Do the billions of people who have never heard of Jesus go to hell?

This is a question you will hear if you hang around people who are not yet Christians for long.  It is a barrier for many people who are sincerely considering the Christian faith.

Someone in my small group had a friend ask them this question and asked me what the Bible has to say.  I thought this might be a help to you as well.

Here’s what the Bible teaches:

1) God gives everyone a chance to get to know Him (if they want too) through creation

For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. – Romans 1:20

2) If people reject what God has already revealed about Himself through creation they will become more confused about who He is.

Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. – Romans 1:21

3) If people accept what God has revealed about Himself through creation and begin to seek Him they will find Him.

If you look for me in earnest, you will find me when you seek me. – Jeremiah 29:13

So if a 13 year old boy in outer Mongolia looks out over a mountain range and considers that there must be a God who created all this beauty, is that enough for him to be saved from the penalty of his sins?  No.

4) To experience salvation you must come through Jesus.

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. – John 14:6

There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”  - Acts 4:12

So how does our teenager, struck with awe as he surveys God’s creation, become a follower of Jesus?

5) Someone must tell a person who is seeking God about Jesus, so God will send someone to do so.

13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.”  14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!” - Romans 10:13-15

6) If there is not a believer who is willing to go and share the good news of Jesus with our teenager from Mongolia, God will send an unwilling believer.

The book of Jonah

Right now there is a teenager somewhere wondering about the God who created the world around him.  Would you be willing to go and tell him that Jesus is the answer to the questions in his mind and the longing in his heart?