Hi. I've been asking this question in different threads at this forum, so far two answers received are "I don't know" or "we're not supposed to know".
Jesus in John 14:6 says He is the only way to the Father.
The people who have never heard about Jesus or never heard a proper gospel about Jesus - are they all going to hell? They have no faith in Jesus.
None of us believe God will send babies and little children or people who are severely mentally handicapped to hell. We're talking then about people who are capable of knowing God. John 3:15-18 describes how God loves us so much that He sent His only Son (to die) so that those who believe in Him will not perish for their sins but have eternal life. Whoever does not believe in the Son does not have life; his condemnation (for his sins) remains on him.
See, sin requires a blood sacrifice. Now, either Jesus is our sacrifice, or we are condemned for our sins. It's been this way from the beginning. God told Adam "dying you will die" (if he ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil), which is typically translated "surely die," but I think "dying you will die" is more apt because Adam spiritually died and eventually he died physically as well. After death, unless a person has been forgiven through repentance and faith, they receive the penalty of their sins forever. We all sin (Romans 3) and we can't wipe away sin by good deeds (Romans 3:20). Adam was the federal head of the human race, and because of his sin we are all born sinners as well, and our natural end is death and condemnation. (Listen to this sermon if you would like to understand this better:
https://www.mcleanbible.org/sermons/necessity-changing-races-0.)
If there were any other way for a person to be saved (outside of Jesus), Jesus would not have come and died. Physically He did not like the idea--read the accounts of His suffering in Gethsemane, for example, when He knew it was near. We need a perfect blood sacrifice, because without the shedding of blood there's no forgiveness of sin, and this is because the life of a creature is in the blood (see Leviticus 17:11 and Hebrews 9:22). God demonstrated this principle from the day Adam and Eve sinned when He slew an animal or animals to make clothes of skin for them (Genesis 3:20). They made fig leaf coverings, but they still hid when God came walking; their own actions couldn't take away their shame. Ours can't either. There wasn't death before that point (Romans 5:12)--both humans and animals were vegetarians (Genesis 1:29-30).
The blood of animals, though God accepted and required them for a time (to demonstrate the need for a blood sacrifice, as well as the seriousness of sin), they cannot take away sin because animals aren't human and thus aren't a suitable substitute for a human (Hebrews 10:4). Because no child of Adam is good (sinless), we cannot die for anyone else's sins--we all deserve to die for our own sins. And so, barring what Jesus did, the entire human race was condemned without any recourse. But God loved us so much that He offered the only solution that works in His sight--God wrapping Himself in flesh and having His blood shed to death--so that God may cover our sins and appropriate His righteousness to us by faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. He rose from the dead on the third day to prove that He is who He says He is and that so we may know that we can also be raised from the dead by Jesus. And Jesus is the eternal Creator by the way; He is called the Son because of the manner of his physical miraculous conception (by the power of God), but He wasn't created at the moment of his mother Mary's conception - He is the Creator (see John 1:1-3, John 1:14, Micah 5:2, Colossians 1:16).
Isaiah 59 talks about our sin problem and how God would provide the solution. This was the promise from the beginning (Genesis 3:15). Jesus is the Seed of the Woman who crushed the head of the serpent. Notice in the chapter the insufficient coverings, similar to Adam's fig leaves:
Isaiah 59:6
6 Their webs will not become garments,
Nor will they cover themselves with their works;
Their works are works of iniquity,
And the act of violence is in their hands.
Isaiah 53 describes the death of Jesus on behalf of many, to take away their sins. It also alludes to His resurrection. (I encourage you to read it.) This prophecy was in the Bible 600 years or so before Jesus came. A lot of specific details about Jesus's sacrifice were also included in Psalms 22.
Do you know that many Muslims are getting dreams and visions of Jesus? Even people who live in countries where the likelihood of hearing the gospel is slim, God is drawing to Himself. There's a film about it called
More Than Dreams (
www.morethandreams.org) - you can watch it online for free. Once they are ready, they seek out Christians. For many in these countries, deciding to follow Jesus is a death sentence. Their family members or countrymen will likely kill them for apostasy because they left Islam.
The call to follow Jesus is a call to die... to die to sinful living, and become a servant of Christ. Servants of Jesus will be persecuted and hated just as He was persecuted and hated, and sometimes they are killed just as He was killed. A Christian must be willing to stand firm in their faith and even to die for the name of Jesus, if their life is demanded of them. When Jesus comes again (and He will come), He will raise His dead to life (1 Thessalonians 4:14-17).
Do you understand these things I have shared with you? Is there anything holding you back or do you want to repent of your sins and trust in the only suitable offering for the forgiveness of your sins--the death of Jesus Christ?
God bless.
