Page 247 - Bible Writers Theology Original

your ways unequal? When a righteous man tumeth away from his right eousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hathdoneshallhedie. Again,whenthewickedmanturnethawayfromhis wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. Because he considereth, and tumethaway from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die" (Ezekiel 18:25-28). God also declared, "Say unto them. As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I- have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that wicked turn from his way and live. ..turn yefrom your evil vfdys} for why will ye die, O house of Israel?" (Ezekiel 33:11).
God is not willing that any should perish (II Peter 3:9), but man s iniqui
tieshavebroughtaseparationfromGod (Isaiah59:2). Thedecreeofrepro
bation, if it indeed can be spoken of in that fashion, is a decree to do noth
ing, a decree to leave the sinner to himself, to his own self-hardening and
self-destruction. It is not correct to say that God elects some to go to hell. When Peter writes, "...even to them which stumble at the word, being dis
obedient whereunto also they were appointed" (I Peter 2.8), his teaching is that they were appointed, not to disobedience, but to stumble baause t ey aredisobedient. InlikemannerPaul'sconclusion,"Thereforehathhemer^^ on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth , must be interpretedinthislightalso(Romans9:18). GodleavesmantoHisown destructive and self-hardening ways, and in that sense. He hardens man s heart because of his disobedience.
Theelectiontheorydiscouragesevangelism. Accordingtothistheory,it can be concluded that those who are elected to salvation will be saved; those whoarenotelectedwillnotbesaved. Therefore,whyevangelize?
The last command of Christ for His disciples was for them to communi cate the gospel to the world (Acts 1:8; Mark 16:8-20; Matthew 24:9-14; cf. Isaiah 45:5-13; Isaiah 49:5-13; Jeremiah 1:4-19; Isaiah 60; 61:1-9). His com mand is our mandate today. God has chosen evangelism as the method through which His believers find their fulfillment (Acts 13.46-48).
God's call reads, "Look unto me, and be ye saved, ail the ends of the earth;forIamGod,andthereisnoneelse. Ihaveswornbymyself,the word is gone out ofmy mouth inrighteousness, and shall not return. That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear" (Isaiah 45:22-23). Isaiah also declared, "For I know their works and their thoughts; it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory. And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that
escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame.
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