In answering today’s question, we need to establish that there are two categories of people: the unreached and the reached. Within the reached, we have the saved or unsaved.
For the purpose of this week’s conversation, we are talking about the unreached. There is a difference between the unsaved and the unreached. The major difference is that one category has been reached with the gospel while the other group has not been reached with the message. The UNREACHED are those who the gospel has not reached, that is, they have not heard the gospel nor have they believed, while the UNSAVED are those who have heard the gospel but do not believe.
It is God’s desire that all men be saved. That is the character of God that is consistent throughout the scriptures – Not willing that any should perish. The big question here is how will all men be saved. The simple answer to this is that all men will be saved when they are reached with the message of the gospel and they believe. How will they be reached? When men are sent to them.
Romans 10 is clear on this ‘For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 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? And how shall they preach, except they be sent?’
From the above scripture, it is clear that men will be saved when they hear the message and believe. Hence, the Great Commission, which is the believer’s mandate – To go into the world, preach the word and make disciples of all nations.
It is sad that we have billions of people that don’t have access to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Global Frontier Missions records that we have an estimated 7.75 billion people alive in the world today, 3.23 billion of them living in unreached people groups with little or no access to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Sadly, almost half of the world’s population have little or no access to the message that saves men and gives eternal life. This then begs the question of what hope is there for such people. They are unreached. They are unsaved. Though salvation is free and for all, these 3.23 billion people haven’t heard and will perish if they don’t hear and believe. The Bible is clear on that. John 3:16 says ‘Whosoever believes will not perish’. Verse 18 says ‘he that believes is not condemned, but he that believes not is condemned already’.
The hope of the unreached and unsaved therefore lies with you and I obeying the Great Commission. God wants all men saved. And this leaves us with a binding responsibility to reach out with the gospel in every place we find ourselves. Christians are often told to support Missions or missionaries with their finances and are not mandated to go. There is a popular statement that says ‘If you cannot go, your money can go for you’. But this is not a lifestyle that Jesus taught. It is contrary to the command of Jesus.
Jesus commanded us to GO. He didn’t say give if you cannot go. The believer ought to go. This is not a command that was given to a secluded few, but a command for everyone that is saved. Every believer is a missionary. We might not all travel to remote villages or areas to preach but we are to preach wherever we find ourselves and go the extra mile to reach out with the gospel. Never forget, you are a minister of reconciliation.
The destinies of the unreached people are tied to our obedience to that mandate – To reach out to them with the gospel of Christ and close the gap of those who are unreached. We can’t fold our hands and act as though all is fine. We have the power to save billions of people from hell and the enemy so we need to stop their destruction by preaching the gospel.
Jesus saves!
Till next time,
Go! and Spread the gospel