the Gospel throughout the nations (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8). The fact that
we know people reject the knowledge of God revealed in nature must motivate us to proclaim the good news of salvation through
Jesus Christ. Only through accepting the Gospel of God’s grace through the Lord Jesus Christ can people be saved from
their sins and rescued from an eternity apart from God in hell.
If we assume that those who never hear the Gospel are
granted mercy from God, we will run into a terrible problem. If people who never hear the Gospel are saved…we should
make sure that no one ever hears the Gospel. The worst thing we could do would be share the Gospel with a person and have
him or her reject it. If that were to happen, he or she would be condemned. People who do not hear the Gospel must be condemned,
or else there is no motive for evangelism. Why run the risk of people possibly rejecting the Gospel and condemning themselves
– when they were previously saved because they had never heard the Gospel?
Obtained from http://www.gotquestions.org/never-heard.html
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Although the Bible does not give us the complete answer to this question, it
does tell us that God "will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity (or fairness)" (Psalm 98:9). God
will not condemn a person for rejecting a Christ they never heard about. However, we already stand condemned for something
far more basic.
God has revealed Himself to everyone through the creation around us and the sense
of right and wrong inside us. Each person knows enough about God that He says we are "without excuse" (Romans 1:20). It is
for this suppression, distortion and rejection of the true knowledge of God and for the accompanying violation of God's laws
that we stand condemned.
Only by casting oneself completely on the mercy of God, and not counting on any
of one's deeds -- religious or otherwise -- for right standing with God, can anyone possibly be saved.
Obtained from http://www.powertochange.ie/questions/qna4.html
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