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“Wanting Others To Be Saved, Too”
Wanting Others To Be Saved, Too
David Sproule
The Bible teaches that God “desires all men to be saved” (1 Tim. 2:4). A diligent reader will learn that not only does God want the reader to be saved, but God wants the reader to want others to be saved also. Salvation is the message of the Bible and we are the messengers who have been sent.
We have been sent to save the lost. Millions of accountable people are living who have never obeyed the gospel. In God’s eyes, they are lost (cf. 2 Thess. 1:8-9). They are dying in their sins. Our responsibility, as Christians, is to do all we can to take the saving message of the gospel “to every creature” (Mark 16:15).
We have been sent to save the wayward. There are many folks who once were saved but have fallen away and allowed themselves to become entangled again in the affairs of this world. In God’s eyes, they are lost (cf. 2 Pet. 2:20-22). They, too, are dying in their sins. Our responsibility, as faithful Christians, is to do all we can to turn back anyone who “wanders from the truth…[to] save a soul from death…” (James 5:19-20).
We have been sent to save our neighbors. The example of the early church was a church that went to “every house” (Acts 5:42), going “house to house” (Acts 20:20), teaching Jesus as the Christ. Our responsibility, as Christians, is to love our neighbor, seeking their greatest need—i.e., their salvation.
We have been sent to save our children. Our children are not toys to play with; they are “a heritage from the Lord” (Psa. 127:3). The responsibility of parents is to aim these little “arrows” (127:4) back to the Lord by teaching them the Word and the way of God (Deut. 11:19) and setting a godly example before them that they may “glorify your Father in heaven” and be saved (Matt. 5:16).
We have been sent to save the unbelieving spouse. When the New Testament speaks of the one who is married to an unbeliever, it emphasizes the possibility of the unbelieving spouse being “sanctified” or “saved” by the Christian spouse (1 Cor. 7:14, 16), even if by the Christian’s conduct “without a word” being spoken (1 Pet. 3:1). Salvation is always to be our emphasis.
Add our family members, friends, government leaders, coworkers, enemies, etc., etc. God wants all of them to be saved. Do our actions show that we do, too?
