Evangelism

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The Elect

Many brilliant minds over the ages have developed doctrines about the elect and predestination.  The elect are those who will during the course of time accept Jesus as their savior.  Predestination refers to the idea that God already knows who the elect are. My endeavoring to add to or distract from the many works on this subject would be arrogant presumption.  But, I would like to throw in a few thoughts on the subject anyway.  You decide.  I know I’m treading on dangerous ground.

The apostles Paul and Peter both wrote about God’s foreknowledge of the ones who would become his children.  In Romans 8:29 Paul writes,

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

In 1 Peter 1:1 Peter writes,

            Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood.

In the past, when I read these passages, I would get lost in all the doctrinal issues they have spurred.  Now they just make me feel wanted.  God wants me.  He pursued me and patiently waited for me.  Perhaps you have inkling that you’re being perused by God.  I can, without reservation, recommend that you surrender to him.  Entrust yourself to his foreknowledge.

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Secrets of the globe

Some time ago I found a giant globe.  Inside the globe were three spheres.  The largest was centered in the globe, and the second largest, at some distance moved in an elliptical rotation around the central sphere.  The smallest of the spheres circled around the second sphere.  This machine quite fascinated me, so I set about to explore its wonders.

Most curious was I that I could find nothing connecting the spheres.  They seemed to simply float in their positions.  Neither could I discover any source of power.  After much contemplation, I concluded that the power that ran the machine must be contained in the spheres themselves.  Then I looked for a way to open the globe, but no place of entry to the globe was obvious. When I gave up on that, I began to look around the room where the globe was located.

I spied a book lying in the corner of the room, and I opened it.  In the beginning of the book, the maker of the globe was clearly identified, but being unfamiliar with this person it was of little help in my quest to unlock the mysteries of the globe.  I read further into the book and did discover some hints about the workings of the globe, but this partial information only led to frustration.  However, I did learn much about the maker in my readings.  So, I finally decided to set out on a quest to find the maker.  I concluded that only in him lay the answers to satisfy my curiosity.

Many have believed that our universe came about by accident.  But, as The Book tells us “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made …” (Romans 1:20).  In order to understand the world we live in, I believe we should set out on a quest to find the maker.  He has the answers we seek.  Yes, The Book is very helpful with this endeavor.

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Sharing Truth

I have long been careful to not be dogmatic about my Christian faith.  My main concern is that it would lead to controversy rather than conversion. It’s true that I believe every tenet of the Bible.  I believe it to be the word of God given to man.  I believe the creation story to be an accurate account of man’s beginning.  I believe there was a worldwide flood caused by God as judgment on man’s evil and all the stories of God and man as recorded within the Old Testament.  I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God that he was crucified an innocent man, that his death was in my stead to provide me with salvation, and that he was raised from the dead.  I believe that all of the New Testament is true.  So, why am I restrained when expressing this belief?  I am obviously dogmatic about it.

The answer is unequivocally love.  Truth shared dogmatically, untempered by love, is as the Apostle Paul declared in I Corinthians 13:1, “a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal”.  He goes on to remind us that “Love is patient; love is kind, Love is not boastful, not proud, not rude, and not self-seeking.  Incorporating the characteristics of love, when sharing my faith, certainly makes it more effective.  It’s not about me being right. It is about sharing with another the life changing experience that I have found.  Their reception of the message is in God’s hands.  Only God can change the heart.  I am the messenger, but the message is God’s.