Having preferred this terminology to "limited atonement" I'll ditch the intro. Again; I am stating that as with any gift it has to be opened and accepted which fits in somewhat to this subject. I have stated before that we need to be cautious not to confuse those who appear friendly and open to the Word as being different to anyone else who in truth are our "enemies"; at least in the sense of being enemies of the Gospel. Loving those who hate us and despitefully use us inevitably bears fruit with some who repent; but this goes against our natural stance as well. My point here is that getting beyond our own inclinations help us to focus less on the social relationships of those we naturally enjoy being around and reaching out to the unlovable; getting out of our "comfort zones."
God's free gift of salvation is free but didn't come cheaply and requires of us our all. The end of "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" by Isaac Watts says
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
Dying to self let's face is ain't so popular in many of today's churches. To be a Disciple of Christ has requirements that leave most of professing believers in the dust; let's face it.
We can therefore approach evangelism with the "easy believism" or "decisional regeneration" style which says "come as you are" but doesn't go any further emphasizing leaving our old self at the altar once we enter the doors of the sanctuary. It should be much easier today to give a "tough love" approach to being a true Christian and Disciple which the Great Commission calls us to do. Equipping the saints for combat; indeed mortal combat in the spiritual world against powers and principalities far above any human strength to fight means we become a target of the enemy and we should expect in today's world that our life will get a lot worse. THAT is how worthy our Lord is that WE are counted worthy to suffer for His Name's Sake.
Having preferred this terminology to "limited atonement" I'll ditch the intro. Again; I am stating that as with any gift it has to be opened and accepted which fits in somewhat to this subject. I have stated before that we need to be cautious not to confuse those who appear friendly and open to the Word as being different to anyone else who in truth are our "enemies"; at least in the sense of being enemies of the Gospel. Loving those who hate us and despitefully use us inevitably bears fruit with some who repent; but this goes against our natural stance as well. My point here is that getting beyond our own inclinations help us to focus less on the social relationships of those we naturally enjoy being around and reaching out to the unlovable; getting out of our "comfort zones."
God's free gift of salvation is free but didn't come cheaply and requires of us our all. The end of "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" by Isaac Watts says
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
Dying to self let's face is ain't so popular in many of today's churches. To be a Disciple of Christ has requirements that leave most of professing believers in the dust; let's face it.
We can therefore approach evangelism with the "easy believism" or "decisional regeneration" style which says "come as you are" but doesn't go any further emphasizing leaving our old self at the altar once we enter the doors of the sanctuary. It should be much easier today to give a "tough love" approach to being a true Christian and Disciple which the Great Commission calls us to do. Equipping the saints for combat; indeed mortal combat in the spiritual world against powers and principalities far above any human strength to fight means we become a target of the enemy and we should expect in today's world that our life will get a lot worse. THAT is how worthy our Lord is that WE are counted worthy to suffer for His Name's Sake.
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