WARNING: LONG POST
I apologize for the late reply. I got busy trying to get the kids to bed. The question about what happens to those who never had the opportunity to know Jesus is a rather difficult question to answer. I understand that the Book Of Mormon has some insight into this matter however as you know, I do not believe in the book of Mormon. I don't think anyone really knows for sure what happens to those who never heard of Christ at no fault of their own and if someone says that they absolutely know for sure I would call them out on it. Like I said, I do not know for sure but I have my own opinion based on what we do know about God's attributes and what God holds people accountable for. Of course, God holds us accountable for sin. So in order for me to answer this question we first need to understand what is "sin" and what is God's attributes?
SIN
Sin is described in the Bible as transgression of the law of God (
1 John 3:4) and rebellion against God (
Deuteronomy 9:7;
Joshua 1:18). Sin had its beginning with Lucifer, probably the most beautiful and powerful of the angels. Not content with his position, he desired to be higher than God, and that was his downfall, the beginning of sin (
Isaiah 14:12-15). Renamed Satan, he brought sin to the human race in the Garden of Eden, where he tempted Adam and Eve with the same enticement, “you shall be like God.”
Genesis 3 describes Adam and Eve’s rebellion against God and against His command. Since that time, sin has been passed down through all the generations of mankind and we, Adam’s descendants, have inherited sin from him.
Romans 5:12 tells us that through Adam sin entered the world, and so death was passed on to all men because “the wages of sin is death” (
Romans 6:23).
Through Adam, the inherent inclination to sin entered the human race, and human beings became sinners by nature. When Adam sinned, his inner nature was transformed by his sin of rebellion, bringing to him spiritual death and depravity which would be passed on to all who came after him. We are sinners not because we sin; rather, we sin because we are sinners. This passed-on depravity is known as inherited sin. Just as we inherit physical characteristics from our parents, we inherit our sinful natures from Adam. King David lamented this condition of fallen human nature in
Psalm 51:5: “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”
Another type of sin is known as imputed sin. Used in both financial and legal settings, the Greek word translated “imputed” means “to take something that belongs to someone and credit it to another’s account.” Before the Law of Moses was given, sin was not imputed to man, although men were still sinners because of inherited sin. After the Law was given, sins committed in violation of the Law were imputed (accounted) to them (
Romans 5:13). Even before transgressions of the law were imputed to men, the ultimate penalty for sin (death) continued to reign (
Romans 5:14). All humans, from Adam to Moses, were subject to death, not because of their sinful acts against the Mosaic Law (which they did not have), but because of their own inherited sinful nature. After Moses, humans were subject to death both because of inherited sin from Adam and imputed sin from violating the laws of God.
God used the principle of imputation to benefit mankind when He imputed the sin of believers to the account of Jesus Christ, who paid the penalty for that sin—death—on the cross. Imputing our sin to Jesus, God treated Him as if He were a sinner, though He was not, and had Him die for the sins of the entire world (
1 John 2:2). It is important to understand that sin was imputed to Him, but He did not inherit it from Adam. He bore the penalty for sin, but He never became a sinner. His pure and perfect nature was untouched by sin. He was treated as though He were guilty of all the sins ever committed by the human race, even though He committed none. In exchange, God imputed the righteousness of Christ to believers and credited our accounts with His righteousness, just as He had credited our sins to Christ’s account (
2 Corinthians 5:21).
A third type of sin is personal sin, that which is committed every day by every human being. Because we have inherited a sin nature from Adam, we commit individual, personal sins, everything from seemingly innocent untruths to murder. Those who have not placed their faith in Jesus Christ must pay the penalty for these personal sins, as well as inherited and imputed sin. However, believers have been freed from the eternal penalty of sin—hell and spiritual death—but now we also have the power to resist sinning. Now we can choose whether or not to commit personal sins because we have the power to resist sin through the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, sanctifying and convicting us of our sins when we do commit them (
Romans 8:9-11). Once we confess our personal sins to God and ask forgiveness for them, we are restored to perfect fellowship and communion with Him. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (
1 John 1:9).
We are all three times condemned due to inherited sin, imputed sin, and personal sin. The only just penalty for this sin is death (
Romans 6:23), not just physical death but eternal death (
Revelation 20:11-15). Thankfully, inherited sin, imputed sin, and personal sin have all been crucified on the cross of Jesus, and now by faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior “we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (
Ephesians 1:7).
THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD
The Bible, God’s Word, tells us what God is like and what He is not like. Without the authority of the Bible, any attempt to explain God’s attributes would be no better than an opinion, which by itself is often incorrect, especially in understanding God (
Job 42:7). To say that it is important for us to try to understand what God is like is a huge understatement. Failure to do so can cause us to set up, chase after, and worship false gods contrary to His will (
Exodus 20:3-5).
Only what God has chosen to reveal of Himself can be known. One of God's attributes or qualities is “light,” meaning that He is self-revealing in information of Himself (
Isaiah 60:19;
James 1:17). The fact that God has revealed knowledge of Himself should not be neglected (
Hebrews 4:1). Creation, the Bible, and the Word made flesh (Jesus Christ) will help us to know what God is like.
