FATE OF THE UNREACHED

[Reformer]

   The Destiny Of The Unreached
[Any hope for them?]

   If you would give me your attention, consider with me the billions and billions of people who have lived and died who were never exposed to either audible or written messages from Heaven. Is there no hope for any of them? Let's take this fascinating journey and parley about what Heaven says about it—if anything.—Buff.

   

Hope For The Unexposed

    A few decades ago, someone tried to estimate the number of people who have lived and died upon planet Earth since the genesis of the human family. He supposed that if the earth were one great graveyard, the graves would be twenty deep—all over the mountains, the deserts, the rivers, and the oceans. 
 
    If his supposition is anywhere correct, just think of the billions and billions of people who have walked and died upon planet Earth, yet only a small percentage of them, perhaps less than 10 percent, have been exposed to what we call "special revelation" in the form of audible or written messages of a celestial kind. Is God unmindful of these billions of people? Has He not been aware of their plight and lack of opportunities? Has He not "determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live"? And has He not done this "so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him"? After all, "He is not far from each one of us" [Acts 17:24-27].
 
    The conclusion cannot be criticized. Every mentally competent person living upon the face of the earth is able to "reach out for God and find Him," regardless of their whereabouts, should they decide to seek His face. This has been a universal truth since the very dawn of creation. Consequently, there is no excuse for those who build and worship false gods and idols—whether symbols of persons, animals, or things. In addressing the fate of certain pagans, the apostle Paul accused them of "worshipping and serving created things rather than the Creator," and said they are "without excuse" [Rom. 1:18-25].

The Receptive Heart

     So what about the man whose heart is receptive to any available light, but his only "revelation" is creation? Paul said the pagans could have "glorified Him" and given "thanks to Him" [Rom. 1:21]. So here is a man who glorifies God through creation—the only revelation he has. Will God's mercy make amends for his lack of opportunities? If the deceased infant is safe in the arms of God because of a lack of capabilities, and he is, why is this man not safe in the arms of God, even though his only light is the revelation of creation? On the one hand, we have a lack of capabilities; on the other hand, we see a lack of opportunities. The principle that applies to one applies to the other
 
    But why take the Good News about Jesus to him, if he is already safe in the arms of God? I answer by asking, Why cultivate a field of corn if it can be harvested without cultivation? To make it a better field of corn! We take the saving message to the honest unregenerate because we are thus commissioned, and because the "elected" ones need to hear and be spiritually cultivated—thereby producing a better harvest. 
 
    It is God's intention, through the Good News, to not only save the unregenerate from their fallen nature, but that those who are righteous like Cornelius might be conformed to the image of His Son [2 Cor. 3:18]. This is why we take the saving message to the unregenerate. Those who are not seeking light will not accept it. For them, the sun has already set. But those who are seeking more light will grasp it.

The Mentally Competent

   Every mentally competent person who has ever lived has been able to find God, for "he has set eternity in the hearts of men" [Eccles. 3:11]. All men, everywhere and in every age, have been divinely infused with an awareness of an intelligent Creator and of life after physical death. On that principle, I must conclude there have been many "unexposed" persons who were receptive to the "revelation of creation." And those who sought God's face, as limited as it may have been, and who "by persistence in doing good sought glory, honor, and immortality, He will give eternal life" [Rom. 2:7].
 
    Jesus touched upon this kind of situation when He taught there is no guilt when one is unavoidably blind of certain truths. The self-righteous Pharisees were chiding Him in their usual way. Following the healing of a blind man, He said He had come into the world that those who do not see may see, and that others who see may become blind. The Pharisees asked Him, "Are we blind, too" [of certain truths]? Jesus answered, "If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains" [John 9:35-41].
 
    We cannot pass this premise by without giving it our solemn attention. If I understand Jesus' intend correctly, He seems to be saying. There is no condemning guilt when one is unavoidably blind of certain truths and facts. When a man has no occasion to hear of and submit to divine injunctions, and his heart is sincere, there is no convicting guilt accredited to his account. In a related passage, Jesus announces, "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin" [John 15:22]

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     Question in Closing— May a person reach heaven without believing in and knowing the Person of Jesus? It is my perception that among those who will be in heaven without believing in and knowing the Person of Jesus will be infants and small children, the severely retarded, and the mentally incompetent. I have also added the "honest unexposed" or uninformed—those receptive to celestial truth [see John 15:22 and Rom. 1:18-25 again].

[Rella]

Here is another thought to add to yours.

God had Abraham's produce Ismael and Isaac

Of course we know Jesus can trace back to Isaac but God also said

"As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.

Hence Islam.

Now we have been told that only through Jesus yada yada.... and we have been led to believe if we didnt believe.... we would be in the "Oh woe is me" group.

Would God have made a nation that would end up condemned or with no hope... in the vein of Calvin's the non predestined reprobates will end up as the reprobates destined for damnation.?

That religion is not Christian approving and they do not believe Jesus as we do.... SO?

It makes one wonder.....

[Reformer]

More on Romans, Chapter 1, Relative to
"The Fate Of The Unreached"

To extricate the idea that man is incapable of choosing God, as some claim, Romans, chapter 1, needs to be revisited and appraised. We dialogued these passages of scripture earlier, but let's do a little more clarifying.

Paul writes about the wickedness of man, apparently the Gentile pagans, and says, "What may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them...from what has been made [created things], so that men are without excuse." He goes on to say, "Although they knew God [His eternal power and divine nature], they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him" (Rom. 1:18-32). Paul continues by saying that "they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God" (v. 28). Here is what we have:

1) These Gentile pagans knew God through the revelation of creation.
2) They were free to either choose God or reject Him through the only revelation to which they had access.
3) They were free to glorify God and offer their thanksgiving.
4) They even retained the knowledge of God, but cast it aside.
5) Had they glorified God and given Him thanks, they would have become part of the elect, but since they refused Him, they remained part of the non-elect.

This class of people in Paul's lecture could very possibly have included Sodom and Gomorrah, for in verses 26 & 27 he describes some of their evil fleshly practices.

"For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those contrary to nature [lesbianism], and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another [homosexuality], men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error."

Verse 32 is interesting. "Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them."

The core message seems to be that regardless of when and where man is located, if he is not, nor can be, exposed to either audible or written revelations from Heaven, God and divine nature reveal themselves to them through the revelation of creation. God can be acknowledged via nature, for he can be "clearly perceived...through what has been made." And if acknowledged by a sincere heart, God's grace will rescue him eternally.