Question: Mr. McLemore, What will happen to those who have died and never heard the gospel?

Answer: The prerogative of answering this question is reserved for God and Christ. Pertinent biblical teachings include the following: 1) The Judge of all the earth will do what is just (Genesis 18:25). 2) If people are lost, it is because they have sinned rather than because they have not heard the gospel (John 3:17-18). God is not responsible for sinners’ being lost, and he would have been just to let all sinners go to hell. However, in accepting Christ’s offering of himself as the payment of the penalty for sins, he is both just and justifier of those who believe in Christ (Romans 3:26)! 3) If people who have not heard the gospel are saved without it, it would be unfair to preach it to them, because some might reject it. Yet, Christ commands that it be preached to all (Mark 16:15, 16). 4) God, who is all merciful, promises salvation only to those who believe in Christ (John 8:24). To affirm that those who do not believe in Christ can be saved is to make oneself more merciful than Christ says God is!