THE COMMAND TO PREACH
One of the arguments against the Doctrines of Grace (aka, Calvinism) is that if God already knows who'll be saved, then there is no need for preaching, witnessing, or sending out missionaries.
So, does that mean we're to ignore The Great Commission? What about Romans 10 where in verses 14-17 it says:
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
And how about this?
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
If the gospel is the POWER of God for salvation, isn't it logical that it must be preached for people to be saved??
People's adverse reaction to the Doctrines of Grace causes them to present illogical arguments against this theological position. Granted, there are those who call themselves "hyper-Calvinists" who will say there's no need for missionaries because God will call His "elect" no matter what.
But this way of thinking means a person is ignoring Christ's command to "go into all the world and preach the gospel". That is disobedience.
William Carey, the father of the modern missionary movement, was a Particular Baptist pastor in England and the founder of the Baptist Missionary Society. Particular Baptists were Calvinistic and William Carey and other members of his church realized the need for Christians to be obedient to God's Word, so they left England and sailed to Calcutta, India, and became the first modern era missionaries (remember, the Apostle Paul was considered the first "missionary" when he traveled to the surrounding Gentile nations to spread the gospel), so it was Calvinists who continued the work Jesus commanded Christians to do in Matthew 28:19-20.
It is the preaching of the Word that activates the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of those whom God has elected, so to suggest that believing in Calvinism means that taking part in missionary work, whether home or abroad, is antithetical to the theology of the Doctrines of Grace, isn't logical at all. This belief totally ignores Scripture commanding us to "go into all the world".
So, does that mean we're to ignore The Great Commission? What about Romans 10 where in verses 14-17 it says:
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
And how about this?
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
If the gospel is the POWER of God for salvation, isn't it logical that it must be preached for people to be saved??
People's adverse reaction to the Doctrines of Grace causes them to present illogical arguments against this theological position. Granted, there are those who call themselves "hyper-Calvinists" who will say there's no need for missionaries because God will call His "elect" no matter what.
But this way of thinking means a person is ignoring Christ's command to "go into all the world and preach the gospel". That is disobedience.
William Carey, the father of the modern missionary movement, was a Particular Baptist pastor in England and the founder of the Baptist Missionary Society. Particular Baptists were Calvinistic and William Carey and other members of his church realized the need for Christians to be obedient to God's Word, so they left England and sailed to Calcutta, India, and became the first modern era missionaries (remember, the Apostle Paul was considered the first "missionary" when he traveled to the surrounding Gentile nations to spread the gospel), so it was Calvinists who continued the work Jesus commanded Christians to do in Matthew 28:19-20.
It is the preaching of the Word that activates the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of those whom God has elected, so to suggest that believing in Calvinism means that taking part in missionary work, whether home or abroad, is antithetical to the theology of the Doctrines of Grace, isn't logical at all. This belief totally ignores Scripture commanding us to "go into all the world".
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