The Man on an Island #2

My previous blog post, "The Man on an Island" was a response to the question, "What about the man alone on an Island who never hears the Gospel, how is he saved?" This question was raised by a student in a Bible Study that I lead. I gave my response in that post and below is his follow up email to me. I thought his follow-up question would be helpful to others, so I included our correspondence below. Enjoy!

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Hello Craig,

Thanks for replying to my question.

I have a follow up question in response to your email. So my question is: If someone is in a remote area of the world, an area that may or may not see missionaries, and believes in God by veiwing the world around him and then proceeds to live a life directed toward God but is never contacted for whatever reason by anyone who knows the gospel. Then when this guy dies what happens?

Like the first question, I know this is an extreme hypothectical situation. I fully believe that the gospel and repentence are nessecary in our culture and similiar cultures for coming to faith in Christ. But what about the extreme case like the one we are dicussing? Is it safe to say that God can reveal to this person through dreams, God's vioce, and/ or other revelations, the truth of Himself and Jesus? Or, is the guy who never hears the gospel just out of luck, and we as christians are responsible for his soul?

Again thank you. And by the way, I am reading your responses. They are very helpful. And I am not just being mean and asking random questions, I actually want to discuss this and other topics and learn.

One, more thing. I am assured of my own salvation. I am just really wanting to question and analyze things that I have been taught since I have been a christian and see what is real an what is not.

Well, I will see you soon.

Sincerely,
{the Student}

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Dear {Student},

I'm glad you are finding this helpful. First, I want you to know I don't think you are raising these questions to be 'mean', nor do I question your salvation. These are honest and fair questions. They should be asked. This is how we learn. We should always question what is being taught to us. The Gospel and the Scriptures should be able to hold up under the weight of challenging questions or, we should not believe it. I am happy to dialogue about this.

Let me answer your questions one at a time. I see two main questions here.

Your question number one: "If someone is in a remote area of the world, an area that may or may not see missionaries, and believes' in God by viewing the world around him and then proceeds to live a life directed toward God but is never contacted for whatever reason by anyone who knows the gospel. Then when this guy dies what happens?"

Psalms 19:1-3 says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard."

It is important to understand that SAVING FAITH by viewing the world around us is not possible. People do not 'believe in God' or come to SAVING FAITH through observation. The 'general revelation' through creation that there is a God DOES NOT SAVE PEOPLE, it only condemns people. Believing that that the Sun is amazing and that Man couldn't have made that and therefore there must be a God . . . does not equal belief. SAVING FAITH (repentance and belief) {Acts 20:21} requires us to recognize we cannot save ourselves {Romans 3:10-11}, trust in Jesus Christ alone to save us from our sins by his death on the cross {Ephesians 2:8-9}, and desire to follow Jesus as your Lord and live obediently towards him {1 John 2:3-5}. This realization can not come through 'general revelation' or observing the magnificence of creation. All that can be concluded from 'general revelation' is that there must be a God.

There are no innocent natives anywhere. Everyone is guilty before a holy God. If God is going to save them from their sin, they must hear the Gospel, repent and have faith in Christ. Like Cornelius {Acts 10} or the Ethiopian Eunuch {Acts 8:26-40} God ALWAYS sends someone to those who want to know the truth. We have ZERO REASON to believe that if there is a Cornelius or a man like the Ethiopian Eunuch anywhere in the world, God would not give someone a vision to go there and share the truth with him.


Your Question number two. "Is it safe to say that God can reveal to this person through dreams, God's voice, and/ or other revelations, the truth of Himself and Jesus? Or, is the guy who never hears the gospel just out of luck, and we as Christians are responsible for his soul?"

First, I want to address the responsibility aspect of the question here. Sinners are responsible for their sin. No one is to be blamed for their sin except themselves. No one puts a gun to anyone's head and forces them to sin the whole of their life. Each person is accountable to God and God alone for their sin. {Psalm 51:4, James 1:13-15). So, we can never say that the lack of evangelism is to be blamed for someone's condemnation. They are condemned by their own sin, their own suppression of the truth {Romans 3:10-11, 1:18-20}.

Can the guy on the island be saved through hearing the Gospel through dreams? Yes. We see many cases of this currently in the Middle East. But again, the Gospel is being heard. Repentance and belief is taking place. In many reported instances people who have dreams speak of seeing Jesus communicating the truth about himself. So, dreams do happen, but the Gospel, 'special revelation' is communicated in them. However, this is rare and missions is vital.

Robert, ultimately, what I believe you are wrestling with is the view that all men can 'choose' God. IF all men can 'choose' God, then there MUST be a way the guy on the island can become saved, right? In order for the view that men can 'choose' God to stand up in all circumstances, then those who hold that view must come forward with an acceptable response to 'how can the man alone on the island be saved?'

In my study of Scripture, I have no conflict with the reality that some may not be saved. I realize that it is difficult for some to believe that those God plans on saving WILL hear the gospel and they will believe it and be saved. In addition, all those who never hear the gospel were not of the elect and did not want to be saved. This view is prevalent and so clear in Scripture AND it offers you the most consistent answer to your question. God does elect some and not others. Some passages that come to mind are: {Ephesians 1:4-6, 2:5, 2:8-9, Romans 9:11-23, Romans 8:29-30, 1 Peter 1:1-2, John 6:44, 64-65, 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14} God may not choose to save the man on the Island. However if he chooses to save him, he WILL save him through sending him the Gospel and he WILL respond to it.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,
Craig