What about those who haven’t heard?

[Mark Corbett]

The Bible teaches that a person is saved when they hear the gospel and respond with repentance and true belief in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:13). It also teaches that belief in Jesus is the only way to salvation (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). Those who have been saved long to see others also saved. This often results in wrestling with a difficult question:

What happens to those who haven’t heard the Good News about Jesus?

Sometimes people try to use this question as a type of rhetorical weapon to demonstrate that Jesus can’t possibly be the only way of salvation. Oprah, echoing the thoughts of many before her, once asked the question in this way, as you can see in this 2 minute video clip (sorry, the picture is somewhat fuzzy, but the sound is clear):

So, what about those who haven’t heard? This is one of those questions which the Bible does not answer in an explicit, direct way. But that doesn’t mean the Bible does not address this question. Let’s consider what may be the most important passage on this issue. I encourage you to slow down and thoughtfully read this, even if you are already familiar with it:

Romans 10:9 If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
11 As Scripture says, "Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame."
12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile-- the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,
13 for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"​

It’s as if God says, “You should be worried about those people who haven’t heard. Here’s My solution: YOU go tell them. If you can’t go, then give and pray so that someone else can go.”

Admittedly, that’s not the type of answer people are looking for. But it is the type of answer God gives in His Word, which means it is the best type of answer and the most important type of answer. It’s a practical answer, so let’s stop and think a little about some practical applications of the truth that is declared in the verses above.

Practical Application #1: People Who are Asking about those Who Haven’t Heard are People who Have Heard

If a non-Christian is asking about people who have never heard as an objection to the truth of the Bible (and I’ve heard it asked that way), it may help to gently remind them that they are not in that category. If God makes any special provisions for those who haven’t heard, these provisions would NOT apply to the person who is asking about them, since they obviously have heard the gospel. If they reject the gospel now, the Bible offers NO guarantee that they will have another chance tomorrow (Hebrews 3:15, Proverbs 27:1, Isaiah 55:6). Not only are they not in the category of people who have not had a chance to hear the gospel, most people who are asking about those who haven’t had a chance to hear have never met anyone in this category. Very likely all their friends, family members, coworkers, and neighbors have had and do have many chances to hear the Good News. It’s urgent that they accept God’s gracious offer of forgiveness and eternal life in Christ Jesus (Acts 2:40).

Practical Application #2: We Should Have a Passion to Spread the Gospel Where Christ is not yet Known

Paul certainly practiced what he preached. He himself had a burning passion to continually go to new areas where Christ is not yet known. A little later in Romans he writes:

NIV Romans 15:20a It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known,​

We’re not all called to go to unreached people groups, but we should each do what we can to support such work. This includes:

* Learning about the unreached.
* Training up Christians to go to the unreached.
* Financially supporting those who go.
* Praying for those who go (this is really important)
* Being open to go​

Practical Application #3: Working to Overcome Language Barriers in Difficult Areas

Today, the main barrier to people hearing the gospel is not geographic distance. The main barrier to hearing the gospel languages where the Bible is not available and where few, in any, who speak that language are sharing the gospel. By God’s grace there are now at least some Christians in every political nation in the world. But when the Jesus spoke of “all nations” in the Great Commission He was referring to all ethnic people groups, not merely all political nations. Some political nations have many different ethnic people groups living in them and these ethnic people groups often speak different languages. For example, we lived in Indonesia for fourteen years. Just on the island we lived on (Sulawesi) there are estimated to be over 100 different languages spoken. These are truly different languages, not merely different dialects (there are often multiple dialects of each of the languages!). Many of those over 100 local languages include many speakers who have not heard the gospel, and have very little or no opportunity to hear it in their language.

We’ve come a long way in completing the Great Commission, but there is still a long ways to go. The cost of completing our task is high. Most of the unreached live in areas where there is intense opposition to the gospel. There is a great need for more people willing to go long term because it takes years to learn a new language and culture and win people and disciple them.

I feel that these “practical applications” related to the Great Commission and its urgency are the most important thing we should get out of the Bible’s teaching about those who have not heard. But because so many people struggle with the theological implications of this teaching, I will go on to share a few more thoughts.

