Subject: Hebrews 6:6 explained |
Bible Note: Greetings John! Has everyone who has ever lived had an equal opportunity to even hear the Gospel? Under my uderstanding of God's nature and the gift of salvation, I would say 'Yes'! Let me explain! I believe that God wants all to be saved and that He desires all to come to repentance. Therefore, I believe that God Himself does everything necessary to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to hear the Gospel. It may come in unusual ways. For instance, in Sunday School last week, I was teaching on evangelism. One of the points I stressed in the lesson is that God Himself is responsible for the results and that when we share our faith with someone, we don't have to talk them into accepting Christ because the Holy Spirit Himself is convicting and drawing them. As an example, I used the Acts 8 account of Phillip and the Ethiopian. In this account, we see God sovereignly directing Phillip to exactly the right place at exactly the right time to present the Gospel to someone who was ready to receive it. I also shared an experience I had a number of years ago. While pastoring in Ohio, I heard of a woman who was friends with a couple in my congregation. She used to go to church with this couple. I (wrongly) assumed that she was a Christian. I know, going to church doesn't make us a Christian, but even pastors can fall into this faulty way of thinking! :-) To make a long story short, she was having a heart catherization (sp?) done in Ft. Wayne, IN. They requested prayer for her during one of our evening services. Suddenly, I felt a powerful leading of the Holy Spirit that I must go have prayer with her before her surgery. My lay leader and I arrived there just before they were to wheel her out to surgery. I introduced myself and had prayer with her. My friend stayed behind and came out a few minutes later very excited. He proceeded to tell me that she was so touched that I came to pray with her that she had just accepted Christ as her Lord. She never made it off of the operating table. When they opened her up, her heart was totally calcified. We agree my friend that God does not owe us anything. However, we part company at that point. I believe in a God, who doesn't have to save anyone, yet wants to save everyone. You would have me believe that: 1) Jesus did not die for all! 2) The universal call to salvation is only effective for those who are given the ability by God to respond. 3) God does not desire all to be saved. 4) God choose to save some, and at the very least, leaves the rest to die without any hope of salvation. I believe: 1) Jesus died for all. 2) The call to salvation is both universal and real. 3) God desires all to be saved. 4) The Holy Spirit is actively convicting and drawing everyone. 5) That God is actively seeking every person and that the only ones who will be lost are those who willfully reject the offer of salvation. The lottery idea comes in because under Calvinism the universal call to salvation is a sham. God says, "Whosoever will..." but one can only will to accept salvation if one is elect. To me, this be like me opening a computer store and advertising that every customer who enters my store on opening day will get a free computer. However, I secretly mailed out written invitations to only 10 people and instruct the guards that only those who have a written invitation will be allowed in the store. This would be false advertising. We just see God's nature differently my friend! You see a God who only wants to save some, while I see a God who wants to save all. Well, I've got to go. I was supposed to off of work tonight, but they called me in because someone is sick. Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |