If someone has never heard of Jesus Christ do they escape hell? If so then the compassion of missionaries bringing Jesus to the four corners of the earth is really something...
This is a big question. First, I must offer that scripture is not completely clear on this issue in that it is not laid out in one book, chapter or passage of scripture.
Further, this question often focuses directly or indirectly on 5 categories of people:
- those of the old testament that came before Christ
- those in general that have never heard the gospel of Christ
- those born into cultures with non-Christian religions/faiths
- children and babies
- mentally handicapped individuals
The first category concerns those folks of OT that never new Christ. If Christ is the “way, truth and life” and only through him is salvation attained how can OT believers in God attain salvation? As it states in scripture, Abraham believed in God and to him was credited righteousness…..it was Abraham’s faith that was key despite Mosaic law not yet being given to man. The Israelites given Mosaic law atoned for their sins and were aligned with God via the sacrifice of the prime specimens of their herds and flocks. The blood atonement acted as a temporary covering for sin until Christ came and provided the ultimate sacrifice on calvary’s cross that paid the debt for all sins past, present and future.
The second and third category concerns those in general that have never heard the gospel of Christ and those born into cultures raised in non-Christian religions/faiths . Here we look to the primary traits of God in love, grace, justice and mercy. This is not an exhaustive list of God’s traits, but those most often associated with him. It’s within God’s justice that we find the word “just”. God’s justice is grounded in him being just in that he will always do what is good and correct. It was the apostle Paul that said all people instinctively know of God’s existence through his creation and that people that don’t know God instinctively know his law as their consciences and thoughts accuse them of wrong doing or tell them they are doing right. Given that God is a just God he will judge those persons that have never heard the gospel according to what has been revealed to them and according to how righteously they lived. In this instance I must trust in the righteous justice of God since he has revealed he has already revealed his love, grace and mercy to me.
The fourth and fifth categories concern children and the mentally handicapped. I group them together given their inherent innocence. When I read about King David’s child with Bathsheba passing away and David suggesting that as a believer he would he see his child again in God’s kingdom it affirmed for me the innocence of children and others with disabilities that prevent them from making an honest choice about sin and Christ in their lives. They don’t need salvation because being saved by grace through Christ means we are saved from the wrath/judgment of God. The innocents need not fear God’s wrath for they are without blame or need for judgment. “Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. Then he said, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.’” Christ also indicated how severely those that cause the children (the little ones) to fall into sin would be judged. The children are lead into sin and out of innocence. Further, the primary attributes of God (justice, love, grace and mercy) don’t jive together if the innocents are separated eternally from him after their death. As believers in Christ we are saved by grace through faith and thereby justified and deemed righteous….like the innocents who are inherently righteous we become like the them through Christ.
I should note that this is why outreach and missionary work is so crucial in today's churches. What's the point of believing in Christ if believers sit idle and not share his good news?
Again, this isn’t an exhaustive reply, but here it is for what it’s worth.