Many Christians will one day ask themselves, or be asked, "What happens to those people who died and never had a chance to hear the Gospel, who never got to place their faith in Jesus? Will they be saved, or will they be condemned?" There have existed, and certainly still are, tribes and peoples in the most remote places of the earth that have never been presented the Gospel. And there are even civilized countries where the predominant religion has never been Christianity—for centuries—and so many have lived their whole lives without ever hearing the name of Jesus. What happens to those people?
Who God Is...And What We're Not
One of the first things that we must remember when attempting to answer this question is that we serve a good God (Psalm 86:5). Our God is a God of love (1 John 4:8), mercy (Ephesians 2:4), and justice (Deuteronomy 32:4; Isaiah 30:18)—He loves all of His creation, has mercy and compassion, and always does what is right (Psalm 145:8-9). God would never do something that is wrong or unjust, for He cannot go against His own nature. God is the greatest conceivable personal being who deeply cares for us all, and desires all to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4). Having this in mind, we should also note a few other facts...
We are not God and, therefore, we cannot perfectly love, have mercy, nor be just. Our systematic theology and theories can only explain things to a certain extent (of course, while aligning to the Scriptures). And the earlier we realize that there are things which are difficult to answer conclusively, the better off we will be. Consequently, we cannot presume to know everything there is to know about the mysteries of Christ's work on the Cross and salvation. Now, this is not to say that we don't have some good answers to the many challenging questions...so here is what we believe to be the truth that Scripture teaches concerning this topic.
General Revelation
The Bible says that God's glory is evident in His creation—namely, the universe, earth, and even us. The Psalmist writes,
"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world" - Psalm 19:1-4
God's "fingerprints" are everywhere for us to acknowledge—this is called God's general revelation (as opposed to special revelation, the Bible). In the book of Job, it says,
"But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind" - Job 12:7-10
And in Romans, Paul says,
"His 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 that they are without excuse." - Romans 1:20
This verse makes it clear that no one on judgment day will be able to have an excuse for not worshipping God, the Creator. He has revealed Himself to us in what He has made. Some like to say that knowledge of God through creation is not enough to save people, but it is enough to condemn them, apart from their inherited sin (from Adam)—especially if they "worship what God has created instead of the Creator himself" (Romans 1:25).
Aside from creation, the Bible also makes clear that God's laws are written in our hearts and consciences:
"When Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus." - Romans 2:14-16
These verses further indicate that we are without excuse as to, at least, there being a God who created the universe and everything within it. We know what is right and wrong, but where did that knowledge come from? God; and this is another revelation of the Creator to us. Everyone will be judged according to the light they have received, according to the revelation of God they have been made to know and experience.
The more of the Gospel a person knows, the more condemnation is brought upon him or her if they reject it (Hebrews 10:26-29). Some might stop and think, "wait...then wouldn't it be better to not share the Gospel with people in order to not run the risk of them rejecting it? Wouldn't they be in a better position being ignorant, and therefore have upon them less condemnation?" The problem is that no one is without condemnation, even before hearing the Gospel!
The Bible clearly says that everyone is already condemned, and all have fallen short of God's glory (Romans 3:23). So, in reality, it would not be unjust of God to condemn everyone. He does not owe anyone anything. There are no innocent people. This should make us appreciate His grace even more! Paul puts it nicely when he says, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
Special Revelation
In addition to general revelation, theologians usually refer to the Scriptures as part of special revelation. It is in the Bible that we learn God's redemptive plan through Jesus Christ, and can come to know Him. While everyone has access to general revelation, it is true that not everyone has access to the Bible...and therein lies the issue. How can people who have never had access to special revelation, through which they might be saved, be responsible for placing their faith in Jesus? They have never even heard of Him! And on top of that, the Bible declares that salvation is conditional upon belief in Jesus, and even God's predestination. (John 14:6; Acts 13:48; Romans 8:29-30, 9:16, 10:9).
Also, what about the Old Testament saints? They did not have the special revelation of Jesus Christ, nor were their sacrifices enough to save them, so how can we say they are saved? Well, the answer to that question is simple: the Old Testament saints like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, etc., looked forward to God providing the Messiah, Jesus, and so had faith in God, and by extension, faith in the Christ to come, Whose blood covers them. God's mercy and their faith in God are still what saved them, just like God's grace and mercy, and our faith in His Son Jesus Christ saves us and pleases Him (Hebrews 11:6).
