After our Bible study a Han Chinese girl came and sat on the couch next to me. I could see she had something heavy on her mind. She started explaining that China was not like America, something I had already noticed.
She said only 100 years ago in this country most people had never heard the good news about Jesus. She then asked, “When those people died, what happened to them?” Three other girls who were also on the way out seemed to have taken interest in the question and the four of them sat down. The five of us sat there with our Bibles. So I asked them to turn to Romans 2:14-16:
For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. (Romans 2:14-16 ESV emphasis mine)
I pointed out that Gentiles (those without Scripture at the time) know some things are right and some things are wrong. No one needs a Bible to know murder, theft or deceit is wrong. No one needs a Bible to know helping a neighbor is good. People just know that. It’s because God has written the law on their hearts. I also pointed out that there will be a day when God judges men.
Secondly I asked them to look at Romans 3:19-20:
Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. (Romans 3:19-20 ESV emphasis mine)
I explained that these Gentiles are under the law of their heart, and the Bible is clear in Romans that Jews and Gentiles were all people who had broken the law. This verse clearly shows that the whole world will be held accountable to God and that the whole world has known sin.
God will only hold people responsible for what they know. The Bible shows that if you know what is right and do not do it, it is sin (James 4:17). The whole world of people who know what is right and wrong are held responsible for what they know and will be judged accordingly. So I explained that these people were sinners because they knew what is right and wrong and they all did that which was wrong. They will be held responsible for what they did know.
“So they will be punished because they did not believe in Jesus?” she asked. I then explained that they were not being punished because they did not believe in Jesus, they were being punished because they sinned and the punishment for sin is death, eternal death. “But they had no way of being saved,” she said.
This statement brought tears to my eyes. I felt a need to apologize. Almost everyone in my country has had the Gospel since the country itself was founded. However, to this day there are still millions of people in China who have never heard. I wanted to apologize on behalf of American churches for thinking that their own comfort was more important than this girl’s grandparents who died without ever receiving the opportunity to accept Christ as their Lord. “My grandfather,” said the girl next to me. “I’m sorry,” was all I could say.
The King and the 10 men
I then continued to teach listening to the Holy Spirit as much as possible. “Yes, they had no way of being saved.” “That seems unfair,” she said. I then told a story of ten men. I asked them to imagine that one night ten men broke into a castle. The ten men then beat the king’s son violently. Before the boy was about to die they tied him up and all ten men simultaneously shot an arrow into the boy. Within a few moments the boy was dead. The guards, hearing the noise, arrived at the scene of the crime and captured all ten men. At the shock of the news, the king judiciously ordered that all ten men be hanged the following morning.
The next morning the men were hanged one by one. After the ninth murderer was hanged the king suddenly stood up and stopped the procession. The tenth man stood there, guilty and captured. The king walked forward to the young man and did something amazing. He pardoned him. He told the young man that he was in need of a new son and that if the man was willing he would like to adopt him.
I then asked the girl if this was unfair to the nine hanged men. I asked her if the nine men should have received the same generous offer. She stated that it was not unfair because none of them deserved forgiveness even the tenth one because they all deserved death, because they all did what was wrong.
She began to see the point. I explained that all people have done what is wrong and that none of us deserve a chance to be saved. I explained that we are like the tenth man who, although we deserve death, have been offered adoption as sons.
I showed her that it was not unfair that her grandparents never were offered forgiveness, because no one deserves forgiveness. It is simply amazing that we have such an offer. We continued to talk and concluded that it was not unjust of God to not offer them forgiveness, but it was incredibly sad. We all agreed that people being punished for their sin was a sad thing but that people being punished for their sin without receiving an opportunity to believe in Christ was even sadder.
I then asked if they had heard of the Hui. They all had heard of the Hui although none of them knew a Hui person personally. I took this opportunity to explain that the Hui are where the Han people were hundreds of years ago. I explained that the Hui were still unreached.
“This is why we must share with the Hui,” I concluded. They all agreed.
Prayer Requests
- Pray that the Han of this generation will not horde the Gospel in their comfort but that an understanding of grace will spur them to share with the Hui around them.
- Pray that the ladies in our discipleship group will be further burdened for the Hui.
- Pray for Anna and I to have many more opportunities to burden the Christian Han for their Hui neighbors.
- Pray for God to send more harvesters to the Hui fields from all around the world.
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” (Romans 10:14-15 ESV emphasis mine)