Compel Them to Come In: Calvinism and the Free Offer of the Gospel
Compel Them to Come In: Calvinism and the Free Offer of the Gospel
If we believe in God’s sovereign predestination, how can we offer Christ to sinners indiscriminately? How could someone who knew that no one can come to Christ unless the Father draws them still plead with them to look to the Saviour? The Bible clearly entreats us to go after the lost, so Donald Macleod tackles the objections raised by those who argue that since there is no universal redemption there should be no universal gospel offer.
Endorsements
This is by far the best account I have ever read on the free offer of the gospel. MacLeod demolishes all the arguments that would inhibit or restrict offering Christ freely to sinners. He sets the gospel offer in the widest context of the purpose of God and the work of Christ. Above all, he communicates this with an infectious passion for the glory of Christ and the salvation of sinners, young and old. In today’s world this book is desperately needed; it could do untold good.
—Robert Letham, Wales Evangelical School of Theology, Bridgend, Wales
I always enjoy reading Donald MacLeod, as much for the clarity and precision of his arguments as for the elegance of his theology. Here he addresses an important topic – the free offer of the gospel – with his usual pungency and passion. It will clarify the issue for those who believe in the free offer but are confused by its connection to God’s sovereignty; and it will hopefully persuade those who are tempted to truncate God’s grace in a misguided attempt to exalt his election.
—Carl R. Trueman, Professor of Biblical and Religious Studies, Grove City College, Pennsylvania
Contents
Introduction
- The Free Offer and Man's Spiritual Bondage
- The Free Offer and the Doctrine of Predestination
- The Free Offer and Limited Atonement
- The Free Offer and Divine Sincerity
- Delivering the Free Offer
- The Free Offer: Knowing Where the Fish are Hiding
- The Free Offer and the Messenger
Appendix - Sermon by C. H. Spurgeon: Compel Them to Come In