My sheep hear my voice

[mindlight]

Preparing a sermon on John 10:22-30 I was struck by Jesus phrase - "you do not believe because are not my sheep..my sheep hear my voice"

If the only people who can see what Jesus does and understand how it affirms him as the Messiah are those predestined for an eternity with God then why bother speaking to the unsaved at all.

Is the message here that only Christians will interpret attempts to live like Jesus correctly and so words are wasted on those not chosen to believe, those who are not and never will be his sheep

In which case does Jesus say this only for those who love Him so that they understand the gulf between those eternally saved and those who are dammed. Or do his words fix that gulf for the unsaved who hear them and are thus condemned to darkness

This passage seems to affirm double predestination to me.

 

[GodsGrace101]

Preparing a sermon on John 10:22-30 I was struck by Jesus phrase - "you do not believe because are not my sheep..my sheep hear my voice"

If the only people who can see what Jesus does and understand how it affirms him as the Messiah are those predestined for an eternity with God then why bother speaking to the unsaved at all.

Is the message here that only Christians will interpret attempts to live like Jesus correctly and so words are wasted on those not chosen to believe, those who are not and never will be his sheep

In which case does Jesus say this only for those who love Him so that they understand the gulf between those eternally saved and those who are dammed. Or do his words fix that gulf for the unsaved who hear them and are thus condemned to darkness

This passage seems to affirm double predestination to me.

If you're reformed it'll sound like double predestination...
If not, it just means that to hear Jesus' voice we must be one of His sheep.
It's repeated in 1 Corinthians 2:14 by Paul.
A natural man does not hear the voice of God.

Jesus' sheep hear His voice and believe Him.
If a person is NOT in Jesus' fold, he will not believe anything Jesus tells him.

It's plain and simple...you must surely know that when coming to scripture, we must do so with a clean slate and not approach it with pre-determined ideas.

The bible does not teach double predestination, or any predestination. God accepts anyone and everyone who cares to believe.

The best verse in the bible:
John 3:16

 

[Halbhh]

Preparing a sermon on John 10:22-30 I was struck by Jesus phrase - "you do not believe because are not my sheep..my sheep hear my voice"

If the only people who can see what Jesus does and understand how it affirms him as the Messiah are those predestined for an eternity with God then why bother speaking to the unsaved at all.

Is the message here that only Christians will interpret attempts to live like Jesus correctly and so words are wasted on those not chosen to believe, those who are not and never will be his sheep

In which case does Jesus say this only for those who love Him so that they understand the gulf between those eternally saved and those who are dammed. Or do his words fix that gulf for the unsaved who hear them and are thus condemned to darkness

This passage seems to affirm double predestination to me.

Ah, but then we have the other verses that tell us a different side also, to also include, such as the striking --

"God resists the proud, but shows Grace to the humble." (!)
Bible Gateway passage: Proverbs 3:34, James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5 - Good News Translation

Or the same in more versions:
Psalm 138:6; Proverbs 3:34; Proverbs 29:23; Matthew 23:12; Luke 1:52; James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5

And also another alike sense there are key things that matter about a person, from Acts 10 --

34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.

This aligns as some will recognize extensively in scripture to a wide array of instances of us being told that people that fear the Lord have a chance.

The version of this from Christ --

4 “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. 7 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."

So, it's back to the reality that God resists the proud. Arrogance is one of those so-deadly sins:
16There are six things the Lord hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
17haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
18a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
19a false witness who pours out lies
and a person who stirs up conflict in the community."

Here we see arrogant pride -- haughtiness -- listed as being even as seriously evil with such as murder and false witness and those who try to set brother against brother.

 

[truthisfreedom2019]

His sheep are only known by us after the word is preached to them. When the apostles went out to the world they shared the word with all that they could. God knew them that would come to him ahead of time but apostles did not. The true sheep repent of their ways, they come to the light, they barer their cross, they follow him.

 

[redleghunter]

If the only people who can see what Jesus does and understand how it affirms him as the Messiah are those predestined for an eternity with God then why bother speaking to the unsaved at all.

