SERMON: “Do We Preach the Gospel to All?” (Romans 10:13)
“Do We Preach the Gospel to All?” (Rom.
10:13)
Series: “Reformation
Day Sermons” Text: Romans 10:13
By: Shaun
Marksbury Date:
October
27, 2024
Venue: Living
Water Baptist Church Occasion:
PM Service
I.
Introduction
Of course, as many able-bodied men were needed as defenders. Imagine, though, if they instead began selecting
who was worthy to hide in the caverns. The
leaders, fearing limited resources or holding to some misguided view of
worthiness, only spread word ahead of time to those “worthy” of protection. Those who were lame, or too old, or too weak,
were ignored outside the fortress to face the incoming danger without
protection. This tragic scenario illustrates
a kind of selective gatekeeping that was happening in the church.
This morning, we discussed the true nature of the will. This discussion is perhaps as old as
philosophy, and we saw that it erupted into a debate in the 400s between
Pelagius and Augustine. Luther’s
treatise on the subject, which we briefly considered this morning, modeled the views
of the other Protestant Reformers.
With that being the case, a discussion on the bondage of the
will today is often viewed a promotion of Calvinism, and it is indeed part of our
understanding of the total depravity of man (the will is also corrupted by sin). As such, those rejecting the view are
typically of a more Arminian persuasion (though, more properly, this is a
discussion between those with a monergistic view of salvation and those with a
more synergistic one).
It’s in part through a misunderstanding of these issues that
the charge of Calvinists being anti-evangelistic arises; you Calvinists
think it’s a waste of time to evangelize!
This is despite the fact that
John Calvin and most of the Calvinistic names we know from history, such as
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, were all evangelical.
They trained and sent missionaries with the message of God’s saving
grace.
Yet, sadly, some “Calvinistic” writers and preachers
have indeed said something along those lines.
For instance, when the newly-ordained Baptist minister William Carey (a
Calvinist) wished to engage in missions work, one of the older pastors at his
church infamously said, “Young man, sit down! You are an enthusiast. When God pleases to convert the heathen, He’ll
do it without consulting you or me.”
They were waiting for certain signs first before they would preach the
gospel.
Spurgeon likewise faced the scorn of some of his fellow
Calvinists. They objected to the fact
that he called all the sinners present in his services to repentance and faith,
identifying Spurgeon as an Arminian who preached a “duty-faith.” In the minds of some, it is legalistic to
preach Romans 10:13 without qualification.
Spurgeon replied with Scripture and decried this form of Calvinism,
describing it as “hyperism.”
Now, you don’t need to be a Hyper-Calvinist to have wondered
about some of these underlying issues. The
will is bound, not willing to naturally turn in Christ in faith and repentance,
so God must regenerate the soul, changing its nature, before it can call out to
Him for mercy and grace. To understand
what you should do individually as well as what we should do as a church, we’ll
follow Spurgeon’s lead and look to Holy Scripture for the answer. Iain Murray in his book, Spurgeon v.
Hyper-Calvinism, outlines four planks in Spurgeon’s understanding, so let’s
consider them together.
II.
Gospel Invitations are Universal
As we turn to the Word of God, we see this point in every
presentation of the gospel. We see this
in this verse that we’ve read. It is not
an Arminian position to believe the “whoever will” part; it is the Word of
God. It certainly doesn’t say that some
who call upon the Lord will be saved.
This is how Peter preached.
In Acts 3:11, Peter stood in Solomon’s portico in the temple complex
where he had just healed a lame man.
People from all walks stand amazed at this miracle, there because they
brought their offerings to receive the forgiveness of God. As he stood there, he opened the Scripture
and exposed their sin. So, he says in Acts
3:19, “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away.” The call was general, to the whole crowd,
regardless of how ready the individuals in the crowd were (in fact, the
Pharisees and Sadducees and the captain of the temple guard all decide to
arrest Peter and the disciples for this sermon).
Paul likewise modeled this for the church. In Colossians 1:28, he records, “We proclaim
Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we
may present every man complete in Christ.”
