This is a good and common question; particularly when folks hear that God predestines and choose those who will believe (Eph. 1.4), and that this choice is not initiated by the sinner’s will but by God’s (Jn. 6.44; Rom. 9.15-16). So why do evangelism?
Here is my short-list:
-1- God says so
This is always an easy one. The great commission (Matt. 28.19-20) is the evangelistic mandate to go and tell others about Christ, that they might believe and receive the Savior. To not do evangelism is to disobey God.
-2- Evangelism glorifies God
Jesus Christ is the supreme delight of God (Matt. 3.17; 12.18) and there is no place where Jesus is more magnified and the Father more pleased than at the cross. Therefore in the message of the gospel we are not just summoning sinners to esteem Jesus we are declaring his excellencies and in this the Father is pleased and glorified. The glory of God is the ultimate objective of everything Christians do (1 Cor. 10.31) and is the ultimate objective of evangelism as well.
-3- The gospel is the only means of salvation
There is no other way of salvation (Jn. 14.6; Acts 4.12; Rom. 10.17). So I must hold forth Jesus to them in evangelism. Yes God does elect, he does call, but he calls through the gospel. So as an evangelist I want to be obedient, glorify God, and see sinners saved. This only happens through the gospel.
It is helpful to note that throughout church history Calvinists have been some of the most passionate and faithful evangelists. In addition to the Apostle Paul, who did “all things for the sake of the elect” (2 Tim. 2.10), consider for example, Charles Spurgeon, William Carey, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitfield, and Asahel Nettleton. All of these men were used by God to bring revivals to a region and an era. In reading them it is impossible to miss the fact that it was their theology that drove their evangelism.
Consider this quote by Spurgeon: “If God would have painted a yellow stripe on the backs of the elect I would go around lifting shirts. But since He didn’t I must preach `whosoever will’ and when `whosoever’ believes I know he is one of the elect.”
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