Dangerous Speculation

Some people speculate that perhaps people who live in remote areas and who die without a chance to hear the gospel will be given a chance to accept Jesus after they die. While the Bible does not explicitly rule this possibility out, we need to consider how this speculative solutions fits, or doesn’t fit, with the logic of Romans 10:9-15. When Paul asks, “how can they believe in Him whom they have not heard”, his solution is NOT that those people will get a chance after they die. In fact, the logic of needing to go and preach would be undermined if there were chances to believe after death.

An Analogy

Here’s my own version of an analogy I’ve heard elsewhere (but I don’t remember where or from whom):

Imagine there is a man in an apartment building. He lives on the 5th floor. His building catches on fire. By the time he wakes up the four floors below him are on fire and the floor above him is on fire and the fire is burning outside his apartment in the hallway. He’s trapped. Thankfully, a fire truck with a long ladder shows up. A fireman appears outside his window and calls him to come and escape.

The trapped man says, “I think there might be a hidden fireproof escape under the rug somewhere. I’ll look for that.”

The fireman yells, “How do you know it’s there? Did the builder of the apartments tell you it was there?”

The trapped man replies, “No, but it makes sense to me that there would be a fire escape under a trap door under the carpet.”

Should the man look for the fire escape just because it makes sense in his mind that there should be one? Shouldn’t he instead focus on the one way out (the fireman with the ladder)? Does it make sense for people to speculate on a chance for salvation after death? The Bible says nothing about that. The “builder” hasn’t told us such a thing exists. Shouldn’t we just focus on the means of salvation which God has made available? Namely, going and telling people now, in this life, the Good News.

How this Might All Harmonize with God’s Justice, Goodness, and Foreknowledge

Still, people are understandably concerned about those who died without hearing. But it is wrong to assume that the only way God can be fair and good to those people is if He gives them a chance to believe and be saved after death.

God has not revealed in detail how He is fair to those who die without hearing, but we should have no doubt that God is entirely just in all He does. “Will not the judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25).

We should remember that it is not unjust for God to judge people for their sins and destroy their bodies and souls in hell (Matthew 10:28). That is what ALL people deserve based on our sins (Romans 3:23, 6:23). But there might be more to it. For example, it is possible that God has used his foreknowledge to arrange the world in such a way that everyone who would benefit by hearing the gospel does indeed hear the gospel. The Bible does teach that God determines when and where people will live (Acts 17:26). He may place those who would not have believed even if they heard the gospel in times and locations where the gospel has not been available. It is a possibility. God might not explicitly tell us this because we might be tempted to wrongly interpret it as meaning our Great Commission is less urgent. I share this possibility not because I know this is how it works, but to counter the type of thinking I hear from some universalists and others that God essentially MUST give unsaved people a chance to repent after death or else God is not really just, good, and loving.

Conclusion

It is not wrong for us to be concerned about those who have not heard. In fact, it is right and Biblical to care about them. It is a sign of the Holy Spirit working in our hearts to move us to complete the Great Commission which Christ gave us. Nor do I think it is wrong to think about the theological and philosophical implications of this issue. But God’s main response is an urgently practical one. Our concern about this issue should first and foremost inspire us to make every effort and great sacrifices to go and share the gospel with the unreached. Jesus will be with us as we go (Matthew 28:20).

This was initially a post on my blog.

 

[Serving Zion]

The Bible teaches that a person is saved when they hear the gospel and respond with repentance and true belief in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:13).

I like that you are a peace maker "for they are called the sons of God", and you are giving freely as you have received, however I owe you my feedback, that I can see a logical fallacy in your using of scripture this way.

To say that a person is saved by receiving the good news, is not equivalent to saying that a person is not saved because they have not heard the good news.

The true essence of using the reverse implication of Ephesians 1:13, is that if a person hears the good news and does not receive it, they then come under condemnation (according to John 3:20). On the other hand, if they have not yet heard the good news then there is not such a clear case for condemnation (consider John 15:22) because they could very well be those who would come toward the light as per John 3:21.

This is also not to say that all who have heard a presentation of the gospel have in fact heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, because many false prophets have gone out into the world and many are wolves coming in sheep's clothing.

Jesus said "my sheep listen to my voice and they will flee from a stranger's voice". Such ones that flee from perverted gospels are righteous to do so (lest they should be likewise accursed as Galatians 1:8-9 warns). The downside is once bitten, twice shy - will they thereafter always flee from the gospel even if it is represented to them in truth?

Jesus also said "I have other sheep that are not of this fold (Israel), and they will listen to me (The Holy Spirit - literally incarnate as human when those particular words were spoken, not by way of proxy as it is these days 1 Corinthians 3:16), and I must bring them too. There will be one flock and one shepherd.

