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The doctrine of election can become distorted, leading to incorrect conclusions. For example, one can fatalistically surmise that God’s election makes Him unjust. The most persistent, misguided conclusion in the history of Reformed churches is this: If only the elect can be saved, then the gospel should be preached only to the elect.
In contrast, predestination should propel the church to offer the gospel freely to all. One of the most frequently quoted calls of Jesus serves as a testament to this truth. He said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). Here, the Lord gives three vital lessons demonstrating that the gospel is to be preached to all.
Always be ready to preach; do not wait until people are ready. When did Jesus issue this call? Matthew says that it was “at that time” (v. 25). The obvious question is, At what time? At a time when the Lord was condemning whole cities for not receiving Him. Matthew records, “Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent” (v. 20). These cities were in Galilee, where He was preaching and performing wonders (vv. 1, 5). Jesus said to them:
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. . . . And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. . . . I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.” (vv. 21–24)
Jesus is pronouncing judgment against these people. He then urges, “Come to me” (v. 28).
We are always to be ready to preach the gospel. Paul instructed Timothy to “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season” (2 Tim. 4:2). To preach the Word “in season” means to preach when people show eagerness to receive the Word of God. To preach “out of season” is to preach when people are not ready to hear, as Jesus did in Galilee. In either instance, we must preach the gospel.
Preach the gospel unconditionally; do not expect men to meet certain conditions. Christ said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden.” Offering the gospel freely means bringing the good news to all. Yet a skewed knowledge of Reformed theology can restrain preaching. Certain men make this statement conditional. In other words, Christ is preaching only to “all” the elect, who sense the heaviness of their sin and have dealt with it in some measure.
In the early eighteenth century, overzealous ministers in the Church of Scotland taught that sinners must repent and cleanse themselves before coming to Christ. They wanted evidence that people were elect before they preached to them. The Marrow of Modern Divinity, a book defending the free offer of the gospel, states that this position taught that “men ought only to come to Christ the alone Savior from sins, after they have got rid of them by repentance.” In response, the presbytery of Auchterarder stood against this teaching by requiring ministerial candidates “to acknowledge it unsound to teach that men must forsake their sins in order to come to Christ.” Ministers who upheld this Auchterarder Creed, called “Marrow Men,” rightly believed that the gospel must be preached unconditionally.
History teaches that believing that the gospel offer is limited will cause preachers to look for people to meet certain conditions to prove their election before Christ is offered to them. Sinclair Ferguson says, “We make conviction a condition which men must meet rather than a means which God will use to bring them to Christ.” Every sinner labors under the burden of sin. We are to indiscriminately tell everyone that they must come to Jesus.
Preach the gospel sincerely to all; do not think it is insincere to offer Christ to the reprobate. Those who believe in the doctrine of election can tighten their reins in gospel preaching in another way. They reason that though others may hear them, they are speaking only to the elect. James Hadow, the principal of St. Andrews, who stood against the Marrow Men, argued that while gospel offers might appear in Scripture as “sometimes proposed indefinitely,” they were “to be understood as made [only] to God’s elect.” In this view, the preacher who offers the gospel is disingenuous. He is calling all to believe, but with reservations, for his words are only for the elect.
This doctrinal coldness can seep into a preacher’s soul. Soon, what people begin to hear from him are doctrines and distinctives, not Christ. They see in such men that what really enthuses, energizes, and excites them is not sinners’ coming to Christ but people’s seeing things their way. The minister’s greatest love is a cause or a teaching—but not Jesus.
Listen again to Jesus: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). We do not need to use guarded language. We need not fear the perception of offering Christ to those who cannot have Him. Rather, the preacher sincerely compels all to come to the only One who can give them rest. Having done so, he himself then rests in Christ. For he knows that the Lord said, “No one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (v. 27). The preacher is energized not by controlling those who hear but by preaching openly to all, and then eagerly anticipating that the Lord of heaven will reveal His elect.