Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of
him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one
may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done,
whether it be good or bad. Knowing
therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are
made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences
(II Cor. 5:9-11).
… Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as
though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead,
be ye reconciled to God (II Cor. 5:20).
FREE OFFER ARGUMENT:
“When Paul speaks of ‘persuading’ and ‘beseeching’
and ‘praying’ men, does that not mean
that the preaching towards the unbelievers is a ‘gracious, well-meant offer’?”
(I)
Prof. David J. Engelsma
The
preacher of the gospel seeks to win over to Christ by faith those to whom he
preaches. To that end he presents Christ
as attractively as Christ deserves: the
only Savior of sinners from sin and death.
God
uses this persuasive approach to bring the elect to faith.
But
for this persuasive approach to be effective in the salvation of anyone, the
Spirit of Christ must give faith and soften the hard heart.
What
the Reformed have against the notion of persuasion held by the free and
well-meant offer of the gospel, is that it teaches that the sinner is naturally
persuadable, by a free will, and that the effectual persuasion is accomplished
by the skill of the preacher by himself, rather than by the effectual work of
the Holy Ghost.
The
method is persuasion; the power is the grace of God, that uses the persuasion.
If
the salvation of the sinner depends upon the persuasive power of the preacher,
the effect will always and only be that upon King Agrippa, in Acts 26:28: “almost.”
But “almost” is not enough for salvation. (DJE, 10/07/2019)
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(II)
(II)
Rev. Ronald Hanko
[Source: Covenant Reformed Fellowship
News, vol. 1, no. 11]
I believe that this question (“Where does pleading and persuading fit into
Protestant Reformed theology [II Cor. 5:11, 20]?”) has reference to the
preaching of the gospel—whether such pleading and persuading ought to have a
place in the preaching. Many believe
that because we deny that the gospel is an offer of grace we do not believe in
such pleading and persuading and cannot do justice to passages such as II Corinthians
5:11 and 20, where Paul says concerning his own preaching, “Knowing therefore
the terror of the Lord we persuade men,” and, “Now then we are ambassadors for
Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be
ye reconciled to God.”
Do
we believe, then, in “persuading” men in the preaching of the gospel? Most certainly
we do! Gospel preaching ought to be as
persuasive as it can be. It ought to be
persuasive in its content—that is, its content ought to be well-reasoned and
well-ordered. This is, in fact, what the
word “persuade” emphasizes when it is used in a passage like II Corinthians
5:11.
Do
we believe in “beseeching” and “praying” sinners” to be reconciled to God? Without a doubt! Gospel preaching ought to be persuasive also
in its fervency. It is gospel
preaching. The minister of the gospel
must show that the message he brings means something to him. Preaching which is matter-of-fact and in
which the preacher gives no indication of any personal interest in the message
or in the hearers is not true gospel preaching.
The manner in which the gospel is preached, therefore, ought to show
that it is good news. And the urgency
of the gospel message ought to be plain, also, that it is a message which
cannot be ignored. When the minister
beseeches his hearers, that is exactly what he is doing.
It
must be clear, however, that preaching with fervency, urgency and persuasiveness
does not require that the gospel be turned into an offer of salvation. The basis for such fervency and persuasiveness
is not a love of God for all men, nor a desire of God that all men be saved, nor
an atonement which is in some sense for everyone who hears. The fervency of the gospel does not consist
in its being an offer of salvation to every hearer. In fact, an offer is much less urgent than a
command or call and only the preacher who believes he is bringing such a
command or call from God can really do justice to the urgency of the message.
Nor
does Scripture present the matter as though the fervency and persuasiveness of
the message rests in its being an offer of salvation. In II Corinthians 5:20, the passage which
speaks most clearly of persuading and entreating, the motive is the “terror of
the Lord,” not a general grace or mercy of God to all.
Do
we believe in pleading and persuading?
Yes, we do! but not in the way of turning the gospel into an offer and
begging sinners to accept it. That is
neither God-glorifying, nor edifying, since the response of the sinner depends not
on his decision, but on the sovereign grace of God.
-------------------------------------------
(III)
(III)
More to come! (DV)
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