Evangelism, Election, and the Sovereignty of God

Q&A from my lesson on Limited Atonement

1. If God has already chosen who will be saved, how can we know who is elect, and why should Christians evangelize everyone?

The short answer is that there is a point to evangelizing people. The point is that you and I don't know who's elect and who's not. There's no letter floating above our heads that says, "This person's elect, this person's not." We don't know.

An example is the thief on the cross. Jesus is dying on the cross, and this guy is also dying on the cross. Jesus, just by being Jesus, is going to save this guy. His whole life, people are probably thinking, "This guy is going to die in his sins." But at the end, Jesus says, "I'm going to save this guy." We don't know who's elect.

That gives us more purpose in evangelizing everybody.

2. Can God save anyone regardless of where they live or their circumstances, including in places that are hard to reach or where Christianity is restricted?

I brought that up to be a little controversial, but the point still remains. Jesus says that he has people who are not of his flock everywhere. Some places are very far removed from us, but part of the Great Commission is to send missionaries there and to make gospel inroads when we can.

God can do anything. Foreign countries are not an impediment to whom God wants to save, and nothing can stop God.

I can give you a better example. When you go to college, there are a lot of people there, and you might think, "These guys are never going to become saved." People live their lives and do whatever they want. But you don't know that.

If God puts it on your heart to evangelize and save people, or even to be a missionary, then you have to do it. You just go. Hopefully, that helps.

I brought up foreign countries on purpose. I believe God can save anybody who wants to be saved. Hard to reach or restricted countries are nothing to God. He can save people there.

3. If God has predetermined who will be saved, does that mean there is a fixed number of people chosen for salvation?

I absolutely think that there is a predetermined number.

It has to be. If God chose certain people, that means he knows every single one of them in his mind. There isn't one person about whom he would say, "I'm not sure about that one." He knows every single one of them.

So, yes, there's definitely a number. In Revelation, it says their names are written in the Book of Life, which confirms that God knows those who have been chosen for salvation.