Wednesday, June 26, 2019 -
Kathie and I, shortly after we were married and living in New York, became part of a church that preached the Word of God. The pastor was sound in doctrine and seemed to have a heart for the lost. But he was eventually led to another church, and the search for a new pastor was on.
Growing up as a missionary/pastor’s kid, my heart had been geared to evangelism since high school days, but Kathie and I soon discovered the elders of the church we attended were “hyper-Calvinistic.” They believed that since believers are predestined, or chosen, to become the children of God, that there was no need to evangelize. I knew this to be absolutely false doctrine. For why would Jesus tell every believer that, as we are going throughout the world, we should be making disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19)? And, “How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring glad tidings of good things” (Romans 10:14-14)!
Furthermore, Paul tells Timothy that God our Savior “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (I Timothy 2:4). He said in his second letter to Timothy that “the Lord stood with me, in order that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that ALL the Gentiles might hear” (II Timothy 4:17).
We may not be the one who is provided with the gift to preach to thousands at a time, but each of us is called to bear witness with our very lives, and to make disciples of all nations whenever God sends us. To use as an excuse the fact that we are chosen to be God’s children before the foundation of the world to not tell others about Christ is heresy, and those who propose such teaching need to repent and ask God to make their lives a living testimony to the saving power of Jesus Christ. “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to ALL men…” (Titus 2:11)