Common error in addressing the Fairness of the Gospel

In smallgroup the other day, the question was asked “say, if in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, there was a man who never heard the gospel, isn’t it unfair that hes going to hell because he never had a chance to hear the good news?”

Sound familiar? It’s A good question, but a misleading one. I am certain that many of you have stumbled over the same question albeit in a different form or context in multiple instances. The reason the question is good is because it gets people to start thinking of human responsibility. The reason why it is misleading is because the question is in fact two distinct questions fused or in some cases confused into one. Those two questions are:

1. Why do people go to hell

2. How do people get into heaven.

The answer to the first question, why people go to hell is not because they did not hear the gospel, it is because they sinned, hence the scriptural teaching that eternal punishment is the result of sin. The answer to the second question which is distinct from the first, “how do people get into heaven”, is as we know, by the grace of God through faith in His son.

Now, you may say, but if you don’t hear the gospel, aren’t you going to go to hell? Well yes, but don’t connect the punishment so directly to the gospel. Remember, the gospel is the plan of rescue, not the cause of condemnation. It is our sin, and our sin alone, that paves the road to hell, not the absence of the Gospel. Once again, it isn’t the lack of hearing the Gospel that condemns you, it is your own sin.

So then for the man who dies in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. If he goes to hell when he dies, we must not attribute his fate to the fact that he never had a chance to be rescued. His destination was determined by his deeds. Everyday of his life he had a moral choice before him whether or not to sin against God. And his choice was sin. Even though he may have wanted heaven, he chose hell. You see, the man chose. He had a choice. It’s called moral responsibility.

This is mankind today. The whole world is participating in a global equation: Choosing A and consequently receiving B and that’s it…generation after generation. Sin leads to death, Sin leads to death, over and over again. The continuous series of cause and effect.

But every once in awhile, well…more than once in awhile actually…quite often, something divine reaches into the continuous line of sin and death and removes someone from the process. A rescue takes place. Just as you are in the middle of choosing sin, someone comes along and says, “I’ll take the punishment for that.” His name is Jesus. And what you’ve experienced in that invitation is pure and marvelous grace. Undeserved, unmerited and awesome.