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NASB | Matthew 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations [help the people to learn of Me, believe in Me, and obey My words], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, |
Bible Question: IF GOD KNEW WHO WAS GOING TO BE SAVED AND SELECTED THEM IN ETERNITY PAST UNTO SALVATION THEN WHY DO WE NEED TO EVANGALIZE? |
Bible Answer: 1. Christ commanded it (Matthew 28:19). 2. It is our purpose as "new creations" to glorify God, which includes evangelism. The fact that some will not be regenerated is not an excuse. We will worship and praise God for all eternity in Heaven, and everyone there will already be in complete agreement with us. Therefore, proclaiming Christ and His gospel is not only for the purpose of "winning the lost," but for proclaiming the excellencies of Him who CALLED us out of darkness into His marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9,10; see also 2 Cor. 5:17-21 and Ephesians 2:8-10). 3. While God in his sovereignty certainly doesn't NEED his creation to call the elect to himself, we are clearly the ordained means of doing so. It is the Holy Spirit who regenerates the elect, but He usually works in tandem with the Gospel proclaimed verbally by believers. Therefore, we are God's primary ordained MEANS of the message coming to the currently-unbelieving elect, whom God the Holy Spirit will supernaturally re-create to believe the message. The important thing to remember is that saving faith involves an object (Christ's sinless life, substitutionary death, and resurrection). Gad causes believers to believe, but the "information" also has to be present for the elect to place his faith in. Therefore, while God has chosen, he has allowed us the privilege of being a part of his redemptive work! While my neighbor's salvation due to God's grace and mercy (or her just condemnation) does not DEPEND on my evangelism to her, I am disobedient to our holy God when I do not proclaim the Gospel, and I also do not share in the blessing of being God's instrument if I keep silent. One last corollary to all the above: while the elect is known to God, He has not revealed it to us. Therefore, we should not assume that someone not saved right now will not be called to faith in Christ at some future point. Those who use the doctrine of unconditional election to refrain from proclaiming Christ crucified and raised either misunderstand the message or are merely using it as an excuse. --Joe! |