Does God Love Everyone, and Did Jesus Die for Everyone?
By Nick Bibile
We
need to preach Repentance first to the Unbelievers, so they will be convicted of
their sins and turn to Christ as our goal is to win souls.
If we tell the unbelievers God loves you, then there is no need of a
mediator, God loves them any way, then there is no enmity between God and man,
there should be peace between the unbeliever and God because God loves them,
and there should not be any reconciliation. But in the gospel, we see
enmity, mediator, reconciliation and peace. This is the true gospel. Telling
the unbeliever God loves you is a false gospel. The false gospel will bring false
conversions
Joh 10:14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am
known of mine. 15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
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God has a general love to all his creatures as he gives the rain, the sunshine to all. He is the creator of all mankind and we are told to love even our own enemies. But God’s particular, intimate love is with the true believers. Only to the true believer he can say, he loves you.
I am crucified with Christ:
nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I
now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself
for me. (Gal 2:20)
If we tell
the unbelievers that God intimately loves them, repentance is not needed, as
God loves them anyway! But they say, “God loves the sinners but hate the sin.”
If Jesus died for every single individual, then why is it that many are going
to hell? Why is that the death of Jesus cannot save everyone in hell? Did he
fail his mission, or did he come to save his people from their sins. (Mat
Joh
There are many
Christians when witnessing to unbelievers they say, “God loves you and he has a
wonderful plan for your life”, this is the most common teaching of the majority
of the churches today, but this was not the common teaching of the historical
church. There is not one scripture in the Bible to say when apostles were
witnessing to the unbelievers they said, “God loves you.” Then why is it today many Arminian Christians
are saying to the unbelievers “God loves you.” Let us expose this kind of
tradition. By the way Roman Catholicism
believes the same as the Arminians so they joined hands together in this issue.
When ever you
witness to someone saying, “God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your
life.” It is so tempting to the flesh.
Great, if you become a Christian, everything is going to be alright. You
will have wealth, health, peace, joy and pleasure for the rest of your life. This
is what many think of the wonderful plan. God is going to bless you.
Did Jesus tell his
disciples, “God has a wonderful plan for you, follow me and you will have
wealth, good health, peace and joy for the rest of your life?”
No, Jesus said the
opposite. This is what Jesus said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Lu 9:23)
Dear friends, the
false church is lying to the people. No wonder, over 90% of the people who
makes a decision for Christ fall away. According to Jesus following him is not
on the broad road that leads many into hell but the narrow gate which is very
difficult to enter. True Christians will go through tough times in this wicked
world as they will not conform to the world and the world will make fun out of
them.
2Ti
Jesus never told
his disciples, “God has a wonderful plan for you. But told the truth, “In the
world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the
world.” (John 16:33)
Arminians say the following
“God loves you” And they will go to John 3:16, they try to make their
point by saying God loves everyone and he personally love you, please accept
him. They are begging the unbeliever to accept God. Here we see God frustrated
if people will not believe in him, going after everyone begging to come to him.
Dear friends, this is not the God of the Bible but let us first see John 3:16
Joh
Now Let us
Expose this False Tradition
Question:
John
Answer:
This is not
correct. We will not hold to the popular view but to the correct view. When
interpreting scripture it is very important to know the background of the
passage, to whom it is being addressed and the context of the scripture, these
are the most important issues a word study on a word cannot interpret the
scripture unless you have what I have mentioned. Now let’s look at
John 3:16
The
background.
Jesus the
Savior is speaking to Nicodemus, highly respect Jewish leader and a rabbi.
Nicodemus have seen the miracles of Jesus regarded him as a divine messenger or
a prophet. He was not looking for a spiritual Savior who can deliver him from
personal guilt and sin but like all Jews was looking for a deliverer
from the foreign yoke of the Romans. We are not sure if Nicodemus came to the
conclusion that Jesus was the Messiah but he saw that Jesus was no ordinary
man. He came in the night to have a private conversation with Jesus. He came in
the night to avoid any fear of being noticed by his colleagues.
Nicodemus
believed that the Messiah’s mission is only for
To
Nicodemus the world means Gentiles. A good example is when we are in the church
we say we are of Christ but those outside are of the world, it is the same
concept the Jews had. They were the children of Abraham and the world was the
Gentiles.
