When you put the two following statements side by side,
what conclusion do you draw?
(1)The premise of
EVANGELICAL iNCLUSIVISM is that we are to view
all persons as elect in Christ unless and until we have explicit
knowledge to the contrary (See Posting No. 1).
(2) Acts 13:48 (one
of my favorite verses) "When the Gentiles
heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord;and
all who were appointed for eternal life believed" (Acts 13:48).
My Response: When I read Acts 13:48 without statement (1) (above)
I accept what this text says, namely, that when "all who were
appointed for eternal life" (the elect)) hear the gospel they
are "glad and honor the word of the Lord," that is they
"believe." "Salvation" (in the subjective sense,
Posting # 4) comes to them (:47).
When I put the two "statements
side by side" nothing about Acts 13:48 changes one iota.
However, the motivation
for bringing the gospel to all people everywhere is vastly increased (see Posting #8).
A
Wrong Conclusion
When the two statements
are placed "side by side" some persons draw the
conclusion that there is no need or incentive to bring the gospel
to the elect. "If we view them as 'elect," they say, "we
have no need to bring the gospel to them because they are already
saved " This is a failure to understand the difference between "objective" and "subjective" salvation (see Posting #4).
When Paul was minded to
leave the city of Corinth because of opposition, the Lord assured
Paul that he had "many people in this city." The Lord
encouraged Paul to continue working there because many people in that
city were "God's elect."
A
Strong Motivation
Because there were many of God's elect there, Paul stayed "for
a year and a half, teaching them the word of God" Acts
18: 6, 9-11).
To assume that all the peoples
of all the nations are God's elect, unless or until we have explicity
knowledge to the contrary, is the strongest possible motivation to
"teach them the word of God." "Therefore go and
make disciples (students) of all nations" Matt. 28:19 (see
Posting # 8, "Motivation for Missions Or Why Preach?").
Back
to Frequently Asked Questions
Contact
Neal Punt at: whenindoubt1@charter.net
©
2011 by Northland Books. Box 63, Allendale MI 49401. Unlimited permission
to copy and distribute this document without altering text is hereby
granted if this source is acknowledged.
