CGNM Bible Teaching – WHERE DID THEY GO?
- ✝️ *WHERE DID THEY GO?* 🕊️
*_A Christian Teaching on the Eternal Destiny of Those Who Never Heard the Gospel_*
Rt. Rev. Dr. Michael A. Fẹ́mi-Adébánjọ.
📖 *INTRODUCTION.*
This is one of the most profound, tender, and intellectually honest questions the human heart can ask. It is not a question born of rebellion against God — it is a question born of love for our ancestors and reverence for divine justice. The theologians call it the problem of *_“the unevangelised” or “the unreached.”_*
Let us approach it carefully, humbly, and Scripturally — for God’s Word, though it does not answer every detail with exhaustive precision, gives us more than enough light to walk by. 🕯️
🔑 *PART ONE: WHAT WE KNOW FOR CERTAIN ABOUT GOD’S CHARACTER.*
Before examining the fate of the unevangelised, we must first anchor ourselves firmly in who God is — because His character is the foundation upon which all judgment rests.
1. *God is Absolutely Just.*
*_“Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”_* — Genesis 18:25b (NKJV)
Abraham asked this question concerning Sodom, and the implied answer is a resounding YES. God cannot act unjustly. It is against His very nature.
No soul will ever stand before God and legitimately say, *_“You were unfair to me.”_* Divine justice is perfect, complete, and without partiality.
2. *God Desires ALL Men to Be Saved*
*_“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”_* — 1 Timothy 2:3-4 (NKJV)
God is not eager to condemn the unevangelised. His heart leans towards salvation, not damnation.
This is the God we serve — One whose instinct is mercy, not destruction. 🕊️
3. *God Shows No Partiality.*
*_“For there is no partiality with God.”_* — Romans 2:11 (NKJV)
Every soul — African, Asian, European, ancient or modern — stands before the same impartial God who judges by the same righteous standard.
🌍 *PART TWO: THE LIGHT GOD GAVE TO EVERY PERSON.*
Here is where the teaching becomes remarkably powerful. Scripture teaches clearly that God did not leave any generation — including our African forefathers — entirely without witness. He gave every human being two forms of general revelation:
1. *The Witness of Creation — General Revelation.*
*_“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.”_* — Romans 1:20 (NKJV)
Every person who ever lived beneath the African sky, gazed at the stars, felt the rain, or marvelled at the birth of a child received a witness of God’s existence, power, and majesty.
*Our Yorùbá forefathers, for instance, had a profound awareness of Olódùmarè — the Supreme Being above all deities. That awareness was not accidental. It was the fingerprint of general revelation on their souls.* 🌟
2. *The Witness of Conscience — Moral Revelation.*
*_“For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things contained in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, 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.”_* — Romans 2:14-15 (NKJV)
God wrote His moral law upon every human heart — regardless of tribe, era, or geography.
Our ancestors knew that murder was wrong, that kindness was noble, that betrayal was shameful. Where did that knowledge come from? From the God whose law is inscribed upon the human conscience. ✍🏽
⚖️ *PART THREE: THE THREE MAJOR THEOLOGICAL POSITIONS.*
Sincere, Bible-believing Christians hold varying positions on this question. Let us examine them honestly:
1. 🔴 *Restrictivism — The Strict Position.*
This view holds that explicit faith in Jesus Christ is the only basis for salvation, and those who die without hearing the Gospel are lost.
Key Scripture: *_” Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”_* — Acts 4:12 (NKJV)
Also: *_“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”_* — Romans 10:17 (NKJV)
Restrictivist theologians argue that this view takes the Great Commission with ultimate seriousness — if the unevangelised could be saved without hearing, why preach at all?
This is a serious and Scripturally grounded position held by many faithful evangelicals.
2. 🟡 *_Inclusivism — The Middle Position.*
This view holds that Christ is the only Saviour, but that His saving work can be applied to those who responded sincerely to the light they had, even without knowing His name.
The analogy given is that of Old Testament saints like Abraham, Moses, and David — who were saved by faith in God’s promises before Christ came. They did not know the name of Jesus, yet they are unquestionably in glory.
*_“Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”_* — Romans 4:3 (NKJV)
Similarly, Job — who appears to have been outside the covenant community of Israel — declared with stunning clarity: *_“For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth.”_* — Job 19:25 (NKJV)
Inclusivist theologians argue that God can apply Christ’s atonement to those who genuinely sought Him with the light available to them.
Notable theologians who lean in this direction include C.S. Lewis, John Stott, and Clark Pinnock.
3. 🟢 *Universal Reconciliation — The Broad Position.*
This view holds that ultimately all souls will be reconciled to God, either in this life or beyond.