We should approach the Gospel as laborers of love. As Paul was commanded to do:

Acts 18: NASB

9And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; 10for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.” 11And he settled therea year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

 

[redleghunter]

Ah, but then we have the other verses that tell us a different side also, to also include, such as the striking --

"God resists the proud, but shows Grace to the humble." (!)
Bible Gateway passage: Proverbs 3:34, James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5 - Good News Translation

Or the same in more versions:
Psalm 138:6; Proverbs 3:34; Proverbs 29:23; Matthew 23:12; Luke 1:52; James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5

And also another alike sense there are key things that matter about a person, from Acts 10 --

34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.

This aligns as some will recognize extensively in scripture to a wide array of instances of us being told that people that fear the Lord have a chance.

The version of this from Christ --

4 “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. 7 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."

So, it's back to the reality that God resists the proud. Arrogance is one of those so-deadly sins:
16There are six things the Lord hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
17haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
18a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
19a false witness who pours out lies
and a person who stirs up conflict in the community."

Here we see arrogant pride -- haughtiness -- listed as being even as seriously evil with such as murder and false witness and those who try to set brother against brother.

Your response is to pit verses against each other regardless of the context?

 

[Halbhh]

Your response is to pit verses against each other regardless of the context?

The opposite.

That we must include all the relevant verses.

That would aid 98% of discussions, for people to listen to more verses. Where we all know the verses about predestined and chosen in Christ already, to then proceed to include all the additional scriptures about this and combine them all.

 

[bling]

Preparing a sermon on John 10:22-30 I was struck by Jesus phrase - "you do not believe because are not my sheep..my sheep hear my voice"

If the only people who can see what Jesus does and understand how it affirms him as the Messiah are those predestined for an eternity with God then why bother speaking to the unsaved at all.

Is the message here that only Christians will interpret attempts to live like Jesus correctly and so words are wasted on those not chosen to believe, those who are not and never will be his sheep

In which case does Jesus say this only for those who love Him so that they understand the gulf between those eternally saved and those who are dammed. Or do his words fix that gulf for the unsaved who hear them and are thus condemned to darkness

This passage seems to affirm double predestination to me.

First off this is not addressing “how” to become God’s sheep and why others do not, but it does say the sheep hear and does not say: “the shepherd speaks some unique sheep language understood by some sheep”.

There is a huge difference between the believer and the sinful nonbeliever, with the sinful nonbeliever not able to do anything “noble. honorable, righteous, spiritual, holy, or of any “value” to others”, but the nonbelieving sinner can wimp out, give up and surrender to his enemy while he still fully considers God his enemy. All the nonbelieving sinner has to do for very selfish reasons is be willing to accept God’s undeserved and unconditional pure charity which is a humbling activity. If and when the unbeliever is willing to accept his enemy’s pure charity God showers Him with gift including providing Him with ears to hear.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Preparing a sermon on John 10:22-30 I was struck by Jesus phrase - "you do not believe because are not my sheep..my sheep hear my voice"

If the only people who can see what Jesus does and understand how it affirms him as the Messiah are those predestined for an eternity with God then why bother speaking to the unsaved at all.

Is the message here that only Christians will interpret attempts to live like Jesus correctly and so words are wasted on those not chosen to believe, those who are not and never will be his sheep

In which case does Jesus say this only for those who love Him so that they understand the gulf between those eternally saved and those who are dammed. Or do his words fix that gulf for the unsaved who hear them and are thus condemned to darkness

This passage seems to affirm double predestination to me.

"who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance" (1 Peter 1:2).

It is important that we consult the Word of God to see what it really says, and not base our opinions on random thoughts about how things might be. A lot of election and pre-destination teaching is stuff that is not based on what the Scripture actually says.

The Scripture I have quoted explains it very clearly. Believers are elected through the foreknowledge of God. This means that God foreknew who were going to choose for Christ and who were going to reject Him. But His foreknowledge did not manipulate or influence their choice. Their choice were freewill choices. God never conscripts or forces anyone into His kingdom. People need to choose it freely. Because God knew who was going to choose for Christ, He elected them and predestined them to be conformed to the image of Jesus.

This is why we need to share the gospel with sinners, because we don't know who is going to respond and choose for Christ. Our job is to sow the seed of the gospel and allow sinners to make their freewill choices.

People have brains. When the gospel is presented to them, they have the ability to understand that Jesus came and died on the cross to save sinners and that if they receive Him as Saviour, they will be saved. The gospel is as simple as that. It doesn't take rocket science to know that if a person receives Christ he will be saved and if he rejects Christ he will be lost.