So, it is because of the false doctrines of the antichrists over the last 2,000 years that have made salvation a far-off thing that never eventuates until after we die, instead of the true message that is the relationship with God The Father and His risen son Jesus Christ in the life we already have.. that is why the gospel has become perceived as impotent, confusing and a thing to be despised (2 Peter 2:2).

"But if they had stood in my inner circle, they would have caused my people to hear my words and to be turned from their evil ways. Therefore I am against those prophets that steal my words from one another" - saith The Lord. (Jeremiah 23).

 

[iwbswiaihl2]

I am of the persuasion that there is no one that does not know that there is a God and everyone is under the obligation to seek Him out because it is written on their hearts. See Rom 1:18-32
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

That is why we hear the words, seek you the Lord while He may be found, call on Him while He is near.
Also, continue reading into the next chapter of Romans and then read this in the chapter 2 after the first paragraph, 2:12-16 For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law 13 (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified; 14 for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, 15 who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) 16 in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.

If you think about it, the world started with Adam, then Eve, and all that followed were their children and they would have all been told why they got kicked out of their first home place, don't you think? Cain told Abel the first time they walked around the garden of eden, that was our home before mama and daddy ate us out of house and home

 

[Halbhh]

all their friends, family members, coworkers, and neighbors have had and do have many chances to hear the Good News

Often mostly true, but sometimes it seems to me some individuals have either an incomplete or even a very wrong idea of the Good News, so that sometimes a chance to tell someone could be nearby, and the internet makes a lot of people nearby also. I was thinking of how to best tell someone, and while I often quote a wonderful thing Christ says, right now I'm thinking a paraphrase of John 3:16 is a good message to weave in often. God loves us so much he sent Christ to change us, so that whoever believes in Him would be redeemed into life everlasting, despite all of our mistakes and wrongs. He can make us new, and through Him we are born again unto Love.

 

[DarkSoul999]

Some people speculate that perhaps people who live in remote areas and who die without a chance to hear the gospel will be given a chance to accept Jesus after they die. While the Bible does not explicitly rule this possibility out, we need to consider how this speculative solutions fits, or doesn’t fit, with the logic of Romans 10:9-15. When Paul asks, “how can they believe in Him whom they have not heard”, his solution is NOT that those people will get a chance after they die. In fact, the logic of needing to go and preach would be undermined if there were chances to believe after death.

Then you have to harden your heart and DO NOT LOVE the countless billions who never heard. Especially those born before the age of global exploration or the invention of the airplane, internet, etc. Wow! It really sucks to be those people now doesn't it?

 

[Mark Corbett]

I am of the persuasion that there is no one that does not know that there is a God and everyone is under the obligation to seek Him out because it is written on their hearts. See Rom 1:18-32

I agree with you that through general revelation in nature everyone should know that there is a great God, and that it is only because people wickedly suppress this truth that some claim not to know this:

NIV Romans 1:18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness,

However, this general knowledge of a Creator God is not sufficient for salvation. People must hear specifically the Good News about Jesus:

NIV John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

 

[DarkSoul999]

I am of the persuasion that there is no one that does not know that there is a God and everyone is under the obligation to seek Him out because it is written on their hearts. See Rom 1:18-32
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

that is the worst thing that you could possibly say to an atheist. They don't know! After a lifetime surrounded by horrible people they are totally confused. "Common sense" means absolutely nothing. The ultimate nature of reality might be obvious to YOU but to them there isn't a single thing that can be trusted without frequent reinforcement and verification.

Imagine that you are growing up in an abusive household. You have no faith that mommy or daddy won't come home drunk and beat the snot out of you. That might come home sober or they might be a bat out of hell! That is what the universe looks like to them!

 

[Mark Corbett]

Often mostly true, but sometimes it seems to me some individuals have either an incomplete or even a very wrong idea of the Good News, so that sometimes a chance to tell someone could be nearby, . . .

You are so right. There is a great need to spread the gospel to those in places and who speak languages where the gospel is not known, but there is also a great need to continue to share the gospel with our neighbor right across the street, even if we live in the so-called "Bible belt". May God bless you and empower your testimony as you seek to share the gospel with your neighbors, including your "internet neighbors"!

