When Abraham proved his willingness to offer up his beloved son, Isaac, God made a promise to him:

In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice (Gen. 22:18).

The apostle Paul points out that this promise was made to Abraham and to his seed, singular, not seeds, plural, and that the singular seed was Christ (see Gal. 3:16). In Christ all the nations, or more accurately, all the ethnic groups of the earth would be blessed. This promise to Abraham foretold the inclusion of the thousands of Gentile ethnic groups around the globe into the blessings of being in Christ. Those ethnic groups are distinct from each other in that they live in different geographical areas, are of different races, conform to different cultures and speak different languages. God wants them all to be blessed in Christ, which is why Jesus died for the sins of the entire world (see 1 John 2:2).

Although Jesus said that the way is narrow that leads to life, and few find it (see Matt. 7:14), the apostle John left us with good reason to believe that there will be representatives from all of the world’s ethnic groups in the future kingdom of God:

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb” (Rev. 7:9-10, emphasis added).

So it is with great anticipation that the children of God look forward to joining a multi-ethnic multitude before God’s throne one day!

Many contemporary missionary strategists have placed great emphasis on reaching the remaining thousands of “hidden” ethnic groups around the world, with the hopes of planting a viable church in every one of them. This is certainly commendable, as Jesus commanded us to go into the whole world and “make disciples of all the nations (or literally, ethnic groups)” (Matt. 28:19). The plans of men, however, no matter how well-intentioned, especially when void of the Holy Spirit’s guidance, can often do more harm than good. It is vital that we follow the wisdom of God as we seek to build His kingdom. He gave us more information and instruction regarding how we are to make disciples around the world than what is found in Matthew 28:19.

Perhaps the most overlooked fact by those who strive to fulfill the Great Commission is that God is the greatest evangelist of all, and we are supposed to be working with Him, not for Him. He cares much more about reaching the world with the gospel than anyone, and He is working to that end much more diligently than anyone. He was, and is, so devoted to the cause that He died for it, and was thinking about it before He even created anyone, and still is! That is commitment!

Further proof that God holds people guilty even if they have never heard a Christian evangelist is the fact that He actively judges them. If God wasn’t holding them accountable for their sins He would not punish them. Because He does punish them, however, we can be sure that He holds them accountable, and if He holds them accountable, they must know that what they are doing is displeasing to Him.

One manner by which God punishes those who resist His call to repentance is through “giving them over” to their sinful desires so that they become slaves to even deeper degradation. Paul wrote:

For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and, although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. (Rom. 1:21-32, emphasis added).

Notice how Paul stressed the facts of human guilt and accountability before God. The unregenerate “knew God,” but “they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks.” They “exchanged the truth of God for a lie,” so they must have encountered God’s truth. Thus God “gave them over” to ever-increasing degradation, to the point where people do the most bizarre, unnatural and perverted things as they become more deeply enslaved to sin. In effect God says, “So you want to serve sin as you should serve Me? Then go ahead. I won’t stop you, and you’ll become progressively more enslaved to the god you love.”

I suppose one could even consider this form of judgment to be an indication of God’s mercy, in that it would be reasonable to think that as people became more perverse and sinful, they would realize it and wake up. One wonders why more homosexuals don’t ask themselves the question, “Why do I find myself sexually attracted to people of the same sex with whom I can’t actually have a full sexual relation? This is bizarre!” In a sense it can be argued that God indeed did “make them that way” (as they themselves often argue to justify their perversion), but only in a permissive sense, and only because He hopes to wake them up in order that they might repent and experience His amazing mercy.

It is not only homosexuals who should be asking themselves such questions. Paul listed numerous enslaving sins that are the evidence of God’s judgment on those who refuse to serve Him. Billions of people should question themselves about their bizarre behavior. “Why do I hate my own family?” “Why do I find satisfaction is spreading gossip?” “Why am I never content with what I own?” “Why am I compelled to look at increasingly more explicit pornography?” God has given them all over to be enslaved to their god.