The nations
or the world was distinct from the Jews. Let’s see this very clearly. Matthew
was a Jew and Luke was a Gentile. Let’s take a verse what Jesus said of the
Gentiles and how Matthew being a Jew and Luke being a Gentile wrote on this
verse.
Lu
Luke was a
Gentile and writing not from a Jewish mind but from a Gentile mind. For the
Gentile mind it is the unbelievers are nations of the world. Now Matthew who
was Jew writes on the same scripture.
Mt
When Jesus
said, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” He is
speaking to the believers, Jews and Gentiles scattered all over the world.
See the
fulfillment of this scripture.
Ac
Now let us
see in context. To get the context you need to go before and after. Let’s begin
with verse 14.
Joh
Here we see
the picture of salvation, it is Jesus that can take away our guilt and sin and
bring healing of salvation to our souls.
Joh
Whosoever
believe in him is a Christian.
Joh
For God so
loved, not only
Joh 3:17 For
God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world
through him might be saved.
God could
have condemned all of us and send us to hell as God is not obligated save
anyone, he did not pardon angels when they sinned in heaven but there is
salvation for the chosen ones.
Joh 3:18 He
that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned
already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of
God.
Do all
people believe? No only he that believe on him, and only a Christian can
believe.
Joh 3:19 And
this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved
darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Here we see
in context, all men will not believe as the natural man the fallen man would
love their sins rather than coming to Christ unless God will regenerate them
first by his grace.
When you see the word world does it
mean believers? No.
Joh 1:10 He
was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
Here the
world are the unbelievers
Joh 15:19 If
ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of
the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth
you.
Here again
we see the believers are taken out of the world by Christ and the world hates
the true believers.
Joh 17:6 I
have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world:
thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
Jesus was
manifested or came to those who were elected by God and they came out of the
world, means there is a separation from the others.
Joh 17:9 I
pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me;
for they are thine.
We need to
take John 3:16 in context, we see Jesus saying God so loved the world and in
John as we see 17:9 He is not praying for the world. If
God loves everyone then how come Jesus is not praying for all but only to the
believers? Jesus did not pray only for his disciples but for all the
believers.
Joh 17:20 Neither
pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through
their word.
However he
did not pray for those who will not believe. Does it mean that God hates
unbelievers?
God does not hate all men as creatures but
as sinners. God has a general love to all his creatures as he gives the rain,
the sunshine to all. But Gods particular, intimate love is with the true
believers.
Mt 5:45 That ye may be the
children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on
the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
There are two parties angry God and Man. On
mans part he is angry with God there is enmity due to sin. Because the carnal
mind is enmity against God (Ro 8:7) And from Gods part he is angry with
the sinner.
Ps 7:11 God judgeth the righteous,
and God is angry with the wicked every day.
The world does not mean every single individual.
Joh 1:7 The same came for a witness, to bear
witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
Joh 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up
from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
Ro 5:18 Therefore as by the
offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the
righteousness of one the free gift cameupon
all men unto justification of life.
Did all men believe that Christ came to bear
witness? Including king Herod, the Scribes and the Pharisees? Did they believe
that Christ came to die for them? No. They did not believe that Christ died for
them, they did not believe him to be God, the Son of God, the Messiah, and the
Savior of men.
Who are the all men who believe in him, whom
he will draw and all men whom he will justify? Are they the unbelievers or the
believers? Yes believers, because unbelievers cannot believe in him. These
scriptures are referring only to the elect.
When Christ died, did he draw all men to
him? After he was resurrected, did he appear to all men? Are all men justified?
The answer is obvious, No. Then the word all is to be taken in limited sense.
It does not mean every single individual.
If we say that Christ came and died for all
men, meaning every single individual but every single individual is not saved,
then Christ did not die for all. He died only for the true believers. Now we
when we preach the gospel we do not know who is elect and who is not. If God
put a yellow stripe on the face of all the elect who will hear the gospel and
respond, we not waste our time in preaching the gospel to everyone as we know
the people who have a yellow strip on their face will respond and we will
preach the gospel only to them as we know they will be saved. However, God did
not put a yellow stripe on the faces of the elect, so we are commanded to
preach the gospel to every creature, however only the elect will respond.