Jesus said, "If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more does God know how to give good gifts to those who ask Him?" What this says that even sinners know how to choose a good gift for his child, therefore he can make intelligent choices. Through this we can know that a sinner has the ability to choose whether to receive Christ or reject Him.

Once the sinner has heard the gospel and chosen for Christ, then the Holy Spirit comes in, gives him saving faith, baptises him into the body of Christ, gives him a new nature, and bestows the spirit of wisdom and revelation to him so that he can start to spiritually discern the things of God. When that happens, he begins to hear God's voice speaking to his heart and develops a greater confidence that it is God's voice speaking to him as he becomes more a person of prayer and of the Word.

 

[Halbhh]

"who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance" (1 Peter 1:2).

It is important that we consult the Word of God to see what it really says, and not base our opinions on random thoughts about how things might be. A lot of election and pre-destination teaching is stuff that is not based on what the Scripture actually says.

The Scripture I have quoted explains it very clearly. Believers are elected through the foreknowledge of God. This means that God foreknew who were going to choose for Christ and who were going to reject Him. But His foreknowledge did not manipulate or influence their choice. Their choice were freewill choices. God never conscripts or forces anyone into His kingdom. People need to choose it freely. Because God knew who was going to choose for Christ, He elected them and predestined them to be conformed to the image of Jesus.

This is why we need to share the gospel with sinners, because we don't know who is going to respond and choose for Christ. Our job is to sow the seed of the gospel and allow sinners to make their freewill choices.

People have brains. When the gospel is presented to them, they have the ability to understand that Jesus came and died on the cross to save sinners and that if they receive Him as Saviour, they will be saved. The gospel is as simple as that. It doesn't take rocket science to know that if a person receives Christ he will be saved and if he rejects Christ he will be lost.

Jesus said, "If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more does God know how to give good gifts to those who ask Him?" What this says that even sinners know how to choose a good gift for his child, therefore he can make intelligent choices. Through this we can know that a sinner has the ability to choose whether to receive Christ or reject Him.

Once the sinner has heard the gospel and chosen for Christ, then the Holy Spirit comes in, gives him saving faith, baptises him into the body of Christ, gives him a new nature, and bestows the spirit of wisdom and revelation to him so that he can start to spiritually discern the things of God. When that happens, he begins to hear God's voice speaking to his heart and develops a greater confidence that it is God's voice speaking to him as he becomes more a person of prayer and of the Word.

Useful points to include.

I was just reading more of the cross references of the 1rst Peter verse, and one is in 2nd Peter, more about how election is only a step ("many are called, but few are chosen") --

2 Peter 1:10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you practice these things you will never stumble,

Or in full context, as we always need:

3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
2 Peter 1 NIV

-----------
Language we ourselves use in various ways can sometimes (often really) cause people to misunderstand each other also about 'election' and 'predestined' when they try to discuss.

We know that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever would believe in Him should not perish but gain eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. (Jn 3:16,17)

A way was planned ahead of time, and then accomplished, for us to be saved, that whoever would believe could be saved. It was predestined that we could be saved through Christ -- planned ahead, even before the world. Together all who believe and listen and follow -- their salvation was planned before the world. It's that sure a thing. But, as Christ, and Peter, and John, and James, and Paul all tell us, we must not only believe but then we must choose to follow Him, walk in the spirit, and not in the flesh, and confess and fall on His mercy when we stumble, and He then restores us. We must "run the race" as Paul wrote, and "work out our salvation with fear and trembling".

Basically the context for our election/predestined salvation is the entire New Testament, all verses together, as an entire whole.

 

[Mantishand]

John 10:27 happened to me. I didn't choose Christ, he came to me. I'm still not sure why, as I don't deserve anything God offers. I look back at my sinful life in disgust and repent of it. He has laid great suffering on me for my sinful life which I accept. But it's hard, earthborn life is very hard for me. But his love is quite amazing and it gives me hope. I am one of his sheep and predestined as far as I can tell. Because nothing of my own accord would allow me into heaven. There is no way MY actions or thoughts would have lead me to Christ.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

John 10:27 happened to me. I didn't choose Christ, he came to me. I'm still not sure why, as I don't deserve anything God offers. I look back at my sinful life in disgust and repent of it. He has laid great suffering on me for my sinful life which I accept. But it's hard, earthborn life is very hard for me. But his love is quite amazing and it gives me hope. I am one of his sheep and predestined as far as I can tell. Because nothing of my own accord would allow me into heaven. There is no way MY actions or thoughts would have lead me to Christ.