Of course, anyone at any point can soften his heart, repent and believe in Jesus. Some of the most hardened sinners on earth have done just that, and God has cleansed and freed them from their sins! As long as people are still breathing, God is still giving them an opportunity to repent.

The principles considered earlier in this chapter also help us to understand better how God views people who are following false religions. Are they ignorant people to be pitied because they’ve never heard the truth? Does all the blame lie at the feet of the church for not having effectively evangelized them?

No, such people are not ignorant of the truth. They may not know everything that a Bible-believing Christian knows, but they know all that God is revealing about Himself through creation, conscience and calamity. They are people whom God has been calling to repentance all of their lives, even if they have never seen a Christian or heard the gospel. Furthermore, they have either been softening their hearts toward God or hardening them.

Paul wrote of the ignorance of unbelievers and revealed the reason for their ignorance:

This I say therefore, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality, for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness (Eph. 4:17-19).

Notice that the reason that the Gentiles are ignorant is “because of the hardness of their heart.” Paul also declared that they have “become callous.” He was obviously speaking of the condition of their hearts. Calluses develop on people’s hands from continual contact with what is abrasive against soft skin. Calloused skin becomes less sensitive. Likewise, as people continually resist God’s call through creation, conscience and calamity, their hearts become calloused, making them progressively less sensitive to that divine call. This is why statistics indicate that people generally become less receptive as they grow older. The older a person is, the less likely it is that he will repent. Wise evangelists mostly target younger people.

One final principle that we can learn from the biblical truths considered earlier in this chapter is this: If God is actively judging sinners in hopes that they will soften their hearts, we should expect that some sinners, after enduring God’s judgment or observing others endure it, will be softening their hearts. Thus after calamities there are opportunities to reach people who were previously unreachable.

Christians should look for opportunities to share the gospel in places where people are suffering. Those who have recently lost loved ones, for example, may well be more open to what God wants them to hear. When I served as a pastor, I always seized the opportunity to proclaim the gospel at funerals, remembering that Scripture says, “It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, because that is the end of every man, and the living takes it to heart (Eccl. 7:2, emphasis added).

When people suffer from sickness, financial loss, broken relationships, natural disasters and the many consequences of sin and judgments upon sin, they need to know that their sufferings are a wake up call. Through temporal sufferings God is trying to save sinners from eternal judgment.

How else do the biblical principles considered in the first part of this chapter help us understand our role in evangelization and building God’s kingdom?

If God has so designed that creation, conscience and calamity are all calling humanity to repentance, then those who preach the gospel need to be certain they aren’t proclaiming a contradictory message. Yet so many are! Their preaching directly contradicts everything that God is already trying to say to sinners! Their message of unbiblical grace promotes the idea that holiness and obedience are unimportant for ultimately obtaining eternal life. By not mentioning the necessity of repentance for salvation, by emphasizing that salvation is not of works (in a way that Paul never meant it to be understood), they actually work against God, leading people into a deeper deception that often seals their eternal doom, because they are now certain they are saved when they in fact are not. What a tragedy, when God’s messengers actually work against the God they claim to represent!

Jesus commanded us to preach “repentance for forgiveness of sins” (Luke 24:47). That message reaffirms what God has been saying to the sinner all of his life. The preaching of the gospel cuts people to their hearts and offends those whose hearts are hard. Yet the soft modern gospel that informs people how much God loves them (something no apostle ever mentioned when preaching the gospel in the book of Acts), misleads them to think that God is not angry or offended at them. They are often told that they simply need to “accept Jesus.” But the King of kings and Lord of lords does not need our acceptance. The question is not, “Do you accept Jesus?” The question is, “Does Jesus accept you?” The answer is, unless you repent and begin to follow Him, you are abhorrent to Him, and only His mercy forestalls your destiny in hell.

