Question: Will people in the world who have never heard of God or Jesus be allowed to go to heaven?
Answer: This is one of the most often-asked questions about heaven.
The Bible assures us that God – through the work of His Holy Spirit – reaches every single person with His truths, and each person will be judged on the knowledge he or she was given. God, the Creator, has built into the minds, hearts, and consciences of all human beings an understanding of right and wrong behavior. Even those who have never heard of the Ten Commandments have been enabled by God to observe from His signals through nature that He truly exists. The Bible shows that the apostle Paul was instructed to record these truths from Jesus:
For the truth about God is known to people by instinct. God has put this knowledge in their hearts, since earliest times, men have seen the earth, sky, and all God made, and have known of His existence and His great eternal power. So, they will have no excuse when they stand before Him on Judgment Day. Romans 1:19-20
The heavens declare the glory of God. Psalms 19:1
…He will punish unbelievers for their sins even though they never had God’s written laws because in their hearts they knew right from wrong. God put His laws within them; their own consciences accuse them… Romans 2:14-15
The Bible reveals that Jesus, the Supreme Judge, has a system in place to evaluate the life of every person, and He is always fair. Jesus knows everything about your life, past, present, and future. He knows your heart, hears your thoughts, and remembers all the opportunities you’ve had to know about Him. You can definitely trust Him to decide each one’s eternal destination after your death!
…will not the Judge of all the earth do right? Genesis 18:25
More than any other time in history, even in remote parts of the world, people today have chances to know about Jesus Christ. In addition to the worldwide web of the Internet, missionaries travel the world to give as many people as possible the hope of a fantastic future in heaven. You can be missionary by telling friends, family, and neighbors about your plans to live forever in heaven. Let them know that if they also believe the truth that Jesus died for their sins, they can be in heaven with you!
Are you sure that you will be escorted by the angels into heaven to meet Jesus when you die? (See Luke 16:19-31) Say, or pray this to Jesus:
Jesus, I know that I have done wrong things and still do, but I want you to be with me from now on to guide me and help me to turn away from my mistakes and bad choices. I know you died on the cross long ago to take the punishment for my wrongs, my sins in the sight of God, and I thank you! Thank you for forgiving me, and that my record has been wiped clean. Thank you for preparing a place in heaven for me for when I die. Thank you so much for saving my life and placing me on a new path. Help me to please you with my life!
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ now, he is like a new creation; the old has gone, and new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled the world to Himself through Jesus Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And He has given us His message of this reconciliation. We are His ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal to people through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf:
Be reconciled to God. 2 Corinthians 5:17-20