" The whole world has gone after
him" Did all the world go after Christ? "then went all Judea,
and were baptized of him in Jordan." Was all Judea, or all Jerusalem,
baptized in Jordan? "Ye are of God, little children", and the
whole world lieth in the wicked one". Does the whole world there mean
everybody? The words "world" and "all" are used in some
seven or eight senses in Scripture, and it is very rarely the "all"
means all persons, taken individually. The words are generally used to signify that
Christ has redeemed some of all sorts some Jews, some Gentiles, some rich, some
poor, and has not restricted His redemption to either Jew or Gentile ... (C.H.
Spurgeon from a sermon on Particular Redemption)
Let us see more on the word all
Lu 2:10 And the angel said unto
them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall
be to all people.
11 For unto you is born this day in the city
of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
The good news and the great joy is only for
the elect of God. This refers again to his people.
Mt 1:21 And she shall bring forth
a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
He came as the mediator for his people, his
people like any other were the children of wrath, and enemies of God and Christ
came to save them.
Isa 53:8 He was taken from prison and from
judgment: and who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the
land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
Heb 2:17 Wherefore in all things it behoved
him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful
high priest in things pertaining to God, to
make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
First, the gospel is preached to them, and
then they realize that they are lost and perishing and they need a Savior. Then
they are convicted of their sins and they will repent and be converted. The
Philippian jailor cried out to Paul and Silas, sir, what must I do to be saved?
There was an urgency of the wrath of God that is coming, how can I be saved
from this danger? Three thousand people were converted under Peter’s sermon as
they saw the danger and were convicted by their sins
1Ti 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
Some say it was the will of God that all men
should be saved, and he died for all.
In this context, the will of God is
efficacious, meaning effectual and productive. His will is for his good
pleasure. It is based on thy will be done. Therefore, what is accomplished is
his effectual will. ," Ps. 115:3. "He doeth according to his will in
the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth," If all, then,
here be to be understood of all men universally, then God failed on his purpose
of his will.
If it was the will of God for all men, that
is including every single individual to be saved, then they will be saved.
Because who can resist his will? However, it is a fact that all are not saved.
Because it is very certain it is not the will of God for all to be saved. The
Antichrist is not saved and his followers are not saved. It was the will of God
not to reveal the gospel truths to everyone. It was his will that it should be
so.
Mt 11:25 At that time Jesus
answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them
unto babes.
26 Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in
thy sight.
Therefore, it is not his will to save
everyone. Then what about 1 Tim 2:4? Read carefully from the
beginning.
1Ti 2:1 I exhort therefore, that, first of
all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for
all men;
2 For kings, and for all that are in
authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and
honesty.
3 For this is good and acceptable in the
sight of God our Saviour;
4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to
come unto the knowledge of the truth.
5 For there is one God, and one mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
Apostle says that prayers and thanksgivings
be made for all men, then he goes on to say for kings, and for all in
authority. This means not men who are only in low class of life but also to men
who are in high class of life. It is clear that the word all here is to be
interpreted as not every single individual but different classes of people. Let
me give a good scripture that goes along with this to understand.
Ge 7:14 They, and every beast
after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing
that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind,
every bird of every sort.
When Noah and family went to the Ark,
did he take every beast to the ark, every cattle, every creeping thing, every
fowl and every bird? No, but every animal after his kind. This is speaking of
not all the animals but only the different classes of animals. In the same way,
Gods desire, his will is that not all men will be saved but all classes of men,
men who are in high authority, low authority and different positions to be
saved. The power of the gospel is not only to the Jew but also to the Gentile.
Therefore, prayers and thanksgiving should be made to the Gentiles too who are
in all classes of life.
If someone still does not believe then he
has a problem with verse five. The mediator came only for his people. If the
all people are not saved then the mediator failed in his work to save his people.
On the other hand we received the promised of eternal inheritance because of
our mediator.
1 Tim 2:5 For there is one God,
and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
Heb 9:15 And for this cause he is the
mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of
the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called
might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
By the way this confirms even more if you
read I Tim 2:6
1Ti 2:6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be
testified in due time.
Again, we know that Christ did not pay the
ransom price for every single individual, if all would be ransomed then all
would be saved. Again, the context of this passage is all classes of people.
