If God Knows Everything Why Do We Evangelize?

Lifeasweknowit said:
Sometimes I don't feel as though I am saved. Satan loves to tell me that...or is it him? Am I really saved? If God has the Book of Life and knows what is going to happen, who says that because I accept Jesus as my savior that means I am truly going to heaven. Jesus also said "I never knew you..."

Why do I struggle with this and the fear of death if Jesus is within me. Why do we spread the word if God already knows who is going to enter the kingdom of heaven.

I hate more than anything to doubt my faith. I pray I do not doubt my faith. I truly believe in Jesus. I'm tired or worrying about dying, whether I am saved, if this is all real, and all of these questions that I feel sometimes pulls me further away from God.

Does anyone else struggle with this and if so, how have you dealt with it? Oh, and please answer the subject question as best as you can...

Thank you so very much in advance~
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Lifeasweknowit,

I too struggled with my faith. Wondering what was fact or what was man made doctrines. Personally I researched the Bible word of word trying to understand the meaning behind the words, the time frames of the events happened. Looking up the sites like mount horeb, and mount sinai. They are real.

What I have found in truth still amazes me. It has brought me closer to knowing and understanding. It brought me to my foundation being placed on the rock. My faith was strong with no doubts.

Keep your eyes on the Lord and not man.
 
That's why its important to be rooted in the Word of God. I have had times when I seriously doubted and someone would also direct me back to the Word. Heavily tested faith produces perseverance and perseverance brings about maturity. James 1.
 
Jeff said:
That's why its important to be rooted in the Word of God. I have had times when I seriously doubted and someone would also direct me back to the Word. Heavily tested faith produces perseverance and perseverance brings about maturity. James 1.
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Correct!

You knowJeff, God knows everything about us and what we will do and when we will do it. IMO the testing and challenges we go through are to SHOW US how we will react to those said trials and challenges in life.

When we overcome those trials our faith is strengthened and we move ever so closer to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Bless you!!!
 
followerofchrist72 said:
Lifeasweknowit,

I too struggled with my faith. Wondering what was fact or what was man made doctrines. Personally I researched the Bible word of word trying to understand the meaning behind the words, the time frames of the events happened. Looking up the sites like mount horeb, and mount sinai. They are real.

What I have found in truth still amazes me. It has brought me closer to knowing and understanding. It brought me to my foundation being placed on the rock. My faith was strong with no doubts.

Keep your eyes on the Lord and not man.
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Amen my brother!
 
Lifeasweknowit said:
@KingJ: He DOES know. How else would Jesus been able to say?: " 21Not every one that said to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out devils? and in your name done many wonderful works? 23And then will I profess to them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity."If God had not a clue as to who was going to enter heaven, IMO, there is no way he would have been able to state the above, which essentially makes claim to the fact that he has knowledge of those who will enter. Also, isn't the whole point of Revelations about the end times when he is "seated at the thrown?" How is he able to paint a clear picture of everything up until who is saved and who is not?

Do you believe God is Omniscient? That is having complete and utter awareness and knowledge of everything. Then yes He knows! :)

1 John 3:19-20: By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.

Revelation 20:11-15 "....15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire."

Furthermore: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." God knows who we are before we are even created. How can he know all of this yet be unaware of our salvation? I don't see the logic in that. Can you point to any scriptures in particular that support your case? Btw, this is in no, way, shape, or form an argument. I am genuinely interested! If I am to follow God for the rest of my life, I want to follow the RIGHT teachings and not just take what this person or that person says depending on how they interpret the bible.


I realize I am a born again and a "beginner" so please correct me if I misquote anything. :)
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You are right on target my dear. All excellant points.
 
KingJ said:
Just been thinking. Sure it is a difficult pill to swallow to believe that God would limit His omniscience for us!...but WHY? It is not supposed to be new to our thinking! God has sacrificed so much for us! 'He will never leave nor forsake us', yet He forsook and left His Son on the cross! for us. Jesus was all powerful, yet He limited His authority to be a sheep to the slaughter for US. He will not hesitate to put us before Himself so to speak. The fact the we have true free will is an absolutely humbling concept! It is a pure gift from God with no strings attached.
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Carefull........you are thinking and listening and growing!!!!

As you just said.............
"The fact the we have true free will is an absolutely humbling concept! It is a pure gift from God with no strings attach."

Absolutely correct!!!

But it has to be that way my brother. We love God because He FIRST loved us and He loved us so very much that He allowed His only Son to die in our place to save us from the judgment.

If we are to turely come to God, it must be through FREEDOM of CHOICE which is rooted in LOVE or there is absolutly no basis for redemption.
 
This basic question has never been a conundrum for me. Knowing and causing are not the same. I can know many things and have nothing to do with their causation. I can predict many things, and that knowledge and that prediction have nothing to do with the forces that bring about those things. God can know absolutely who will accept and reject Him, but that does not mean that He forces it to happen, only that He is able to see into the future (or, at least, what we see as future since time may be entirely a temporal concept). We play our part in evangelising because we are part of the means God uses to influence people to make a decision for Him. Anyone who knows me knows I don't like onions. If they offer me an apple and an onion, they can predict which I will take, but the choice is still mine. I have the ability to choose the onion, but I won't. The knowledge the person offering the food has about my preferences and habits has nothing to do with my choosing.

This reminds me of an incident back in my college days. I often stopped at a McDonalds after work and always ordered a McChicken sandwich. One day, as I was coming in, I heard the manager say to the counterperson "He always has a McChicken sandwich." Truth is, that is what I was going to order, and would have ordered had I not heard him say that, but I chose another item because I could. But even if I hadn't heard the manager's comment and had ordered the McChicken, the choice would still have been entirely mine.

