Objection: If God has decided who he will save, why should we preach?

Objection: If God has decided who He will save, why should we preach?

Question: Simply stated, if God has already decided all that will choose Him, why preach? Why send missionaries into the world to preach and share the gospel? If God has chosen me to go to heaven, then nothing you say can change that, and vice versa. If I have been predestined to NOT be saved, nothing you say can change that. At least that is what I understand from the website.

Answer: God tells us to preach. That is why we preach. We are being obedient to the Lord in proclaiming the gospel. Also, God uses the preaching of the gospel to bring his elect into the church. Furthermore, God works all things after the counsel of his will (Ephesians 1:11). This means that he works even our preaching and teaching concerning the person of Jesus Christ and his sacrifice on the cross, in order to bring his people to faith. We do not know the means by which God chooses his people. From all eternity God has known whatsoever shall come to pass because he is redeemed it to be so. But this does not mean that we are robots. Christians, who were set free from the bonds of sin, have an influence with God in prayer (James 5:16). Though this is a paradox, we are able to influence God who from all eternity knows whatsoever shall come to pass. I like to say that God ordains that we influence by her prayers. Therefore, we should pray that God will save people and that he would use us in the preaching and teaching of his word.

Furthermore, Isaiah 55:11 says that the word of God will not come back empty without accomplishing what God desires. Romans 1:16 says that the gospel is the power of God to salvation. So, we need to preach the word of God and proclaim the gospel. Both of these truths about the power of preaching means that there is something in the preaching of the word of God that has the ability to change people. Therefore, we are to preach and teach the gospel much as we can because it is the power of the word of God that has an effect on people.

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