Is it fair to question God’s fairness in judging those who have never had access to His Word? As with most questions of this nature, it is often best to begin by defining our terms. A look at some definitions of the word “fair” in this context yields the following results..
- legitimately sought, pursued, done, given, etc.; proper under the rules. (1)
- free from favoritism or self-interest or bias or deception; conforming with established standards or rules. (2)
- Just to all parties; equitable. (3)
As we’ve already seen, these definitions clearly align with the Biblical affirmations of God’s character. To this, we might add Abraham’s rhetorical question from Genesis 18:25: “Shall not the God of all the earth do right?” The answer to that question is unequivocally “yes.” We can also turn to the observations of two Biblical scholars who encourage us to adopt a measured, common-sense approach to this difficult question…
“Even though God has revealed himself to the heathen in creation and in conscience, fallen humanity has universally rejected that light. Hence, God is not obligated to give them any more light, since they have turned from the light they have. In fact, although they have the truth, ‘the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness’ (Rom. 1:18).
Someone lost in the darkness of a dense jungle who sees one speck of light should go toward it. If that person turns away from the little light and becomes forever lost in darkness, there is only one person to blame. The Scriptures say, ‘This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil’ ( John 3:19 ).” (4)
“We ask about being fair. I don’t think God owes it to anyone who doesn’t want Christ to give them the desire to want what they need. He doesn’t owe that to anybody. The problem is that if God does it for some, why doesn’t He do it for all? I can only say to you that I have no idea why He doesn’t do it for all. But this I do know and ask you to think about carefully: Just because He does it for some in no way requires that He do it for everybody else–because grace is never required. God always reserves this prerogative ‘I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy.’ It’s not up to us to direct God’s mercy.” (5)
(1) Dictionary.com. (n.d.). Fair definition & meaning. Dictionary.com. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/fair
(2) Definitions for fair. What does fair mean? (n.d.). https://www.definitions.net/definition/fair
(3) Fair – definition of fair by the Free Dictionary. (n.d.). https://www.thefreedictionary.com/fair
(4) Geisler, N. L. (1998). Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics. “Heathen,” Salvation of. Baker Academic.
(5) Sproul, R. (2017). The R.C. Sproul Collection Volume 2: Essential Truths of the Christian Faith / Now, That’s a Good Question!. United States: Tyndale House Publishers.