Q:   How will Christ judge those people who have not heard the gospel at all? Will they be judged without the law?

A:   This question is quite interesting and has generated much thought and discussion.

Before addressing this question, we must note two very important considerations.

1. Each of us has heard the gospel and are therefore subject to it. For this reason the question is moot, at least for us.
2. God is our judge, and we can only suppose how He will execute judgment to those who have never heard the gospel.

Perhaps that is as far as we should go. We do not know God's thoughts on this matter (Isaiah 55: 8-9), we can only reflect on the possibilities.

It seems that there are three possible conclusions. Either, all who have never heard the gospel will be saved, none of those who have never heard the gospel will be saved, or God will determine some for salvation, and some for condemnation.

It is difficult to accept the first option. Faith, confession, and belief are all required for salvation (Hebrews 11:6, Romans 10:9). However, how can a person maintain faith, confess Christ as his Lord, or believe when he has not been taught?

Perhaps our personal feelings of fairness may cause us to want to reject the second option also. We know that God wants us all to be saved (1 Timothy 2:3-4). However, it is not God, but sin which causes us to lose our souls. Sin separates us from God, not a lack of hearing the gospel. Unfortunately, we all have sinned (Romans 3:23) and should be thankful that He has given us the gospel and the opportunity to share it with others.

In Romans 2:14, 15 we find a discussion of a people who were not under the law (of Moses) yet could be saved: "For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves." Here we have a people, the Gentiles, to whom the law was not given. (The Law was originally given to the Jews alone). Yet it seems that they were able to exceed the Jews in following the law by acting according to justice, mercy, temperance and truth. They had become a "law to themselves." Yet to suggest that God might provide a special dispensation for those today not having heard the gospel, as He did for these Gentiles, is pure speculation. We have no such promise. To assume that God might apply "the law of nature" today is to dabble in areas in which we have no place.

So what can we conclude? We can trust in the sovereignty of God to execute justice in such cases. The Gentiles during Moses' dispensation knew right from wrong by nature. God made man in His image with a conscience and inherent sense of morality. No man has to read the Bible to know it is wrong to kill or steal; we know it instinctively. Paul touches on this further in Romans 1:18-21, saying that God has manifested Himself in man and in His creation. With only what God has shown us in nature, we can know that there is a God that we should seek. With that knowledge, we can choose to glorify God and be thankful or reject Him, becoming futile and foolish. God holds us without excuse even for this.

This leads to another very strong argument for God's justice in such cases. Throughout Bible history, God has demonstrated His sovereignty of situations and His omniscience of the thoughts of men. If there were ever people who wanted to know and obey the truth, God always found a way for them to hear (Matthew 5:6). The Ninevites in Jonah's day are one example. Many other verses support this: Deuteronomy 4:29, Proverbs 8:17, Matthew 7:7, Acts 10:1-6, Acts 17:27, Romans 8:27, 28, 2 Peter 3:9. History teaches us we can trust God's providence in these matters even today and take comfort in knowing that He knows our hearts.