In light of the modern gospel that so cheapens God’s grace, I cannot help but wonder why so many nations, ruled by leaders who have been given their authority to rule by God (and this is not debatable; see Dan. 4:17, 25, 32, 5:21; John 19:11; Acts 12:23; Rom. 13:1), have closed their nations completely to Western missionaries. Could it be because God is trying to keep the false gospel out of those countries?

According to Paul sinners have no excuse. They reveal that they know what is right and what is wrong as they condemn others, and thus they are worthy of God’s condemnation:

Therefore you are without excuse, every man of you who passes judgment, for in that you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. And do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment upon those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? (Rom. 2:1-4).

Paul said the reason for God’s forbearance and patience is to give people opportunity to repent. Furthermore, as Paul continued, he revealed that only those who repent and live holy lives will inherit God’s kingdom:

But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to every man who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek (Rom. 2:5-10).

Clearly, Paul would not agree with those who teach that people who just “accept Jesus as Savior” are guaranteed eternal life. Rather, it is those who repent and “who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality.”

But does this not indicate that people can continue to practice religions other than Christianity and be saved as long as they repent and obey God?

No, there is no salvation apart from Jesus for a number of reasons, one of which is that only Jesus can set people free from their enslavement to sin.

But if they want to repent, how will they know to call on Jesus if they have never heard of Him?

God, who knows the hearts of all people, will reveal Himself to anyone who is sincerely seeking. Jesus promised, “Seek and you will find” (Matt. 7:7), and God expects everyone to seek Him (see Acts 17:26-27). When He sees a person whose heart is responding to His relentless evangelization, He will send the gospel to that person, just as He did for the Ethiopian eunuch and Cornelius’ household. God is not even limited by the church’s participation, as He proved in the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. If there is no one to take the gospel to a sincere seeker, God will go Himself! I’ve heard numerous contemporary instances where people in closed countries have been converted by visions they had of Jesus.

First, does it not seem reasonable that God, the Great Evangelist who is doing 95% of the overall work and who has already been relentlessly shouting at everyone every day, would probably send His servants to proclaim the gospel to those whose hearts are the most receptive rather than those who are least receptive? I would think so.

Does it not also seem possible that God, the Great Evangelist who has already been preaching to all people every moment of their lives, might chose not even to bother sending the gospel to those who are completely ignoring everything else He has been saying to them for years? Why should He waste His efforts telling people the last 5% of what He would like them to know if they have been completely ignoring the first 95% of what he is trying to say to them? I would think that it is more likely that God would send judgment upon such people hoping that they would soften their hearts. If and when they did, then it would seem logical to think that He would send His servants to proclaim the gospel.

Some might say that God will send His servants to those He knows will not repent so that they will be without excuse when they stand in judgment before Him. Keep in mind, however, that according to Scripture, such people are already without excuse before God because of His never-ceasing revelation of Himself through His creation (see Rom. 1:20). Thus if God does send one of His servants to such people, it is not so they will become accountable, but so that they will become all the more accountable.

If it is in fact true that God would more likely lead His servants to receptive people, then we, His servants, should prayerfully ask for His wisdom so we might be led to those He knows are ripe for harvest.

Related to this outward/inward revelation is another inward revelation, one that is also God-given, and one that is not dependent upon one’s exposure to the miracles of creation. That inward revelation is each person’s conscience, a voice that continually reveals God’s law. Paul wrote,

For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus (Rom. 2:14-16).

Thus, everyone knows right from wrong. Or to say it more strongly, everyone knows what pleases God and what does not please Him, and He will hold each person accountable on the day of judgment for doing what he or she knows displeases Him. As people grow older, they certainly become more adept at justifying their sin and ignoring the voice of their conscience, but God never stops speaking His law within them.

Let’s consider in more detail God’s work in building His kingdom. The better we understand His working, the better we can cooperate with Him.

