At the recent post, I outlined a few points to keep in mind when it comes to the question: “What about those who have not heard the gospel?” The basic principle must always be that the Bible be the ultimate authority when it comes to any theological question. The Bible is clear that everyone born in Adam is born in sin (Rom. 5:12-21), there is no salvation outside of Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12), faith comes through hearing the gospel, and whoever ‘confess with [their] mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in [their] heart that God raised him from the dead‘ will be saved (Romans 10:9). Therefore, the command to proclaim the good news to all the earth still stands and is still urgent.
There is one huge question, however. What about those who are unable to hear nor comprehend the gospel nor express their faith? We are not talking about those who can but never have the chance. We are talking about those who don’t even have the ability to do so. This includes still-born babies, infants who died at a very young age, or people with intellectual or physical or mental disabilities. Apostle Paul writes in Gal. 3:22 that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ is given to those who believe. However, what about those who don’t even have the capacity to comprehend the gospel, let alone believe?