“I can’t believe in a God who would send someone to hell for not knowing about Jesus”. This issue is probably one of the most used reasons why someone may find it difficult to believe in God. The issue is that Christ, as stated in The Bible, says “no one can come to The Father except by me” (John 14:6). This would not necessarily be a problem if everyone in the world was given the opportunity to hear about what Chris has done. But since there are governments in place hostile to teaching who Jesus is, it is likely that there are those alive today who have never been given this chance. How would this be fair? Can God really be just or fair if He is grading people on subject material they know nothing about?

First understand that God is fair and just. He makes every judgement based only on the knowledge people have. This is the only fair way to determine a person’s eternity. Without this God would not be worthy or praise because He would be unfair.

Eternity based on knowledge

So, if God is fair how could He send people to hell who do not know Christ? In short, He doesn’t. Read Romans 1:19-20

“… what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”

See, God has revealed Himself through nature. In response to this revealing we give glory to creation and not to the creator. Whenever we see His eternal power and divine nature on full display, in a star lit sky for example, yet fail to give Him worship, we are guilty and “without excuse”. It is this knowledge that convicts us. When we deny that God exists we fall under judgement. When we see the beauty in a flower and simply say “that’s a nice flower” we fail to give God the glory and are judged accordingly. When we finish a fantastic conversation or see someone we enjoy spending time with, without giving thanks to our creator we deny Him the glory He is due. Everyday we stack up more and more cases that will be used against us when we stand before God. We are NOT sent to hell based on not believing in or hearing about Jesus. We are sent to hell because we have not adequately given glory to God. We are sent to hell because we have been given every opportunity to see God in His handiwork of creation and have failed to honor Him as God. We have seen His glory, we know about Him through nature, we see His invisible qualities, yet we fall short in praising His name. We have all the knowledge that is needed to worship God yet we do not. God will always punish people for what they know but fail to believe. He never punishes people for what they do not know. We are not punished for not believing in Christ, we are punished for not worshiping God in the way that His holiness demands.

Christ Changes Everything

This should seem very grim for everyone so far. Why? Because not one person, who has ever existed, honored God the way He deserves (excluding Jesus). Because of this shortfall everyone’s destiny is only to one place. When Christ steps on the stage of human history He offers an alternative to the default. What Christ offers is a lifeboat. It is through Christ that God’s kindness is on full display and His wrath. It is through Christ people are saved not condemned. No one will EVER be sent to hell for not knowing who Jesus is. They will be sent for not giving the proper glory to God.

How can someone who has not heard about Christ be saved?

Anyone who says with their mouth and believes in their heart that Jesus is Lord will be saved. But “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent” (Rom 10:14)? This is a cry to tell as many people as possible about the message that they can be saved through faith in Jesus Christ. If we stay silent their guilt and condemnation is on those who have stayed silent about the truth. Even though they will be the one that is punished for not properly worshiping God the reason they are not saved is because they did not know the truth since those who were told to tell everyone about His grace and mercy through Jesus Christ stayed silent. Anyone who is a Christian should love everyone, how loving is it to know the truth about Hell yet silently watch a friend walk toward that destination without ever attempting a discussion about Jesus Christ? They need the lifeboat, how can we not at least offer it to them?

Bottom line is this God does not send people to Hell for not believing in His Son. This would be unjust since sending people to hell for something they were ignorant of is unjust. No, instead people are sent to hell based on what they have seen of Gods invisible qualities and what they have done when confronted with this reality. God never punishes the innocent based on what they do not know but always the guilty based on what they do know. The only way to be saved from this final result is by Jesus Christ. So don’t be silent about Him.

The question, therefor, becomes is God justified in sending people to hell and not is God justified in sending people to hell for not believing in Jesus? We should worship Him, if nothing else, because we were not instantly killed the moment we rebelled against Him or any moment after. We should thank Him everyday that we had, at least, a few moments where He was gracious enough to let us live a life that did not know the agony of being separated from Him. If He is justified and correct for sending people to hell then we should be asking how can He be just and save people from what they deserve at the same time? But this is a question for another time.