I was brought up to think this way also, but I now see how this position undermines the sovereignty of God and dilutes the work of Christ on the cross.
On page 20 of "The Really Good News About God", I mentioned that my motivation for sharing the good news had increased since discovering that all would eventually be reconciled to God.
So what are my reasons?
Firstly, I earnestly desire my friends enjoy the same relationship with God that I have.
The Christian life is so rich and empowering that it is worth having, even if there was nothing beyond life on this planet to look forward to.
Secondly, God has chosen me, as someone who already has been given faith, an early believer, for a purpose.
God's plan is to save all, and he uses early believers as one of his means of achieving his goal.
Not everyone will have a "Saul on the road to Damascus experience" or a "Thomas in the locked house experience".
Most people come to faith on this planet as the good news is shared with them by others.
When the good news is made known ...
But how can they call to him for help if they have not believed? And how can they believe if they have not heard the message? And how can they hear if the message is not proclaimed?faith is given ...
And how can the message be proclaimed if the messengers are not sent out? As the scripture says, "How wonderful is the coming of messengers who bring good news!"
[ Romans 10 : 14 - 15 GNB ]
So then, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through preaching Christ.and people move from darkness to light.
[ Roman 10 : 17 GNB ]
He rescued us from the power of darkness and brought us safe into the kingdom of his dear Son, by whom we are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven.Paul also declares that it is we who have been given this task of passing on the good news of reconciliation.
[ Col 1 : 13 - 14 GNB ]
All this is done by God, who through Christ changed us from enemies into his friends and gave us the task of making others his friends also.This is the way God has planned for his ambitious, gracious, reconciliation project to be implemented on planet earth.
Our message is that God was making all human beings his friends through Christ. God did not keep an account of their sins, and he has given us the message which tells how he makes them his friends.
Here we are, then, speaking for Christ, as though God himself were making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ's behalf: let God change you from enemies into his friends!
[ 2 Cor 5 : 18 - 20 GNB ]
Thirdly, it is so satisfying, so exhilarating, to be sharing the good news with friends and see them receive faith to believe and appreciate what God has done for them through Jesus.
Seeing God touch people's lives through little me is so joyous and humbling.
The ministry of reconciliation is an awesome privilege God has given us.
Let's not allow our discovery of God's end result deflect us from the purpose of our early calling. Indeed let's be further stimulated by it.
Blessings, Barry
Very good question. To me the answer lies in another good question. Why bother preaching to a converted congregation week after week, year after year? Answer -> to build and explore your relationship with your loving father God.
ReplyDeleteThe universalist position is to go straight to teaching the benefits of praise, worship, submission and relationship as Jesus has already succeeded in the rescue mission.
That is worth sharing.
Glenn
That's a good point Glenn.
DeleteInside the church, we are not rescuing people so they will get to heaven.
All have already been rescued, as you say, but too few realise that wonderful fact.
We should be training saints for their "ministry of reconciliation" role in the world and for their "governing" role in the kingdom, which includes exploring and building their own relationship with their loving father God.
On the other hand many "churches" contain unbelievers as well as believers and may not fit your description of converted congregations.
Indeed, I personally know churches that have more unbelievers on their membership rolls than believers.
Unfortunately, these churches need a multi-faceted approach in their education programs, including their pulpit ministry, as the good news still needs to be heard by many of their attendees ...
This is a tough call to implement when some of those unbelievers are influential, long-standing members of the local church community and control the agenda.
If only our churches were converted congregations ... and we treated them as such.
Blessings, Barry