The ransom price was paid for all classes of people. We notice that Paul was
ordained to preach for the Gentiles. The ransom price was paid not only to the
believing Jew but also for the believing Gentile. If the ransom price is paid
for every single individual and if they are not saved, then the price that was
paid is in vain, it has no value, as they are not all ransomed. The ransom
price that Christ paid has infinite value as it satisfied the Father. The
ransom price was paid for many for a limited number of people of all classes
including the Gentiles.
Mt 20:28 Even as the Son of man
came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom
for many.
What about 1 Tim 4:10?
1Ti 4:10 For therefore we both
labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.
First, I would like you to see how Paul made
it clear as he distinguished between two. The word specially in Greek here is
malista It means chiefly or above all.
1. Savior
of all men.
2. Specially of those
that believe.
I would like you to use common logic that
both cannot be the same and true. If he is the Savior of all men, then why did
Paul say specially of those that believe? They should be included in Savior of
all men, because he is the Savior of those believe. However, Paul distinguished
by saying specially of those that believe that means there is a difference of
those that believe and the first statement Savior of all men. The meaning
Savior of all men should be different or else it does not make any sense. If
Christ is the Savior of all people, including all unbelievers then all must be
saved, but some are lost and go to hell so he cannot be the Savior of all
people.
Who are HIS people?
Lu 19:10 For
the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. This is in
reference to what happened in the garden of Eden. We know that everybody had
sinned and all are lost but all are not saved. Mt 1:21 And
she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall
save his people from their sins. Only his people will be saved.
His people
are called:
The seed of the woman - Genesis 3:15. (Note, not all
mankind as there is a difference between the seed of the woman and the seed of
the serpent.)
The seed of Abraham - Ge 9:9 And I, behold, I establish my
covenant with you, and with your seed after you;
God
remembered the elect seed when they were in Egypt.
Isa 41:8 But
thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of
Abraham my friend.
Elect of God - Isa 65:9 And I will bring forth a
seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains: and mine
elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.
Mr 13:27 And then shall he send his angels, and
shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of
the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.
My People - Ro 9:25 As he saith also in Osee, I
will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was
not beloved.
Ro
Peculiar People - Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us,
that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar
people, zealous of good works.
My Sheep - Joh 10:26 But ye believe not,
because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
27 My
sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall
any man pluck them out of my hand.
29 My
Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck
them out of my Father's hand.
Body of Christ - 1Co
Lamb’s wife - Re 21:9 And there came unto me
one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last
plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride,
the Lamb's wife.
Holy nation - 1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye
should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into
his marvellous light:
Jesus
Commanded to preach the gospel. The gospel call is universal to every creature
as we do not know who is elect and who is not, so we are to preach the gospel to
everyone. The elect will hear and will respond, as Jesus said, “My sheep hears
my voice.”
Joh
Fulfillment of John 3:16
Acts
2:5 Now there
were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the
multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing
them speak in his own language. 7 And
they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking
Galileans? 8 And
how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9 Parthians and Medes
and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and
Asia, 10 Phrygia
and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors
from Rome, 11 both
Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues
the mighty works of God.” Peter gives his famous sermon at
Pentecost and they were cut to the heart
of their sins against God and three thousand were saved.
But Peter too like Nicodemus still had problems that preaching to the Gentiles. However God decided to use Peter to win the Gentile Roman Cornelius who was a God fearing Gentile. Peter went to pray, then he saw a vision.
Acts
Again God had
to repeat three times to Peter.
Eventually Peter realized that the gospel must be preached to the
Gentiles also, the Gentiles too can come into the
Acts
Acts
Acts 11: 1 Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout
God told
apostle Paul “I have made you a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’” Acts
Ac
So
my friend, no wonder why Nicodemus could not understand when Jesus said, “For
God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (Joh 3:16)
The
world is any Jew or Gentile who believes in God.
Eph
1:9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good
pleasure which he hath purposed in himself.
A
mystery is something that was hidden before and now revealed.
What is the mystery?
