I have found that one of the biggest questions people have for Christians is “What about those who never had a chance to hear of God in their lifetime?” It seems unfair that those people would be judged by a measure that they never heard. Even many Christians have trouble reconciling this thought. However, we can find comfort in the words of God on this topic.
There are many indications in the Bible that if you have a heart that is leaning toward truth and goodness, that God will reveal himself to you. 1 Chronicles 28:9 explains that “Yahweh searches allhearts and understands every motive of the thoughts. If you search for him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will abandon you forever.” We see an example of this in Acts 17: 22-31, where God sent Paul to Athens to preach the Gospel when they were seeking the true God with all of their heart. It is also important to note that the verse above says that Yahweh searches all hearts and understands every motive, not just the hearts and motives of believers. One only has to do a quick search on YouTube to discover thousands of testimonies that attest to this truth. God has called people from all walks of life to become Christian; many that were devoted and successful New Agers, Muslims, Satanists, etc. He knew that they were seeking the truth and had good intentions even though they were misled, and mercifully woke them up in one way or another to bring them to Him. I once heard a testimony from a man who used to be a Muslim, whom an angel of the Lord appeared to in his bedroom to tell him the truth, and now he is a Christian that is traveling to churches to tell his story. We must understand that Yahweh is in control of this entire world. He is fully capable of seeing a person’s heart or hearing a person’s prayer for the truth and sending that truth to them. Whether it is through the internet, or a missionary that is sent to them, a neighbor, or even an angel, as in the story above, Yahweh is fully capable of keeping his promise that if you seek truth, you will find truth (Matthew 7:7-8, Luke 11:9-10).
Romans 1:20 teaches us, “For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes—his eternal power and divine nature—are clearly seen, because they are understood through what he has made, so they are without excuse.” We learn from this verse that people have a responsibility to search for the truth. All of creation cries out that we have a creator. Everything points to God, so we do not have an option, knowing that we will die someday, to sit around being unconcerned about it. We must seek solid and reasonable answers about this life and the next, as Abraham did. Chapter nine of the book of Jasher tells of Abraham’s search for God; how he understood that the wood and stone gods that the people of his time were serving were not the true God, and how he looked to the sun and then the moon and stars for answers, but knew they were not right either. He was seeking to know the true God with all of his heart and diligently continued his search until Yahweh gave him understanding and led him to study with Noah. The bottom line is that God understands our thoughts, our hearts, and our motives. He knows if we desire to know Him and His truth, or not. He is merciful and does not wish that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9). And lastly, He promises that if we seek Him with a pure heart, we will find Him (Matthew 5:8).
