There is typically one of two reasons the question of Gospel exclusivity versus inclusivity is raised. Negatively, it is posed as an attack on Christianity. Essentially, “Do Christians really believe that all unreached people groups will go to Hell because they were never handed a Bible?” Conversely and positively, the question is asked out of pure curiosity or because of an intention to better understand Christianity. A follow-up question may frequently be, “How can we ensure that all human beings are given the opportunity to hear the Gospel?” In this scenario, I am answering the question as if addressing a brother or sister in Christ. Honestly, the age of the inquirer is of little significance. This is a question with which Christians young and old struggle and I do not feel attempting to “water-down” the response does any service to the hearer.
First, an explanation for the need of the Gospel must be given. Without this explanation, there exists one primary inclusivism argument that would appear to
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First and foremost, the responsibility of placing the Gospel into the hands of the heathen lies with the Christian population itself. Christians are called to be “ambassadors” as it says in 2 Corinthians 5:20, “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us.” Rightly, as ambassadors we must seek out the lost all across the globe, “to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). John Piper, in a letter to a young congregation member, advises us to “pray for missionaries” and seek God’s counsel as to whether we are being called to the mission field. There are a limited number of ways heathens are exposed to the Gospel, and the work of missionaries is the primary way. The onus is on us, as Christians, to shed the light of the Gospel on unreached and untouched parts of the
This stereotypical point of view from nonbelievers actually has driven many away froth church and the Christian faith. A recent survey from “Relevant Magazine,” asked a group of people who identified as atheists and agnostics who all previously attended some form of a modern day christian church, why they left the church. Over 85 percent of the people surveyed blamed harsh and judgmental Christians as the primary reason they walked away from the Christian faith. The evangelism method employed by the modern church is one that can easily be misconstrued as a person judging them for who they are. Church leaders should take the prospective of the outsider into consideration for their perspective and response is the only measurement of the effectiveness of their body of Christ’s effectiveness in their
... The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha Revised Standard Version.(1977). New York: Oxford University Press, 1977. Nyberg, Nancy.(November 1997). Personal Interview and survey with Pastor of 1st Congregational Church of Dundee. Poole, W. Michael, D.Min., Th.D.(November 1997). Personal Interview and survey with pastor of Calvary Church of God. Strong, James.(1996). The New STRONG'S Complete Dictionary of Bible Words. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers. Tierney, Michael J.(November 1997). Personal Interview and survey with Priest from Saint Margaret Mary Catholic Parish. Unger, Merrill F.(1967). Unger's Bible handbook. Chicago: Moody Press. Weizsacker, H.I(1958). The Apostolic Age. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications. White, R.E.O.(1960). The Biblical Doctrine of Initiation: A Theology of Baptism and Evangelism. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis1:1.) God’s perfect wisdom created everything. In Genesis 1 and 2 we can see that God has loving and gentile nature when He created the earth and heavens. God created man in his image and we are the only creation that God breathed in the breath of life for human beings (Genesis 2:7). God did not do this for any of other creations but only for humans. The Bible has many scriptures that tell us how creative God is. Genesis 1;26 states “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created all of this for us to have fellowship with him.
At this time in our nation's history, two-hundred thirty years and counting, there is a great debate raging on. In many peoples' eyes our country has made a turn for the worse. We have thrown our Forefather's to the wayside, and there belief in strong Christian influence along with it. To them all could be solved if we merely "re-instituted" the Christian morals and teachings that this country was founded on. On the other hand, there are many who are calling for the complete and utter extraction of all Christian and other religious beliefs from public life and governmental law. To these individuals nothing good and beneficial can ever come from religion. Both of these belief structures are sadly flawed to their very core. But where is the middle ground and why haven't we been able to find it. This is precisely where Jon Meacham's American Gospel shines like no other. If nothing else Meacham's book is an answer to the times. American Gospel covers religion, philosophy, and ideology that shaped American law and thought from the birth of our rich and diverse nation to the time of the Reagan presidency.
The foundation of a Christian worldview is the belief in a personal God, creator and ruler of the universe. The Christian worldview views the world through God’s word, providing the framework for humanity to live by giving meaning and purpose to life. It defines who Jesus is, human nature, and how salvation is achieved. In essence it is the basis of which Christians behave, interact, interpret life and comprehend reality. A Christian worldview imparts confidence, answers to life’s problems, and hope for the future. In this paper I will discuss the essentials of a Christian worldview and an analysis of the influences, benefits, and difficulties sustaining the Christian faith.