The mystery is that the believing
Gentiles are brought into God’s Kingdom
Eph
3:1 For this
reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— 2 assuming that you have heard of the
stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, 3 how the mystery was made known to me by
revelation, as I have written briefly. 4 When you read this, you can perceive my
insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which
was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been
revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the
same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
Eph
Beloved,
let me ask this question, how can the Jew and the Gentile, the two can become
one? By abolishing the ceremonial law. The enmity between the Jew and the
Gentile was the middle wall of partition. That middle wall was broken by Christ
on the cross, now the two are reconciled together and in Christ, there is
peace.
Gal
3:
8 And the
Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the
Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you
shall all the nations be blessed.”
Rev
5:9 And they
sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its
seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from
every tribe and language and people and nation”
Rev 7:
9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one
could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages,
standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with
palm branches in their hands, 10 and
crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the
throne, and to the Lamb!”
Remember the seed of the
gospel, Genesis 3:15. The promise of
redemption and salvation.
Ge
The seed of the woman is
Christ and his members, his members are the true
John
Now in John 15:19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but
because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore
the world hates you.
The world will
hate you, you mean the true Christians, there is an enmity hatred, the kingdoms
of this world and the kingdom of God is always at enmity, remember how the
devil tempted Jesus by showing the kingdoms of this world.
Luke 4:5 And the devil took
him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of
time
Jesus in his
High priestly prayer did not pray for the world but prayed for them (true
believers) that were given by the Father.
John 17:8 For I have given them
the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know
in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am praying for them. I am
not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are
yours.
We see in a
nutshell, God promised a Savior in Genesis 3:15. Two seeds will come one from
the woman, the Savior and his body, the true elect of God or the believers,
then the other seed would be the offspring of the devil, people who will never
believe in Christ, they would be of the world. There is going to be enmity all the way through
until Christ’s second coming.
Jesus preached
the
Does God
hate the unbelievers?
God
does not hate all men as creatures but as sinners. God has a general love to
all his creatures as he gives the rain, the sunshine to all. But Gods
particular, intimate love is with the true believers.
Mt
Lu
There
is a universal general love of God to all men as God is the creator of mankind.
God does not have a particular an intimate love for all mankind as all men are
born sinners.
Psalm
51:5 … and in sin did my mother conceive me.
There
are two parties angry, God and
Ps
From
the part of God, he is angry with the sinner because of his holiness and
righteousness; his eyes are too pure to look at evil.
Hab
We
need to understand anyone who is not a true born again Christian is an
anti-Christian.
Mt
Does
sin deserve an eternal punishment? The Bible is very clear the sinners will be
punished in hell forever. Why is it that the punishment is eternal not
temporary? We need to see this from the
perspective of God’s holiness. God is infinitely holy.
Isa
6:3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of
hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
In the
presence of the infinite holy God, even the smallest sin is an infinite sin
towards God.
Jas
2:8-10 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love
thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:
But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of
the law as transgressors. For whosoever
shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
Then
if sin is infinite toward God, the punishment is infinite. If God is not holy,
then he will wink at sins and say it’s ok and there will be no hell. Sin is
punished because who God is, he is a holy God.
What is our obligation to God?
Why
we need to love him with all our hearts, souls, minds and strength? Because God
is infinitely worthy of love, honor and to obey. Our obligation to God is
great. Sin is a violation of this obligation.
God
does not have an intimate love for everyone. If God loves the unbelievers
intimately then the sinners does not have to repent, as God loves them anyway,
he can continue in his sins. But on the truth is the sinner does not have peace
with God.
There are two parties
angry at each other; there is no peace between them. There have to be a
mediator between the two angry parties. God the Father did not allow man to
perish, but sent his Son to be the mediator.
1Ti 2:5 For there is
one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
What is the purpose
of the mediator? To bring reconciliation. He reconciles the two parties that
are angry at each other.
Ro
Once the mediator
brings reconciliation, then we have peace with God.
Col 1:20 And,
having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether
they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
21 And you, that
were sometime alienated
and enemies in your
mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled.
This is where we
will understand how great the salvation is, God has provided through Jesus
Christ. We all deserve an eternal punishment as everyone has sinned against God
and our sins were infinitely evil and we all deserved an infinite punishment
but God in his mercy, instead of judgment, there was the mercy of God, which
came through Christ Jesus. He came to fulfill the laws we have broken.
