Sometimes we see salvation in a very black and white simplistic way. A person is presented with the gospel message and they has a clear choice, either commit their life to Christ or else reject him. The person who accepts Christ is saved and the one who rejects the message awaits only damnation. But this leaves out a third group. What happens to those who were not evangelized to? Who were never taught the gospel message? Who did not even get a chance to accept or reject it? Many countries across the world did not receive any missionary activity at all until only a few hundred years ago. Does God really intend to send 100% of these individuals to hell simply for being born in the wrong geographic location?
What the Sheep and Goats judgement really means
There are actually some Bible passages which mention what happens to those who have not heard. Let us examine the first of these, the "sheep and goats" judgement. It is often assumed that the "sheep" are Christians while the cursed "goats" are the nonbelievers of the secular world. This is incorrect in fact.
Matthew 25:31-46, "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
The word "nations" used in verse 32 of the above passage is the same word also translated "gentiles" or "heathen." It always refers to the unbelieving secular nations. Jesus lists both the sheep and goats here under the category of the heathen and therefore is not speaking of believers when saying "sheep." Both sheep and goats are unbelievers in this passage. God is giving his free gift of salvation to the sheep due to how they glorified Christ by showing his love to those in need, even though these "sheep" had never heard of Christ.
All this time we have been falsely taught that the sheep are believers and goats are non-Christians. This would have made no sense to those Christ was preaching to. Christ had not even died yet and Christianity was not established. The first listeners were Jewish and understood this parable as Christ teaching on how God would judge the secular non-Jewish nations.
The sheep and goats judgement applies to those who never had the gospel preached to them clearly. In contrast, when hears the saving message of the gospel of Christ. They are then accountable to make the decision to either serve Christ or reject him and face the eternal consequences.
The Judgement of those who have never heard the gospel
The apostle Paul also describes the judgment of unbelievers who did not hear the gospel preached to them:
Romans 2:12-15, "12 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)"
Here we see separate standard of judgement for those who know God's law (Jews and Christians) versus the heathen nations ("Gentiles") who were never clearly exposed to the truth of God. Paul teaches that the Gentiles still have a chance to please God based on following the law of their conscience. Their response in following or ignoring their moral conscience results in them being either accused or excused in the final judgment.
1 Timothy 4:10 "the living God who is the savior of all men, especially those who believe"
Apostle Paul used interesting phrasing here, in writing to his mentee Timothy that Christ is the "saviour of all men" and "especially" those who believe. Paul could have wrote that Christ is the saviour of ONLY believers, but he used the word "especially" instead. This means that the salvation Jesus brought is not limited to only believers.
1 John 2:2 "And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world."
John writes the same idea as Paul here, specifically mentioning that Christ's gift of salvation is not limited to only those who believed in the gospel. When this was written, the gospel had not been spread across the world yet. It had only recently been brought as far as Greece and Rome. By mentioning that Christ redeemed sins from those in "the whole world," it clearly means those who did not believe in Jesus and who had never heard of the gospel.
Acts 17:26-30, "And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.' Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising. Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,"
This passage indicates that God will overlook some of the sins of ignorance of those who never got the chance to learn the gospel. Now that the gospel is preached to them, they no longer have a choice and must repent and accept Christ, or reject salvation entirely. There is a grey area for those who have not heard the gospel, but they are forced to make a choice when it is preached to them. The middle ground dissolves and a side must be chosen.
Luke 11:31-32, "The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here."
The original Greek word used here for "rise up" is the same word Christ used to prophecy of his own resurrection. It gives a positive connotation of passing the judgment successfully, contrasting with those who are condemned. Jesus says the Queen of the South will condemn the unbelieving Jews, not that she will be condemned. As for the men of Nineveh, they did not have a clear conception of who God is, but they understood that they had displeased the Creator and repented in sincerity. They did not establish any permanent religion of worshiping God as the one true God. Nineveh is still credited as being able to “rise up” in the judgment and do the condemning rather than being one of the condemned.
It is wrong to assume that anyone who is not a Christian automatically goes to hell. God is more nuanced than this. He is a fair judge that evaluates each person as an individual, based on their response to the limited revelation they were exposed to.
Luke 12:45-48 But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,' and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.
Too often we teach the doctrine equivalent of "everyone who does not believe will be beaten with many stripes" (stripes refer to the ancient punishment of being whipped or scourged). Spiritually, the ultimate punishment of many stripes is hellfire. In contrast, Christ actually taught that the major punishment is reserved for those who already knew God's will and instructions and yet chose to disobey. If everyone gets tossed in the same lake of fire, then there is no distinction between the punishments of many stripes and few stripes. The verse may as well have said both the servant who knew and the one who didn't will get the same punishment, the punishment with many stripes.
Jesus Still the Only Way
Even for those who have never heard of his name, Jesus is still the only way to be saved. Although some did not name him during their earthly lives, they will still experience the benefit of Christ's atoning sacrifice. These are not saved "another way." They are still saved by Jesus. The difference is, they did not know his name while they were on earth.
The Narrow Way
Matthew 7:13-14 "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it."
Jesus preached a sobering message about the final judgement. The path to hell is wide and taken by the multitude. The way to eternal life is difficult and narrow and is taken only by few. Having not heard of Christ is not an excuse to get away with anything. Although the standard for obedience is lower, there is still a basic expectation for following the conscience. Sadly, most who have not heard of Jesus will go to hell. Although it is POSSIBLE for a person to be saved without knowing the gospel, it is only a small percentage who pass this test and are counted worthy.
Romans 1:20-23 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, 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. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man-and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
The passage goes on further to describe mankind's debasement into various forms of debauchery, specifying homosexuality among other things, as a primary sign of cultural corruption. The natural state of mankind apart from God is to drift further and further into darkness. Although the conscience can excuse one who follows it, the more likely path is that it will condemn a person for walking their own way, not responding to the limited revelation God has shown through creation.
So what happens to those who have never heard of the gospel? They are still judged, although at a lower standard. Most will fail the judgement and have to suffer in hell. A minority will be given salvation for responding to Christ's voice within their conscience and they will be freely forgiven of their other sins. Preaching the gospel is therefore of utmost importance because without it the world is in darkness. Having not heard the gospel will not be an accepted excuse most of the time in the final judgement. As human beings we have an internal light telling us right from wrong and we are expected to do what we can to follow it. Most of us will fail unless having the gospel preached clearly to us. Just because some unbelievers have a slim chance at being saved without being preached to, does not make this exception overrule the norm which is that preaching to the world is of utmost importance.