Predestination

If God has already predestined who will be saved, then why evangelize? There are those who say that the Augustinian or Calvinistic view of predestination is one of those doctrines that nullifies the Great Commission and causes apathy in the church—that if predestination were true, then there is no need to evangelize or do missions. The mission is clear. In Matthew chapter twenty-eight, we find where Jesus gave His apostles the Great Commission. They were to "Go, and make disciples of all nations." In Acts chapter one, He echoes that command to the apostles in greater detail, saying that they would be His witnesses in Judea, Jerusalem, Samaria, and to the end of the earth. And here we are today, two thousand years later, looking back on what the Lord has accomplished through the preaching of the gospel. We can also look back and see many things that the church has done to hinder the proclamation of the good news.