Both of you raise interesting (thought provoking) arguments. 

Before I received Jesus The Christ as my Lord & Savior, something within me knew that there was a power within my being that was far greater than I could comprehend.  I knew without knowing (being told by another human-being) that this power gave me life – gave all of us life, that this power connected us to each other and that this power is good.  That all I need do to excel at anything I put my mind to, was to tap into that Power.  All of this was pre-salvation for me.  Perhaps, after listening & talking to many world-wide … I am not alone in my thinking?

As Christ-followers we are all charged to “spread” the “Good News” of our Deity to all nations.  If this is so … “How will they hear us”?  How will they identify (make personal) what it is that we are saying?  Perhaps the answer to such a question would be … that “we” in & of ourselves can not!  Why?  Because true “permanent” life altering change (BACK to our Creator) does NOT come from man … it comes from GOD (who is Spirit) working through man.  Therefore, true Gospel preaching-teaching comes only from HIS Spirit through our spirit, and can only be met by & through the “spirit” of others. Once received  THEN  the process of KNOWING HIM via HIS written Word can begin.

Here’s my meaning,

Upon visiting India a while ago, the Holy Ghost taught me an invaluable lesson:

On my knees in worship, BEFORE leaving this country, I asked GOD to help me to be a beacon of light to them who are lost.  Little did I know that the 1st soul that GOD chose to fix the heart of (on this journey) was mine; by simply revealing to me that nowhere in HIS Inspiration (The Holy Bible), did HE constrain me to LEAD souls to CHRIST by spouting scripture to a People of a land whose "primary" religious, philosophical and cultural system is Hindu – Hinduism, who may not yet have been spiritually conditioned to hear / receive me.  In other words, I could go to this foreign land – bible & smiles ready … arrogance & ignorance availing, as if I were some kind of superman sent to save the day … for these poor lost souls!!!

OR

I could choose a more humble & more honorable approach, by resuming a posture that observes respectfully their culture.  And in doing so … MY visual testimony of (prayerfully) a  RIGHTEOUS HUMILITY could be SEEN – FIRST!  THEN, this People -  might receive The Spirit that sent me, from within their hearts ... netting to  “the body” an evangelism towards the WAY of TRUTH (JESUS THE CHRIST) via HIS WORD!!!

All of this to say … If you believe that we are spirit of HIS Spirit FIRST, then THAT is how you begin your ministry.  The fact that a third of the world has never heard or heard of The Gospel, need not be a discouraging or perplexing factor because what has been poured into you from above, is sweet & unforgettable & in the heart of everyman.  We tap into this Divine Sweetness through HIS agape love & HE will handle everything else.


Perhaps in even asking such a question … is to think of ourselves too highly?  To even correlate our inherently flawed thinking with that of our Creator truly misses the mark.  To even entertain a line of thinking that says that we are smart enough to make an eternal decision “in & of our own freewill” … as in without HIS presence (The Holy Ghost) working for us / through us, on our behalf … speaks to the kind of arrogant thinking that caused lucifer’s plounder.

You cant sin if your in Christ. You are dead to sin. Ill explain more later.

...which is why Jesus commanded His disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel to "every creature."  Romans 10:14-15 continues on to say, And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"

As you point out from Romans 10, faith comes through hearing the word of God.

This fits in with John 6:44-45, which says, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me.

Now, did the original disciples literally go into all the world and preach the gospel to each and every person in the world?  Has this ever happened?  I would venture to say no.  What of those in the world who have never heard and will never hear the gospel?  The Bible is somewhat silent on those folks.  So, any conjecture on that changes nothing in this discussion, IMO.  The bottom line is that God desires us to go to everyone in the world and preach the gospel (thus, His drawing is extended to everyone in the world since He has commanded the disciples to bring the word to everyone in the world)... whether we accomplish that to the fullest extent or not.

DCR  You say the Bible is silent on the fate of those that have not heard the Gospel, but the answer is in John 3:18 where it says "whoever does not believe stands condemned already"  I have found out that this is sometimes a rather touchy subject when it should not be. It is directly from God's word and is quite clear. I realize many might not like this answer because it does not make God out to be "fair." But where in the Bible does it say God has to be fair?  Afterall what is the incentive for sending out evangelist and missionaries if one can be saved without hearing the Gospel?

To believe implies having heard.  One cannot believe or not believe in something he knows nothing about.  That is why we are to go and teach.

DCR is exactly correct, God has not said what His plans are for those who have not heard.  We know only what is in store for those who hear and either believe or reject.

And I agree, the debate will go on.  No one that I know of has ever argued that the gospel is not good news.  And no one has argued that it should not be preached to all men individually.  So, to me, that is a created strawman-type issue.

The other created issue, ISTM, is the use of "predestined for hell'.  That is not in any sense an accurate understanding of election.  That is a created nuance of argument that also is a strawman-type argument, ISTM. 

So, really I don't see your or my disagreement here.  The gospel is to be preached to everyone.  Not everyone will hear.  That is because they are not of the elect, the chosen of God.  That is my only point of difference perhaps with you.

Neither was anyone teaching universalism as some previous posts charged... which could be said to be another strawman-type issue.

The word predestined is one of those words which I spoke about above concerning the article that Dave posted.  The word has become so engulfed in calvinese as to preclude free discussion.  It is an entire theology unto its own.  So much so that one cannot simply discuss a topic using the word without benefit of the all encompassing theology that is carried along with it.

The word like so many has baggage.