Will Pagans Be Saved?

And while you’re wondering whether the pagans will repent before they die, there’s a much more pressing question that you need to answer

Fr. Joseph Gleason | Aug 21, 2026

 

 

Deep in the heart of Africa, there’s a small tribe that has never heard about Christ. Is it possible for them to go to heaven?

It sounds like a very deep theological question, but sometimes it’s just a sneaky way of avoiding the question that God is asking you.

God gives us commands and we pretend not to hear Him. He calls us, but we make excuses. He wakes up our conscience, and then we reach for the spiritual “snooze button”, so to speak.

Then once we’ve got our conscience quiet, we sit comfortably and we ask these big giant questions about everybody else’s salvation.

“But what about the pagans? Can they be saved?”

Well, suppose God answered this question with a simple “yes” or “no” like we demand.

God says, “yes”.

Well, then what? Are we going to stop evangelizing? Are we going to stop fasting and praying and repenting and struggling against sin? Why spread the gospel?

“They’ll make it to heaven anyway.”

Before long, a “yes” to that question becomes an excuse for religious indifference and laziness.

Okay, fine.

So suppose God says, “no”.

Well, now we get the opposite temptation. Suddenly, we imagine ourselves to be more compassionate than God.

“What kind of God would condemn billions of people that don’t even have a chance?”

“I refuse to worship a God like that.”

Think about the arrogance of saying something like that.

Jesus was scourged. He was nailed to a cross and He died because of his love for humanity. You didn’t do that. I didn’t do that. Yet somehow you can conclude that you love humanity more than He does?

Well, maybe the problem is the question itself.

We want eternal mysteries reduced to simple checkboxes: “yes” or “no”, “saved” or “damned”. But Christianity, real Christianity, gives us something that is much bigger than that.

Christ died for all. God desires the salvation of all. Scripture says so. And yet Scripture never promises that all will be saved.

There are mysteries that are bigger than the categories we create.

So if the fate of unbelievers really keeps you awake at night, and you’re worried about it, there’s something more useful that you can do, than speculating and imagining.

You go tell them about Christ.

You learn their language.

You preach the Gospel.

You send your money to support some missionaries.

And if you can’t go anywhere yourself, then get on your knees and pray for them.

Because God never commanded you to solve the mathematics of how everybody else gets saved.

He commanded you to love them.

And while you’re wondering whether the pagans will repent before they die, there’s a much more pressing question that you need to answer, and that is:

Will you repent?

 

Source: https://movingtorussia.substack.com/p/will-pagans-be-saved