 

[DarkSoul999]

I agree with you that through general revelation in nature everyone should know that there is a great God, and that it is only because people wickedly suppress this truth that some claim not to know this:

NIV Romans 1:18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness,

However, this general knowledge of a Creator God is not sufficient for salvation. People must hear specifically the Good News about Jesus:

NIV John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Because of Adam and Eve the world is in a fallen state. As a result, most of the evidence is clouded. There is plenty of order in the laws of the universe but there is plenty of chaos mostly manifest by nature's cruel and cold indifference towards life.

This is why the Christian message is getting weaker and weaker. You keep assuming that everyone naturally believes! If you walk up to any given nonbeliever and say "you actually believe but you hate God!" then you might as well just give up on ministering to them. They will never believe a single word.

 

[Mark Corbett]

that is the worst thing that you could possibly say to an atheist. They don't know! After a lifetime surrounded by horrible people they are totally confused. "Common sense" means absolutely nothing. The ultimate nature of reality might be obvious to YOU but to them there isn't a single thing that can be trusted without frequent reinforcement and verification.

Imagine that you are growing up in an abusive household. You have no faith that mommy or daddy won't come home drunk and beat the snot out of you. That might come home sober or they might be a bat out of hell! That is what the universe looks like to them!

You are right to bring this up. Even people who live in places with LOTS of opportunity to hear the gospel, still need us to love them and keep gently sharing with them. They may need to experience the love of Christ through us for a long time before they open up to believe His wonderful good news. May God use you to help love people who have been hurt into the Kingdom.

 

[iwbswiaihl2]

that is the worst thing that you could possibly say to an atheist. They don't know! After a lifetime surrounded by horrible people they are totally confused. "Common sense" means absolutely nothing. The ultimate nature of reality might be obvious to YOU but to them there isn't a single thing that can be trusted without frequent reinforcement and verification.

Imagine that you are growing up in an abusive household. You have no faith that mommy or daddy won't come home drunk and beat the snot out of you. That might come home sober or they might be a bat out of hell! That is what the universe looks like to them!

That is your view, the scripture says what it says. I only answered to those that have not known about God and there is no one that has not heard or known, whether they accept it or not is their response. We are to share the good news without a question, how you or I choose to do so is our personal responsibility. I said nothing about who or how to witness to anyone.

 

[DarkSoul999]

That is your view, the scripture says what it says. I only answered to those that have not known about God and there is no one that has not heard or known, whether they accept it or not is their response. We are to share the good news without a question, how you or I choose to do so is our personal responsibility. I said nothing about who or how to witness to anyone.

well everyone is on their own to figure it out. It is really going to suck for those who don't get it.

 

[mark kennedy]

God judges those who never heard the gospel the same as those who have, based on the thoughts and inclinations of their hearts.

 

[Serving Zion]

Then you have to harden your heart and DO NOT LOVE the countless billions who never heard. Especially those born before the age of global exploration or the invention of the airplane, internet, etc. Wow! It really sucks to be those people now doesn't it?

Matthew 25:31-46 shows that it is not whether we believed the gospel that saves us, but whether we have always followed The Holy Spirit in order to cultivate the character of love. While The Holy Spirit operates amidst cultures of other origins than Hebrews, His work in those ones is restricted to operate within the confines of their knowledge. This is why words/message is crucial to the campaign, seeing as one cannot prove to be for or against the truth unless the truth has come to them. We who have the knowledge have the ability to bring that to them (Proverbs 18:21).

Jesus came to His own, but His own did not receive Him, yet to all who do receive Him He gives the power to be called sons of God. If their rejection leads to reconciliation for the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

This is why the Christian message is getting weaker and weaker.

It's not though, it's getting more refined daily as per Isaiah 6:9-13, but it can only be seen by measuring His people (those on the narrow path - John 15:5-6). Many take the broad road leading to destruction. Would a man try to find figs on a thornbush? Indeed, let the evildoer still do evil, but the righteous do righteousness (Revelation 22:10-12).

 

[~Anastasia~]

Romans 2

12For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law; 13for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified. 14For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, 15in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, 16on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.


I will not presume to speak for God's judgement, but this passage says that those who do according to the law written in their hearts (all people know right from wrong, even if they've never been preached to) ... those who act according to that law may be excused by their conscience when God judges all.

