Each year a delight of many young children is an Easter egg hunt. Finding each egg brings great excitement!
Similarly, God has hidden His elect, those chosen for salvation, all around the world for the Church to find by going out and proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Election and Effort
It is popular today to think of the doctrine of election as contrary to evangelistic effort. If God has already determined whom He will save, then why should we share the Gospel, what difference will it make? Yet, at the beginning of the modern mission movement, it was those who cherished these doctrines of God’s sovereignty in salvation who so often led the way in pioneering mission.
The Apostle Paul spoke and wrote very strongly about God’s sovereignty in salvation in many places in Scripture. At the same time he was the most zealous and successful of all missionaries. Such ideas are often combined closely as a good fit.
For example, he summarized his life and ministry, and his motivation with these words in 2 Timothy 2:10, “Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.”
Guaranteed Success
We have a guaranteed success. We know that God will save His chosen ones and that He will do it by means of the Gospel. So, when we speak about Christ, people will get saved!
There is a great sense of freedom when we understand that our faithfulness extends to proclamation only. God does the converting. We should ask ourselves therefore, if we are preaching enough?
It is easy to become preoccupied with building comfortable Christian lives and churches. And then, one day it dawns on us that when we talk about evangelistic efforts, our best stories are further in the past than we realized.
We need to regain the vision, the courage and the sacrifice. We need to get out there and re-experience the thrill of the hunt. This can be done any day we choose to do it—whether it is in our own communities, or in less reached communities nearby. Better yet, just get on a plane and go to the places where no one has yet heard!
The thrill of the hunt can be experienced as pleasant and fun as children on an Easter egg hunt. The thrill can also be experienced as wild as a safari hunting expedition filled with real dangers. Which adventure would you like to try?
Similarly, God has hidden His elect, those chosen for salvation, all around the world for the Church to find by going out and proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Election and Effort
It is popular today to think of the doctrine of election as contrary to evangelistic effort. If God has already determined whom He will save, then why should we share the Gospel, what difference will it make? Yet, at the beginning of the modern mission movement, it was those who cherished these doctrines of God’s sovereignty in salvation who so often led the way in pioneering mission.
The Apostle Paul spoke and wrote very strongly about God’s sovereignty in salvation in many places in Scripture. At the same time he was the most zealous and successful of all missionaries. Such ideas are often combined closely as a good fit.
For example, he summarized his life and ministry, and his motivation with these words in 2 Timothy 2:10, “Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.”
Guaranteed Success
We have a guaranteed success. We know that God will save His chosen ones and that He will do it by means of the Gospel. So, when we speak about Christ, people will get saved!
There is a great sense of freedom when we understand that our faithfulness extends to proclamation only. God does the converting. We should ask ourselves therefore, if we are preaching enough?
It is easy to become preoccupied with building comfortable Christian lives and churches. And then, one day it dawns on us that when we talk about evangelistic efforts, our best stories are further in the past than we realized.
We need to regain the vision, the courage and the sacrifice. We need to get out there and re-experience the thrill of the hunt. This can be done any day we choose to do it—whether it is in our own communities, or in less reached communities nearby. Better yet, just get on a plane and go to the places where no one has yet heard!
The thrill of the hunt can be experienced as pleasant and fun as children on an Easter egg hunt. The thrill can also be experienced as wild as a safari hunting expedition filled with real dangers. Which adventure would you like to try?
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