One Bible For All People

Posting 7 ONE BIBLE FOR ALL PEOPLE

Although God entrusted his written Word to the church, to preserve and proclaim that Word, its message was to be "preached among the nations, and believed on in the world" (1 Tim. 3:16; Col. 1:23b).

“The Bible is a missionary book. This means that in the

Bible the Gentile peoples are addressed in a direct and

straightforward way. This is the mystery of the Bible, its

twofold character. It is a book for the Church, a book that

can only be understood by the Church; and it is at the

same time a book for the world, a book in which the world

is called to believe in Jesus Christ. In the Bible God is

wrestling with the world, persuading, reproving,

admonishing, beseeching the various people of the world

to accept the truth and to be reconciled to God” (Bavinck,

The Impact of Christianity on the Non-Christian World,

Eerdmans, 1948, P. 139).

The Bible is the one and only inspired record that reveals the counsel of God concerning the redemption of mankind. The promise of the gospel, together with the command to repent and believe, ought to be declared and published to all nations and to all persons promiscuously and without distinction. There is solid theological ground for translating the Bible into as many languages and dialects as possible.

THE SAME DEMANDS REQUIRED OF ALL PERSONS

“It is the same love of God to men, the same death of Christ and the same ransom price paid for men, that are connected both with the limited and the unlimited phraseology. God loved the world, Christ loved his church; Christ died for all and He died for His sheep; He gave Himself a ransom for all, and He gave himself a ransom for many; and there is no warrant whatever for alleging that, in the one case, the love and death and the ransom are descriptive of totally different things from what they describe in the other. The very same things are predicated of the two classes, the all and the sheep, the all and the many; and, therefore, the fair inference is that they are not two different classes, but one and the same class, somewhat differently described and, of course, regarded under somewhat different aspects” (Cunningham, Historical Theology, London, The Banner of Truth Trust, 1960).

God, the only Savior, calls out, "Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God and there is no other" (Isa. 45:22). The assignment given us is to "make disciples [students] of all nations . . . teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matt. 28:19, 20).

"Everything I have commanded you" would certainly include Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. In the Sermon on the Mount we are not told, "Live like this and you will become Christian." The message is "Because you are Christian, live like this." All the other appeals to ethical conduct in every New Testament epistle are based on this same assumption, namely, that the reader or hearer has a new standing with God in Christ. The reader is not told that his or her ethical conduct will bring them to a new standing with God in Christ.

PRESUMED TO BE

What is required of those who read the Bible, or have the gospel proclaimed to them, is based on what they are presumed to be in Christ. "Let not sin reign in your mortal bodies" (to do) because "you are not under law but under grace" (presumed to be) (Rom. 6:12, 14). The readers or hearers are not to live according to the sinful nature (to do) because "you received the Spirit of sonship" (presumed to be) (Rom. 8:15). They must "put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor" (to do) because "we are all members of one body" (presumed to be) (Phil. 4:25). "Set your minds on things above" (to do) because "your life is now hidden with Christ in God" (presumed to be) (Col. 3:2, 3).

These appeals to ethical conduct are summed up in the familiar trio—repent, believe, and obey. These calls to new obedience can be called "gospel demands" because they are inseparable from the proclamation of the "good news." These gospel demands assume that the one who reads or hears is a new creature in Christ.

"BE RECONCILED TO GOD"

The various people of the world are entreated to accept the truth and to "be reconciled to God" (2 Cor. 5:18–20). They are not told "reconcile yourselves to God." The command is passive because, according to verses 18 and 19, there is no human contribution to this reconciliation. "All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ" (2 Cor. 5:18, emphasis added). "God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them" (2 Cor. 5:19).

The message of reconciliation in 2 Cor. 5:19 is a declaration of something that God did through Christ two thousand years ago (see Posting 4). It is not a promise of something God will do if and when one believes.

There is nothing sinners can do in order to move God to "not count their sins against them." That would be righteousness gained by obedience to the law. To "be reconciled to God" sinners must not be indifferent to or reject the good news that God does not count their sins against them.

On the one hand, the demand "Be reconciled to God" (2 Cor. 5:20) can be made only of those who are presumed to have been reconciled to God. On the other hand, this demand is to be made of every person, in every nation.

THE IMPERATIVE IS INSEPARABLE FROM THE INDICATIVE

The crucial importance of the fact that the imperative (to do) is based on the indicative (presumed to be) is demonstrated in this analogy:

"To say to the slave, who has not been emancipated, 'Do not behave as a slave' is

to mock his enslavement. But to say the same to the slave who has been set free

is the necessary appeal to put into effect the privileges and rights of his

liberation" (Murray, Romans, Eerdmans, 1959, P. 227).

The New Testament writers assume that their readers are no longer slaves of sin. The readers or hearers of the gospel are presumed to have been set free from the power of sin. Therefore they are commanded to put into effect the privileges and rights of those who belong to Christ.

THREE POSSIBILITIES

         How are the gospel demands (repent, believe, obey, be reconciled to God, etc.) related to those who read the Scriptures or have the good news proclaimed to them? There are three possibilities:

Possibility # 1 — These demands are imposed only upon a limited number of persons, that is, those assumed to be new creations in Christ. These demands are not placed on the rest of humanity.