This, of course, applies centrally to church members, but there is no
reason to believe that Paul treated those coming to hear the gospel any
differently. We don’t see him waiting
for some sign of regeneration first, holding the gospel message back until
later. Rather, he says, “We proclaim
Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man
with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in
Christ.”
Indeed. Consider how
what our Lord says at the end of His Holy Word.
In Revelation 22:17, we read, “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ And
let the one who hears say, ‘Come’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the
one who wishes take the water of life without cost.” We should be able to preach that.
The gospel proclamation goes out in Scripture generally,
meaning to all. Following the regulative
principle in this regard, we have ample cause to extend the gospel to every
man, woman, and child who can hear it.
Indeed, we do this because the Holy Scripture grants a warrant of faith
for all who believe. That is Spurgeon’s
next point, so let us also consider it.
III.
The Warrant of Faith
We read, “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be
saved.” Of course, Scripture teaches
that God must work within the heart of a sinner before he can receive the
gospel. Yet, that doesn’t mean God
commands us to first look for signs of repentance and regeneration before we
can share the gospel message with someone.
Moreover, a lost sinner must not wait for some shift in his inward
affections, some sudden desire for God, before he can contemplate coming to
Christ. As Murrey quotes Spurgeon on
page 65 as saying, “The message is not, ‘Wait for feelings’, it is, ‘Believe
and live’. I find Jesus Christ says
nothing to sinners about waiting, but very much about coming.”
Spurgeon and others emphasized the Scripture’s warrant of
faith over the way of faith. In other
words, you should not wait to determine whether you are first experiencing the
subjective experience of faith, nor should the pastors of this church tell you
to wait for such before coming to Christ.
Instead, we should all rest on the promise for life found in
Scripture. If Christ invites the sinner
to come, then He grants us the warrant to believe — it’s not based on something
we find in ourselves or in others.
This is validated in the Reformed confessions. In the Westminster Confession of Faith, we
read that God “freely offereth unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ”
(VI/III). In the Three Forms of Unity,
specifically in the summation of Calvinistic doctrine, the Canons of Dort, we
find again the word “offer.” It is
hardly an Arminian tenant to offer salvation to all others — it is proper for
those who profess the sovereignty of God in salvation.
Is this not what we’ve already seen in God’s Word? For another example, remember that God addressed
the leaders of Israel, who He calls “the rulers of Sodom … you people of
Gomorrah” (Isa. 1:10). That’s a damning
condemnation, but just a few verses later, He says, “ ‘Come now, and let us
reason together,’ says the Lord, ‘Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be
as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool’ ”
(v. 18) We see the law and then the
gospel, in essence, condemnation and conversion.
That the Lord promises good news in His Word to sinners is a
message we must proclaim. Again, Peter
says to the crowd on Pentecost, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the
name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38). This command is given alongside an assurance
for all — those who repent will find the forgiveness for their sins that they
need in Jesus Christ.
In fact, we can safely say that this free offer of grace
comes with a command that you all must obey.
We are commanded to believe, for 1 John 3:23 says, “This is His
commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one
another, just as He commanded us.” That
brings us to the next point:
IV.
Human Responsibility
Here, we return to what sparked this whole discussion. Our will is inclined and even enslaved
to sin. Yet, we are responsible for
engaging in the sins we do. This must
also include refusing to believe! The
words “whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved” demand
consequences for refusal.
God is not the author of sin. He uses sin in a sinless way for His glory,
but He does not create sin nor does He tempt people to sin. The God of Light is not the author of
darkness.
So, as moral agents, we are culpable for our sin, including
unbelief. Spurgeon was standing in line
with Reformation thinking on this matter, from Martin Luther (who wasn’t
ultimately Calvinistic) to John Calvin on down through the Puritans. Other Calvinistic authors also saw human
responsibility alongside God’s sovereign decrees — all are condemned for their
sin, but God predestines some to salvation through the propitiatory atonement
of Jesus Christ.
Still, some balk at this thought. Indeed, Paul anticipated this objection in
Romans 9:19; “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” We don’t have the right to tell the Potter
that we don’t like our lot in life; in fact, we should humbly realize we
deserve eternal destruction for our sins.
