Soul Winning is Foolishness
Soul Winning is Foolishness
This will probably be the shortest post I have ever written and many of you may sigh a sigh of relief because you are not particularly fond of long and drawn-out posts.
During my habitual surfing of certain Christian blogs (some of them claim to be Christian but are not), I read of a certain pastor who wrote to another certain pastor that “soul winning” is foolishness. Yes, you heard me correctly. SOUL WINNING IS FOOLISHNESS, he said with unashamed boldness. The person who said this either hates the Gospel of God or is completely ignorant of what the Gospel (Good News) entails.
You be the judge and decide for yourself whether SOUL WINNING is foolishness after you’ve read the following passages from Scripture
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise. (Proverbs 11:30)
For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? (1 Thessalonians 2:19)
If soul-winning is foolishness, as the foolish pastor said, then King Solomon, the wisest among men, must have been a fool when he said “he that wins souls is wise.”
God promises a wonderful crown of rejoicing to those who lead souls to Jesus. It is commonly known as the soul winner’s crown, one of five crowns promised to Christians.
People usually say foolish things like this when they place the wrong emphasis on the sovereignty of God and abhor the doctrine that man was made in the image of God, which includes the power of free-will.
When asked why they preach the Gospel Calvinists usually say they do so because God commanded them to do it, despite the fact that they do not know who the elect are. Preaching the Gospel and making disciples in biblical terms is nothing else than winning souls for God. Therefore, what they are in effect saying when they say “soul winning is foolishness” is that the preaching of the Gospel is foolishness. From a Calvinistic perspective, I would say that is true. Calvinists should stop preaching the Gospel because they are making soul winning a foolish enterprise.
I am pretty certain the pastor who said such a foolish thing knows what is written in Jude 1:23. In case he missed it, here’s what it says.
And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. (Jude 1:23)
May God have mercy on those pastors’ pitiful souls.
I do not intend to contradict scripture, but sometimes it almost seem foolish in our day and age to think that some will receive the gospel. Everyone seems so set in their doctrine of lies, that it sometimes feel as if we are throwing the pearls for the pigs.
Do you really believe in the bible ?
Frank
No, we do not believe in the Bible. We believe in the God of the Bible who inspired his prophets and apostles to write the Bible according to his sovereign will.
Thomas, can you tell us the name of the person who made this statement? If not, did he mean by that statement that we should not proclaim the gospel?
Joe,
Like always, you are dodging my questions. I asked you “Can they only choose against Him or are they capable of choosing for Him as well? You see, if they cannot do both then they don’t have a free-will.”
Thomas as far as I can tell this is a different thread. Please answer according to this particular thread. Can you tell us the name of the person who made this statement? If not, did he mean by that statement that we should not proclaim the gospel?
Joe,
That’s usually your strategy. You jump from one thread to another and ask questions on that particular thread to divert the attention from the questions I asked in another thread. Do your own research and type in the words “I am totally against this ‘soul winning’ foolishness.” When are you going to answer my question?
Hi Debs. Glad to see that you’re still fighting the good fight. Me? I’m scared that I am abysmal when it comes to winning souls. I wish I could win a lot more. I live in hope.
Thomas, why take a swipe at me and then quickly close the comments section? It is not because I am being childish as you state. It is because I am challenging your theology which is inconsistent all the way from God’s attribute of omniscience all the way through to your supposed dispensationalism. While Jonah was a type of Christ which was only revealed in the NT by the passage you quoted, the message that those in Nineveh had to believe was certainly not the same as our gospel today, for it is certain that Christ had not died on the cross at that point. Like I said get your dispensations right.
Joe wrote:
As I said, you desperately need to get your Gospel right. If that was not the message they heard, what was the message? Can you tell us? Is there another message that can save sinners from the wrath of God?
You believe that some were elected before the foundation of the earth but you don’t believe that Christ was crucified from the foundation of the world? (Revelation 13:8)
You are confused. If the gospel message to the Jews under the law was that Christ was crucified then why did they have a fully fledged sacrificial system which was a forerunner of Christ in operation? Furthermore why did they need a High priest to intercede for them and why was this done behind the veil on the day of atonement?
What was the message relating to the baptism of John the baptist? In other words what did the Jews of John’s day have to believe to be saved?
If the message was that Christ was crucified how come the apostles were ignorant of the fact, to the point that they thought that Jesus would bring the kingdom in their day?
Are we then still under the law?
Like I keep on saying, get your dispensations right.
Joe,
AGAIN! You must get your Gospel right. Neither the sacrificial system nor the Law could save sinners. The Law was given as a schoolmaster to bring them to Christ so that they may be justified by faith. The Levitical sacrificial system was also merely a precursor to Christ’s sacrifice and everyone who brought an offering and placed his hand on the head of the slain animal, was justified by faith by looking ahead in time to Christ’s ultimate sacrifice on the cross. Surely you must have read Hebrews? The Old Testament sinners were saved in the very same way sinners were saved in the New Testament, and right up to this day. Faith, my dear fellow and not election, saves.
The fact that Jesus’ disciples did not fully understand does not mean everyone misunderstood. Abraham knew perfectly well that God would send his own Lamb to pay the penalty for sin. Did the disciples’ misunderstanding of the Gospel prior to Christ’s crucifixion, burial and resurrection nullify the only way to be saved in both the Old and New Testaments?
Perhaps you would like to tell me how Old Testament sinners were saved?
Joe wrote,
Really??? Isaiah 53 is the most graphic description of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Yes! most of the Israelite did not believe the report of the prophets but does that nullify the fact that faith and faith alone for both the Old Testament and New Testament sinners was necessary for one’s salvation?
There are many other Old Testament prophecies concerning the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (the Gospel) and yet you dare say I am confused. You are the one who’s confused, my friend. And the only way for you to escape your confusion is to get the Gospel right.
First of all, you talk about the soul, and it seems that you have no understanding of what is soul, and who is soul. If you would check in the STRONG’ CONCORDANCE, KJV, you would would see where the meaning of SOUL simply means : a living breathing creature.
Tom Aaron,
What would you say is the difference between spirit, soul and body?