Are all men doomed to eternal death who have never heard
the gospel?
This question looms in the minds of many Christians, and
the classic answer, at least from the Calvinist camp, makes
God out to be a vindictive [1] monster: all
men are born totally depraved, worthy of eternal damnation
regardless of how they live their lives or whether they
have ever heard of Jesus Christ.
We utterly reject this misrepresentation of God's justice
and would like to set the record straight from the Holy
Scriptures. While it is not possible for a man
to work his way to heaven, it is also not true
that he is doomed to eternal death regardless of how he
lives his life. What is the truth about man's
eternal destiny?
First of all, it is true that when Adam and Eve disobeyed
God's command in the Garden of Eden and ate the forbidden
fruit, they incurred the sentence of death:
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "Of every
tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for
in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." (Genesis
2:16-17)
Their physical death was not immediate, but their spiritual
death was, and their fallen condition was passed on to
their offspring, as the record shows, "for all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God." [2] Therefore,
since "the wages of sin is death," [3] then "it
is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment." [4]
This much is clear to most Christians, but what happens
after the judgment? This is the part that is widely misunderstood.
But remember, the Bible says "it is appointed for men to
die once ..." It doesn't say twice . Yet
there is a second death:
But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and
murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters
and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns
with fire and brimstone, which is the second death . (Revelation
21:8)
This verse identifies a certain character of people whose
destiny will be a second and unending death in the lake
of fire. But what about those who are not of that character?
That is why there must be a judgment:
Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it,
from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And
there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead,
small and great, standing before God, and books were opened.
And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life.
And the dead were judged accordin g to their works , by
the things which were written in the books. The sea gave
up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered
up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each
one according to his works . Then Death and Hades were
cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death .
And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast
into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:11-15)
Let's be clear: this is not the judgment of believers in
Christ, for their eternal destiny does not depend on their
works. [5] This is the
judgment of all those who died without Christ. They
are raised from the first death to be judged as
to whether they are worthy of the second death,
based on how they lived their lives.
Now some will say this judgment is merely a formality -- not
a judgment at all, but a sentencing. They will say that
no one's name was found written in the Book of Life because
they didn't believe in Jesus, [6] so
all were cast into the lake of fire. They fail to distinguish
between this "Book of Life" for the nations and the "Lamb's
Book of Life" for the holy nation. They suppose that God
raises men from the first death to stand before Him so
that He can gloat at them while He pretends to look up
their name in the Book of Life, knowing it will not be
there. Then He callously casts them into the lake of fire.
But this is not God's character.
Abraham, the father of our faith, when he appealed to
God to spare the few righteous in Sodom, knew something
about the character of God that escapes many Christians
today:
Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay
the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should
be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge
of all the earth do right? (Genesis 18:25)
Of course Abraham was especially thinking of his nephew
Lot, and God heard his plea and rescued Lot and his daughters.
Although he was not included in the covenant with Abraham,
Lot is described as being righteous . [7] And
while this passage does not speak of Lot's eternal destiny,
but merely his temporal deliverance from the destruction
of Sodom, yet it speaks of God's character as understood
by Abraham, the friend of God. [8]
We stand with Abraham, knowing that God will righteously
judge all people according to their works, and not just
throw them all willy-nilly into the lake of fire. Those
who are not worthy of the second death will be
granted a second life, and it is over them that Messiah
and His Bride (those who have truly believed in Him) will
rule throughout eternity. [9]
Now let's take a closer look at the basis of this judgment:
Then the Lord God said, "Behold, the man has become like
one of Us, knowing good and evil..." (Genesis 3:22)
After Adam ate from the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil, he would have to live by that knowledge, choosing
to do the good and not to do the evil. Even though fallen
man could not do this perfectly, God still held him accountable
to exercise his will to overcome the temptation to do evil,
just as He told Cain:
If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But
if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your
door; it desires to have you, but you must master it. (Genesis
4:7)
Of course, Cain did not master it, but all are not like
Cain. All do not murder. All are not immoral. Many strive
to do the good they know in their conscience, and are grieved
when they fail, and do everything possible to make restitution
when they do wrong. These have a natural righteousness
of their own, a natural faith or persuasion that God is
good and that He will judge all men justly. They value
the dignity of life. They recognize the image of the Creator
in His creation. They work hard and are faithful in their
marriages. [10] They
labor to put their values into their children. They bear
suffering without growing bitter. They try to keep a good
conscience. And God does not despise their efforts.
True, all men sin and fall short of the glory of God,
but not all fall utterly short. Glory means weight
or value. Adam, before he fell, had great value, having
been made in God's image. When he fell, God's image in
him was marred, but not obliterated. This is very clear
from what God said after Adam's fall, and in fact
even after the Flood:
Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed;
for in the image of God He made man. And you, be fruitful
and multiply; abound on the earth and multiply in it. (Genesis
9:6-7)
Man still bears God's image and has great value in God's
eyes, as He requires capital punishment for any who would
fail to respect His image in his fellow man to the point
of committing murder. But beyond that, God commissioned
Noah and his sons after the flood to be fruitful and multiply
abundantly on the earth. If man was now worthless and totally
depraved, why would a loving Creator want to fill the earth
with such creatures?
So fallen man still bears the image of his Creator and
retains intrinsic [11] worth
to the degree that he lives by the knowledge of good and
evil, inherent [12] in
his conscience. Even though he has an inborn inclination
to sin, he is able and accountable to do the good that
he knows in his conscience and to keep himself from the
kinds of sins that would make him worthy of the second
death. [13]
Yet regardless of how careful a man is to live by his
conscience, he will not do so perfectly, for he is a fallen
creature. He will sin, and his sin must be paid for, as
it is an inviolable law that the wages of sin is death.
