Very often when the topic of evangelism and predestination are considered people think that  believing in predestination will be a hindrance to evangelism. In this post I will attempt to show that just the opposite should be the case.

The great commission and the sovereignty of God: The great commission is the central text for our evangelistic effort. lets look at Matthew 28:18-20 and see what it says to us.

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

We should note we are commanded to evangelize because all authority has been given to our Lord Jesus, it is because of who Jesus is and his character that we are to go and proclaim the gospel. Those of us who realize the greatness of what Christ has done will realise that we cannot convert anyone, this is the role of God himself. If we take the words of our Lord seriously we will take the gospel out to the world knowing that we go because the sovereign Lord has sent us. It because of this authority that we can tell fallen humankind to repent and expect that God will work in their hearts. The commission is followed by the assurance of the presence of the Lord Jesus as we go into all the world with the good news.

Acts 13:48   When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.

This verse follows one of Paul’s powerful sermons and the context shows that those who believed through his gospel proclamation were those appointed by God to eternal life, the sovereign action of God can be seen in this incident but it is not only here that we can see it throughout the book of Acts we see God at work.

The results are certain: Because we know that God is sovereign and that he will fulfill his purposes, we can go in obedience to him proclaiming the gospel with the sure knowledge that as we witness to the grace of God,sinners will be saved. It is this fact that has emboldened many of the great evangelist who were reformed in theology men like Spurgeon, Jonathan Edwards and William Carey. These men and others have proclaimed the gospel because they knew they were serving a Sovereign Lord God who would work through them to fulfill his will.