Mt
Christ came as our
representative. He fulfilled all of the demanded laws. His obligation to the
Father was infinite. He took the deserving punishment on believers’ behalf. At
the cross God the Father saw Christ in us as sinners, sinners worthy of his
wrath. God executed his fury upon Christ so the believing sinners are set free,
we are reconciled to God through Christ Jesus, and we have peace with God. This
is the true gospel.
Then how can someone tell an unbeliever that God
loves you?
If God loves the
unbeliever, then there is no need of a mediator, as there is no enmity, there
should be peace between the unbeliever and God, and there should not be any
reconciliation. But in the gospel, we see enmity, mediator, reconciliation and
peace. This is the true gospel. Telling the unbeliever God loves you is a false
gospel. The false gospel will bring false conversions.
Telling an
unbeliever God loves you. Will not bring true conviction to his heart on sin.
Only a person who is truly convicted of sin will realize his need for Christ.
Nowhere in the New Testament, have we seen the apostles telling the unbelievers
God loves you. Instead, we see just the opposite.
Ac
Why were these men
convicted of their sins? Because Peter did not say, Jesus loves you. Instead he
said, Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God,
ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. (Ac 2:23)
First the
unbeliever need to be convinced of his need of Christ, and need to be convinced
of his horrible sin against God, his guilt, the power of sin and the wrath of
God that is going to come upon all who are disobedient. Remember when the
Israelites were in the wilderness the fiery serpents bit them and many died.
Then the Lord told Moses to make a brazen serpent and set it on a pole, anyone
who was bitten by a serpent will live when he looks at the brazen serpent on
the pole. (Numbers 21:6-9) Jesus said, and as Moses lifted up the serpent in
the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up. (Joh 3:14) My friend,
no one will look to Christ unless they were bitten by the serpents, they will
realize the danger of death as the serpent has bitten them.
Telling the
unbeliever God loves you will not make the unbeliever see the danger. But
telling the unbeliever, that the wrath of God is going to come upon all who are
disobedient to God.
Unbeliever should see the sin, as he had
violated all the commandments of God and he is continue violating these
commandments daily in his life, through speech and action, then he is
continually living without any obligation to God. Due to this he is heading towards the wrath
of God. Then he will realize he needs to be saved, (salvation) from the wrath
of God. When you say, God loves you. The unbeliever will not see the danger or
the wrath of God that is going to come upon him; instead the unbeliever will be
comforted. This is not from God as it is not biblical it is from Satan.
The English great
theologian John Owen (1616-1683) said, before people will come to Christ, they
need to know that they are lost, condemned sinners, standing accursed in Gods
sight. The
The gospel is
called the good news; the good news is we are enemies of God, living in sin.
God was angry with the sinner and Gods wrath was upon us, yet because of his
grace and mercy he sent his Son to those whom he elected. God reconciled the
believer and loves the believer.
Jesus makes it so
clear in the following when he said.
John 17: 6 “I
have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world.
Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now
they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8 For
I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and
have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that
you sent me. 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those
whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and
yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.
John 17: 20 “I do
not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their
word.
Jesus gave a commandment but not an option to preach the
gospel to all the world.
Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and
said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I
am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Every Christian must be involved in the great commission directly
or indirectly. We don’t know who is elect and who is not. The elect are not
born with a cross on their forehead. We are to preach the gospel to all; the
elect will respond and believe. It’s our job to witness and preach the gospel
to all and God will do the saving as salvation is of the Lord.
The church has a
crucial role in evangelism. The church is not just a congregation of individual
believers. It is also the body of Christ through whom the good news of
salvation reaches the world. We need to realize there are millions of people in
the church today who have heard a false gospel. They think they are saved, but
in reality not, as there is no true repentance. There is a great harvest field.
Nicodemus thought that he was saved, but he was not. Many religious people like
Nicodemus believe that they are saved, but they are not.
If your neighbors house on fire in the night
and you know they are asleep, will you not do anything about it? In the same
way there are many people around you; do you carry a tract to give? You talk to
many unsaved people; have you at least given them a tract, witnessed to them?
You are learning here every Sunday what are you doing in what you have learned.
Charles Spurgeon said, surely it is an intolerable disgrace to anyone to profess
to be a Christian, and have no concern about the souls of others, while they
are perishing by millions.
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