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The Glory of God as the Scope of the World and the Word 197
says, that those without the law (or, by implication, without the gospel)
will perish is that they will be judged only on the basis of the revelation
they had access to but suppressed:
The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress
the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them,
because God has shown it to them. . . . So they are without excuse.
For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give
thanks to him. (Rom. 1:18–21)
But Paul does assume that if people hear a true rendering of the word
of Christ, they are responsible to believe it and are liable to judgment
for not believing it. That conviction is what lies behind these words in
Romans 10:
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 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? . . . So faith comes
from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (vv. 13–17)
So when such preaching of the word of Christ is rejected, Paul warns us
that rejecting the gospel means rejecting eternal life: “It was necessary
that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside
and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning
to the Gentiles” (Acts 13:46). He warns that refusing the truth of the
gospel will expose a person to a final deception and judgment “because
they refused to love the truth and so be saved” and because they “did
not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thess.
2:10, 12).
On the other hand, Paul rejoices and thanks God when the faithful
preaching of the gospel leads people to believe. “We thank God
constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which
you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what
it really is, the word of God” (1 Thess. 2:13). So I conclude from the
Scriptures that people are accountable to believe the gospel when it is
faithfully preached in accordance with God’s word.