Without this theology, not only the believer, but the missionary has no foundation to build upon. Believers in general, but especially missionaries must prepare themselves through prayer in order to lead churches to preach and teach the Word of God. Paul tells us in 1 Timothy that those that labor in preaching and teaching” should be considered worthy of double honor. (1 Tim. 5:17) This is important because Christian’s understanding their role as a believer, or again even more importantly, the role of a missionary is extremely vital in advancing God’s kingdom. Winter and Hawthorne rightly say in our text that “If we in the West insist on keeping our blessing instead of sharing it, then we will, like other nations before us (Israel, Rome, etc) perhaps have to “lose” our blessing in order for the remaining nations to receive.” Although there are times in today’s world that may seem like the world has turned their backs on God, Christian’s should look with great anticipation for the days that are coming when God will reclaim the earth and believers will be redeemed. The reason that believers practice missions is the end result. Redemption from sin, and receiving an inheritance from God including “full rights as sons” is only part of what is in store for the child of
...at's right and believing in what you say is all it takes to make the difference. How can we apply this to our lives? Sharing God's gift of salvation to every person we know, no matter what they might say or think since the gospel is God's power for salvation, and if we are totally sure about that, then why should we keep it a secret? Surely, your message will not return empty.
...f the kingdom will and should be realized in the Gospel. There needs to be concrete ministries of the church to show that God cares for the lost individuals as well as the total wellbeing of a culture and society.
Some may reject the Christian gospel because of a cultural taboo to how they was raised. People in some cultures feel if they believe in God that they will be rejected by family and friends. However some will reject the gospel simply because they have committed a sin. Even though you have sinned does not mean you are not loved. It is hard for some to grasp the idea of there being a higher power out there. Some j...
The word gospel occurs 101 times in 95 verses, in the King James Version of the Bible and even though the word gospel originally existed before Jesus and His followers used it; howbeit, they supposedly empowered it with unequaled authority. Perpetually, from Jesus preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God, (Matt 4:23), to the Apostle Paul’s establishing the mystery of the gospel; which was kept secret since the world began,” (Rom 16:25), the text overflows with enigmas. This analogy emerges as being prophesied by God’s prophets in the Old Testament (Rom 1:2). Calculatingly, scripture states that “the truth of this gospel occurs hid to them that are lost,” (2 Cor 4:3). Noticeably, there are implication that among this secret mystery, exists various talks concerning “not being ashamed” of something involving this gospel, (Mark 8:38; Rom 1:16, 10:11; 2 Tim 1:8) and although there may be shame, it tells us to boldly talk regarding “this mystery” (Eph
Missionaries were a contradiction, one that is not easily sorted. The goals and objectives of the missionary themselves were often purest of heart. Missionaries’ goals were to spread of the gospel, the convert heathens to Christianity and enrich the communities they work in by providing education and medical assistance. On the contrary missionaries were also often “agents of cultural change.” (Stipe p.1) They carried with them American ideals, democracy, individual rights, free enterprise, universal education, and delayed gratification. (Clifford Putney p.7)
Let me tell you about an amazing creator who is the God of three persons – The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit otherwise known as the Trinity. Jesus took on human flesh so that he can be one of our mankind. To go to eternity, you need to obey the covenant of God and make sure that as a human you have justification by faith where your human heart is restored and your follow Gods word. Be a true Christian follow God word, don’t fall to humanity and let your heart be restored to follow God’s wisdom
Another common theme is that the gospel should be spoken to believers and non-believers alike. Luke’s gospel was written to heighten the faith of believers and to give answers to non-believers. There were Jewish and Gentile followers of Christ, and it was spoken that the faith of God is available to both. Matthew’s audience is primarily the Jew who is familiar with the Old Testament. At many points in Jesus’s ministry, he healed people who were outcasts, as well as the poor and the sick. He provided everyone an invitation to join Him since The Kingdom of God does not belong to one particular ethnic group, nation or
Ronald Nash’s book Is Jesus the Only Savior? seeks to explain or shed light on this question that has puzzled many in previous generations as well as ours. The resounding answer that comes forth from his arguments is “yes,” Jesus is the only savior of humankind. He starts by taking into account the three schools of thought associated with this controversial question. These are Pluralism, Inclusivism, and Exclusivism. The first six chapters of the book deals with Pluralism, which can be said to be the belief that all major world religions are equal and there is no religion that is superior to the other. Pluralism also emphasizes that all these religions lead to salvation and to God. In the last five chapters of the book, Nash deals with Inclusivism, which entails the belief that one religion is paramount but salvation is possible through other religions. However, all through the book, Nash sets up a strong argument in favor of Exclusivism, which is the belief that salvation can only be found through one religion. It states that one religion is superior to the others . The religion that exclusivists mostly refer to is Christianity, and they base their arguments on Christ’s statement that “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” found in John 14:6.
Evangelism is one of the key component for changing people’s lives. McRaney states, “The word evangelism comes from a combination of Greek words for “good” and “messenger.” Evangelism involves bringing the goods. Kent Hunter reminded us that “when Christians witness, they tell how Jesus Christ has changed their own lives. The change in their own lives gives them the desires to share the Good News with others.” Christians must share their testimony to people and spread the gospel so that they can bring lost souls to Christ. God has commissioned every Christian to evangelize so that people will learn about Jesus Christ and accept Him as their personal savior. Matthew 28:19 states, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. Christians are required to spread the Gospel throughout the world and can no longer just attend church. Christians must plant seeds and water the seeds so that lost souls will be saved.