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Hello and welcome to another Five Good Minutes, where I answer your theological questions in five minutes or less. Today’s question is this: Since people are predestined and they will all be saved, why should we share the gospel?
This is a great question—one that confuses many people. It’s similar to the question about prayer: if God already knows what I’m going to pray for, why should I pray? The simple answer, which I’ll go into in more depth, is because God has commanded us to. He has commanded us to pray, even though He knows what we’re going to pray for. He has also commanded us to share the gospel with every man, woman, and child on this Earth—even though He knows whom He’s going to save.
You see, God not only ordains the ends, but He also ordains the means. The “ends” are those whom He has chosen—those who are predestined. The “means” is the preaching of His Word.
In Acts 13:48, for example, the gospel comes to the Gentiles, and Luke says, “When they heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.” Who believed? Those who had been appointed to eternal life. Who appointed them? God did—before time began.
We see this again in Romans 8:30: “And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified.” This verse is astounding. It shows a clear progression from beginning to end. There’s a certain group of people—those whom He predestined. It doesn’t say He predestined everyone, just those. And every one of them is called, justified, and glorified. No one gets lost along the way. The gospel has a 100% success rate. It always works.
In John 6:44, Jesus says, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day.” We see the work of the Father bringing people to the Son, and Jesus promises to save them all.
So then the question is: If all this is guaranteed—if the gospel cannot fail—why should I preach the gospel? Doesn’t seem like God needs me. And it’s true—God doesn’t need us. But He chooses to use us anyway. He uses us to the praise of His glory. God not only ordains the ends, but also the means. He doesn’t just decide how the story ends—He decides how we get there. And the way He has chosen to save His people is through the preaching of His Word, the preaching of the gospel, the preaching of Christ.
We see this in Romans 10: “How will they call on Him in whom they’ve not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they’ve never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?” Who sends them? God does. God sends His people into the world to proclaim Christ, and those whom He has chosen will respond in saving faith.
We are simply commanded to go to everyone, because it’s not up to us. We don’t do the choosing. We don’t do the saving. We just proclaim the message—and God does what He wants. Predestination is for the glory of God. The preaching of God’s Word is for the glory of God. Evangelizing the lost is for the glory of God.
So yes, even though God has ordained the ends—that His people will be saved—He has also ordained the means: to preach the gospel to everyone. We don’t know who will respond and who won’t—but He does. And that brings Him glory. He has written the story from beginning to end. He gets to say how it’s told. We are just characters in the story, obedient to our King.
This has been another Five Good Minutes.