A view on the question of how God will judge those who never heard of Him. (A.S.A.)

The Bible says that man can only be saved through faith in Jesus Christ.
But it also says that each man will be judged by the light that he is given.
More will be expected from those who receive the most light. Luke 2:34-40
says that Jesus Christ will be a sign to be spoken against so that the
thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. The Bible also makes known that
only God is in the position to judge (condemn or save) a human soul or the
'heart' of any man.

When I take what is written in balance with the whole, I can only conclude
that I have been given a great deal of this so called 'light' and for me to
reject Jesus Christ as God at this point would mean my eternal damnation.
Curiously, the moment that I understood the gospel, I not only realized that
I deserved to be in Hell, but that I was currently residing there.

Some people will live their entire lives never hearing about Jesus. In some
countries (Islamic), to convert to Christianity is to face execution. In
other religions, to turn to orthodox Christianity would effectively sever
family ties (Mormonism). People in these situations aren't turning to
Christ, not necessarily because of the hardness of their hearts, but because of the fear of ostracism or death. How will God judge them? That is a question that can
only be answered by God.

I am more concerned with those who hear and understand and then speak out
against Christ. For example, I receive many e-mails along the lines of :

"I was a devout Christian until one day I realized that I was gay"
"My brother was a Catholic priest until he fell in love with a woman."
"I was a born again Christian until I visited Jerusalem and saw how much
dignity the Jews had when compared to the Christians, so I became Jewish."

In my opinion, these people desert Christ because of their sin, which they
deny. Many Christians, who sincerely love God, get tangled up in Internet
debates where their faith is put to the test. Some have honest doubts, but others, because they are incapable of intellectually defending their faith, choose to renounce it rather than to continue to be made a fool by atheists who are skilled in debate. Their sin is pride. So I don't view those who reject Christ as God, out of
ignorance or fear, as having been given the same light as those who reject
Christ as God because of the poison that is in their hearts. Hence, the
need for every person who reads the Bible to engage in dark, self
examination.

When we question how God will judge those who have faith vs. those who have
not, we have a tendency to look at it as though God has the option of saving
whomever He chooses. Indeed, it is written that God will have mercy on
whomever He will. However, there are other scriptures that imply that heaven
is a result of a change that occurs within us. Christ says that a man will
not see heaven unless he is born again. From my own personal 'born again'
experience, I now see salvation/damnation as an inevitable fact. Had I died
before my mind was changed, if there is an eternal afterlife, I would be
spending it in hell. My mind was geared toward the material and the
negative; There were times prior to my conversion that I couldn't fathom handling next week! I wouldn't have known how to handle eternity. In making a connection with the mind of God, one's own mind is made fit for eternal
existence.

We have a tendency to judge people as being fit for heaven when we observe that they have a gentle, kind and giving nature. But to what degree could such a person reject Jesus Christ? I have known people who don't believe in God, but who have made Jesus the Lord of their life. Some of these individuals give more honor to Him than do their Christian counterparts. Conversely, I know some people whom the world would consider 'good', but who are very critical of a man who allegedly died for them. The very thing within them that causes them to be critical of Christ, and it is probably a different thing for each individual, is what damns them. In this respect, there are people who will never be tested; they will never be confronted with the standard of Jesus. This does not mean that they will fail the test. But those who have been presented with the gospel and find themselves angered by it and who become indignant when confronted by a standard that teases their conscience, and who finally reject it and speak out against it, these are people who are displaying a quality of mind that will turn the prospect of eternity into a hellish nightmare.

No matter how unfair we may view the non-salvation of those who haven't had opportunity to hear the gospel (and once again, those not tested, may still pass), we
would have to admit that our eternal well being is dependent upon the
conditioning of our soul. God doesn't threaten us with Hell; He warns us of
its reality and offers us His Son, through whom we can be changed. To
complain loudly that one 'isn't going to believe in a god who would 'send'
people to Hell' becomes the equivalent of saying that one isn't going to
believe in physical laws which sentence children to their deaths when they
fall from a significant height. Parents recognize the importance of warning
their children and teaching them about being careful in a world that
contains physical realities of gravity and speed. Christians recognize a
spiritual reality and feel compelled to teach and warn others about it. This
is why evangelism is a big deal.