When people believe in Jesus, it is something they do with their hearts (see Rom. 10:9-10). They believe in the Lord Jesus and thus they repent. They dethrone their own will and put Jesus on the throne of their will. Believing involves a change of heart.

Similarly, when people don’t believe in Jesus, it is something they do with their hearts. They resist God, so they don’t repent. By a conscious decision, they keep Jesus off the throne of their heart. Unbelief involves a continual decision not to change one’s heart.

Jesus indicated that all people’s hearts are so hard that no one would come to Him unless they were drawn by the Father (see John 6:44). God is mercifully and continually drawing everyone to Jesus by various means, all of which touch their hearts, and through which they must continually decide either to soften or harden their hearts.

What means does God use to touch people’s hearts in hopes of drawing them to Jesus?

First, He uses His creation. Paul wrote,

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse (Rom. 1:18-20, emphasis added).

Notice Paul said that people “suppress the truth” that is “evident within them.” That is, the truth rises up within them and confronts them, yet they push it back down and resist that inward conviction.

What exactly is the truth that is inwardly evident to every person? Paul said they are the truths of God’s “invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature,” revealed through “what has been made.” People inwardly know from looking at God’s creation that He obviously exists,^[1] that He is extremely powerful, amazingly creative and incredibly intelligent and wise, to name a few.

Paul’s conclusion is that such people “are without excuse,” and he is right. God is continually shouting at everyone, revealing Himself and trying to get them to soften their hearts, but most close their ears. God, however, never stops shouting throughout all of their lives, with a constant display of miracles—through flowers, birds, babies, snowflakes, bananas, apples, and a million other things.

If God exists and He is as great as His creation reveals, then obviously He should be obeyed. That inward revelation shouts one overriding message: Repent! For this reason, Paul maintains that everyone has already heard God’s call to repent:

But I say, surely they have never heard, have they? Indeed they have; “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world” (Rom. 10:18).

Paul was actually quoting a well-known verse from Psalm 19, of which the fuller text says,

The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard. Their line [voice] has gone out through all the earth, and their utterances to the end of the world (Psalm 19:1-4a, emphasis added).

This again indicates that God is speaking to everyone, day and night, through His creation. If people reacted rightly to God’s creation message, they would fall on their faces and cry out something like, “Great Creator, you have created me, and obviously you have created me to do Your will. So I submit to You!”

^[1] That is why Scripture declares, “The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God” (Psalm 14:1, emphasis added). Only fools suppress such obvious truth.

God does most of the work of building His kingdom. Our responsibility is to cooperate intelligently with Him.

All believers are to live holy and obedient lives that gain the attention of those in darkness, and they should always be ready to make a defense for the hope within them.

God is always working to motivate all persons to soften their hearts and repent, continually speaking to them through creation, conscience and calamity, and sometimes through the call of the gospel.

Sinners know they are disobeying God, and are accountable to Him even if they never hear the gospel. Their sin is evidence of the hardness of their hearts. Their increasingly deeper degradation and slavery to sin is an indication of God’s wrath towards them.

Religious people are not necessarily seeking for truth. They are more likely justifying their sin through believing the lies of their religion.

God knows the condition of every person’s heart. Although He may lead us to share the gospel with those who are not receptive, He is more likely to lead us to those who are receptive to the gospel.

As God works to soften people’s hearts through their sufferings, we should seize those opportunities to proclaim the gospel.

God wants us to take the gospel into the whole world, but He wants us to follow His Spirit as we seek to fulfill the Great Commission, as illustrated in the book of Acts.

God will reveal Himself to anyone who sincerely seeks to know Him.

God wants our message to agree with His message.

One day there will be representatives from every ethnic group worshipping before God’s throne, and we should all do our part in cooperating with God to work to that end. Thus all of God’s people should show Christ’s love to every member of every ethnic group whom they encounter. God may lead some of His servants to specifically target people of different cultures, either by sending and supporting church planters, or by going themselves. Those who are sent should make disciples, proving themselves to be disciple-making ministers!