God can have mercy on whom He will have mercy. Yes, Christ is absolutely the only way, and it is only through His sacrifice that mankind can be reconciled to God, and only through a His death and resurrection that death is defeated. But what kind of "God" do we make Him out to be when many thousands were simply born at the wrong place and time? "Too bad, you gotta burn for eternity, no chance for you!" This is not the good and loving God I know, who cares for every sparrow in His creation, and how much more each human person created in His image? Who was willing to go to such lengths to save people, to defeat death, to destroy the effects of sin.

More importantly, I have seen this "God" preached to those who do not believe, and as a result they want no part of Him, because He has been changed into something Christianity shouldn't recognize either.

Can people be offered a chance at death? Christ descended into Hades and preached to the captives. It seems reasonable that if He preached, they would be given a chance to respond. If those people were given the opportunity, is it impossible that God can offer it to those who recognize in Christ what their hearts have always longed for in life, but they never knew Him? God can do whatever He wants, and we know that He desires the salvation of every person.

We are under no obligation to accept salvation. We have free will. And some choose to set themselves against God. Some don't prepare themselves to be able to accept God's mercy. But His desire is to offer it to all.

 

[iwbswiaihl2]

Reading several of the comments, it sure sounds like God is at fault to a suppose question. He stated plainly it is appointed to all men once to die and after this the judgment. There is no second chance after death. We cannot make up reason why some people have not heard nor known about God, God said He wrote it on their hearts and they are without excuse, I plead guilty to believing He means what He says and nothing ever occurs to God, He knows everything and did not leave out anything but neither does He grant extra exemptions because someone doesn't think He took into consideration those who never heard because of statements that someone else has made.

 

[Mark Corbett]

Then you have to harden your heart and DO NOT LOVE the countless billions who never heard. Especially those born before the age of global exploration or the invention of the airplane, internet, etc. Wow! It really sucks to be those people now doesn't it?

Love is practical. It involves seeking the good of others, and being willing to sacrifice and suffer for their good. Whether my view is correct or not, there is nothing I or you can do for those who were born and died long before us. What we are called to do is to love the unreached NOW. We can go if God calls us, or at least pray and give and work to support others called to reach the unreached. This is what love demands. This is the Great Commission. And by God's grace, I have tried to live my life in light of this.

 

[Mark Corbett]

Can people be offered a chance at death? Christ descended into Hades and preached to the captives. It seems reasonable that if He preached, they would be given a chance to respond.

IF Christ preached to the captives in Hades that would seem to support the possibility that some people at some point had a chance to believe and be saved after death. However, I do not believe the Bible supports the claim that Jesus descended into Hell to preach to the captives. Those interested may find the following helpful:

A brief explanation:

Did Christ Ever Descend to Hell? | Desiring God

A more in depth one:

http://www.waynegrudem.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/he-did-not-descend-into-hell_JETS.pdf

 

[~Anastasia~]

IF Christ preached to the captives in Hades that would seem to support the possibility that some people at some point had a chance to believe and be saved after death. However, I do not believe the Bible supports the claim that Jesus descended into Hell to preach to the captives. Those interested may find the following helpful:

A brief explanation:

Did Christ Ever Descend to Hell? | Desiring God

A more in depth one:

http://www.waynegrudem.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/he-did-not-descend-into-hell_JETS.pdf

Well, since you quoted I'll reply. I'm not interested in an argument.

But it seems that just because we don't like what a passage says, and want to believe it says something else, isn't much of an argument (your first link).

The early Christians - the ones who recognized the documents accepted as Scripture as being true and had a part in their canonization - took them to mean what they say.

That Christ descended into Hades (not hell, that's a poor translation), which is the place of the dead. That He preached to the spirits there. They left off the verse that also says He led captivity captive ... in other words He freed those souls that had been captive in Hades.

That's what the Scripture says, and that's what the early Christians took it to mean.

Now there has been some modern and very heretical idea that Christ went actually to hell to be punished - THAT did not happen. I just want to be clear that's not what I'm saying.

 

[DarkSoul999]

Love is practical. It involves seeking the good of others, and being willing to sacrifice and suffer for their good. Whether my view is correct or not, there is nothing I or you can do for those who were born and died long before us. What we are called to do is to love the unreached NOW. We can go if God calls us, or at least pray and give and work to support others called to reach the unreached. This is what love demands. This is the Great Commission. And by God's grace, I have tried to live my life in light of this.

yes that makes sense. What I meant to say was that we need to crush all emotion. It is dangerous to have affection for people when their fate is so uncertain. You can still do things for them though.