If God offers grace to us so freely, then who are we to
resist it? Will we not have to sit in
judgment for that, as well? This is what
we find in Scripture, for right after the grace of John 3:16, we read in John
3:18, “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been
judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten
Son of God.”
We’ve seen that it is proper to extend this message of
salvation universally to others, regardless of the limitations on their
will. We do this because we don’t know,
despite our best guesses, who the elect might be. Indeed, if God grants the warrant of faith to
some sinner with whom we converse to forgive him his sins, then the Lord may be
using us to show divine love toward him.
That brings us to our final point.
V.
Hyper-Calvinism and the Love of God
Here’s where the rub comes in and we get confused. We tend to think of God’s love almost as a
toggle with two positions — love or hate.
Yet, is that how we experience love?
Is it either burning passion for or against someone? No, we have the ability to love people with
degrees. I can, for instance, say we
need to love all the children, but I have a greater connection to my own than
to anyone else’s. God can love the world
while having a special love for His children.
One of the misleading points of doctrine is the idea of
equal ultimacy. This unbiblical doctrine
says that God sets His love and grace on the elect to save them (so far good),
and that, with equal activity, He elects the rest of mankind to damnation. Nowhere does Scripture use the term “elect”
to speak of God choosing some for hell, though, nor do we see Him causing some
to sin so as to earn their damnation.
Rather, Scripture only affirms that He saves or rescues some from their
just fate.
What can we say of Ezekiel 18:23? The Lord says there, “ ‘Do I have any
pleasure in the death of the wicked,’ declares the Lord God, ‘rather than that
he should turn from his ways and live?’ ” So, He calls all sinners to
repentance, though everyone without the irresistible grace of God will choose
to reject His call. “Whoever will call
on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
We were in Romans 10:13, so look down to vv. 20–21. There, we see God seeking the salvation of the
disobedient. “And Isaiah is very bold
and says, ‘I was found by those who did not seek Me, I became manifest to those
who did not ask for Me.’ But as for
Israel He says, ‘All the day long I have stretched out My hands to a
disobedient and obstinate people.’ ” Why
would God stretch His hands out to a people He knew would be disobedient and
obstinate?
One word: love.
God loves all His creation, even if He is not pleased with
it. We see the heart of God manifested
in Jesus Christ when He looked upon the lost.
In Matthew 9:36, we read, “Seeing the people, He felt compassion for
them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.”
Our God is full of love and compassion. In Psalm 36:7, we read, “How precious is Your
lovingkindness, O God! And the children
of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.” This general love goes out to all people, all
Adam’s sons and daughter, which is why God is not overjoyed with the
destruction of the wicked.
He loves. Of course,
we must go one step further and note that He shows a special, salvific love to
those He chooses. If you believe in Him,
you need never fear that you are one of the elect — you believe because He set
His affections on you in particular. If
you don’t believe, though, He still desires that you come to faith and
repentance, and He might even be calling you through this message to be His
own.
VI.
Conclusion
We should be able as believers in the bondage of the will to
preach the words, “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be
saved.” This statement of God’s love is open
to all. We’re not saying that God loves
unbelievers just as they are, or that He loves their deeds of
darkness. Yet, since they are still a
part of His creation, made in His image, we can say He calls them to repent and
be saved.
As far as our church is concerned, we don’t have altar calls
here because we don’t want to risk emotionally manipulating people into a
decision for Christ. We understand that
there must be a genuine work of the Spirit of God for someone to be saved. We don’t need to manufacture an atmosphere to
get people into a state of supposed receptibility.
Still, we do call sinners to repentance and faith. It’s God’s will for Christians to preach the
gospel to every creature. The unbeliever
is responsible for his sin, but the Lord has a warrant of faith for us in His
Word.
So, dear Christian, share the gracious gospel of God among
the Jews and the Gentiles! Proclaim the
good news of Christ to all who would hear, letting them know of the love of the
Lamb. Only trust the ultimate outcome to
God, knowing the Lord of the Harvest will reap those who are His.
