Acts 13:44-48 “On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. (45) But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul. (46) Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. (47) For so the Lord has commanded us: 'I have set you as a light to the Gentiles that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.' “(48) Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord.”
The third and fourth witnesses quoted above, are the apostles Paul and Barnabas. The context of this passage is that they had preached the gospel message in the town of Antioch. From this passage we can see that again very clearly, some believed their message while others rejected it. And on both sides, those who rejected the gospel did so as an act of their free wills, while those who believed the gospel message, also did so as an act of their free wills. And so, there can be no doubt, that all four of the witnesses quoted in this section agree on the same point, i.e. that mankind either accepts or rejects the gospel message as an act of their free wills. And this is why some men are saved while others are not saved. In this section, we have seen that ultimately it is up to men, to either accept or reject the salvation of God, as an act of their free will. But I want you to notice that in all of it; it is God who is the initiator and not man. God initiated the plan of salvation, God made salvation possible and then God proclaimed the message of salvation. And so with regards to salvation, man’s only involvement, is to respond to the initiative that is taken by God, by as an act of their free wills, either accepting or rejecting the message of the gospel.
Michael E.B. Maher
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