Uncategorized Murray McLellan on 25 Jun 2007 03:18 pm
Election and the gospel
At the recent Gospel Coalition conference at Trinity EDS. Tim Keller was one of the speakers. He told a story of a missionary to prostitutes in Korea. He explained how these women were utterly devoid of any sense of worth or value. The missionary tried in vain to communicate God’s free gift. The women could not accept that God would treat them kindly in any manner. After some time the missionary tried another means of communicating the Gospel. He told them that God had chosen to save a group of people and that he did so before he created the world. He explained that this choice was not in any way based on how good - or how bad - the people were. This choice was not based on any perceived value in the group of people. The choice was his alone.
The women were amazed. Many asked how they could find out if they were in this group. The missionary told them he would tell them some things about what God did for this group of people he had chosen to save. If they were in any way inclined to believe it and love God for it, that was a sign that they were part of the group, as only God could make them willing to believe the Gospel. He then told the women the same Gospel as before, only this time, God converted many of them.
The Gospel is truly the power of God.
