what about people who have never heard?

As a Christian, from the earliest days of my giving a defense for my faith in Jesus Christ, I have been asked countless times, "If people need Jesus in order to be saved, what about people who have never heard about Jesus?" Let me begin by saying I think this is a good question, a fair question, and deserves a good response. Throughout the years I have attempted to articulate my thoughts on the matter, sometimes successfully while other times not so much.

Working through our Evangelism series at Halogen, I have found myself facing this question again, this time not by any one person in particular, but by the biblical text itself. In having the audacity to write a sermon on the Heart of God, I have been confronted with a question from the most popular verse of the Bible, "If God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, surely He loves those who have never heard of His only begotten Son. But what does that mean for such people?"

So, can a person who has never heard the Good News of Jesus Christ be saved? In studying John 3:16-21, I read a well articulated answer to this question. In his commentary on the Gospel of John, F.F. Bruce treats this question with compassion, while staying true to essential doctrine and the Word of God. Bruce writes:

"No explicit mention is made here of those who have never had the opportunity of believing in Christ, those on whom the light in its fullness has never shone. But John's words probably unfold the principle of their judgment too. As the eternal Word came to men and women before becoming incarnate in Christ, so it is with the light of God. If men and women are judged by their response to the light, they are judged by their response to such light as is available to them. All true light is in some degree and effulgence from him who is the light of the world. Those who accept the partial light that is available to them will gladly accept the perfect light when it shines on them. Those who refuse the light, in whatever fashion it shines on them, pronounce [judgment] on themselves."

F.F. Bruce, The Gospel of John - Introduction, Exposition, and Notes, 92.