But what about those who have not had Yahweh as their God (whether in the past, present, or future), nor ever heard of the Messiah (Jesus) they are to have faith in? Well, in our view...they are the ones who would never have believed in the first place. Let me explain...
An Acceptable Answer
We believe that God knows all that has happened, is happening, will happen, and would/will have happened in any given situation. God is omniscient, even given our free will—He still knows what we have done, are doing, will do, and would/will have done, including choosing—or not—to believe in Him and His Son (1 John 3:20). Therefore, it is reasonable to assert that God, in His infinite wisdom, has strategically placed the people He knows will believe in Him in the places where access to the Gospel would be available (or to bring the Gospel to them). In fact, those who would believe are those whom He predestined to believe—although their choice to have faith is still theirs to make.
In other words, God knows who will believe the Gospel (or in Him, before Christ) when presented with the truth; so He makes sure, through His sovereign will, to have those people be where they will get that chance to believe in Him; this is, in fact, what Acts 17:26-27 seem to say. Now, some might object, "Wouldn't that mean that humans have no free will because He places them where He knows they will or won't believe?" No, not quite. The fact that God knows where and how people will freely respond to Him or Christ does not mean He actively causes them to make their choices. His mere knowledge of our choices does not predetermine them; nor is His election of some dependent on their future faith.
We believe God knows us so well that He not only allows things to happen in our lives that move us to freely believe in Him, but also orchestrates certain circumstances to that end as well. This does not mean He coerces us to make our choices, but that He convinces us through His Holy Spirit by His grace, love, mercy, and forgiveness to turn to Him—His sheep will hear His voice and respond affirmatively. At the same time, those whom He knows would never believe—and never would have believed—in Him (no matter the circumstances), He leaves to their free choice in depravity; but again, He doesn't coerce them towards their condemnation.
Also, while we do not believe that God chooses those who will be condemned (double predestination; extreme Calvinism), we do believe that God elects some people to be saved (2 Timothy 2:10; Ephesians 1:4-6; Romans 8:29-30; John 1:13, 6:44). And we do not believe that we are so free that we can thwart God's plans (Arminianism); God is sovereign. We do believe that He is active in the world and would show Himself to those who diligently seek Him (Deuteronomy 4:29; Hebrews 11:6), while at the same time recognizing that "no one seeks God" on their own (Romans 3:11-12), they must first be drawn by Him (John 6:44).
If we believe that God desires all to be saved (2 Peter 3:9), we must believe that He is actively seeking everyone's heart, even those whom He ultimately knows won't believe in Him—but His "failure" to get the Gospel to them would not allow us to say that He is unjust, for He is not required to save anyone. Some of the ways, though, that God could seek after the lost are by: sending evangelists, missionaries, or any other willing disciples, and using communications mediums (including, but not limited to: gift Bibles, television, radio, internet, art, music, angels, visions, dreams, etc.).
Conclusion
Our view (somewhere between moderate Calvinism and Molinism) asserts God's sovereignty while at the same time not denying us our freed wills to truly make choices that have consequences. God loves us very much and seeks us out, but He cannot allow sin because He is Holy; He has provided the way to salvation through Jesus Christ, and we truly have the freedom to believe in Him or not. It has been aptly stated that "God does not send people to hell, they send themselves there." We believe that it is impossible for those who would have responded (or will respond) positively to the Gospel to not have heard it; we can rest assured knowing that those who will believe are being presented the Gospel; that they will be saved by God.
Remember, our God is a loving, merciful, forgiving, and just God who desires all to be saved—so let us take the Gospel into this lost world, for we must admit we do not know who it is that will, or will not, believe (Matthew 28:19-20). The Great Commission was not given to us by Jesus in vain; our work for the Kingdom does bring about results, namely, the salvation of the "lost sheep." However, our job is not to save people per se (that's God's work), but to present them to Him through whom they could be saved: Jesus Christ. May His grace be with you. Amen.
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