Reading through some of the names of God can be helpful in our search of what God is like. They are as follows:
Elohim - strong One, divine (
Genesis 1:1)
Adonai - Lord, indicating a Master-to-servant relationship (
Exodus 4:10,
13)
El Elyon - Most High, the strongest One (
Genesis 14:20)
El Roi - the strong One who sees (
Genesis 16:13)
El Shaddai - Almighty God (
Genesis 17:1)
El Olam - Everlasting God (
Isaiah 40:28)
Yahweh - LORD “I Am,” meaning the eternal self-existent God (
Exodus 3:13,
14).
God is eternal, meaning He had no beginning and His existence will never end. He is immortal and infinite (
Deuteronomy 33:27;
Psalm 90:2;
1 Timothy 1:17). God is immutable, meaning He is unchanging; this in turn means that God is absolutely reliable and trustworthy (
Malachi 3:6;
Numbers 23:19;
Psalm 102:26,
27). God is incomparable; there is no one like Him in works or being. He is unequaled and perfect (
2 Samuel 7:22;
Psalm 86:8;
Isaiah 40:25;
Matthew 5:48). God is inscrutable, unfathomable, unsearchable, and past finding out as far as understanding Him completely (
Isaiah 40:28;
Psalm 145:3;
Romans 11:33,
34).
God is just; He is no respecter of persons in the sense of showing favoritism (
Deuteronomy 32:4;
Psalm 18:30). God is omnipotent; He is all-powerful and can do anything that pleases Him, but His actions will always be in accord with the rest of His character (
Revelation 19:6;
Jeremiah 32:17,
27). God is omnipresent, meaning He is present everywhere, but this does not mean that God is everything (
Psalm 139:7-13;
Jeremiah 23:23). God is omniscient, meaning He knows the past, present, and future, including what we are thinking at any given moment. Since He knows everything, His justice will always be administered fairly (
Psalm 139:1-5;
Proverbs 5:21).
God is one; not only is there no other, but He is alone in being able to meet the deepest needs and longings of our hearts. God alone is worthy of our worship and devotion (
Deuteronomy 6:4). God is righteous, meaning that God cannot and will not pass over wrongdoing. It is because of God’s righteousness and justice that, in order for our sins to be forgiven, Jesus had to experience God's wrath when our sins were placed upon Him (
Exodus 9:27;
Matthew 27:45-46;
Romans 3:21-26).
God is sovereign, meaning He is supreme. All of His creation put together cannot thwart His purposes (
Psalm 93:1;
95:3;
Jeremiah 23:20). God is spirit, meaning He is invisible (
John 1:18;
4:24). God is a Trinity. He is three in one, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. God is truth, He will remain incorruptible and cannot lie (
Psalm 117:2;
1 Samuel 15:29).
God is holy, separated from all moral defilement and hostile toward it. God sees all evil and it angers Him. God is referred to as a consuming fire (
Isaiah 6:3;
Habakkuk 1:13;
Exodus 3:2,
4-5;
Hebrews 12:29). God is gracious, and His grace includes His goodness, kindness, mercy, and love. If it were not for God's grace, His holiness would exclude us from His presence. Thankfully, this is not the case, for He desires to know each of us personally (
Exodus 34:6;
Psalm 31:19;
1 Peter 1:3;
John 3:16,
17:3).
Since God is an infinite Being, no human can fully answer this God-sized question, but through God’s Word, we can understand much about who God is and what He is like. May we all wholeheartedly continue to seek after Him (
Jeremiah 29:13).
CONCLUSION
Now I have to emphasize that what I am about to say is not specifically mentioned in the bible. This is my own personal belief. The simple answer to your question is "Yes and No". After putting all this information together that we know from the bible I would have to say that there is only one path to salvation. If there is more than one path, that would make Jesus' statement in John 14:6 false! So I have to believe that Jesus is the only way. So the question is "Is there more than one way to attain salvation through Jesus?".
By looking at the attributes of God we know that God is absolutely reliable and trustworthy, unequaled and perfect. God is just. He is all-powerful and can do anything that pleases Him, but His actions will always be in accord with the rest of His character. He is present everywhere. Historically, we know that God only held people accountable for what was revealed to His people. God did not hold people accountable for knowing Jesus before Christ was born. King David, Moses, Aaron, Daniel, ect, did not go to hell because they did not know Christ. They were saved because they followed the Laws of Moses and made sacrifices to atone for their sin. What about the saints before Moses? Did Able, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, ect, go to hell because they did not follow the Laws of Moses? No, because God did not hold man accountable for something that he did not reveal to them. However:
Romans 2:12-16 (NIV)
"All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ declares."
Now I do not think that it is the 600+ laws of the OT that is being discussed here but rather it is the two commandments that Jesus gave.
Matthew 22:37-40(NIV)
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Thus, I have to believe that God is Just and perfect. Because His knowledge in infinite, I can assume that he will judge perfectly by taking all information into account. Because he knows the nature of someone's heart, he will know that if someone was given the opportunity to know Jesus what decision that person would make and will judge accordingly. I don't believe that anyone will feel like they are being treated unfairly when they are judged by God. There will be no appeals or accusations of a mistrial. If anyone is to be condemned to hell that individual will know that their judgment was well deserved.
