Sin--The Invitation.

27. Sin--The Invitation.

It is very important to remember that God deals with all of mankind according to his sin.  Notice the invitation that God gives to all mankind as recorded in Isaiah 55:1 :

"Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat, yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price."

Here we are told that God's invitation is extended to everyone.  Now let us go to the New Testament in John 1:29 :

"The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." In John 16:8-9 we are told:

"And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me." The word ''reprove'' would be better translated ''con-vict.'' The Holy Spirit will convict how many? The world. If every person could not be saved, because they were not elected to be saved, then why would the Holy Spirit waste His time convicting those who could not be saved, because they were not elected? Do you begin to see how contradictory this man-invented doctrine of election to salvation is to the Word of God?

Some who endorse election have become very subtle in their endorsement of this doctrine. They seek to appease everyone by their "fence straddling" position. They claim that they do not believe in a limited atonement. They state that God does elect some to be saved, but on the other hand, God did not elect the others to be lost. Those who hold to that position do nothing more than "talk out of both sides of their mouth--which amounts to a big bunch of double-talk!" When I was in high school a large number of boys went out for the basketball team. After try-outs the coach chose certain boys to remain on the team and cut others. You see, the coach chose to elect certain ones to remain on the team and chose to cut the others. If election to salvation is true, the same principle applies. If God elected some to go to Heaven--then I don't care how you ''slice it or cut it''--the others were elected to go to Hell!

Those who endorse this ''fence-straddling'' position do endorse a limited atonement, they just do not want the title.  This is like saying, "I lie--but do not call me a liar," or "I cheat--but do not call me a cheater."  Or a person claiming not to believe the Bible but still not wanting to be called an Atheist or Agnostic.

Those who adhere to the doctrine of election to salvation do believe in a limited atonement--whether they claim the title or not! This reveals their dishonesty with themselves and with God's word.