"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19).
If God in His absolute sovereignty predestines a fixed number of people to be saved, why should we be involved in evangelism? The chief reason is because God is sovereign. God has not only sovereignly decreed the redemption of certain people, but He has also sovereignly decreed the means to that end. He has chosen the “foolishness of what was preached” (1 Corinthians 1:21) as the means by which people will be brought to salvation, and He has sovereignly commanded His church to carry out evangelism.
God says, I’ll take care of predestination, but you do the preaching. Bearing witness is your responsibility. Now, does God need us? No, God has the power to do His work without us, but He has chosen to do it with us, by us, and through us. So we see that evangelism is first of all a duty.
Every human being wants to have a significant part in some enterprise. We want our lives to count for something. Christians get to work for the King of Kings. We get to be involved in the most significant enterprise in the universe: building up the kingdom of God. This is the highest calling in all creation.
Paul discusses evangelism in Romans 10, which follows his discussion of predestination in Romans 9. Speaking of the privilege of evangelism, he writes, “How can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news’ ” (Romans 10:15; Isaiah 52:7). Surely this is our greatest privilege.
Predestination is an inescapable concept. Either God predestinates because He is sovereign, or man predestinates because man is sovereign. It was the original sin of Adam to try to be like God and take control, ruling all things. Predestination by man is seen today in statism and in many other forms. The results are devastating.
If God is sovereign, and He predestinates, then we are not controllers but servants. We find our greatest joy and our highest privilege in serving the sovereign God. Part of that service is evangelism.
John Blanchard has said, “Election is a doctrine I am called to believe; evangelism is a command I am called to obey.” Be sure you are entering into your privilege as a servant of the Sovereign, by bearing witness to the Truth.
