Anyone & Everyone

[dave c]

simpletruth #138u Revisited 26JUN10 salicart@msn.com

HOSEA 10:12—Part Twenty One: Anyone & Everyone

by rev. dave c

Hosea 10:12, Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you (NKJV).

With repeated reading of the Bible, prayer and meditation, listening to thousands of sermons, and engaging in hours of discussion—I am convinced of three things. God is good. We are not. God loves us anyway. That said, I have to believe that our Almighty Creator, Sustainer, and Lord does not regard any life as something to be wasted. If this is true of a tiny bird, it is certainly true of a human being...of every human being. Consequently, I am compelled to believe that God’s grace and mercy is extended to everyone. I also believe that God created us as agents of freewill that is limited in and to time and space. He did this because His desire is for us to become eternal objects of His love. For that love to have any meaning we must have the ability to choose to follow Christ into the presence of the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit, or choose to turn from Him, thus following the Satan into eternal darkness. The issue, then, becomes a matter of each individual throughout the history of our existence making the personal decision to accept God’s proffered salvation through the atoning sacrifice of the Son, or to reject it.

While Psalm 116:15 tells us, Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints (NIV), Ezekiel 18:23 pretty well sums up God’s heart regarding the never ending torment and destruction of all those who, of their own volition, deny Jesus Christ’s divinity and power of resurrection: Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live? (NIV). Second Peter 3:9 provides New Testament witness to this same aspect of God’s nature: The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (NIV). Please take a few moments and carefully read the following New Testament verses and decide for yourself if God has changed His mind.

(Mk 16:15&16, NIV) He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. (Jn 10:9, NIV) I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. (Acts 2:21, NIV) And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Ac 16:29-31, NIV) The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…." (Ro 10:8-11, NIV) But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." (1Co 10:32&33, NIV) Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God--even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. (1Ti 2:1-4, NIV) I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. (1Pe 3:18, NIV) For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all (Ro 6:8-10; NIV). By using words such as “whoever,” “everyone,” “anyone,” “everybody,” and “all men” there is no mistaking God’s heart desire. That there is a general calling to repentance and salvation for each and every member of the Human race is unmistakable. Does this mean that I subscribe to the basic tenants of the Armenians? No, not really. Equally unmistakable is God’s preordaining, choosing, electing, and predestining people to and for His purposes. While Christ’s atoning sacrifice was sufficient for the salvation of all people everywhere and throughout time, it is made effective only for those who choose to affirmatively respond to the wooing of God the Holy Spirit Who works to draw us as individuals to Jesus as Savior and Lord.

Let us, as poor creatures given to the ways of the flesh, take comfort in the assurance from Paul in Romans 3:21-24 that we have available to us the riches of God’s mercy: But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus (NIV). Amen.