Tucked into the verses of today's reading can be found Scriptural support for both sides of the predestination/free will debate. Romans 8:29-30 says that "God knew His people in advance and he chose them...and having chosen them, he called them.." while Romans 10:13 says "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved'. The former is used to support the doctrine of election, whereby God, before creation, chooses some people to be saved. The latter supports free will, which asserts that people voluntarily choose to reject or accept the gift of salvation.
Though this is not an issue on which salvation rests, it is one significant enough to bring about divisions in the church. Baptists and Presbyterians, for example, would hold polar opposite views. The truth of the matter is that both doctrines exist in Scripture. Scattered throughout the Bible are the terms, "elect", "chosen", "called", "predestined", but verses like "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that WHOSOEVER believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life" are undeniable. Both doctrines exist, Paul alludes to both, and yet does not explain how they fit together. Based on our individual upbringing or our own preconceived notions of how God "ought" to author salvation, we may find one of these doctrines unpalatable. But we must reconcile the fact that both doctrines are well documented in Scripture and therefore, must co-exist. We probably won't understand until heaven how this is possible, but as Paul writes in Romans 9:20, "Who are you, a man, to answer back to God?". I sure wouldn't fall on my sword for either one, and ultimately, this is not an issue relevant to our salvation.
it is however, an issue relevant to evangelism, for it has great bearing on our burden to share the gospel with the lost. If we believe in free will, the mandate to the Great Commission is obvious. But if we believe that God has chosen only a select few and that He is responsible for calling them to Himself, what is the motivation for evangelism? Even if we accept the previous proposal as truth, we are not absolved of the imperative to witness to the lost. Even if God knows who will be saved, we do not and must therefore witness to everyone lest we miss the opportunity to be used in His pursuit of unbelievers. In other words, even if the "elect" exist, we do not know who they are and must share the gospel with everyone to ensure that God's chosen ones are reached. With this in mind, it becomes fairly unimportant whether or not we understand how sinners are saved. Our job is clear and we must simply trust that God has worked out the details that so confound us at the present.
Tomorrow's reading:Romans 11:1-14:23
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