SavedByGrace
Well-Known Member
Mark 16:15
“And He (Jesus) said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation”
This is a command by the Lord Jesus Christ, that is to take the Gospel Message to “all creation”, which is the entire human race. Matthew 28:19-20; Luke 24:46-48; Acts 1:8, say the same thing;
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
“and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
It is believed by the majority of Christians, that the Gospel Message is to be taken to every nation in the world, and shared with every human being. What exactly is this Gospel Message, or, rather, Good News, that we are commanded by the Lord Himself, to share with all humans? According to the Apostle Paul, he says that Good News is;
“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the Gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)
If, as some argue, that this Good News, that “Christ died for our sins”, is only really meant for the “elect”, whom God has already chosen for salvation, even before the world began, and whose salvation is a sure thing; then for what purpose, exactly, is it to share this Good News, that “Christ died for our sins”, to those who can never be included in this, as they are not part of this “elect” of God? Surely God, Who is Almighty, and can do all things, as we know He can, can direct His Good News to those who are His elect, and not have it shared with the “non-elect”? This cannot be difficult for the God Who has created all things? If God did tell Ananias in Acts chapter 9, to go to Paul and tell him the Good News for his salvation; and in chapter 10, to Peter, to share this Good News with Cornelius, that he and his family and close friends, could hear this Message for the salvation of their souls. Then, it is not even a difficult thing that the Great God of the Holy Bible, can indeed have this Good News of salvation for lost sinners, taken only to those He wants to be saved, which is His “elect”, as some would have us believe. In Acts 16 we read of Paul wanting to preach the Gospel is Asia, and the Holy Spirit stops him doing so. Then Paul has a dream that the people in Macedonia were calling him to help them, Paul concludes that God wanted him to take the Gospel there, so he went. Again, this clearly shows that the Lord is very much able to have the Gospel Message preached to certain people.
If the preaching of the Good News of sins forgiven, and salvation in Jesus Christ, is to be proclaimed to every human being, then it must follow, that God has made provision for the sins of all human beings, in the Death of Jesus Christ; otherwise it is no more than a sham, and insincere preaching to those who can never be saved, because they do not belong to this “elect” people!
I have a book on theology, by Loraine Boettner, who was a Reformed theologian. In this he says:
"The Gospel is, nevertheless, to be offered to all men, with the assurance that it is exactly adapted to the needs of all men, and that God has decreed that all who place their faith in Christ shall be saved by Him. No man is lost because of any deficiency in the objective atonement, or because God has placed any barrier in His way, but only because of subjective difficulties, specifically, because because of his own evil disposition and his freely exercised wicked will will prevent his believing and accepting that atonement" (Studies in Theology, pages 323-324)
Now, has God decreed the "ALL" who place their faith in Jesus, as "elect", or "all without exception"? If the former, then Dr Boettner's argument is faulty. Then he goes on to say, that "no man is lost", because of God "placing any barrier in his way", which again can only refer to the "non-elect", but, this reasoning is faulty, as the "barrier" that God has placed, according to Calvinism, is that the Death of Jesus Christ and His shed blood, is not for the sins of the “non-elect”. IF, as this teaches, that Jesus Christ ONLY died for SOME, then this DOES become a "barrier" to those for whom He did not die. Dr Boettner, then accuses the person who does not accept Jesus, of having a "evil disposition" and "freely exercised wicked will", which again contradicts "Calvinism", which teaches that man does NOT have a "free will", to accept or reject the Gospel of Salvation, as their "fate" has already been predetermined by the Lord! This contradicts what the Bible says, and is no more than man-made “theology”.
Either Jesus Christ is very sincere in what He says, that we are to take the Good News Message to every human being, and that this is because He has “provided” for their salvation, IF they “repent and believe in the Good News” (Mark 1:15). Or, Jesus' Word are no more than empty and are not sincere at all, which is an impossibility! The preaching of the Gospel Message, that “Christ died for our sins”, means exactly that, the sins of the entire world are included in His Death on the cross, and only becomes “effective” when the sinner “repents and believes”. THIS is the True Good News Message for the entire human race, and NOT limited in any way to just the “elect” few, which some have perverted the Bible to say!