I believe that God puts forth the effort to save even those He knows will reject Him so that they will have no excuse on the day of judgement, and because He is a just God. By making the effort, the choice is the person's. That is, he is given a choice, not condemned to hopelessness because God gave up on Him before he even started life. And it is our great privilege to be able to participate in God's working in people's lives for the hope of their salvation.
 
Lifeasweknowit said:
Sometimes I don't feel as though I am saved. Satan loves to tell me that...or is it him? Am I really saved? If God has the Book of Life and knows what is going to happen, who says that because I accept Jesus as my savior that means I am truly going to heaven. Jesus also said "I never knew you..."

Why do I struggle with this and the fear of death if Jesus is within me. Why do we spread the word if God already knows who is going to enter the kingdom of heaven.

I hate more than anything to doubt my faith. I pray I do not doubt my faith. I truly believe in Jesus. I'm tired or worrying about dying, whether I am saved, if this is all real, and all of these questions that I feel sometimes pulls me further away from God.

Does anyone else struggle with this and if so, how have you dealt with it? Oh, and please answer the subject question as best as you can...

Thank you so very much in advance~
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When we evangelize, we don't do it for the sake of God but for the sake of other's, for THEIR salvation. Yes, God wants people to come to Him and so he sends us out to minister and to reach those who do not believe.But, He does know that people will make a choice to NOT follow Him.

I also struggle with what you feel. Even being at Bible school for three years, I still struggle with that. But then I have to tell myself, "This is coming from Satan. I know my walk with the Lord and I know what He has done for me." I am clothed in righteousness, even though I sin. I asked God tonight, actually, how I'm righteous if I sin. And He said, "Because it's MY righteousness."

Don't doubt. I encourage you to put up scriptures that go against doubt and fear and place that up in your room. Memorize the scriptures.

We all go through doubting. We've all been there or even going through it now. THe thing to do in your doubt is to proclaim life in your doubt. For example) "I may be doubting, but I know that God is still a good God and I know that He will see me through these doubts." And press through. Keep persevering. The reason people get over their doubts is because they persevered through them, even though it was difficult.
 
Lifeasweknowit said:
http://www.ligonier.org/learn/series/chosen_by_god/what-is-free-will/

Thoughts?
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I have heard both sides of the "predestined" argument: and for me it is this simple. claiming certain individuals are exclusively predestined and all others will fall away completely contradicts the message of Christ. People like to make themselves elitists using the predestination doctrine-that's why cults like it. (No offense to anyone here please.) It is a false doctrine misusing scripture about the 'elect' which refers to the children of God in general. Elect can refer to the 'saved' or the pre-Christ Jews.

It is Christ's desire that all should be saved-but many will chose to reject our Savior and condemn themselves.
 
Lifeasweknowit said:
@Major. I am still confused as to why God would have us do this if he knows who the chosen ones are.
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Life, do you believe that God holds Himself absolutely to scripture? If so, accept that it says many times that He is impartial. We have to accept that He achieves this by whatever means necessary. The 'means' may not always be understood with our limited brain power.
 
Lifeasweknowit said:
@Major. I am still confused as to why God would have us do this if he knows who the chosen ones are.
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Because the ones He knows will be chosen are those who respond to the sowing of the Gospel in their hearts. They are the chosen because of their response, a response that He knew they would make. So we are still given the responsibility to do the sowing.

When I sow a field with grain, I know that not all the seeds will sprout, not all the sprouts will survive the rabbits, deer, and other critters, not all of the stalks will produce grain, and the weeds will choke out some of the grain. Since I'm not God, I don't know exactly which seeds will make it to maturity and produce fruit, but I know most of them will. I already have a grain bin ready for the time of harvest, and all the mature grain is "predestined" to be stored in that bin. Without the sowing there is no harvest.

Or, to put it another way, they are chosen because of their response to the Gospel, which we are given to sow. They are not just arbitrarily picked at random. Their response to the Gospel is an integral part of their being chosen.
 
God may be Omniscient, Omnipresent and Omnipotent, but we are not. His instruction to us is to spread the good news. ONLY God can draw people to Jesus, but if we don't do our job it limits what He can do because He made the rules which He Himself will abide by.
 
Life, I GOT IT!!!!!! I got it I got it I got it!!! :).

Bear with me....Is God a duck? Is God a human? Is God an angel? NO God is God. God IS who He is.

A human has two eyes and a nose. God is fair, just and impartial. A human has not got a tail like a monkey. God has not got 'unjustness' and 'partiality'! God does not need to limit His omniscience as partiality is not something that exists with Him anymore then we have a tail.

So God is omniscient and impartial at the same time. The same way we cannot explain how He ''IS'' or how He came to be or how He simply spoke us into being. We just have to accept He is who the bible says He is and to the maximum (As that IS who He is)! He is impartial to the maximum!!

It does take some meditating on it to actually 'get it' (or maybe I am just slow). We have to picture a good, omniscient and perfect '''God''' (not a corrupt-able / evil thought capable human) at the same time.

Ie, God is capable of knowing our future and yet not be evil or blamable for creating anyone for hell. It is in Him to know everything. It is not in Him to be partial. We assume He has to be impartial if He knows everything or have limited omniscience if He is impartial. But we fail to grasp He is a God not a human. He can do things without being corrupted / evil. Being impartial on us is a part of Him. Being partial is not part of Him.

Hope this helps. I have just got complete peace on this :D.
 
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