What about those who have never heard of Jesus?

When witnessing to people I get some very routine questions and objections to Christianity. There is nothing new under the sun,so once you figure out what questions are commonly asked, it is easy to have an answer. One of the most common questions asked is, "What about the poor kid in India who has never heard of Jesus Christ, is he going to Hell?" Out witnessing in Helena last night I got this one again. This, supposedly, was keeping the man from embracing Christ, although we know that is not so theologically. So I want to give you the answer that satisfied this man so you can give it to the people that ask you. Some of you may have a better answer than me so please comment but this is what I have came up with by studying the Scriptures with the Sovereignty of God in mind.

1. We know that God is Sovereign over His creation and controls all things. The Westminster Catechism says it like this, "The decrees of God are His eternal purposes according to the council of His will, whereby, for His own glory, he has fore-ordained whatever comes to pass." So because God sovereignly governs all of His creation and because God is perfect and does not make mistakes we know that there will be no one in Hell by accident and no one in Heaven by mistake.

2. We know that God is Sovereign over His creation and if there are some of His sheep in a far off, forgotten, tribe in the Amazon jungle then God will by some means save that sheep. He often will send a missionary there to present the gospel and use hearing of the gospel to save some. There are countless stories of this happening throughout history. This is what Jesus said:

What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. Matthew 18:12-14

But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. John 10:2-4

3. We know that God is Sovereign over His creation and know that whoever deserves Hell will go to Hell. If we understand the depraved nature of man we will understand that all men are so vile and wicked that all deserve Hell, but by the unfathomable Grace of God, He chooses to save some. When people ask this question they are really asking the wrong question. Here is an illustration from God's perspective. If I could take anyone of you're minds and plug a computer into your brain and record every thought that has went through your head in the last month, every wicked, disgusting, depraved thought that passed through your mind even for one second (you have had thoughts so wicked you could never tell your closest friend) and display it on a movie screen and then invite all your friends to watch the depraved thoughts you have had, what would you do? You, like all of us, would run fast and never show your face again. God sees every thought that passing through your brain. Every wicked thought, every thought that you say, "wow, where did that come from." So the better question to ask is:

"If God knows every wicked deed I do as well as every wicked thought that just went through my head yesterday, then why did not God kill me in my sleep last night?"

So the man in India, the Amazon, or anywhere else in the world that has not heard of Jesus is still guilty of sinning wickedly against God. All men have a conscience and know right from wrong and their conscience attests to it when they break one of God's commandments by them feeling guilty. All men know there is a God because creation attests to it so all men are without excuse. So there is no Innocent person in Hell because there is no one that is Innocent.

I hope this answer will help.