         This cannot be the answer. God requires these things of everyone who reads the Bible or hears its message. "Let not sin reign in your mortal body" (Rom. 6:12) is God's will for everyone. No one may live according to his or her sinful nature. Everyone must "put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor" (Eph. 4:25). Everyone confronted with the Word of God is required to "Set [their] mind on things above" (Col. 3:2). We may demand of everyone, "Be reconciled to God" (2 Cor. 5:20). Gospel demands are not limited to certain individuals: "But now he commands all people everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30). "We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ" (Col. 1:28).

Possibility # 2 — The same demands and requirements are made of all persons. However, for a limited number of persons these demands are based on their presumed new standing in Christ. The same obedience is required of all other persons on some other basis—perhaps on the basis of their creation in the image of God.

         This is not the answer for two reasons. First, it is impossible to demonstrate from the Bible that there is one basis for making these demands of some people and a different basis for others. Second, no other basis (other than their presumed new standing in Christ) is adequate to serve as a basis for these demands.

Possibility # 3 — All these demands are addressed to all persons and find their validity and appeal on the presumed new standing that all persons are in Christ.

The premise of Evangelical Inclusivism that “All persons are elect in Christ except those who the Bible declares will be finally lost” (premise B) provides the biblical warrant for this third possibility. We may and must assume that everyone we approach with the gospel has a new standing with God in Christ unless or until we have decisive evidence to the contrary. Such evidence to the contrary will not be given us until "the last day" (see Chapter 2).

I am not aware of any fourth possibility. If there is some possibility other than the three listed above, I would be very interested in hearing about it.

DUAL PURPOSE OF GOSPEL DEMANDS

It is important to point out that the gospel demands serve a twofold purpose. They are intended to bring to expression and maturity the new life that is presumed to be in those to whom we bring the gospel (the good news of their new standing in Christ). They also bring a more severe judgment upon those who willfully and finally reject or remain indifferent to what is demanded (Heb. 10:26–30). If what is demanded never takes place, then and only then (on the day of judgment) will we know that this particular person was one of the exceptions allowed for in our premise (see Posting 2).

The Scriptures do not tell us why anyone would want to disobey God's will for them or, for that matter, even how anyone can do so. The Bible speaks of this lifelong, self-destructive unbelief and sin as "the secret power of lawlessness" (2 Thess. 2:7). The issue of God's sovereignty and man's responsibility remains unresolved.

AN UNAVOIDABLE ASSUMPTION

The reality is that it is only on the basis of an assumption that we can ever convey the gospel demands (e.g. "Be reconciled to God"), announcements (e.g. "Christ died for you"), or promises (e.g. "He will never leave you nor forsake you") to any specific person or group of persons (see Posting “The Message of Missions”).

There are those who strongly contend that gospel demands, announcements, and promises cannot be made to any specific individual or group of persons on the basis of an assumption. They say that person-specific demands, announcements, and promises can only be made on the basis of universalism (applying to every person without exception) or on the basis of an objective certainty that this particular person or group has a new standing with God in Christ.

UNIVERSALISM AND ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY NOT AVAILABLE TO US

On the basis of the Scriptures, we have ruled out Universalism (see Posting 2 and Posting “Restoring Hell”). We then need evidence that a particular person or group is necessarily included in God's work of reconciliation before we can say to them, "Christ died for you" or "be reconciled to God."

What kind of certainty or evidence would we need? A confession of faith in Christ, together with a lifestyle that appears to be consistent with that confession, would not be sufficient. That kind of evidence assumes that we can judge a person’s heart and thereby know that he or she is making a truthful confession. There are false professors of Christ living apparently godly lives. We may not replace a biblically warranted assumption (described in the next section) with our personal opinion of someone’s spiritual status. We cannot judge anyone's heart.

The evidence we would need is some objective, absolute, verifiable proof or certainty that a particular person or group is among those who have been reconciled to God through Christ. This kind of "proof" is never available to us, not even for professing Christians who are closest and dearest to us.

A BIBLICALLY WARRANTED ASSUMPTION

         That we are not so limited in saying "Christ died for you," or "be reconciled to God" is evident from such passages as 1 Cor. 15:3: "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance; that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures." Paul based this on neither "universalism" nor on some absolute irrefutable evidence gained from those to whom he declared it. Paul explained that he "passed on to" them the "message of reconciliation" (Christ died for our sins) that he had "received" long before he met the citizens of Corinth (2 Cor. 5:19).

         What must be demanded is an appropriate response to the good news of what God has already done for the person or persons to whom we present the gospel: "that Christ died for our sins." The gospel is not a proposal that says, “If you repent, believe, and obey then Christ will save, redeem, die for you.” The gospel is the good news that “Christ has redeemed you, and therefore you must repent, believe, and live in joyful obedience” (see Posting “The Message of Missions”).

         This "good news" can be declared and published to all nations and to all persons promiscuously and without distinction only on the assumption that all those to whom the gospel comes have been reconciled to God through Christ. That is, Evangelical Inclusivism (premise B): “All persons will be saved (are elect) except those who the Bible declares will

be finally lost.”