“And He (Jesus) said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation”
This is a command by the Lord Jesus Christ, that is to take the Gospel Message to “all creation”, which is the entire human race. Matthew 28:19-20; Luke 24:46-48; Acts 1:8, say the same thing;
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
“and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
It is believed by the majority of Christians, that the Gospel Message is to be taken to every nation in the world, and shared with every human being. What exactly is this Gospel Message, or, rather, Good News, that we are commanded by the Lord Himself, to share with all humans? According to the Apostle Paul, he says that Good News is;
“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the Gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)
If, as some argue, that this Good News, that “Christ died for our sins”, is only really meant for the “elect”, whom God has already chosen for salvation, even before the world began, and whose salvation is a sure thing; then for what purpose, exactly, is it to share this Good News, that “Christ died for our sins”, to those who can never be included in this, as they are not part of this “elect” of God? Surely God, Who is Almighty, and can do all things, as we know He can, can direct His Good News to those who are His elect, and not have it shared with the “non-elect”? This cannot be difficult for the God Who has created all things? If God did tell Ananias in Acts chapter 9, to go to Paul and tell him the Good News for his salvation; and in chapter 10, to Peter, to share this Good News with Cornelius, that he and his family and close friends, could hear this Message for the salvation of their souls. Then, it is not even a difficult thing that the Great God of the Holy Bible, can indeed have this Good News of salvation for lost sinners, taken only to those He wants to be saved, which is His “elect”, as some would have us believe. In Acts 16 we read of Paul wanting to preach the Gospel is Asia, and the Holy Spirit stops him doing so. Then Paul has a dream that the people in Macedonia were calling him to help them, Paul concludes that God wanted him to take the Gospel there, so he went. Again, this clearly shows that the Lord is very much able to have the Gospel Message preached to certain people.
If the preaching of the Good News of sins forgiven, and salvation in Jesus Christ, is to be proclaimed to every human being, then it must follow, that God has made provision for the sins of all human beings, in the Death of Jesus Christ; otherwise it is no more than a sham, and insincere preaching to those who can never be saved, because they do not belong to this “elect” people!
I have a book on theology, by Loraine Boettner, who was a Reformed theologian. In this he says:
"The Gospel is, nevertheless, to be offered to all men, with the assurance that it is exactly adapted to the needs of all men, and that God has decreed that all who place their faith in Christ shall be saved by Him. No man is lost because of any deficiency in the objective atonement, or because God has placed any barrier in His way, but only because of subjective difficulties, specifically, because because of his own evil disposition and his freely exercised wicked will will prevent his believing and accepting that atonement" (Studies in Theology, pages 323-324)
Now, has God decreed the "ALL" who place their faith in Jesus, as "elect", or "all without exception"? If the former, then Dr Boettner's argument is faulty. Then he goes on to say, that "no man is lost", because of God "placing any barrier in his way", which again can only refer to the "non-elect", but, this reasoning is faulty, as the "barrier" that God has placed, according to Calvinism, is that the Death of Jesus Christ and His shed blood, is not for the sins of the “non-elect”. IF, as this teaches, that Jesus Christ ONLY died for SOME, then this DOES become a "barrier" to those for whom He did not die. Dr Boettner, then accuses the person who does not accept Jesus, of having a "evil disposition" and "freely exercised wicked will", which again contradicts "Calvinism", which teaches that man does NOT have a "free will", to accept or reject the Gospel of Salvation, as their "fate" has already been predetermined by the Lord! This contradicts what the Bible says, and is no more than man-made “theology”.
Either Jesus Christ is very sincere in what He says, that we are to take the Good News Message to every human being, and that this is because He has “provided” for their salvation, IF they “repent and believe in the Good News” (Mark 1:15). Or, Jesus' Word are no more than empty and are not sincere at all, which is an impossibility! The preaching of the Gospel Message, that “Christ died for our sins”, means exactly that, the sins of the entire world are included in His Death on the cross, and only becomes “effective” when the sinner “repents and believes”. THIS is the True Good News Message for the entire human race, and NOT limited in any way to just the “elect” few, which some have perverted the Bible to say!