God came to you in the Person of Jesus 2000 years ago and died on the cross to pay the price for your sinfulness. When the resurrected Jesus went back to heaven to be at the right hand of the Father to pray for you without ceasing, He came back in the Person of the Holy Spirit (not Jesus personally but represented by the Holy Spirit) to indwell every person who receives the gospel.

Now, having said that. Who made the choice to believe the gospel? Who chose to receive Christ as Saviour?
If it was not you who made the choice, were you forced against your will, and conscripted into the kingdom of God? If so, then your profession of Christianity has no value to God at all, because it was forced and not through your free choice to embrace Christ as your Saviour.

It was the gospel that came to you, either by a person sharing it with you or by revelation from the Holy Spirit. You had the choice to receive or reject it. It seems that you chose to accept the gospel and put your trust in Christ as your Saviour.

I grew up believing in God, but no one had ever shared the actual gospel with me. I thought that everyone who lived in a Christian country was a Christian. It was only at the age of 19 I heard the real gospel from someone who showed me verses in the Bible that I knew I needed to make a personal choice for Christ, and so I did. It was after that I began to really understand what the gospel and the Christian life was all about.

 

[eleos1954]

Preparing a sermon on John 10:22-30 I was struck by Jesus phrase - "you do not believe because are not my sheep..my sheep hear my voice"

If the only people who can see what Jesus does and understand how it affirms him as the Messiah are those predestined for an eternity with God then why bother speaking to the unsaved at all.

Is the message here that only Christians will interpret attempts to live like Jesus correctly and so words are wasted on those not chosen to believe, those who are not and never will be his sheep

In which case does Jesus say this only for those who love Him so that they understand the gulf between those eternally saved and those who are dammed. Or do his words fix that gulf for the unsaved who hear them and are thus condemned to darkness

This passage seems to affirm double predestination to me.

The Bible reveals God's full control over the world. He "predestined" people "to be conformed to the image of His Son" (Rom. 8:29, 30), to be adopted as His children, and to obtain an inheritance (Eph. 1:4, 5, 11)

The Bible clearly states that God "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:4). He is "not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).

There is no evidence that God has decreed that some persons should be lost; such a decree would deny Calvary, where Jesus died for everyone. The whoever in the text, "'For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life'" (John 3:16), means that anyone can be saved.

 

[redleghunter]

The opposite.

That we must include all the relevant verses.

That would aid 98% of discussions, for people to listen to more verses. Where we all know the verses about predestined and chosen in Christ already, to then proceed to include all the additional scriptures about this and combine them all.

That’s not how exegesis is done.

 

[Halbhh]

That’s not how exegesis is done.

Paul should be read to fit together with Peter, John, James, and Christ -- truth fitting together with truth. Paul also said no one should try to follow himself instead of Christ. Perhaps you already agree on that, in which case it's unclear what you are saying.

 

[mindlight]

If you're reformed it'll sound like double predestination...
If not, it just means that to hear Jesus' voice we must be one of His sheep.
It's repeated in 1 Corinthians 2:14 by Paul.
A natural man does not hear the voice of God.

Jesus' sheep hear His voice and believe Him.
If a person is NOT in Jesus' fold, he will not believe anything Jesus tells him.

It's plain and simple...you must surely know that when coming to scripture, we must do so with a clean slate and not approach it with pre-determined ideas.

The bible does not teach double predestination, or any predestination. God accepts anyone and everyone who cares to believe.

The best verse in the bible:
John 3:16

If a person believes because they are one of the sheep then that comes before faith. John 3:16 says that "whomsoever believes in me".. it does not describe the conditions by which people come to believe.

In a sense claims about predestination versus freewill take a step back from the moment when a person realises they believe. To earlier moments when they choose to do what is right , choose to associate with the good over the bad , choose to move closer to God without a declaration of all out faith that might get them saved. The balance between the Divine initiative and our freewills is the crucial conundrum here.

 

[mindlight]

Ah, but then we have the other verses that tell us a different side also, to also include, such as the striking --

"God resists the proud, but shows Grace to the humble." (!)
Bible Gateway passage: Proverbs 3:34, James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5 - Good News Translation

Or the same in more versions:
Psalm 138:6; Proverbs 3:34; Proverbs 29:23; Matthew 23:12; Luke 1:52; James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5

And also another alike sense there are key things that matter about a person, from Acts 10 --

34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.

