Facebook Bible Notes

Select Bible Notes

God Does NOT Have to Give Unsaved Man Opportunity to Hear the Gospel

By Chris McCann
February 17, 2018

Why don't those that refuse to acknowledge God's sovereign right to shut the door of heaven (as He did on May 21, 2011) refuse the idea that physical death ends a person's hope for salvation? After all, physical death permanently, and for all eternally seals an unsaved individual's eternal fate. After physical death there is no more hope for salvation for the sinner. Isn't it an unjust or wrong thing for God to end the possibility of salvation for a person by taking them in death?

"Well, no" critics of the shut door would say, "God gave those that died opportunity to hear the gospel while they lived. So taking them in death was a fair thing to do."

Did everyone who physically died over the course of history have opportunity to hear the gospel? Obviously the answer to that question is no. Some died on island nations that the gospel had never gone to. In other cases many generations of people lived and died without ever hearing anything from the Bible. How then was God just in taking their lives before they could hear and have 'opportunity' to become saved?

Even in our modern day, there are all kinds of people that die in the womb, or by abortion, or they die as a toddler, or a two year old, etc, etc. Many of these children died unsaved. Was God unjust in taking their physical lives and ending their hope and possibility for salvation?

Of course this is why certain churches and their theologians have developed the false teaching of an age of accountability. That doctrine is found no where in the Bible it was developed simply to answer those that might charge God with unfairness for not saving babies and little children.

We can see by the idea itself of 'giving opportunity' to man to hear the gospel in order that they might potentially have become saved---that there are some definite free will tendencies involved with that whole thought process that each person must have opportunity or else God is not acting fairly or justly.

The truth is that God has taken countless millions of people in physical death throughout the history of the world and huge numbers of those people never once heard the gospel message. They never once heard any message from the Bible. And yet, God did no wrong in ending their life and taking them in death because----God is under NO OBLIGATION whatsoever to bring the gospel message to unsaved people in order TO GIVE THEM OPPORTUNITY to hear and become saved. The fact of the matter is that if someone was not chosen by God before the foundation of the world they could hear the gospel every second of their lives and still would never become saved. Man loves to get involved and waste their time in vain and empty things but God does not. God's program of salvation has always been to bring the gospel to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. That is, to a very specific and targeted group of souls that were chosen by Him and had their sins paid for by Him at the point of the foundation of the world. Jesus said He was NOT SENT to anyone else but them:

Matthew 15:24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

God speaks of the gospel's going forth into the world by picturing Christ going forth into the world:

Isaiah 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!

Notice it says above, "How beautiful... are the feet of HIM that bringeth good tidings..." Jesus was sent by the Father to bring the gospel message to the world so that the lost sheep (God's elect) would be found and become saved. Period. The task of evangelizing the world with the gospel was to be in effect up until the last one of those sheep was found. Then, obviously, if there were no more lost sheep (i.e. no more names recorded in the Lamb's book of life) to be found, then the task of evangelization would come to a close. This is what happened on May 21, 2011. The Bible indicates that God saved the last one to be saved and then shut the door of heaven.

Luke 13:24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

25 When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:

And God is no more unjust or unfair for shutting the door of heaven on a world of Esaus (Jacob was elected to salvation Esau was not elected to salvation) than He would be for taking any sinful man in physical death at any point in previous history.