I received the following question from one of the visitors to Jesus Explained:

"Is it really fair that everyone who does not believe in Jesus will be damned?"

I decided to give my answer right here (Are you with me Jimmy?):

An eternal principle. First of all it is important to understand that the requirements of salvation were not Jesus' idea, nor was it the idea of his Father. Rather, this is an eternal law, co-eternal with God, that the Father and the Son are bound to follow.

If they would not obey this law (or any other law, for that matter), they would both cease to be God. And, as with all the laws of the universe, this law really makes sense.

The perfect plan makes perfect sense. Truth is always simple and elegant. See how easy it is to understand why the law has to be as it is:

1. God has to be perfectly just.
2. Justice requires rewards for good deeds, punishment for evil deeds.
3. God can never reward the sinner (he who makes evil deeds) with the rewards reserved for the people doing good deeds.
4. The reward is life.
5. The punishment is death.
6. Ergo, God cannot let the sinner live, or the righteous to die.
7. Sinning is to sell ones right to live to the Accuser.
8. Jesus could pay our debt to the Accuser, if it wasn't for one thing...
9. …this would not be just for someone who earned life by himself (no-one but Jesus managed such a life, but in order to understand the principle of justice we will suppose that it is possible for someone else too).
10. This dilemma (that Jesus cannot rob justice of its claims) makes the sinner fear God's punishment, and makes him filled with regret and remorse.
11. A good God must possess mercy.
12. Justice requires the death of the sinner, mercy requires that the suffering, remorseful sinner will be saved.
13. This contradiction requires a middle-man, a go-between.
14. Jesus is that go-between. He takes my death…
15. …on condition that I am filled with remorse and regret.
16. This way Justice gets the death that it requires for sin, and mercy gets the salvation of the sinner that it requires.
17. Mercy cannot rob justice. Both eternal principles (justice and mercy) have to be appeased.
18. Someone of another religion will not fear punishment and ask Jesus for forgiveness.
19. Therefore they can only receive justice (death).
20. No one can be saved by justice, since we have all sinned.
21. This is why no-one can be saved without believing in Jesus. It is Jesus I beg to release me from my well deserved death.

But since God has to be just he must give everyone the chance to receive both justice and mercy. If he did not provide this opportunity for every single individual, he would not be just, and he would cease to be God!

Will non-believers be damned? Absolutely! Since everyone gets a chance to hear and accept the gospel of Jesus Christ, and have the Holy Ghost testify in their heart that it is true, to be an unbeliever is not a passive state of mind, but an act of open rebellion! But don't think for a second that all believers will be saved! No, salvation comes by faith in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus. But faith without works is dead (James 2:17), and for many there is a huge gap between believing and actually serving God and fellow man (which are the same thing).