Proponents cite: *_“That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.”_* — Philippians 2:10-11 (NKJV)
However, this position is widely regarded as *_incompatible with the full counsel of Scripture,_* which speaks plainly of eternal separation from God for the unrepentant.
Most mainstream Christian theologians — including Wesleyan ones — reject universalism as a final position, though they affirm God’s universal desire for salvation.
🕊️ *PART FOUR: THE MOST COMPELLING SCRIPTURAL CLUES*
Beyond these formal positions, Scripture offers us several powerful clues that deserve careful attention:
1. *Christ’s Descent and the Proclamation to the Dead*
*_“By whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah.”_* — 1 Peter 3:19-20 (NKJV)
And again: *_“For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.”_* — 1 Peter 4:6 (NKJV)
These are among the most mysterious and debated verses in all of Scripture. Many theologians — particularly in the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic traditions, and some Wesleyans — understand these verses to suggest that between His death and resurrection, Christ descended and proclaimed the Gospel to those who had died without hearing it.
The ancient creed affirms: *_“He descended into hell”_* — and while interpretations vary, the truth embedded here is that Christ’s redemptive reach is not limited by human geography or history. 🌍
2. *Cornelius — Rewarded Seeking*
*_“A devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always.”_* — Acts 10:2 (NKJV)
Before Peter came to him with the full Gospel, Cornelius had already been accepted by God based on his sincere seeking and moral responsiveness.
The angel told him: *_“Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God.”_* — Acts 10:4b (NKJV)
This strongly suggests that God notices and responds to sincere seekers—even before the full Gospel reaches them.
3. *Those Who Seek Will Find.*
*_“And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”_* — Jeremiah 29:13 (NKJV)
This is a universal promise. God did not append to it the condition: “only if you live after AD 33.”_* It is a timeless divine commitment to all sincere seekers. 🙏🏽
🏛️ *PART FIVE: THE WESLEYAN PERSPECTIVE — OUR OWN TRADITION*
As true Wesleyans, Beloved, this perspective is particularly relevant to Christ’s Good News Mission:
John Wesley himself taught the *_doctrine of Prevenient Grace_* — the grace that goes before salvation and is available to every human being regardless of their exposure to the Gospel.
Wesley believed that God, through His Spirit, works in the hearts of all people — drawing them towards truth, convicting them of sin, and enabling them to respond to whatever light they have received. We preach but the Holy Spirit wins souls.
This means that our forefathers — even those who never heard the name of Jesus — were not left entirely in darkness. The Spirit of God was present with them, working through conscience, creation, and whatever moral and spiritual light was available. 🕯️
*Our Wesleyan position* is therefore neither coldly restrictivist nor loosely universalist — it is a position of hopeful confidence in divine grace while maintaining the urgency and necessity of Gospel proclamation.
📣 *PART SIX: WHAT THIS MEANS FOR US TODAY.*
This teaching carries powerful practical implications:
1. *It does not reduce the urgency of evangelism*
If anything, knowing that God judges according to the light received makes us more—not less—responsible to increase the light available to this generation.
*_“How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?”_* — Romans 10:14 (NKJV)
2. *It reveals the breathtaking vastness of God’s mercy*
We serve a God who is not willing that any should perish — and who moves heaven and earth to reach every soul with saving grace. *Our forefathers did not live without God’s guidance.* 🌊
*_“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”_* — 2 Peter 3:9 (NKJV)
3. *It calls us to trust God’s judgement completely*
There are things we do not know — and that is perfectly acceptable. God’s judgement is not subject to our approval. Our role is to trust, obey, and proclaim.
*_“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever.”_* — Deuteronomy 29:29 (NKJV)
✅ *CONCLUSION — THE BOTTOM LINE*
Beloved, here is where I stand — as your friend and as a student of Scripture:
We cannot say with dogmatic certainty that every unevangelised ancestor is either saved or lost. That judgement belongs exclusively to God. However, we can say with complete confidence:
*God is perfectly just — no one will be condemned for what they never had the opportunity to know.*
God is perfectly merciful — His grace reaches further than our missions ever have.
God is perfectly wise — His judgement of every soul will be exactly right, and on that great day, even the condemned will acknowledge its fairness.
Christ is the only Saviour — but the application of His saving work is in God’s sovereign and gracious hands.
The safest and most Scriptural posture for us is this — leave our forefathers in the hands of the God who loved them before we did. 🕊️
And then get to work — so that this generation has no excuse. ✝️🔥
*_“The Judge of all the earth shall do right.”_* — Genesis 18:25b (NKJV)
- 15th April 2026 — 3rd Wednesday in Resurrectiontide 🌅
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