Article 9: Human Responsibility for Rejecting the Gospel
The fact that many who are called through the ministry of the gospel do not come and are not brought to conversion must not be blamed on the gospel, nor on Christ, who is offered through the gospel, nor on God, who calls them through the gospel and even bestows various gifts on them, but on the people themselves who are called. Some in self-assurance do not even entertain the Word of life; others do entertain it but do not take it to heart, and for that reason, after the fleeting joy of a temporary faith, they relapse; others choke the seed of the Word with the thorns of life's cares and with the pleasures of the world and bring forth no fruits. This our Savior teaches in the parable of the sower (Matt. 13).
Dr. Kim Riddlebarger (Ph.D., Fuller Theological Seminary) said this and i agree:
There is one gospel and it is to be proclaimed to sinners everywhere. And if sinners do indeed turn from their sins and place their trust in Jesus Christ, God will forgive them and give them eternal life! There will not be anyone in hell who wanted to get to heaven and couldn’t, as though they were among the elect but God would not let them believe! But as we have seen, the fallen children of Adam do not want to place their trust the Savior. Since they are sinful and he is holy, Jesus Christ is repulsive to them. When the gospel is preached, Christ is sincerely offered. The reason why people do not except the Good News is not because the gospel is flawed, but because people are sinful and they are unwilling to believe. Adam’s fallen children would rather perish eternally than bow the knee before the Savior in faith.
4 comments:
Miroslav Volf: “God will judge, not because God gives people what they deserve, but because some people refuse to receive what no one deserves; if evildoers experience God’s terror, it will not be because they have done evil, but because they have resisted in the end the powerful lure of the open arms of the crucified Messiah."
Will Willimon: “Hell is getting what you think you really want.”
C. S. Lewis: 'There are those who say to God, “Thy will be done” and those to whom God says, “Thy will be done.”'
Good words Tim
"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." (2 Cor 10:3-5).
Let's look at this Scripture from the Living Bible paraphrase:
"It is true that I am an ordinary, weak human being, but I don’t use human plans and methods to win my battles. I use God’s mighty weapons, not those made by men, to knock down the devil’s strongholds. These weapons can break down every proud argument against God and every wall that can be built to keep men from finding Him. With these weapons I can capture rebels and bring them back to God, and change them into men whose hearts’ desire is obedience to Christ."
From this Scripture the following specific prayer objectives are suggested:
That God would lift the veil over the lost person (revelation and enlightenment);
For the Holy Spirit to hover over them and protect them;
For godly people to be in their pathway each day;
To cast down anything that would exalt itself against the knowledge of God, specifically pride and rebellion;
To take down all known strongholds - thought patterns, opinions on religion, materialism, fear;
To bind Satan from taking the person captive; to bind all wicked thoughts and lies Satan would try to place in this person's mind;
That the armor of God would be placed on them.
Evildoers, the blind, the lost, think the gospel sounds like a tale, a work of fiction . . . in "their" condition.
We can stand in the gap for these people, and use God's mighty weapons, because today, is the day of salvation for many who are being prayed for fervently, I believe this.
Thank you for your comments Maria.
Hope you are doing well
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