Jesus died for you

Is this a trick question?

 

Why would it not be important?

 

According to the way most Calvinist's teach, Christ may not have died for some... even themselves!:tear:

What a sad theology.

 

For what it is worth, i tell people that when i witness to them.

 

I refuse to tell people something that may be false . Christ died for specific people -- His elect ones . We have no way to determine if He died for those we address in evangelistic circumstances . We would be lying if we gave folks the assurance that Christ specifically died for them . That is also unnecessary . Sinners need to know that they stand in great peril . They have transgressed God's commandments in thought word and deed . They have no merit of their own to stand them in good stead with the Lord-- their case is without hope in themselves . Their best works deserve eternal condemnation .They need to be told that their sins are worthy of damnation -- that they have offended the One and Only Holy God . Their sinful state needs to be dwelt upon . Then , after focusing on their awaful plight they need to be told of the singular sacrifice which was made by Jesus Christ -- God incarnate who came to earth to die for sinners . Since His sacrifice is the only way of salvation and forgiveness of sins they need to fly to Him for everlasting security .

 

Intesresting comment! I stood next to a Calvinst preacher. I challenged him in lobby at a national conference a few years ago. He left because he was incapable to answer my questions concerning the Bible. This preacher challenged other people concerning the calvinism and won his case. You are right by saying, "a SAD theology."

 

What good is telling them all of this if odds are Christ did not die for them? What a horrible, hopeless theology! Praise God I don't believe this trash.

"For God so love the WORLD that He gave His only Son..."

 

Just to make it clear -- WD thinks that my words above are trash . How many others of you believe the same ? I thought it was the Gospel .

 

There are no "Odds" WD . One man's "trash" is another's Gospel . Your theology is certainly different from mine and prominent Calvinistic ,evangelistic preachers/authors/ as well as the not so famous laypeople of my same biblical persuasion .

 

I agree with webdog.

Why tell a sinner of his sinful state if he has no hope of eternal life in Jesus Christ?

Why preach the Gospel if God already has chosen certain people to be saved? After all, would not they still be saved if they stayed out of Church, did not read the Bible, did not pray, did not believe in God or His Son?

Why witness to those who are lost? After all, if they are chosen by God to go to hell for all eternity, are your words that he needs the Lord in his life falling to the ground? on deaf ears? If so, the Word of God says you will give account for every idle word you speak. Every time you witness to anyone, lost or not, your words become idle if God has already determined who will be saved.

Truth of the matter is, man is not predestined to heaven or hell. Scripture tells us what predestination is, and it is not saved or not saved. The child of God is predestined to be conformed to the image of God's dear Son, not to eternal life.

And God does not know (have a relationship with) anyone until they place their faith in His Son Jesus Christ. I am so glad that He has opened the door to 'whosoever will,' not 'whosoever I want.'

 

Yes, I tell people that Jesus died for them when I witness to them...because it's the truth.

"Whosoever" means exactly that.

 

1 Corinthians 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
1 Corinthians 15:2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
1 Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
1 Corinthians 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

Christ died and shed His blood for the sins of the whole world. This is the heart of the gospel (according to Scriptures). When you fail to tell the lost that Jesus died for their sins, you are not sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ...the Gospel which Paul preached, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek....the Gospel which Jesus Himself told us to preach to every creature.(Mark 16:15)

Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

 

No, because I find no example of it in Scripture. The bible tells us that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1 Timothy 1.15), and that He laid down His life for His sheep (John 10.15). I cannot think of an instance in Scripture where, in the preaching of the gospel, unbelievers are told, "Christ died for you."

 

Romans 5:6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

I think this one here should prompt us to tell the lost Christ died for them. We cannot save the ungodly. Our righteousness is not strong enough to save even ourselves. But Christ, in His matchless love, did what we were unable to do. Christ died for those who had no hope of eternal life... the ungodly.

 

Since narrow is the way to salvation, the "odds" are most humanity is lost...so there are odds to us in evangelism.
I would counter that calvinism and your theology is quite different than what Jesus and the apostles taught, that Christ is the propitiation for the WHOLE WORLD.

 

As SFIC stated, since we are all sinners, we can and should state Christ died to save each person individually, and they should be told that.

 

The following is from J.I. Packer's book " "Evangelism & The Sovereignty Of God " .

It is obvious that if a preacher thought that the statement , 'Christ died for every one of you', made to any congregation , would be unverifiable , and probably not true , he would take care not to make it in his gospel preaching . You do not find such statements in the sermons of , for instance , George Whitefield or Charles Spurgeon ... For preaching the gospel ,... means inviting sinners to come to Jesus Christ , the living Saviour , who , by virtue of His atoning death , is able to forgive and save all those who put their trust in Him . What has to be said about the cross when preaching the gospel is simply that Christ's death is the ground on which Christ's forgiveness is given .
The fact is that the New Testament never calls on any man to repent on the ground that Christ died specifically and particularly for him . The basis on which the New Testament invites sinners to put faith in Christ is simply that they need Him ,... and that those who receive Him are promised all the benefits that His death secured for His people . What is universal and all-inclusive in the New Testament is the invitation to faith , and the promise of salvation to all who believe . ( pages 67,68 ) .

 

Except of course, He did not come and die for those He did not die for .He came to die for those that He came to die for .

Actually you really don't believe that Christ died for each person individually -- do you ? You don't believe in any particularity in the atonement .