What About the Person Who Never Hears About Jesus?
One of the most common and heartfelt questions people ask about Christianity is this: What about the person who has never heard of Jesus? What happens to a 12-year-old child in a remote village in Africa who dies without ever hearing the gospel?
It’s a powerful question—and a deeply emotional one. It touches on themes of God’s justice and mercy, human responsibility, and the nature of salvation. While the Bible doesn’t spell out the eternal fate of every individual in every situation, it gives us firm principles we can rely on.
Here are ten key truths from Scripture that help us think biblically and humbly about this question:
1. God Is Perfect in Both Justice and Mercy
Scripture affirms that God’s ways are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8–9) and that His justice is perfect (Deuteronomy 32:4). We may not understand every detail, but we can trust Him.
“Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” (Genesis 18:25)
2. All Have Sinned and Are Without Excuse
Every person who reaches moral maturity has sinned and falls short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). Even those who never hear the gospel directly still know enough about God through creation and conscience to be held accountable (Romans 1:18–20).
None of us deserves heaven. If God were to judge us purely on justice, all would be condemned. But the good news is that God delights to show mercy to undeserving sinners.
3. God Has the Right to Judge—and We Are Not in His Place
Romans 9 reminds us that we are clay in the hands of the Potter. We don’t get to stand in judgment over God’s decisions.
“But who are you, O man, to answer back to God?” (Romans 9:20)
This doesn’t remove human responsibility—it just reminds us that salvation is ultimately in God’s hands.
4. There Is No Salvation Apart from Christ
Jesus is the only way to the Father.
“There is salvation in no one else” (Acts 4:12)
“No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
This is a hard truth, but it’s what the Bible teaches.
5. God Ordinarily Saves Through the Preaching of the Gospel
Romans 10 is clear: Faith comes by hearing the word of Christ. The normal means of salvation is through someone preaching the gospel.
“How are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?” (Romans 10:14–17)
6. Judgment Comes After Death—with No Second Chances
The Bible teaches that each person dies once and then faces judgment (Hebrews 9:27). Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19–31) shows that there is a permanent divide after death. There is no biblical evidence for a second chance in the afterlife.
7. Old Testament Believers Were Saved by Faith in God’s Promises
People like Abraham didn’t know Jesus by name, but they trusted in God’s promise of redemption. Their faith was counted as righteousness (Genesis 15:6; Hebrews 11:13). This wasn’t vague spiritualism—it was trust in the living God.
8. God Often Saves the Least Likely People
Throughout Scripture, God surprises us. He saved Rahab the prostitute and Ruth the Moabite—people from outside Israel who came to trust in the God of Israel and became part of Jesus’s family line. God delights in saving outsiders.
9. Faith Can Be Genuine Even at the Last Moment
The thief on the cross didn’t have time to do good works or be baptized, yet Jesus promised he would be with Him in paradise (Luke 23:39–43). Faith alone saves.
Corollary: Salvation does not require postmortem ordinances or rituals. It requires trust in Christ.
10. God Sometimes Reveals Himself in Extraordinary Ways
God is not limited to our methods. The story of Cornelius (Acts 10) shows that God can prepare hearts through visions and dreams. And today, there are many testimonies of people in closed countries coming to Christ after dreams about Jesus.
This does not mean people are saved by visions alone—salvation always comes through faith in Jesus. But God can and does reach people in extraordinary ways.
So What About the 12-Year-Old in Africa?
Here’s how I would apply these biblical principles:
- God is just. We can trust Him to judge rightly.
- The child is accountable—not because he never heard of Jesus, but because he (like all of us) has a conscience and lives in a world that testifies to God’s existence.
- The only way he could be saved is through Christ. There is no exception to this.
- God may use extraordinary means to bring the gospel to those He is calling—even in the most remote places.
- There are no second chances after death. That’s why…
- We must take the Great Commission seriously. God calls us to go, preach, and make disciples (Matthew 28:18–20). There is urgency in the task.
Final Thoughts
This is not an easy question. But we are not left in the dark. We know who God is, and we know how He saves. We trust His justice and His mercy. And we entrust the souls of the unreached not to our feelings or theories, but to the God who is perfectly just and astonishingly merciful.
Let’s be faithful in proclaiming the gospel—and let’s trust the Judge of all the earth to do what is right.