The Innocent Native

Renewing Your Mind

Ligonier Ministries

Religion & Spirituality, Reformed, Study, Jesus, Preaching, Christianity, Scripture, Spirit, Bible, Holy, Theology, Christian, God, Teaching

4.8 • 4.9K Ratings

🗓️ 9 June 2025

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What happens to people who never hear about Jesus? Are they excused from the responsibility to repent of sin and trust in Christ? Today, R.C. Sproul walks us through one of the most common objections raised against Christianity.

For your donation of any amount, request R.C. Sproul’s video teaching series Defending Your Faith on DVD, plus lifetime digital access to all 32 messages and the digital study guide. You’ll also receive digital access to his 8-message teaching series Objections Answered: https://gift.renewingyourmind.org/4093/donate

Live outside the U.S. and Canada? Request lifetime digital access to the Defending Your Faith teaching series and study guide, plus digital access to Objections Answered, with your gift of any amount: https://www.renewingyourmind.org/global

Meet Today’s Teacher:

R.C. Sproul (1939–2017) was founder of Ligonier Ministries, first minister of preaching and teaching at Saint Andrew’s Chapel, first president of Reformation Bible College, and executive editor of Tabletalk magazine.

Meet the Host:

Nathan W. Bingham is vice president of ministry engagement for Ligonier Ministries, executive producer and host of Renewing Your Mind, and host of the Ask Ligonier podcast.

Renewing Your Mind is a donor-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. Explore all of our podcasts: https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts

Transcript

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0:00.0	I mean, if we have any concern for people, if we have any compassion for people, we must ask the
0:07.8	question, what happens to people who have never, ever had the opportunity to hear about Christ?
0:20.7	Usually that question is framed around a poor, innocent native in a remote part of the world who's never heard the gospel.
0:28.1	And sometimes, when a Christian tries to answer that question, what they say inadvertently denies salvation by faith alone, in Christ alone.
0:37.7	Hi, I'm Nathan W. Bingham, and welcome to the Monday edition of Renewing Your Mind.
0:43.2	This week, R.C. Sprole is going to answer some of the common objections raised by
0:48.1	unbelievers to the Christian faith. It's a practical series to help you be better equipped
0:53.4	to give an answer for the hope that is within you, as the Apostle Peter commands us to do.
0:58.8	You can request lifetime digital access to this series, plus the extensive course in apologetics from Dr. Sprawl defending your faith.
1:07.9	We'll send you that series on DVD and unlock its messages and the study guide
1:12.8	in the free Ligonier app. You can request both series when you give a donation of any amount
1:18.9	at renewingyourmind.org. So what happens to the innocent native as the question goes?
1:26.0	Here's Dr. Sprole.
1:37.9	I want to start with the question that I get more often than any other question, which may seem a bit strange to you, but the one I hear again and again is this question.
1:43.0	What happens to the poor, innocent native in Africa or Australia
1:50.3	or South America or wherever, who has never ever heard of Jesus Christ? It's amazing how often
2:00.3	that question comes. I teach seminary, and frequently the question comes out of the lips of seminary students who are bothered by this question. And I sometimes, when I hear it, I think, oh, I've heard that question so many, many times.
2:19.7	I'm getting tired of answering it.
2:29.6	And then I checked myself in midthought, and I say, yes, but I remember the first time, I raised that question.
2:31.3	It bothered me.
2:35.2	It's an obvious question, isn't it? I mean, if we have any concern for people, if we have any compassion for people, we must
2:43.0	ask the question, what happens to people who have never, ever had the opportunity to hear
	...

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