This aligns as some will recognize extensively in scripture to a wide array of instances of us being told that people that fear the Lord have a chance.

The version of this from Christ --

4 “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. 7 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."

So, it's back to the reality that God resists the proud. Arrogance is one of those so-deadly sins:
16There are six things the Lord hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
17haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
18a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
19a false witness who pours out lies
and a person who stirs up conflict in the community."

Here we see arrogant pride -- haughtiness -- listed as being even as seriously evil with such as murder and false witness and those who try to set brother against brother.

A proud man trusts in his own resources and considers them enough to establish his credentials without God. A humble man lives in the recognition that all that we have comes from the Divine and that all that we can be must be realised with and in Him. But if you focus on the pride of a man it is as if you blame him for the freewill choice to consider himself independently from God rather than embracing the proper perspective of oneself and others that comes with knowing God

 

[mindlight]

His sheep are only known by us after the word is preached to them. When the apostles went out to the world they shared the word with all that they could. God knew them that would come to him ahead of time but apostles did not. The true sheep repent of their ways, they come to the light, they barer their cross, they follow him.

God has perfect foreknowledge of who will be saved and who not. The offer and potential for salvation is universal but it is clear that some will not be saved. So you are claiming that the presentation of Gods word to someone activates the momentum that leads to salvation or damnation. We only know by the actions and responses of people to the gospel but God knows their hearts and how they will respond before they do.

 

[mindlight]

We should approach the Gospel as laborers of love. As Paul was commanded to do:

Acts 18: NASB

9And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; 10for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.” 11And he settled therea year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

Pauls determination to share the gospel despite being stoned, shipwrecked imprisoned etc etc definitely expresses a value in the sharing and whatever fears he had clearly did not stop him. His whole life was committed to building Gods church. So was it Pauls conviction that without him Gods church would not have been built. That faith cannot be activated in those who would receive the message unless it is shared.

 

[mindlight]

"who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance" (1 Peter 1:2).

It is important that we consult the Word of God to see what it really says, and not base our opinions on random thoughts about how things might be. A lot of election and pre-destination teaching is stuff that is not based on what the Scripture actually says.

The Scripture I have quoted explains it very clearly. Believers are elected through the foreknowledge of God. This means that God foreknew who were going to choose for Christ and who were going to reject Him. But His foreknowledge did not manipulate or influence their choice. Their choice were freewill choices. God never conscripts or forces anyone into His kingdom. People need to choose it freely. Because God knew who was going to choose for Christ, He elected them and predestined them to be conformed to the image of Jesus.

This is why we need to share the gospel with sinners, because we don't know who is going to respond and choose for Christ. Our job is to sow the seed of the gospel and allow sinners to make their freewill choices.

People have brains. When the gospel is presented to them, they have the ability to understand that Jesus came and died on the cross to save sinners and that if they receive Him as Saviour, they will be saved. The gospel is as simple as that. It doesn't take rocket science to know that if a person receives Christ he will be saved and if he rejects Christ he will be lost.

Jesus said, "If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more does God know how to give good gifts to those who ask Him?" What this says that even sinners know how to choose a good gift for his child, therefore he can make intelligent choices. Through this we can know that a sinner has the ability to choose whether to receive Christ or reject Him.

Once the sinner has heard the gospel and chosen for Christ, then the Holy Spirit comes in, gives him saving faith, baptises him into the body of Christ, gives him a new nature, and bestows the spirit of wisdom and revelation to him so that he can start to spiritually discern the things of God. When that happens, he begins to hear God's voice speaking to his heart and develops a greater confidence that it is God's voice speaking to him as he becomes more a person of prayer and of the Word.

God has perfect foreknowledge of what will happen.

Everyone could potentially be saved

Not everyone will be saved

BY sharing the gospel we make it more rather than less probable that a person will be saved. But we may also drive a wedge between God and this person if they reject the gospel and turn away from God.

I guess this means that the universe we inhabit has the best possible balance between Gods planning and freewill , to maximise the numbers and quality of converts but somehow that allowing of freewill also implies that we also must cooperate with Gods grace in us to bring others to Him.