Question: If a good person dies without getting the chance to know and accept Christ, will they be in heaven?
Answer: God gives every person that doesn’t know the Lord a revelation through both their conscience and nature which is enough to enlighten him to God’s requirements. “Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:19,20).
Paul adds that God puts a law in the heart of His creatures, “If those who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them. This will take place on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ” (Romans 2:14-16).
Thus, through Christ every soul receives some ray of divine spiritual light, a perception of right and a desire for good. There are those among the Gentiles who have recognized the revelation of God in the works of creation and have responded to these divinely implanted impulses to be good.
Therefore, he who, through no fault of his own, do not know the Gospel of Christ, but who nevertheless seeks God with a sincere heart and tries in his actions to do His will as he knows it through his conscience – he will be certainly saved.
We need not worry about the destiny of people because God is the most loving and just judge (Isaiah 45:21). Justice and mercy are the principles that determine all of God’s dealings with men. Satan charged that God is not merciful to His creatures but the plan of salvation was designed to prove this charge false (Psalms 85:10). So, God who offered His Son to save the world (John 3:16) will be most merciful and just in deciding the destiny of each man (Psalms 7:9).
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