A man's good deeds cannot save him from the consequences
of his sin -- the first death. His natural righteousness
cannot restore him to fellowship with God, nor make him
worthy of ruling and reigning with Christ. All of his good
deeds are of no more value than filthy rags [14] for
obtaining the righteousness of God, which can only be imputed
to a man on the basis of faith, which comes from hearing
the word of Christ from someone sent to preach the Good
News. [15]
So whoever dies without Christ must go to the first death
to pay the wages of his own sin, since he does not have
a sacrifice for his sins. How then does he pay these wages?
It is according to how much worth remains in him, how much
integrity and courage he has to face the truth about himself.
For in death he is finally alone with his conscience, 
forced
to face his sin, with nowhere to hide and nothing to distract
his mind from the awareness of his own guilt. Every evil
deed, every base thought, every selfish motive comes out
of hiding to torture him. Like a worm burrowing into the
recesses of his memory, eating away at his every excuse,
so is the path of his thoughts as his conscience fully
awakens. The unquenchable fire of his self-inquisition
leaves him either weeping in remorse or gnashing his teeth
as he resists the truth about himself. [16]
Those who resist the truth, reasoning away their guilt
even in death, prove themselves unable to pay sin's wages.
They are the same in death as they were in life -- set in
their ways, their hearts fully hardened by the deceitfulness
of sin. A second death awaits them, where they will gnash
their teeth eternally. There is a mystery here. King David
wrote,
From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind;
from His dwelling place He watches all who live on earth -- He
who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they
do. (Psalm 33:13-15)
The Creator of man forms, fashions, or molds each man's
heart according to what he does or gives himself to. Eventually
the heart, like clay, becomes "set" in its way, and so
that person's character will remain eternally [17] -- some
bent towards evil, and some towards good.
The latter, in death, will weep in remorse, accepting
the full responsibility for their sins rather than blaming
them on others. They are the ones who are able to pay sin's
wages. When they are resurrected to stand judgment, they
will have fully received the discipline of death and will
find mercy and not condemnation. This mercy and comfort
will come at the hands of the bride of Messiah, who, according
to the Apostle Paul, [18]will
be judging the nations on God's behalf. They will wipe
away the tears of those who were judged not worthy of the
second death:
Then I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out
of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her
husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold,
the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with
them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be
with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every
tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor
sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the
former things have passed away." (Revelation 21:2-4)
The "tabernacle" or "dwelling place" of God is the bride
or wife of Messiah , [19]who
will dwell with men -- the resurrected righteous people of
the nations. That is how God Himself will be with them -- through
the wife of Messiah. [20] Redeemed
Man will rule with Messiah over Restored Man, [21] and
the original commission given to Adam will be restored
to him, once sin and death and the evil one himself are
no more: [22]
Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it;
have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds
of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the
earth. (Genesis 1:28)
Amazingly, in Psalm 8, King David prophesied that man
(both the redeemed and restored man) would rule over all
the works of God's hands, including all the galaxies of
planets. Surely without death, restored man will quickly
fill up the earth and go on to colonize the universe with
restored humanity, under the ever-increasing government
of God [23] -- the redeemed
corporate [24] man,
which is the wife [25] of
Messiah.
So we hope that you can see that there is a lot more in
God's heart towards His highest creation, mankind, than
to throw countless millions into the lake of fire for the
crime of not having been born in the right place and time
to hear the true gospel. If you are interested in reading
more about man's eternal destiny, please visit the section
of our web site about The Three Eternal Destinies
of Man . Or better yet, just come and visit one of
our communities and we will be more than happy to talk
with you.
[1]vindictive: disposed
to seek revenge; showing malice and a desire to hurt; motivated
by spite.
[2] Romans 3:23
[3] Romans 6:23
[4] Hebrews 9:27
[5] There is a judgment
of believers that Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 5:10
and 1 Corinthians 3:12-15, but its purpose is to determine
who is worthy to rule with Messiah during the Millennial
Age. This judgment takes place at Messiah's return, 1000
years before the so-called "Great White Throne" judgment.
But the eternal destiny of true believers is sealed according
to Ephesians 1:13-14.
[6] The "cowardly and
unbelieving" in Revelation 21:8 are those who rejected
the gospel as John 3:18,36 describes, not those who never
heard the gospel. But some will say there is no excuse,
because if anyone were really sincere, God would send a
missionary to him, even in the remotest corner of China.
Rightly did our Master say of such self-righteous judges: "Woe
to you, for you travel over land and sea to win one convert,
and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of
hell as yourselves!" (Matthew 23:15)
[7] 2 Peter 2:7-8
[8] 2 Chronicles 20:7;
Isaiah 41:8; James 2:23
[9] Revelation 22:3-5
[10] Genesis 3:16-19
[11]intrinsic: belonging
to a thing by its very nature.
[12]inherent: existing
as an essential constituent or characteristic; in the nature
of something.
[13] Revelation 21:8;
22:15; Romans 1:28-32
[14] Isaiah 64:6
[15] Romans 10:13-17
[16] Romans 2:14-16;
Matthew 18:34; Acts 2:24; 1 Corinthians 15:55-56
[17] Revelation 22:11
[18] 1 Corinthians
6:2
[19] Revelation 21:9
[20] Revelation 21:9,12
[21] Revelation 22:5
[22] Revelation 20:10,14
[23] Revelation 21:24,
NKJV; Isaiah 9:6-7
[24]corporate: composed
of individuals acting together as one entity.
[25] Revelation 21:9,12
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