Luke 10:8-16 “Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. (9) And heal the sick there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.' (10) But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, (11) ‘The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this that the kingdom of God has come near you.' (12) But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city. (13) "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. (14) But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. (15) And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades. (16) He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.”
The second witness quoted above, is the Lord Jesus Christ. The context of this passage is that our Lord is sending out His seventy disciples into the towns of Judea to preach the kingdom of God. Very clearly from this passage, we can see that our Lord places the choice of either receiving the gospel or rejecting the gospel, into the hands of those who hear. For in this passage, our Lord tells us that those who receive the gospel message ultimately receive God the Father, while those who reject the gospel message ultimately reject God the Father. And so, from our Lord’s teaching, we can see that very clearly each one either receives or rejects the gospel message, as an act of their free will. It cannot be made any plainer than that.
Michael E.B. Maher
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