Some time ago the following questions were presented to me. "
Why preach and teach the Gospel if all are to be saved ultimately? There is no need to witness for they will be saved someday, someway, somewhere - right?" W-R-O-N-G!
First, the Christian life is so rich and beautiful and worthwhile that it would be the only life to live,
even if there were no hereafter. Ask those who have truly known and experienced Christ over a period of years. Was it not Dr. A. J. Gordon who met an old crippled man on the street, and asked him why, with all his handicap, his face was nevertheless so bright and shining? And the old man answered, "The devil has no happy old men!"
Furthermore, God will never save your loved ones, your neighbors, or any other person who has ever lived or who ever shall live apart from
a MEANS,
an INSTRUMENT THROUGH WHICH TO REACH THEM. And
WE are that instrument! God declares to His elect in Isa. 49:6, "I will also
GIVE YOU for a light to the nations, that
YOU may
BE MY SALVATION unto
the end of the earth." The method by which God causes men to believe is revealed in Rom. 10:14-15. "How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not
BELIEVED? and how shall they
BELIEVE in Him of whom they have not
HEARD? and how shall they
HEAR without a
PREACHER? and how shall they
PREACH except they be
SENT?" Does the salvation of all men negate this procedure?
NO WAY! It only
intensifies it! The simple truth is that God purposes to save all men. The means by which He shall accomplish this is
A PEOPLE,
a ROYAL PRIESTHOOD,
the SONS OF GOD, who are made
ONE with the
PRIESTLY MINISTRY OF JESUS the great
HIGH PRIEST, to
intercede,
witness,
speak,
exhort,
warn,
entreat,
preach, and
proclaim the
redemptive power of the Christ until this ministry conquers all men for God.
Source:
The Savior of the World, by J. Preston Eby
Kindgdom Bible Studies Savior of the World Series Part 1